Friends! This is it. The final episode of Season 3.

Let's call it an Epilogue, but it's really a conclusion with a ton of "what do we do now" kind of stuff.  It's a wrap-up, so in many ways, it could have made a great intro episode as well. Whether this is the first episode you've heard, or the final one of the season... enjoy!

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Throughout this season, we  want to remove the cultural scales from our eyes using insight from:
Alan Noble (You are Not your Own)
Andrew Root (Ministry in the Secular Age series)
Alan Ehrenberg (Diagnosing the History of Depression in the Contemporary Age)
Charles Taylor (A Secular Age)
Andy Crouch (The Tech-Wise Family)
Leonard Sax (The Collapse of Parenting)
All of Jean Twenge's (SDSU) recent interviews / articles / and her books
James K.A. Smith's books and articles
N.T. Wright (The Day the Revolution Began among others)
Alasdair MacIntyre (After Virtue)
 The New and Old Testaments... plus other works that we sprinkle throughout. 

[The views presented are those of the speaker or author and do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or its components.] 

Season 3, episode 8: "Parenting in the You Do You Era."

This episode is our attempt at re-focusing parenting on raising disciples of Jesus.

To that end, we draw from parenting "fails" that stem from the junk values of the YDYE, and ultimately encourage Christian parents to help their children see themselves in God's story. Helping our kids see themselves in God's story allows us to  help them "figure out who they are and what they want" in light of their identity as a child of God.

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Throughout this season, we  want to remove the cultural scales from our eyes using insight from:
Alan Noble (You are Not your Own)
Andrew Root (Ministry in the Secular Age series)
Alan Ehrenberg (Diagnosing the History of Depression in the Contemporary Age)
Charles Taylor (A Secular Age)
Andy Crouch (The Tech-Wise Family)
Leonard Sax (The Collapse of Parenting)
All of Jean Twenge's (SDSU) recent interviews / articles / and her books
James K.A. Smith's books and articles
N.T. Wright (The Day the Revolution Began among others)
Alasdair MacIntyre (After Virtue)
 The New and Old Testaments... plus other works that we sprinkle throughout. 

[The views presented are those of the speaker or author and do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or its components.] 

Season 3, episode 7: "Love and Marriage in the You Do You Era."

When relationships are simply an additional tool for you to be "your best self" or to find who you are...then you know you're living in the You do You Era.

Today we chat about how love, and marriage itself, has been influenced by the junk values of the YDYE. But, we don't just whine and complain. We also turn to the New Testament, especially Paul's theology of submission, in order to beckon Christians back to a cross-centered foundation for our most intimate relationships. 

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Throughout this season, we  want to remove the cultural scales from our eyes using insight from:
Alan Noble (You are Not your Own)
Andrew Root (Ministry in the Secular Age series)
Alan Ehrenberg (Diagnosing the History of Depression in the Contemporary Age)
Charles Taylor (A Secular Age)
Andy Crouch (The Tech-Wise Family)
Leonard Sax (The Collapse of Parenting)
All of Jean Twenge's (SDSU) recent interviews / articles / and her books
James K.A. Smith's books and articles
N.T. Wright (The Day the Revolution Began among others)
Alasdair MacIntyre (After Virtue)
 The New and Old Testaments... plus other works that we sprinkle throughout. 

[The views presented are those of the speaker or author and do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or its components.] 

Season 3, episode 6: "Technology is Forming You and Failing to Transform You."

Your phone is not a tool.  It is not neutral.

Your phone is a cash-cow device designed to get you to pick it up, use it,  never put it down, and in the process, make other people lots and lots of money.

Friends, we are being formed by an algorithm, created by neuroscientists and computer programmers in California, on full display across all major social media platforms. Our eyes and our minds get pulled into video after video, feed upon feed, all based on what other people perceive we want to look at or consume.

We are being formed...or perhaps, de-formed.

The You Do You Era  is marked by rampant use of electronic devices: Phones, tablets, computers, watches, and more. Our behaviors have become daily liturgies. Rather than organizing ourselves around time in service to God-in-the-world, most everything we do is orchestrated around or deeply influenced by inputs from our smart devices.

In this episode, we pull heavily from James K.A. Smith and Andy Crouch (The Tech Wise Family).  We unashamedly encourage you to be weird, to adopt odd practices and thick boundaries around technology. Why? Because you and your kids are being formed by these practices....or, perhaps, de-formed!  The question to consider is "What image am I being formed into?"

