Churches risk losing their way when they prioritize business and marketing strategies over their core mission. They may be filling the pews, but in the process they're unintentionally compromising the message they stand for. This episode of AUTHENTIC with Shawn Boonstra explores the dangers of putting church growth and popularity ahead of Gospel truth.

Do you really control every decision you make? There’s an increasing number of people who believe that free will is only an illusion—that the decisions you make today are solely caused by events from your past.

In this episode, AUTHENTIC host Shawn Boonstra discusses research from neuroscientist Benjamin Libet and the determinism of Dutch-Jewish philosopher Baruch Spinoza. It's a deep dive into the debate over free will versus the law of Nature.

Your life is finite: you'll live and die, having occupied a limited space for a limited amount of time. But in the end, we all seem to sense that there’s something infinite to grab hold of. Where does it take us? This week on AUTHENTIC, Shawn Boonstra peers into the beyond.

Lots of people talk about Jesus' miracles—whether they did or didn't happen. Christians believe they were real. But what's important is that the miracles are not the reason one believes. They're not the foundation of Christian faith. AUTHENTIC host Shawn Boonstra explains how the story of Jesus as Messiah stands strong regardless of the supernatural signs and wonders He performed.

More and more people in North America seem to believe the Bible is a book that oppresses humans and shuts down personal freedom. On this week’s program, Shawn Boonstra argues that the opposite is true—that many freedoms Americans enjoy today are largely inspired by the Bible itself.

Back in the earliest years of Christian history, a lot of deep thinkers struggled to wrap their minds around the concept of Jesus being not just a man, and not just God, but instead BOTH things at the very same time. 🤯 How could the eternal Almighty Himself come to this earth as a real flesh-and-blood human? Shawn Boonstra takes a little time to examine that claim in this special Christmas episode.

Lots of people are cool with Jesus, and even Yahweh...except for that pesky claim of exclusivity. What’s His deal? Some have diagnosed God as an egomaniacal control freak.

This week Shawn Boonstra analyzes the first commandment—“no other gods before Me." Yet what IS a god to us? An idol? It all has to do with the dynamics of Creator, created, and the trust that builds or breaks us.

True freedom or lawful obedience? In the human mind, these concepts are at war, just as modern Christian thought severs our lives today from the Old Testament era: the age of the law (many claim). Join Shawn Boonstra as he unearths the truth—it has ALWAYS been an age of grace—and the ensuing question: if we’ve never had to buy our salvation, what’s the point of God’s law?

Standing as mortals at the foot of Mount Olympus, what would we see as we gazed up at the gods? How would it compare with the view of God at Mount Sinai? Join Shawn Boonstra this week for a study in divine character. In the world of our ancestors and their gods, Yahweh was shockingly unique—and much of it has to do with the Law He gave at Sinai.

The Thanksgiving holiday gives us an incredible opportunity to practice real gratitude AND quit living with brutal anxiety. Watch this episode to find out why Shawn Boonstra thinks Thanksgiving is the most important holiday of the year.