Today we spend a little bit of time in the book of Philippians in the New Testament. The verse that our guest explains is Philippians 1:21. We often jump to the end of the verse, "to die is gain." And that is a very important part. It gives us tremendous hope. But what does the first part of the verse tell us? What does it mean to live in Christ? We spend some time talking about this. Later in the program we also consider the education of our Covenant children. Our guest along with his wife, has used the Classical Conversations materials. Participants: Rev. Jon Shishko, Dan Elmendorf

Back in November 19, 2016, there was a news story that was largely ignored by the press. The people of Poland, clergy and laity, with their civil leaders had a gathering. This was a Jubilee Act of Acceptance of Jesus Christ as King and Lord. This was an amazing gathering, primarily of sincere Roman Catholic believers. Consider that this was a mass turnout that honored the Lord Jesus Christ and recognized his reign over the nation of Poland. This got us thinking. Do we have theological baggage that prevents us from rejoicing in such an action? Is there legitimacy in the view that the gospel of Christ transforms every area that it touches? We certainly know that Christ transforms individual lives and also churches. Yet there seems to be a lack of faith in terms of Christ transforming every aspect of life. Or, as our guest points out: "the sweep of redemption is as comprehensive as the sweep of sin" (a quote from Van Til). Today we talk with the founder and president of the Center for Cultural Leadership in Coulterville, CA. Here is the website: https://christianculture.com/

Here is the link to the video showing the declaration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzv9DOg0ksk

Participants: Dr. P. Andrew Sandlin, Dan Elmendorf

Is it legitimate for the church to instruct the civil magistrate regarding their role? On the heels of the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling, there was a church that took the time to read the ruling, and then constructed a respectful and prophetic letter to the U.S. Government that spelled out the biblical requirement for marriage. That church was Oceanside United Reformed Church at 2605 Carlsbad Blvd. in Carlsbad, CA. Today we talk with the pastor of that church about the sphere of the Church addressing civil issues as it speaks to the sphere of civil government. The spheres remain separate and yet the fact that Jesus is Lord over all, means that He has a rightful claim over government as well. Again, the church does not in any way control government, but it can and should declare prophetically the law of God to our leaders. It is up to the leaders what they do with it. If our leaders do not know the requirements of God, where else will they get it from? The church must speak. You just cannot invent morality - it has to come from the Moral Law Giver. Here is the link to this church:

https://www.oceansideurc.org/home

Here is the statement: https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.cloversites.com/d2/d220fe46-5fc2-46b5-9025-ba5703b0d302/documents/Marriage_Statement.pdf

If that link does not work for you, go to the church's website, and look for "about us," then scroll down to "Contemporary Statements." Look for Our Statement on Marriage (2015) in response to the Supreme Court of the United States' decision regarding marriage.

Participants: Rev. Danny Hyde, Dan Elmendorf

What is meant by "Antithesis" when studying theology? Today we interview the author of the book: "What All Christians Believe and Why: A Contemporary Guide to the Historic Faith." First we talk about practical theology and then we dive into a specific example of how this fleshes out in our world. Dr. Schuringa shares with us how he is working to help the poor in terms of legal representation for those who are in jail but for various reasons their sentence was too extreme, or because of no representation, they really should not be in jail. Participants: Dr. H. David Schuringa, Dan Elmendorf

This interview is based on an article that appeared in the American Spectator: https://spectator.org/the-marxist-progressive-war-on-the-boy-scouts/

Our guest describes the roots of this attack on the Boy Scouts as going all the way back to the ideologies of Communism that today is evident in Cultural Marxism. The article is more than just an opinion piece as it includes hyperlinks to the source documents. At the end of the discussion our author includes two book references. The first is: "Communism: A History," by Richard Pipes (https://www.amazon.com/Communism-History-Modern-Library-Chronicles/dp/0812968646) and his own book: "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Communism" by Paul Kengor. (https://www.amazon.com/Politically-Incorrect-Guide-Communism-Guides/dp/162157587X/ref=sr_1_4?s=books=UTF8=1529534382=1-4=Paul+Kengor) Participants: Dr. Paul Kengor, Dan Elmendorf

Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920) was Christian statesman and theologian. He also had a deeply devotional side to him. Christ saved him early in his adult life, and Kuyper would go on to write about creation, worldview, and sphere sovereignty, among other topics. He brought much value to the areas of education, philosophy, and political and cultural engagement. He was Prime Minister of the Netherlands between 1901 and 1905. Today we interview the author of the book "Contours of the Kuyperian Tradition - A Systematic Introduction." Is it right for the gospel to pervade all areas of life? We explore what is meant by grace restoring nature. Kuyper loved the writings of Calvin. So, what is meant when people say that Kuyper was a "Neo-Calvinist?" Participants: Dr. Craig Bartholomew, Dan Elmendorf

This week we are privileged to hear the story of how hospitality was used of the Lord, as a proximate means, to win Rosaria Butterfield to Himself. As she explains, her book is about simply being ourselves and loving our neighbors, inviting them into our homes - into our lives. She makes the distinction that she is not advocating "preaching the world to the church." But what happens to the family when our children see Christ powerfully at work in the lives of wounded people that cross our paths and whom the Lord sovereignly changes? This sort of thing profoundly and positively affects our children. We also discuss the idea of building our lives so that there is margin. We are all so busy - how do we do that? Her book is titled: "The Gospel Comes with a House Key: Practicing Radically Ordinary Hospitality in Our Post-Christian World." You can find the book at rosariabutterfield.com, or Crossway(https://www.crossway.org/books/the-gospel-comes-with-a-house-key-hcj/), or Amazon. From an article she wrote: "Radically ordinary hospitality�those who live it�see strangers as neighbors and neighbors as family of God. They recoil at reducing a person to a category or a label. They see God�s image reflected in the eyes of every human being on earth. They know they are like meth addicts and sex-trade workers. They take their own sin seriously�including the sin of selfishness and pride. They take God�s holiness and goodness seriously. They use the Bible as a lifeline, with no exceptions." Participants: Dr. Rosaria Butterfield, Dan Elmendorf

What is the largest segment of our population who is being hurt the most by Obama Care? Fact is, it is the middle class. That is the largest segment and they are being hurt the most. Today we have a fascinating discussion about what is at the root cause of why health care is costing so very much. The documented data behind the conclusions to today's discussion is huge. Pages and pages of excellent top notch studies are available and the link is given later in the program. Our guest a senior fellow in The Heritage Foundation's Center for Health Policy Studies. Dr. Moffit also serves as chairman of the Maryland Health Care Commission, and has published on health policy in such journals as Health Affairs, Harvard Health Policy Review and the New England Journal of Medicine. Participants: Dr. Robert Moffit, Dan Elmendorf

Approximately 103 years ago, there was a dark period in history in which took place the systematic extermination of the Christian Armenians by the Ottoman Turks. One and a half million Christians were killed in this first genocide of the 20th century. The number of Christian killed total, is actually much greater and is on the order of 3.5 Million when we account for Assyrian, Armenian and Greek Christians. Today we talk with the missionary director of Frontline Fellowship. He reviews the history of the Ottoman Empire as well as this more recent period. If you would like to learn more about this whole area of Islam and Christianity, we recommend the following book available from Frontline Fellowship: Slavery, Terrorism Islam - Revised Expanded Edition. The URL is here: https://www.frontlinefellowship.net/inc/sdetail/119/1799 ---Also in this interview, we review the steps that despots employ as they attempt to take over a culture. That is, what are the steps to genocide? You will find this part of the discussion quite fascinating. But more than fascinating, hopefully by learning the history of takeovers, we can avoid the evil of future genocides as we become aware of the steps that despots take. Fact is, they use much of the same steps repeatedly in history. Participants: Dr. Peter Hammond, Dan Elmendorf