In the year 325 at the First Council of Nicea, leaders of the early church adopted a very important statement of belief in response to a false teacher named Arius. Arius was an Egyptian presbyter from Alexandria who introduced a new theology that stated while Jesus was the Son of God, He wasn’t really God- he was a created being who had been given some divine attributes.

The early church responded to this heresy by official denouncing it and issuing the Nicene Creed, which states that Christian orthodoxy affirms a belief in- “one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made.”

It's been a long time since the year 325, but the more things change, the more they stay the same. The Arian heresy has persisted stubbornly throughout the last 1,700 years of church history in various forms and iterations. There are many fringe groups that claim to represent Christian orthodoxy, but in reality are simply peddling this same old heresy.

So was Jesus really God? Or was Jesus a created being with divine attributes that was sent by God? Was Jesus made into a God by the early church? Or was Jesus a god just like you and I are “gods”? …shouldn’t we be checking our Bibles for the answers to this?

In 1990, 26-year-old Terri Schiavo fell into a persistent vegetative state after suffering cardiac arrest. A fierce highly public battle took place between her parents and her husband, who wanted to disconnect her feeding tube. Terri's husband argued that his wife would not have wanted her life artificially prolonged, with no hope of recovery.

Terri Schiavo's case spurred an emotional nationwide and international heated debate over quality of life, right-to-die and end-of-life issues. The case grew so notorious that the Vatican in Rome challenged American law which allowed for discontinuing food and water in certain circumstances, arguing for the sanctity of human life.

Though the courts sided with her husband, Michael Schiavo, the state legislature passed a bill, known as Terri's law, giving Florida Gov. Jeb Bush authority to prevent the removal of the feeding tube. After much back and forth involving state and federal courts, Terri's feeding tube was eventually removed, ending the long legal struggle over her fate when she died on March 31, 2005 at the age of 41.

So should a person’s death be prolonged or should a person’s life be allowed to end through, “mercy killings” or euthanasia? What about a person who is seeking to euthanize themselves with the aid of a physician? Is allowing such practices merciful or merciless?

What does the Bible have the say about these issues? How can we understand the topic of suicide, euthanasia, and the sanctity of life as Christians?

In the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, there stood a statue near a city park of Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard, who himself was a native of St. Bernard Parish and grew up in New Orleans. The statue was placed there in 1915.

Beauregard was an early proponent of equal rights in Louisiana, serving as the outspoken leader of the short-lived and ultimately failed unification movement.

The movement was a coalition made up of prominent white and black New Orleanians that called for integrated schools, public places and transportation and voting rights for black men, two years before Congress passed the Civil Rights Acts of 1875 and nearly a century before the enactment of major civil rights legislation in the 20th century. Beauregard was the group's chairman.

For the city of New Orleans, Beauregard died as a local hero.

But on May 17, 2017, Beauregard’s statue was removed. Why? Because P.G.T. Beauregard (as he’s more commonly known) was a general of the Confederacy during the American Civil war. As a matter of fact, Beauregard commanded the attack at Fort Sumter, the shots of which marked the outbreak of the American Civil War. He fought in the First Manassas and at Shiloh, and he defended Charleston from Union occupation for two years. For many, Beauregard’s statue represented nothing more than slavery and institutional racism.

In the United States, the public display of Confederate monuments, memorials and symbols has been and continues to be controversial. There were 73 Confederate monuments removed or renamed in 2021, and there are now close to 700 left in the U.S.

Some say the statues glorify people who perpetuated slavery, attempted secession from United States, and lost the Civil War and the statues are nothing more than a painful reminder of past and present institutionalized racism in the United States.

Others say that the statues represent the country’s history, no matter how complicated. Taking them down is to censor, whitewash, and potentially forget that history.

So how do we make sense of the controversy? How do we as Christians engage in this controversial conversation with respect, civility, wisdom, and Christ-like love?

Amazon Prime recently released a limited docuseries exposing the truth beneath the wholesome Americana surface of reality tv’s favorite mega-family, The Duggars, and the radical organization behind them: The Institute in Basic Life Principles. 

The Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) is a nondenominational Christian organization that serves as an umbrella organization for several ministries established by American Christian minister Bill Gothard in 1961. The stated purpose of the organizationis to provide instruction on how to find success in life by following biblical principles. This involves programs that include seminars for ministry, community outreach, troubled youth mentoring, and an international ministry. Families are expected to have as many children as possible, children are expected to be home schooled, blind submission to their fathers’ authority is taught, as well as strict adherence to IBLP's interpretations of Scripture. The IBLP has been alleged by some to be a cult.

So this is Josh….real talk- my family was a part of IBLP’s homeschool program, ATI, for 7 years. I watched the Shiny, Happy People mini-series on Prime recently, and it was crazy. Mainly because it showcased experiences I had as an adolescence that I’d been trying to explain to people for years. I’d spent years telling people about how I grew up, but no-one quite knew what I was talking about. And now it’s on film. And folks are all of the sudden, asking me questions about it.