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Throughout this season, we  want to remove the cultural scales from our eyes using insight from:
Alan Noble (You are Not your Own)
Andrew Root (Ministry in the Secular Age series)
Alan Ehrenberg (Diagnosing the History of Depression in the Contemporary Age)
Charles Taylor (A Secular Age)
Andy Crouch (The Tech-Wise Family)
Leonard Sax (The Collapse of Parenting)
All of Jean Twenge's (SDSU) recent interviews / articles / and her books
James K.A. Smith's books and articles
N.T. Wright (The Day the Revolution Began among others)
Alasdair MacIntyre (After Virtue)
 The New and Old Testaments... plus other works that we sprinkle throughout. 

[The views presented are those of the speaker or author and do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or its components.] 

Season 3, episode 5: "Depression thrives on the You Do You Era's narrative."

Humans have never had more access to self help media and mental health drugs than right now.  And yet, depression and anxiety are the hallmark pathologies of the You Do You Era.  All the statistics show the same thing: We're more depressed, more anxious, and less happy, even though we have more creature comforts than ever in human history. 

Why is this?

Obviously, the answer is very complicated....more complicated than what we could cover in this episode.

But here's the deal: Modern society makes us ill. Many people are anxious and depressed not because there is something wrong with them, but because something is wrong with the water (culture) that we are swimming in. It's polluted. It points you inward and then leaves you all alone.

Research shows that religious faith, connected to a healthy Church, is a buffer, a HUGE buffer, against depressive disorders.  Why? Because a healthy Church offers a counter narrative to the You Do You Era. 

You belong to God (See Alan Noble's You Are Not Your Own); You are a baptized child of God; God is the center, not you; these Church folk love you and you are accountable to them; you are not the king /queen of your life. 

And this counter narrative will change your habits, and your habits may lead you to God.

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Throughout this season, we  want to remove the cultural scales from our eyes using insight from:
Alan Noble (You are Not your Own)
Andrew Root (Ministry in the Secular Age series)
Alan Ehrenberg (Diagnosing the History of Depression in the Contemporary Age)
Charles Taylor (A Secular Age)
Andy Crouch (The Tech-Wise Family)
Leonard Sax (The Collapse of Parenting)
All of Jean Twenge's (SDSU) recent interviews / articles / and her books
James K.A. Smith's books and articles
N.T. Wright (The Day the Revolution Began among others)
Alasdair MacIntyre (After Virtue)
 The New and Old Testaments... plus other works that we sprinkle throughout. 

[The views presented are those of the speaker or author and do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or its components.] 

Season 3, episode 4: "The World has Lost its Enchantment."

Key to the You Do You Era's self-focused ideas for what it means to be a human is this: The world is disenchanted; everything has a natural explanation; God is cool and all, but he can't be involved in the world and in our lives because it sounds dumb to say it out loud.

How do we talk about God in light of scientific discoveries?
Did God heal my loved one from cancer, or was it the oncologist?
How should I think about words like "sacred" and "spiritual"?
Why does my church gather in a multi purpose room instead of a sanctuary?

My friends, even Christians struggle with this topic.  And that's OK, because we are swimming in the same You Do You Era cultural waters as everyone else!

We'll give you the spoiler alert up front on this episode: The world is enchanted. God is active. God works to achieve God's good, right, and just purposes for the world through human beings.  God animates you and draws close to you through ordinary things: Bread and wine (communion), water (baptism), the prayers of the Church, acts of loving kindness, fasting, feasting, and (yes, this one is important) even through pain and trials of life. Sometimes, we can explain these things. Other times, we cannot. Either way, the world is enchanted and God is present.

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Throughout this season, we  want to remove the cultural scales from our eyes using insight from:
Alan Noble (You are Not your Own)
Andrew Root (Ministry in the Secular Age series)
Alan Ehrenberg (Diagnosing the History of Depression in the Contemporary Age)
Charles Taylor (A Secular Age)
Andy Crouch (The Tech-Wise Family)
Leonard Sax (The Collapse of Parenting)
All of Jean Twenge's (SDSU) recent interviews / articles / and her books
James K.A. Smith's books and articles
N.T. Wright (The Day the Revolution Began among others)
Alasdair MacIntyre (After Virtue)
 The New and Old Testaments... plus other works that we sprinkle throughout. 

[The views presented are those of the speaker or author and do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or its components.] 

Season 3, episode 3: "How the Concept of Faith has been Distorted and Makes us More Selfish."

Friends! Faith is a private matter, and God just wants you to do what feels good, be the best version of yourself, and be a good dude, as long as you aren't hurting anyone.  Right? 

These are the claims about FAITH that the You Do You Era preaches. And these claims are shallow, unfulfilling, erase the need for a Messiah like Jesus, and it leads only to more self-centered living.

