Podcast: What Gives Us the Right to Be Dogmatic?

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This week’s podcast answers a question emailed to us from a Church family. The father—who grew up as a teen in the Church, himself—pointed out that, when he was younger, he would sometimes wonder what gives the Church the right to speak so dogmatically. After all, we speak pretty strongly! We draw clear lines about right and wrong and make no bones about it—and those lines differ greatly from the lines being drawn by many in the world around us. So what does give us the right to speak so dogmatically? It was a great question, and we hope you’ll find the answer helpful!

As usual, we refer to some additional items in the podcast—one LCN article by Mr. Mark Sandor about “doubtful things” and one of our foundational booklets, The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy. Below the embedded video, you’ll find links to both.

(By the way: We hope you enjoy the improved sound quality! We’re still learning, but our Disclaimer Guy (Chris Leonard) is also our wonderful IT guy, and he has helped us put together a better audio set up. Let us know what you think, and thanks for your patience as we continue to learn what in the world we’re doing.)

Podcast: Roe v. Wade and Abortion

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If you’ve heard all the talk in the news about the Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court case and abortion, you know that something potentially big is up. Essentially, the 1973 court case that created a “right” to abortion in the U.S. is potentially about to be undone, according to a leaked draft of the decision (which is not yet finalized). It was already a passionate topic for many, and you can expect the rhetoric to reach new levels of full-throated zeal in the days ahead.

But our concern is always what do God and Jesus Christ think about this, and what do They want me (and you!) to think about this? And, as we consider such things, can we avoid the traps the Devil will lay out for us to ensnare us and suck us into the world of political striving by remembering that the Kingdom we are called to represent is not a part of this age or world (John 18:38)? Young people care about the world in which they live—and the Tempter is skilled at turning our passions into bait on his hook.

On today’s podcast, we chat about those things. We hope you find it profitable! (Also, we refer to several articles you might find helpful—links to this are below the video.)

Here are links to those articles:

Podcast: Why a Second Holy Day at the End of Unleavened Bread?

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We hope your Days of Unleavened Bread have been wonderfully flat, tasty, and spiritually profitable! This episode of the podcast has us meditating on the question of why God might have included a second high day at the end of the Days of Unleavened Bread and some (not all!) of the lessons He might want us to take from the events of that amazing Exodus event, thousands of years ago, connected to this day. We pray it’s profitable for you! (We refer briefly to the previous podcast about Passover thoughts concerning youth in the Church. That’s available here.)

Podcast: Passover Thoughts for the Young and Not-Yet-Baptized

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We hope you are having a wonderful start to your Spring Holy Day season! This podcast was recorded not long before Passover, and we focus on mainly three topics: Why the Holy Day cycle starts with Passover, some of the differences in seeing the need for baptism for those who have grown up in the Church compared to those who haven’t, and the commonly heard comment made by some who don’t feel ready for baptism: “I’m not good enough, yet…” We talk about them all in this episode, and we refer to two articles: One by Dr. Scott Winnail meant to help younger people help evaluate when they might be ready for baptism, and another I wrote about what lessons we need to take from Passover to fully understand that the Days of Unleavened Bread have to teach us. I’ll add links to both of those below the video.

Have a wonderful Days of Unleavened Bread!

Links to those two articles:

Podcast: Let’s Talk About that Oscars Slap

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No, we didn’t watch the Oscars. But whether you watched them or not, it’s hard to escape the footage of Will Smith’s now-infamous on-stage slap of Chris Rock after the comedian’s joke concerning Mrs. Smith’s shaved head. Frankly, the new Best Actor award winner could have used Mr. Robinson’s advice here in this podcast! What’s going on in our culture that enabled a moment like this? And how would you have handled it? Let’s do some biblical thinking! Click below to listen. (Scroll below the video for two related links.)

If you are interested, here is a link to the YouGov survey we refer to in the video. The results look a tad different than described in the podcast, partially due to changes in the age-group boundaries and possibly due to additional data since the early results we looked at, but the trend is still the same, illustrating a significant difference between the perception of younger and older individuals. Also, here is a link to that earlier post that unpacks and examines Will Smith’s statement “Love will make you do crazy things.”

Podcast: So, if Christ has a tattoo, can I get one?

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Today’s podcast features a novel take on the age-old question of tattoos! Does Revelation 19:16 imply Jesus Christ had a tattoo? And if so, does that mean we can get one?

The answer is straightforward, but there’s more to consider, starting with a follow-up question: Why do you want one?

We hope you enjoy the podcast! And afterward, you might want to check out a related oldie-but-goodie: Dr. Scott Winnail’s Living Church News article “Body Ink: What Does God Think?” (Clicking the link should open it in a separate tab so you can keep playing the podcast.)

Podcast: If We’re “Salt”… Should We Vote?

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Today’s podcast involves a question that has floated around among some Church of God youth in recent years: If Jesus calls Christians the “salt of the earth” (He did) and if salt is used as a preservative and purifying agent (it is), then does that imply we should vote in elections in today’s world to help preserve and purify the world in some way? As the world gets more “exciting” (that is, “awful”), the pressure to participate in worldly ways of “fixing” it will grow, and this statement by Christ is sometimes used to justify a “Christian obligation” to vote, etc., that frankly [Spoiler Alert!] does not exist. As usual, in discussing the topic, we tend to roam a little, and you may learn more about salt than you ever wanted to. Hopefully, we get most of it right, but you “salt knowledgable” scientists out there are welcome to weigh in and let us know otherwise!