Hard Conversations

Transgenderism. This is a sheer madness: Adults who should know better are coaxing our young people to question their sexual identity through transgenderism. Have you ever wondered how many of us truly struggle with real transgenderism? And too many culturally sensitive Christians are afraid to speak the plain truth. This has to stop, for much is at stake. This and the following videoblog on transgenderism delve into what the real issues are and where the science is behind transgenderism. There are important issues that the transgender advocates and sympathizers have brought up and I am going to argue that we can address some of those issues without the tortured logic of “biological sex is a social construct.” Especially if you are a parent, please check them out for your child’s sake.

Climate change, a.k.a., global warming.
Have you given any thought to this wedge issue that has long been politicized? Is it fact or fiction? If indeed it’s a problem—to many, a huge crisis—then, is its cause anthropogenic or natural in origin? Is the Green New Deal solution to climate change or is it a raw deal? As a believer who firmly believes that “the present heaven and earth are reserved for fire” (2 Pet. 3:7)—that is, before the ushering of “a new heaven and a new earth” (Rev. 21:1)—what should be our response to the environment? Check out this videoblog and find out what’s really going on.

Hell is such an awful doctrine to uphold. No wonder many people in our society, particularly those who strive to be sophisticated and culturally sensitive, have rejected this teaching. So, can a gospel that omits hell altogether still save? What is the real reason even many Bible-believing churches would rather not talk about hell from the pulpit? What is our reason for wanting to avoid this topic that doesn't abode very well on us among our friends and colleagues?

Racism . . . critical race theory. What does that have to do with the Thanksgiving narrative (?) and the recent Waukesha mass killing and the murder of Ahmaud Arbery in 2020? Can you trust the Mainstream Media to honestly report what is really going on? What is going on? In search of truth, this videoblog delves into this volatile issue by way of considering significant statements made by those on the Left.

The fact is that not everyone sitting in the pews is vaccinated, and most people, it seems, are not sympathetic to their choice no matter what their reasons are. This videoblog is an attempt to navigate through this volatile matter both biblically and scientifically, so that the unity of the church does not fall victim to a terrible witness before the world due to its harsh and divisive rhetoric slipping into the body of Christ.

Information overload is an understatement. Inundated by a glut of information coming from all sides, each claiming to be right and authoritative, we are quickly losing our ability to know which is true and which is false. Can the mainstream media help us to know which is which? I am making a case that this establishment has long been compromised to the point that they have become part of the problem of creating more confusion and uncertainty. So, should we give up on the mainstream media? Well, I am also making a case that there is a way in which we can still look to the mainstream media to tell the truth. Won’t you find out how?

This video begins with what happened in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015 when a self-proclaimed white supremacist, Dylann Roof, entered a historical Black church and then mowed down nine Black Christians studying the Bible. Shockingly, the families of the slain forgave the killer within days of the killing, even telling him that they loved him. While that was well-received nationally, including Isabel Wilkerson, author of New York Times Bestseller, “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents,” she also shared how she was troubled by the optics of the victimized Blacks forgiving an unrepentant white assailant. At first, I didn’t understand why she felt that way, until I learned about the long history behind how forgiveness played a key role in perceptualizing Black people as inferior to white people. The question then is why these Black Christians forgave this impenitent white killer? Was it a reactive vestige of the past when Black slaves were compelled to forgive those whites who wronged them? That’s what this video is about.

How do you feel about illegal immigration? It certainly isn't a simple matter for the believers who are caught between having compassion for the needy and the duty to uphold laws. In this video I share how I came to resolve this struggle, in tension, with Scripture, on the one hand, and three meaningful encounters with illegal immigrants, on the other.

White evangelical men are the root of all that is wrong in America, claims Kristin Kobes Du Mez, author of a New York Times bestseller "Jesus and John Wayne." And she has no patience for "complementarianism," a doctrine that, she feels, promotes militant masculinity that has created a hostile environment for women, which resulted in abusing and mistreating them—sexually or otherwise. This video is an attempt to sift through her view and to understand the need to uphold the real Jesus, not the one who resembles a John Wayne.

With the arrival of thousands of Muslims from Afghanistan in the U.S. and the increasing possibility of terrorism both home ana abroad in the aftermath of the Afghan fiasco, the question of Islamophobia will likely be raised again—as it did a few years ago. Be prepared to respond in a discerning manner so that our proclamation of the gospel to the world may not be adversely affected by our poor response.