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.

Public schools required to display the Ten Commandments? Such a rule sounds surprising, but recently lawmakers made it real in Louisiana. (Update: And in Texas, as of the airing of this encore show.) If you’ve kept up with the news, you know there's an active lawsuit challenging it. Shawn Boonstra dives into the controversy, exploring not only the line between church and state but also God’s reason for sharing His moral law with us in the first place.

Enacting someone’s last will and testament is a sacred duty. Still, inspired by a “gut feeling,” some like to redefine the deceased’s last wishes…often erupting familial wars. Is it possible that YOU, right now, are responsible for executing Someone’s will? Shawn Boonstra suggests you could be, and your fellow executors are quarreling over what this will and (New) Testament means.

As a dark wave of fatalism and existentialist despair rolled over from Europe in the nineteenth century, one brilliant American thinker dared to stem the tide. What if we are MORE than machines? he asked. What if our choices actually matter? Join us as we explore the impact of psychologist-philosopher William James and his quest to make meaning out of the vibrant life of the mind.

Imagine for a minute that you’re an ambassador of Earth to an alien civilization. You’re asked, “What’s this RELIGION thing all about? Why do you all believe something’s WRONG with your world?” Be honest: would you have answers? In this episode of Authentic, Shawn Boonstra pursues a coherent definition for religion, shining a light on why humanity’s always trying to improve…and why our efforts tend to backfire.

"You can't tell me what to do!" From crib to nursing home, we all bristle like porcupines at claims of authority. Something in us HATES being commanded. Is it any surprise the Most High God gets massive pushback? But what if, Shawn Boonstra asks, this target is a painted one? Scripture reveals Someone wholly unlike the tyrant of our imagination...