Christ 2r Culture Podcast

In the movie The Straight Story, 73-year-old Alvin Straight from Laurens, Iowa, travels to Mt. Zion, Iowa, to mend a broken relationship with his 75-year-old brother Lyle from whom he was bitterly estranged. Alvin’s legs and eyes are too compromised for him to obtain a driver’s license, so he hitches a trailer to his used John Deere 110 tractor and sets off on the 240-mile six-week journey to restore the broken relationship with his brother while they are still alive. It is an amazing story of forgiveness and loving an enemy. 1 Samuel 24 is another story of the power of forgiveness as David finally has the chance to kill Saul. Instead of killing Saul, he chooses to love and forgive him. Join me as we learn the power of forgiving our enemies.

Have you played Nascondino? That is the Italian name for the game hide-and-seek. Italy hosts the hide-and-seek world championship on a large playground each summer in the city of Bergamo with 70 teams from 11 different countries. In the Bible, hide-and-seek is more than a game. For David, hide-and-seek was a life-and-death struggle as he ran from King Saul. Join us as we learn the good God intends in our life when we endure difficulty.

Bryan Brown is a Christian attorney who is licensed to practice law in Kansas and has been admitted to the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court. His application to the Indiana Board of Law Examiners was denied based on his admitted adherence to God’s laws above human laws. He was required to receive a psychological assessment after they asked him about his views regarding the final judgment, sexual morality, and gender roles. The Letters of John remind us we should not be surprised when the spirit of the antichrist shows up around us and we are hated like Jesus. Join us in our study as we meet an Old Testament antichrist and learn how to avoid his seductive work to destroy God’s people.

In 1993 Harrison Ford starred in The Fugitive. In the movie, Harrison Ford played Dr. Richard Kimble, a man who was wrongfully accused of murdering his wife. He escaped from custody and put the U.S. Marshalls on a wild chase as he narrowly and often creatively slipped from the grasp again and again. As we continue our study in 1 Samuel, David has become a fugitive. He is on the run. He is also narrowly escaping attempts on his life. The stress of his world falling apart gets the better of him, and he starts relying on himself instead of turning to God for strength, wisdom, and rescue. Join us as we learn the danger of relying on ourselves instead of God and how to return to God after we have walked away from Him.

34-year-old Joaquin Romero was helping a woman get hooked to a zip-line platform when she started sliding out on the line. He grabbed her harness to stop her but couldn’t hold her back. Both slide to a position of about a hundred feet above the ground. Fearing the woman would fall because of his extra weight, he made the heroic decision to put her life before his own and let go, plunging to his death. In 1 Samuel 20, we meet Jonathan and learn how God used him when he put God’s plan to save David’s life in front of his own. We learn why God loves to use people who are willing to give up their own will to get behind God’s will for the future.

Cats are said to have nine lives for their uncanny ability to survive near-death circumstances. As we continue our study of David in 1 Samuel, we learn that David is like a cat. Saul couldn’t kill him, no matter how hard he tried! God helped David escape death more than nine times! Join us as we learn how God’s hand of protection works not just in David’s life but in our own.

The news is hard to watch. Politics and manipulation are everywhere we look. The Internet filters the news. The media spins the news. Underhanded schemes to smear political opponents surface all the time. This is nothing new. In 1 Samuel 18, we look at God’s involvement in politics and how God has a good plan that will succeed, no matter how hard people fight against it.

In 2015, Malcom Gladwell wrote his book David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants. He claims David and Goliath is a lesson on how to handle obstacles, disadvantages, disabilities, and other setbacks in life. Is the story of David and Goliath nothing more than a lesson on how to face hard times and find victory when you are the underdog? Join us in this study as we learn what David and Goliath teach us about God and the confidence we can have in him.

Have you noticed something is terribly wrong in the world? The evening news is a constant stream of world horrors ranging from wars to school shootings. There is suffering, death, sickness, deception, outright lying, and evil everywhere we look. People are popping Prozac like Tic Tacs just to deal with it. What has gone wrong? In this study, we look at the many ways sin shows up in our lives and the bad excuses we use to justify our sin. It will all help us understand why Jesus can be the only answer to the problem of sin.

