Church & Culture Podcast

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss both the startling rise of cultural Christianity in the West, as well as the incurably churchy desires of our souls. While there is an upward trend in America for people to identify themselves as religiously unaffiliated, they don't actually seem to want to disaffiliate themselves from all things related to religion. In fact, there are many traditions and symbols associated with Christianity that they seem to long for. So what causes this spiritual hunger?

Dr. White recently blogged about this topic, which is part of what prompted today's conversation. We'd suggest reading “The Rise of Cultural Christianity” and “Surprising Mourners for the Decline of Christianity.” There was also an article written by Madeleine Davies for The New Statesman titled “The rise of cultural Christianity,” which you can find HERE.

Dr. White also mentioned the surprising commentary made recently by famed atheist Richard Dawkins stating that he would consider himself to be a cultural Christian. You can watch the LBC video post of Richard Dawkins on X HERE, as well as read the article written by Walter Sánchez Silva titled “Famous Atheist Richard Dawkins Says He Considers Himself a ‘Cultural Christian'.” There was another article Dr. White referenced written by Derek Thompson - who considers himself to be an agnostic - in The Atlantic. You can read “The True Cost of the Churchgoing Bust” HERE.

There were a few books that Dr. White noted related to today's conversation: The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order by Sam Huntington, Mr. Jones, Meet the Master: Sermons and Prayers of Peter Marshall by Catherine Marshall and How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill.

There are a couple past podcasts that you may be interested in checking out related to today's conversation. One is CCP106: On Atheists and Agnostics and the other is CCP9: On Unchurched Christians. The first explores the rise in Americans saying “no” to organized religion and the second focuses on this desire that so many have to find church-like experiences in other settings. There is also an article written by Marc Ramirez in USA Today titled “As Millions Leave Organized Religion, Spiritual and Secular Communities Offer Refuge.” You can read that article HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a recent statement made by the Surgeon General that parenting is now considered a health hazard. He said that stress, loneliness and financial woes are so acute as to limit the ability of parents to function in every day life. To be sure, there are some new parenting dynamics today that parents haven't had to face before. So how can parents navigate these challenges and come out on the other side intact?

There is pressure on today's parents to provide everything for their children - Dr. White mentioned the term “intensive parenting.” There are several articles that have talked about the impact this is having on parents, and we'd suggest you take a look at those:

Julie Jargon, “Parenting Is Hazardous to Your Health, the Surgeon General Warns,” The Wall Street Journal, August 28, 2024.

Clair Cain Miller, “Today's Parents: ‘Exhausted, Burned Out and Perpetually Behind',” The New York Times, September 16, 2024.

“Surgeon General Says Parenting is Horrible For Your Health,” The Skimm, August 29, 2024.

Even those outside of the U.S. have a consistent opinion that while the U.S. is an incredible land of opportunity, it is not a good place to raise children, with a lot of the problems stemming from the overprotectiveness of American parents. This was the subject of an article from The Atlantic that Alexis mentioned titled, “Why Parents Struggle So Much in the World's Richest Country.” She also mentioned a book written by Jonathan Haidt titled, The Anxious Generation.

One of the most difficult challenges facing parents today is the impact the online world is having on our children, and particularly social media. It's led to a culture of comparison for parents, and increased levels of anxiety for both parents and their children. The impact of social media was discussed in a past podcast, CCP25: On “Doing” Social Media. Social media has also been a contributing factor in the loss of childhood. This was discussed at length on the podcast in episode CCP43: On American Girl Dolls and the Disappearance of Childhood.

There are several series that Dr. White has delivered at Mecklenburg Community Church on parenting. You can find those messages in .mp3 and .pdf formats on the Church & Culture website at the following links: “Parent Traps,” “The Under Protective Parent,” and “Parent-Child Turning Points.”

Finally, finances play a big role in some of the stress that parents face when raising children today. For many Millennials and those in Generation Z, these concerns are fueling a desire to not have children to begin with. You can check out the article “Almost 1 in 4 millennials and Gen Z-ers say they won't have kids due to finances” from CBS News HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they continue last week's conversation on why people get divorced. If you missed the previous episode, we encourage you to go back and listen to that first. You can access that podcast HERE. In today's episode, we turn to what the Bible has to say about divorce and remarriage. Jesus essentially delivered a bombshell in His teaching on this as He took on the easy divorce culture of His day.