But there is a better way!

To be fully human is to be like Christ. Why? Because Christ was the fullest, most whole/complete/perfect human to ever have lived. So, to be more human, is to be more like Christ...not to follow ourselves, but to put our minds on things above, to die the first death (to ourselves) so we might be made alive in Christ (Colossians 3).

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Throughout this season, we  want to remove the cultural scales from our eyes using insight from:
Alan Noble (You are Not your Own)
Andrew Root (Ministry in the Secular Age series)
Alan Ehrenberg (Diagnosing the History of Depression in the Contemporary Age)
Charles Taylor (A Secular Age)
Andy Crouch (The Tech-Wise Family)
Leonard Sax (The Collapse of Parenting)
All of Jean Twenge's (SDSU) recent interviews / articles / and her books
James K.A. Smith's books and articles
N.T. Wright (The Day the Revolution Began among others)
Alasdair MacIntyre (After Virtue)
 The New and Old Testaments... plus other works that we sprinkle throughout. 

[The views presented are those of the speaker or author and do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or its components.] 

Season 3, episode 2: "Seeing Yourself in God's Story...not the other way around."

Friends: To be fully human is to be authentic to yourself and your inner voice above all others...That's the mantra of the You Do You Era.  But, this way of being human overpromises (that you'll be happy and whole!), and it under delivers (we end up unfulfilled).

One way we attempt to break free from the You Do You Era's hold on our lives is by seeing ourselves as characters in God's story of redemption, not the other way around.

We often see God as a key member of our story.  This is not strong enough in the You Do You Era. It still keeps me at the center of the world: My vision, my thoughts, my goals, my feelings, my identity.

We need a stronger vision for being a whole and complete human, one that helps us to see ourselves as key players in God's story (not our story), empowered by the Holy Spirit to bring about God's good, right, and just purposes for the world.

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Throughout this season, we  want to remove the cultural scales from our eyes using insight from:
Alan Noble (You are Not your Own)
Andrew Root (Ministry in the Secular Age series)
Alan Ehrenberg (Diagnosing the History of Depression in the Contemporary Age)
Charles Taylor (A Secular Age)
Andy Crouch (The Tech-Wise Family)
Leonard Sax (The Collapse of Parenting)
All of Jean Twenge's (SDSU) recent interviews / articles / and her books
James K.A. Smith's books and articles
N.T. Wright (The Day the Revolution Began among others)
Alasdair MacIntyre (After Virtue)
 The New and Old Testaments... plus other works that we sprinkle throughout. 

[The views presented are those of the speaker or author and do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or its components.] 

Following Jesus in the You Do You Era.

Season 3 is here!

Be true to yourself...
Follow your heart...
Be authentic to yourself...
Live your best life...
You are the captain of your fate...
Chart your own path...
Walk your own way...
Live your life for yourself...

Friends-  Welcome to the You Do You Era: Where listening to your own voice above all others, and expressing yourself in whatever way you want (as long as it doesn't hurt anybody and is authentic) is the most vital way of being human.

But this weight - of choosing our own path and being given so much individual independence to curate my identity - is too much for us to bear.

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Throughout this season, we  want to remove the cultural scales from our eyes using insight from:
Alan Noble (You are Not your Own)
Andrew Root (Ministry in the Secular Age series)
Alan Ehrenberg (Diagnosing the History of Depression in the Contemporary Age)
Charles Taylor (A Secular Age)
Andy Crouch (The Tech-Wise Family)
Leonard Sax (The Collapse of Parenting)
All of Jean Twenge's (SDSU) recent interviews / articles / and her books
James K.A. Smith's books and articles
N.T. Wright (The Day the Revolution Began among others)
Alasdair MacIntyre (After Virtue)
 The New and Old Testaments... plus other works that we sprinkle throughout. 

[The views presented are those of the speaker or author and do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or its components.] 

Nick and Dairus team up to talk about "When Things in Life Just Don't Work out." 

- When you move the chess pieces of your life the right way, but you still don't get the job or assignment or position.
- When you marry the right person and have a great family, but you still find yourself lonely and tired and wondering if life is supposed to feel this way.
- When you find out that the ancient church had a way of describing this phase of your identity-formation: The Desert Way. 

In the desert, when comfort and assumptions are stripped away, God opens our eyes. To what, exactly? Good question. 

Perhaps, in the desert moments of our lives, we learn to see God. 

Or, perhaps, we learn to see the world for what it is (broken) and are invited to join God in renewing it and restoring it through the love of God... starting with ourselves.