ERLC Podcast

The ERLC’s presence in our nation’s capital allows us to speak up, for, and from our Southern Baptist churches before various audiences. More specifically, we’re able to interact with the executive branch of our federal government, advocating for policies that positively affect issues Southern Baptists care about and pushing back against harmful policies that violate our biblical convictions. 

To help us better understand the executive branch, why Christians should care about this part of our government, and how organizations interact with it is Rachel Morrison. Rachel is a Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, where she directs EPPC’s Administrative State Accountability Project. As an attorney, her legal and policy work focuses on religious liberty, health care rights of conscience, the right to life, nondiscrimination, and civil rights. She is also a member of an SBC church. 

Listen to more episodes of The ERLC Podcast at erlc.com/podcast.

The ERLC operates out of two locations—Nashville, as our home base, and Capitol Hill, where we’ve had a permanent presence for 31 years. Our work in D.C. is focused on making the voice of Southern Baptists heard in the public policy space. We do this by regularly working with lawmakers, coalition partners, and like-minded organizations to increase our influence and maintain the stance of our SBC churches, shape the cultural debates of the day, provide pastors with information they need, and equip the SBC to stand for truth in their communities. 

On today’s episode, we’re talking with Brent Leatherwood, president of the ERLC, Hannah Daniel, ERLC’s director of public policy, and Allison Cantrell, senior policy associate for the ERLC, to get a better idea of the important work your ERLC does in the public square.

Listen to more episodes of The ERLC Podcast at erlc.com/podcast.

Throughout our marriage and family podcast series, we’ve looked at our society’s gender confusion and how it’s affecting our children, especially in schools. We’ve also heard about an important Supreme Court case that involves protecting our children from “gender transition” medical interventions. In order to hold fast to God’s good design for marriage, family, and sexuality, it’s important to understand some of the underlying problems with how our society views these fundamental realities. Joining us today to talk about this is Dr. Gregg Allison. 

Dr. Allison is a senior fellow in Marriage and Family for the ERLC Research Institute. He also serves as professor of Christian Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Prior to that, he taught theology and church history at Western Seminary in Oregon. He is an author and has 18 years of ministry experience at Campus Crusade as well as serving as a missionary in Italy and Switzerland. He is a member at his church in Kentucky.

Listen to more episodes of The ERLC Podcast at erlc.com/podcast.

Part of the mission of the ERLC is to assist churches by helping fellow Baptists understand the moral demands of the gospel. We also apply Christian principles to moral and social problems and questions of public policy. One of the ways we fulfill this mission is by partnering with like-minded individuals, churches, and institutions across the Southern Baptist Convention to produce work that is accessible and applicable to both the layperson and the scholar. 

Today, we’ll highlight two instances of cooperation in the area of gender and sexuality issues. The first involves our resource, “God’s Good Design: A Practical Guide for Answering Gender Confusion.” The second involves our public policy advocacy with the Baptist Convention of Iowa. Together, we signed onto an amicus brief in defense of parental rights.

We’ll talk to Dane Hays, family pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in Decatur, AL, about the “Gender Guide.” Dane has served in counseling and discipleship for over 20 years. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Psychology from UAB and a Masters of Divinity from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary where he studied biblical counseling and theology.

You’ll also hear from Tim Lubinus, the executive director of the Baptist Convention of Iowa, about the amicus brief. Prior to his current role, Tim was a missions pastor and served overseas on the mission field with the International Mission Board. He received a Masters of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and has a Doctor of Ministry from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  

Listen to more episodes of The ERLC Podcast at erlc.com/podcast.

As Christians, we know that God’s design for raising children is in the context of a home with a loving father and mother—and he gave parents the responsibility to raise their children in accordance with His Word. This may seem obvious, but our society is increasingly pushing back against God’s design by undermining “parental rights.” While in a fallen world parents don’t always seek what is best for their children and should be held accountable by God-given authorities, in most cases, moms and dads should be able raise their children according to their deeply held beliefs, ensuring their children are protected from things like the harmful effects of radical ideas about gender and sexuality.

So, why and how are parental rights being brought up at the Supreme Court this term in a case titled United States v. Skrmetti? On today’s episode, you’ll hear from two lawyers—Matt Sharp and Kayla Toney—who are well acquainted with these legal challenges and how they are related to radical gender ideology. Matt Sharp serves as senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, where he is the director of the Center for Public Policy. In this role, he leads ADF’s team of policy experts as they craft legislation and advise government officials on policies that promote free speech, religious freedom, parental rights, and the sanctity of human life.

Sharp has also worked on important cases advancing religious freedom and free speech. He earned his J.D. in 2006 from the Vanderbilt University School of Law. A member of the bar in Georgia and Tennessee, he is also admitted to practice in several federal courts.

Kayla Toney is Associate Counsel with First Liberty Institute, concentrating on religious liberty matters and First Amendment rights for clients of all faiths. Prior to joining First Liberty, Kayla litigated religious freedom cases as a Constitutional Law Fellow at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. She clerked for Judge Gregory E. Maggs on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. Kayla also worked as a litigation associate.

Kayla earned her law degree from George Washington University. A native of Michigan, Kayla is based in First Liberty’s Washington, D.C. office and is licensed to practice law in Virginia and D.C.

Listen to more episodes of The ERLC Podcast at erlc.com/podcast.