As mentioned last week, what kicked off this conversation was a USA Today article exploring the current divorce rates in the United States. We'd encourage you to take a look at the article's findings if you haven't done so already. Dr. White also mentioned a book written by Dr. Willard Harley called His Needs, Her Needs: Building an Affair-Proof Marriage that noted the importance of love and respect within marriage. You can find that book on Amazon HERE.

Dr. White also discussed the need for the church to teach regularly on marriage, grounding people in a solid understanding of the Bible's view on the sanctity of holy matrimony. If you need help developing a marriage series at your church, you may be interested in checking out the following series given by Dr. White at Mecklenburg Community Church on this topic:

Marriage Hacks

Don't Do Stupid: Marriage Edition

The Lies We Believe About Marriage

Holy Matrimony

Marriage Mentoring

And the Two Shall Be Done

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a recent USA Today article exploring the current divorce rates in the United States. The stats seem to vary based on state, religious affiliation, race, sexual orientation, occupation… even the number of times that someone has been married. They also noted that divorce rates tend to peak around the 5th year of marriage, and then again around the 15th to 20th year of marriage. Dr. White weighs in on why people get divorced.

Dr. White noted that a big shift happens in people's mindset when the romance fades and reality sets in. This was actually an installment of a series that he gave at Mecklenburg Community Church called “Marriage Mentoring.” You can find that entire series HERE. Another factor that can play a big role surrounds marking the dawn of the 30s. Another series that you may be interested in looking at is called “Seasons of Life,” and in particular the installment called “30s - The Age of Second Thoughts.” A final series that Dr. White delivered at Meck and which he mentioned in today's episode is called “The Lies We Believe About Marriage.” You can find that series HERE.

Finally, Dr. White wrote a blog about how couples cohabiting before marriage can actually increase the rate of divorce, and why this is something that the church needs to teach on more often. Be sure to read “The Importance of Knowing Why and Casting Vision.”

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the controversy surrounding the release of the movie adaptation of the book by Colleen Hoover It Ends With Us. While the book attempts to shine a light on the issue of domestic violence and the many faces that it can take, the movie - largely due to comments in the press from lead actress Blake Lively - has been criticized for romanticizing domestic abuse.

For those who've neither seen the movie nor read the book, we suggest you read the article highlighting the controversy and which gives an overview of the story. You can find the NPR article HERE. For more on the harrowing statistics that Dr. White mentioned on domestic violence, we suggest you visit the website for the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence HERE. And if you're interested in listening to the Liberty University Convocation address that he mentioned from Ray Rice, you can find that HERE.

Dr. White raised the need for the church to speak out on issues like domestic violence, because having open conversations makes it so much easier for women to come forward. And then the church must answer in response. Dr. White has delivered several series at Mecklenburg Community Church over the years that have touched on this subject. The series “#MeToo” has an installment called “#HomeToo” which specifically focuses on abuse within the home. It was touched on in the series “Holy Matrimony” looking at the Bible's view of marriage. It was also raised through the series “Man Up” exploring the biblical call to manhood.

If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, please call the Domestic Violence Hotline at 737-225-3150. You can also find out how to create a safety plan on their safe-exit website HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a topic that was frequently suggested through our online form - whether it's okay for a Christian to use profanity. And the questions went beyond the individual level to the church at large. Because there has been a recent trend where churches seem to have become much more lenient when it comes to cursing and name-calling.

The fact that churches and church leaders have seemingly loosened up when it comes to profanity is actually part of a larger trend of a general loosening within evangelicalism itself. This was the topic of a recent podcast episode that we'd recommend you go back and listen to if you missed it: CCP117: On the Loosening of Evangelicalism.

The trend we're seeing within the church is absolutely reflective of a trend in today's culture where a coarsening has taken place - there is very little shock value today even when hearing someone use the “F-word.” Dr. White mentioned an article in Psychology Today written by Dr. Valerie Fridland that discussed this topic at length. You can find that article HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a topic that's surprisingly not been tackled yet on the podcast: miracles. Today's conversation dives into the definition of miracles, their prevalence and purpose in Scripture, the Catholic Church's stance on miracles, and whether they still happen today.