Have you noticed something is terribly wrong in the world? The evening news is a constant stream of world horrors ranging from wars to school shootings. There is suffering, death, sickness, deception, outright lying, and evil everywhere we look. People are popping Prozac like Tic Tacs just to deal with it. What has gone wrong? In this study, we look at the many ways sin shows up in our lives and the bad excuses we use to justify our sin. It will all help us understand why Jesus can be the only answer to the problem of sin.

The Department of Education has proposed a new Title IX rule that demands colleges treat students by their gender identity, not their biological sex. That means a transgender man, who identifies as a woman, will live in a woman’s college dormitory and use the women’s shower facilities. A young woman is to have no say, nor is the school to alert her in any way that her roommate will not be a biological female. How are Christians to respond to the legal push to affirm the transgender life? Is sex-change surgery the answer? How do we help our children if they struggle with transgender desires? These are just a few of the questions we will answer as we look at what the Bible says about transgender.

The Los Angeles Angels struggle as a baseball team. The last time they won the world series was twenty years ago. They could use a little help to win a few games. The Disney movie “Angels in the Outfield” is the fictional story of the Los Angeles Angels receiving help from actual angels to win their games. While real angels probably won’t help us catch balls, pitch strikes, or hit home runs, they are constantly at work in our daily life. Join me as we find out how God has angels at work in our daily life.

America is fascinated by demons and the occult. Television series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer are popular. Movies like The Exorcist and Poltergeist are well-known. While the media presents dark spiritual forces as fantasy, the Bible tells us the power of Satan and his demons are very real. Join us as we learn what the Bible says about Satan, demons and how Christians should engage in spiritual battles.

Have you tried dieting? One of the secrets of dieting is removing food temptations from your life. The Oreos go in the garbage. Healthy foods go in the refrigerator. There is no more walking by the snack machine at the office. Removing food temptations is one of the best ways of beating dieting temptations. We are tempted with more than food. In this study, we learn how Satan, the world, and our own fleshy desires work together to tempt us to sin and how to beat them.

An Internet survey claims being eaten by sharks, burned to death or buried alive are considered some of the people’s worst fears. What is your worst fear? This week, as we continue in 1 Samuel, we will learn what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit and why its absence in life is one of the worst things that can happen but its presence is the best. Join us as we learn how the Holy Spirit changes lives.

In any group, people have different points of view. In our postmodern society, we are taught all points of view are equally valid. Our opinions are just products of our experiences so no point of view is better than another. Does that work? Join me as we discover why truth does exist and how we can find it.

The YouTube Channel “Caught in Providence” are the real-life cases of Judge Frank Caprio who is a judge in Providence Rhode Island. It is the real-life story of people with their traffic tickets, speeding tickets, and parking tickets and the excuses they give to try to get out of them. As we continue our study in 1 Samuel, we are looking at five excuses we give to justify sin and why none of them work.

If you love the game show Jeopardy, you are familiar with Mattea Roach. She was on a 23-game winning streak and well ahead of the second-place contestant when she wagered $1 too much in the Final Jeopardy round bringing her reign to a crashing end. She is not the only one to snatch defeat from the jaws of certain victory. As we continue our study in 1 Samuel, we see how King Saul snatched defeat from a certain God-given victory and what lessons we can learn to not follow in his footsteps.

In June of 2017, Alex Honnold climbed El-Capitan in Yosemite park using a style of climbing known as free-soloing. Climbing the 7,573 granite rock without safety equipment was a feat most considered impossible. His astounding climb was filmed with cameras and drones to produce the stomach-churning movie “Free-Solo”. Daunting rock cliffs and fearless climbers are nothing new. This weekend, as we study 1 Samuel 14, we find a daring free-solo rock climb in the Bible.

When Elon Musk bought Twitter he paid a premium on the stock giving shareholders more than the stock was worth. Was that a foolish decision or was Elon wiser than we realize? As we continue our studies in 1 Samuel, we learn about foolish choices and how to avoid making them.