So what was it like to grow up in and around IBLP and ATI? What was it like living under the shadow of Bill Gothard and his teachings?

Art is the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, and it usually communicates some sort of message within that medium. Art can be painting, sculpture, literature, music, dance, drama, and it can be film.

Film (motion pictures, television shows, streaming series, etc.) is a work of visual art that tells a story that simulates experiences and communicates ideas, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere through the use of moving images. Film is a very powerful form of art! Over the years, films have been used to powerfully communicate various ideas in very persuasive ways.

Every film (movie/TV show/streaming series) tells a story: but there’s always a story behind the story. The “story behind the story” is THE STORY of life and humanity- the answers to the questions of origin, identity, meaning, morality, and destiny.

Chances are, that writer/producer/director/artist is using the medium of film to share with you, the viewer, their worldview- what they believe about origin, identity, meaning, morality, and destiny.

How can we recognize the “story behind the story”? How can we as Christians practice discernment as we view the medium of film?

In American Christianity especially, there is much confusion on the doctrine of eternal security (sometimes referred to as “once saved, always saved“).

Some circles of Christianity, for example, might teach that one can lose his/her  salvation and fall into the error of trying to keep his salvation by personal effort. According to scripture, this is a serious error (Gal. 3:1-3).

On the other hand, some circles teach that one can never lose his/her salvation, and therefore fall into the error of sinning willfully because he/she believes salvation can't be lost no matter how much an individual sins. This is also a serious doctrinal error (Heb. 10:26).

It would seem that some Scriptures suggests that God preserves those who are truly His (John 10:27-28; Heb. 13:5; Matt. 7:21-23; 1 John 2:19; Rom. 8:38-39), yet there is also an indication in scripture that in the journey of pursuing Christ, many will fall away from the faith (2 Pet. 2:1; Gal. 5:4; Heb. 10:26; 6:4-6; Ps. 69:28).  

So which is it? Are we eternally secure? Or is our salvation conditional on our own ability to walk in obedience? How do we understand apostasy, or those who once professed faith in Christ but now don’t? 

John 10:34

“Jesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, ‘I said you are gods’? If he called those to whom the word of God came ‘gods’- and the Scripture cannot be broken- do you say, You are blaspheming to the one the Father set apart and sent into the world because I said: I am the Son of God?”

Jesus’ point is this: you charge me with blasphemy based on my use of the title “Son of God”; yet our own Scriptures apply the same term (“gods”, elohim) to others besides God. If others can be considered “gods”, how much more can the One whom God has chosen and sent?

The big question- who were those the that scriptures referred to as “gods”?

Several biblical passages (Psalm 82:1, Job 1:6, 1 Kings 22) speak of what some theologians call a “divine council,” an assembly of heavenly beings or “gods.” For Israel’s neighbors in the ancient Near East, such councils reflected polytheistic worldviews, where rival gods vied for power and supremacy.

For Israel, however, the members of the divine council, though heavenly and supernatural, remained subject to the providence and decrees of the one Creator God. Furthermore, God disarmed all these malevolent spiritual powers at the cross of Christ, and one day he will strip them of all authority entirely.

So wait…does the Bible embrace polytheism? How does this idea of the “divine council” correspond to the Bible’s teaching about God being distinct, omnipotent, and sovereign?

Purity culture was/is a movement that started in the 1990s primarily within Evangelical American Christianity which emphasized individual "purity," generally associated with female chastity.  Purity culture places a strong emphasis on abstinence before marriage. In some circles, dating was discouraged entirely to avoid pre-marital sex (the book, “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” by Josh Harris promoted abstinence and popularized the concept of “courtship” as an alternative to dating. This book sold over a million copies).

It’s pretty obvious from the Scriptures that God wants Christians to live lives of sexual purity. But did purity culture promote a Biblical vision of sexuality? Or did it use shame and fear?

Or even worse…did it promote soft prosperity gospel- in that a certain methodology of relationships would deliver a happily-ever-after ending—a great marriage, a great sex life—even though this isn’t necessarily promised by Scripture?

We’ve examined deconstruction and its current influence in the church at large. We’ve explored some of the possible reasons for why someone would deconstruct. And we’ve heard a few personal stories of folks who have taken that journey.

So what if we actually do need to reexamine the faith we grew up in or have held to for a long time? What if the traditions and teachings of religion have become so interwoven and entangled with the truth of God’s Word that we don’t know one from the other? Is deconstruction the only answer? Or is there another path we can take?

Where do we go from here? What’s the best way to look at this topic and how can we reasonably approach it in a helpful, loving, Christ-like, humble, and God-honoring way?