Election Day 2024 was one for the history books. President-elect Donald Trump was decisively returned to the White House by voters. A surprise given how close many commentators thought the race would be. Likewise, there was a Republican sweep in the House and Senate. In addition, the ERLC was closely watching 10 states with abortion ballot initiatives of those three states secured pro-life protections for the pre-born, while sadly, the seven other states enshrined pro-abortion legislation into their state constitutions. 

On today's episode, you'll hear from ERLC President Brent Leatherwood and our policy director Hannah Daniel. They'll talk about the results of the election, the importance of continuing to stand for the value of every preborn life and the good work we have the opportunity to accomplish with a new administration and Congress. 

Listen to more episodes of The ERLC Podcast at erlc.com/podcast.

Marriage and family are institutions that are pre-political, meaning they may be at the forefront of divisive political discussions and debates, but they originated in the mind of our Creator and were established by him with the creation of Adam and Eve and the command to be fruitful and multiply. In other words, marriage and family are God’s good idea and design. 

One of the areas of debate today regarding our families is concerning gender confusion, and whether or not parents have the right to teach and hold their children to the biblical design as male and female, especially in a school setting. The ERLC has written a white paper detailing the biblical and theological foundations for parental rights. We have also joined briefs in cases about parental rights, affirming before courts what Southern Baptists have affirmed: that parents have a God-given responsibility to raise their children according to a biblical worldview without interference from the government. 

On today’s episode, you’ll hear from two parents about raising our children in a sexually confused culture and exercising our parental rights, especially as we send them to school. Krissie Inserra is a pastor's wife, mom, and active member in her local church and community. She has served in pregnancy resource centers and has authored numerous articles. Dr. Benjamin Quinn is a husband, dad, and an ERLC research fellow. He is also assistant professor of Theology and History of Ideas and the director of L. Russ Bush Center for Faith and Culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He received his B.A. from Union University, his M.Div. and Th.M. from Southeastern, and his Ph.D. from University of Bristol in the United Kingdom.

Listen to more episodes of The ERLC Podcast at erlc.com/podcast.

Politics matter because they are the means by which the laws of our country, states, and communities are shaped. And those laws communicate what we value as a society. This November, the issue of life is on the ballot as an initiative in many states where voters will decide on laws related to abortion access. These specific  states include, New York, Maryland, Florida, Missouri, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Montana, Arizona, and Nevada.

Joining us today to help us better understand what these initiatives look like at a grassroots level and how they could impact the pro-life movement are Willie Isaacson and Joel Gilbert. Both Willie and Joel come highly recommended within their state conventions and come with years of experience in local and state policy advocacy.

Willie Isaacson is senior pastor of First Baptist, Richmond, Missouri where he has served for over 11 years. He currently serves as the chair of the Missouri Baptist Christian Life Commission and president of the Ministerial Alliance in Richmond, Missouri.

Joel Gilbert has served in Baptist churches in the D.C. area for over 25 years and currently serves as pastor at Poolesville Baptist Church in Poolesville, Maryland. He also serves on the Christian Life and Public Affairs Committee of the Baptist Convention of Maryland and Delaware.

Listen to more episodes of The ERLC Podcast at erlc.com/podcast.

Article three of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 says, and I paraphrase, that “The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore, every person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.” Because of this biblical truth, we believe that every person, regardless of age, level of ability, or stage of development, reflects the glory and goodness of God and should be treated with dignity and protection. 

The ERLC will always advocate for the most vulnerable among us, including preborn lives. Over the years, this advocacy work has taken many shapes and forms, but changed drastically in 2022 when the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Dobbs decision overturned the deadly precedent set in Roe v. Wade. While in many ways this was a watershed moment for the pro-life movement, we recognize there’s still much work to be done in the battle to protect human lives. The landscape has shifted and conversations about abortion rights are now happening at the state-level, where we find ourselves today in the wake of the 2024 election cycle. 

There are currently 10 states across the country where abortion ballot initiatives are up for a vote this November, many of which seek to harm preborn children and threaten the future of the pro-life movement. Joining us on today’s episode to help us better understand these initiatives and what would change should they pass are ERLC President Brent Leatherwood and ERLC Director of Public Policy Hannah Daniel.

Listen to more episodes of The ERLC Podcast at erlc.com/podcast.

Our series on mental health has helped us understand its connection with human dignity. Though God created us as perfect, embodied beings, sin has marred the human experience holistically, not only crippling our relationship with God, but with our bodies as well. As a result, mental illness is a part of living in a broken world, but the gospel has not left us without hope. 

While we live in the presence of spiritual and physical brokenness, Christ has promised to redeem us, making right what has gone wrong, and that includes our bodies. In the meantime, we live in the tension of what God has already done in providing Jesus, and what he has promised to do in making all things new. And he has given us the gift of the Church and each other to help us as we walk in this world. Specifically, for those who may want specialized help, the Lord has provided counselors to assist us in the daily fight to grow in Jesus in the midst of both our spiritual and mental struggles.  

Joining us on today’s episode to discuss the role of counseling in the church are Jonathan Holmes and Brad Hambrick. Jonathan Holmes is the founder and executive director of Fieldstone Counseling in Northeast, Ohio. Before founding Fieldstone, he served as a pastor for 15 years. He graduated with his M.A. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and has authored and contributed to a number of books.

Brad Hambrick serves as the pastor of counseling at The Summit Church in Durham, N.C. He also serves as assistant professor of biblical counseling at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, is a council member of the Biblical Counseling Coalition, and has authored several books.

Listen to more episodes of The ERLC Podcast at erlc.com/podcast.