The Catholic Church is trying to get a firm hold on supernatural phenomena and claims of the miraculous around the globe. There was a recent article by Claire Giangravé in Religion News Service titled “Vatican issues new norms to rein in supernatural phenomena” explaining how the Catholic Church must now approve all supposed miracles and are urging people not to post about them until they have been confirmed. This is especially important when it comes to determining whether someone will be classified as a “saint” by the Vatican. You may find it helpful to read a BBC News article on that subject HERE.

When discussing whether miracles can still happen today, Dr. White brought up a series that he developed at Mecklenburg Community Church titled “Same God.” The idea behind the series is the importance of reminding ourselves that the God we have today is the exact same God we read about in the Bible. When we hear of His goodness and mercy and miracles and love, it is to the very same God we are in a relationship with now. You can find that series on Church & Culture HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss prebunking, the concept of trying to expose falsehoods before they even come about. The concept of prebunking is modeled after the way vaccines work, but targeted at false information. It involves creating an immune response in the brain to counter the disease of false information, hoaxes and conspiracy theories. In a world where misinformation and disinformation abound and are fueled by the prevalence of A.I., it's more critical than ever to be able to distinguish truth from deception.

An article in The Washington Post titled “Debunking misinformation failed. Welcome to ‘pre-bunking,'” sparked today's episode. It discussed how the idea of prebunking was drawn from the “inoculation theory” of the 1960s. The hope is that prebunking efforts will stem the spread of misinformation ahead of the 2024 election.

As mentioned, A.I. is exacerbating the problem, making it increasingly difficult to root out fake stories and headlines. We tackled the topic of A.I. on the C&C Podcast - if you missed that episode you can find it HERE. Another recent podcast episode can shed some light on why prebunking is needed: CCP113: On Metamodernism. It looked at how we now have a culture that empowers the individual to first determine right ethics for themselves and then to find a corresponding religion or group that fits. This is simply fueling the struggle to recognize truth in our day.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a recent article in Christianity Today titled “The Loosening of Evangelicalism” written by Brad East. As the title implies, he gives his observations on the loosening of social norms within the church that has taken place for the last 25 years or so, particularly when it comes to changes in attitudes regarding alcohol, tattoos, dancing, gambling and mothers working outside of the home. So what, if any, are the implications of this shift when it comes to the church and how we are engaging with today's culture?

Interestingly, Dr. White gave a series at Mecklenburg Community Church several years ago that addressed many of the topics East mentioned in his article. The series was called “Is it okay for a Christian to…” and filled in the blanks with everything from gambling to watching R-rated movies to getting tattoos to smoking marijuana. You can find that series on Church & Culture HERE. And for an outline of the four-stage matrix Dr. White mentioned to determine whether something is prohibited or acceptable, we'd encourage you to read the Church & Culture blog entry HERE.

The Church & Culture Podcast has tackled some of the topics raised by East's article in the past. One area where culture has made a huge shift is in its embrace of marijuana. This was the topic of podcast discussion CCP74: On Smoking Marijuana and Drinking Wine that you can go back and listen to if you missed it. You can also check out CCP95: On Gambling, CCP79: On Cremation, CCP55: On Tattoos and Cosmetic Surgery and CCP22: On Yoga.

Finally, Dr. White discussed the importance of the church not capitulating to culture. Specifically, he mentioned recent decisions made by the United Methodist Church that have most definitely not led to growth of those churches. He mentioned a book written by sociologist Dean Kelley called Why Conservative Churches Are Growing, which you can find HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they continue the discussion from last week's episode about jobs and our work. While part one of this conversation focused on our vocation and calling, part two examined how we, as Christ followers, are called to engage with our coworkers. Because as it stands right now, we appear to be struggling in this area.

An article in The Wall Street Journal titled, “The Loneliness of the American Worker,” shed light on an epidemic of isolation that seems to be present whether working in the office or remotely. There is certainly a need for people to find community through their workplace. However, it seems that some people may have over-and-above expectations for their employers to fill too many roles. A CNBC survey found that 56% of American workers are unwilling to work in an environment where their employers do not share their values. You can read that article HERE.

The truth is, so many people are lacking the true community that can be found in the life of the church and a relationship with God. Dr. White recently wrote a blog about the book Mostly What God Does: Reflections on Seeking and Finding His Love Everywhere written by Savannah Guthrie. She wrote a winsome, compelling, authentic, vulnerable apologetic for God's character and how we are called to be the aroma of Christ to the world around us.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.