Share Truth Apply Scripture

Wesley, Jeremy, and TJ, just wrapped up their discussion of how to make the case for life to believers who are prochoice. But only having talks and discussions keeps the issue abstract. The team wanted to give you something tangible and practical to do in helping save the lives of preborn children.

To accomplish this, they invited Dan Steiner, president of Pre-born. The ministry is seeking to put ultrasound machines in pregnancy resource centers across the country. Dan tells us that when a mother sees her infant inside her womb through an ultrasound, there is an 80% chance she will choose life.

Pre-born has broken down the cost of each ultrasound and it comes to $28. For that amount, you can sponsor a mother having the opportunity to hear a heartbeat, see a tiny body, and choose life for her child.

Since the ministry started a few years ago, over 33,000 babies have been saved. You can help save another 33,000.

Do you do New Year’s resolutions? Have you ever failed at one? Ok, let’s be honest, we all fail at them, that’s why it is a constant joke this time of year. But what does that say about us and what hope do we have to truly better ourselves? That is the topic of discussion on today’s episode of Engage Magazine Podcast.

Wesley, Jordan, and TJ talk about some of their New Year’s resolutions from 2016. They give the good, the bad, and the epic fails.

Wesley read a book. TJ wants to write a book. Jordan didn’t want to get better in 2016 (he succeeded by the way).

But the team looks ahead to 2017 with areas they want to strengthen or build up. You can listen in to find out what they have planned for the next 12 months, or watch Jordan talk it in his latest vlog.

Engage also has a few resolutions, one of the biggest being our first annual conference. If you don’t know anything about it, click here to learn more. If you do know about it, make a resolution to join us in March. Click here to register and get the early-bird discount.

Continuing our discussion on New Year's resolutions and how we utterly fail at them at the time, Wesley, Jordan, and TJ ask the question: are all resolutions doomed to failure?

The answer they come to is simple: Yes. That is if we are trying to better ourselves by our own might and our own strength.

The fact is that if we want to truly better ourselves, we have to understand a few things about ourselves and, more importantly, a few things about God.

In ourselves we lack the ability to truly better ourselves. Even if we were to master some skill or quit some habit, we would take undue pride in the fact we were able to do it in ourselves and thus create a new weakness in our hearts. We may also fall into legalism and not discern the difference between legalism (something that grieves the Spirit of God) and discipline (something He commands).

No matter how many resolutions you have failed in, there is hope. If Jesus Himself was fully dependent on the Holy Spirit, why would we ever think we don't have to?

In this thought, the team discusses Romans 8:5-8 in an attempt to understand our greatest resolution, focusing more on and understanding better, the person of the Holy Spirit.

So what about you? How are you going to be more reliant on the Holy Spirit this year? What plans do you have in place to practice more spiritual discipline? How do you avoid legalism in pursuing the spiritual disciplines? Let us know in the comments or on our Facebook page.

Discussion continues for Engage's Created to Reflect Worldview Conference with Wil Addison. Wil and his wife Meeke are speaking at the conference along with Sean McDonald, Alex MacFarland, Kendra White, Scooter Noland, and Teddy James (TJ).

Wil talks about why the Created to Reflect theme was chosen, why it matters in today's world, and he introduces BSAC, a coalition of biblically-sound Christians artists.

If you are into hip hop or anything close to genre, visit BSAC. You will be sure to find something you like, and everything there is coming from hearts that share Engage's vision of sharing truth and applying Scripture.

Engage has had one desire from the very beginning: help you build a biblical worldview. To that end, we write articles, record videos, and produce this podcast. The next logical step for us is to do a one-weekend conference. The 2017 conference is Created to Reflect.

Part of putting together a great conference is having great speakers, but another aspect is hosting great music. That is why Wesley and TJ have Cam on to talk about his music, his ministry, and what you can expect when you see him at the Engage Worldview Conference. You haven't registered for the conference yet? You can do so here.

It is always a struggle to keep Christmas celebrations focused on Christ instead of the gifts, food, movies, and all the other fixings that come during this season.

As Jordan and TJ were talking about how they planned to keep Christ in the center, Jordan said, "The best person I know who does this consistently is my dad, Jeff Chamblee."

So the natural response was to bring Jeff, director of American Family Studios, onto the program and ask him how he keeps his heart and the heart of his family focused on Christ during Christmas. His best advice: Don't wait for Christmas. Keep Christ the focus for the other 11 months as well. He gives some practical wisdom for families with young and grown children.

Have you let Christmas celebrations stress you out? Are you trying to make everyone in your family and your spouse's family happy by trying to be everywhere at once? You aren't alone.

There is a conflict that comes when trying to start new traditions in your family while honoring the traditions your family had while you grew up. But there are things you can do, decisions you can make, and purpose you can consider that will help remove some of the stress from celebrating Christmas. Jordan and TJ discuss how they have tried out new Christmas traditions for them and their wives while honoring the traditions of other family members at the same time.

Last year Engage partnered with e3 Partners with 8Thirty8 to send letters to family members of Christian martyrs in Egypt. Our supporters sent over 2,000 letters to these families.

This year we are doing the Orange Letter Campaign again, but with a new focus.

Syria has been embroiled in a civil war since 2011. It is difficult for us to understand what is happening and we could quickly get into the weeds of who is doing what and who is on what side. But one thing that is not debatable is the persecution Christians are suffering across the war-torn nation.

To help us talk about what Christians are experiencing, why we chose Syria, and what is going to happen when you write your letter to Christians in Syria, Jordan and TJ talk with Tom Doyle, vice president of e3 Partners and founder of 8Thirty9.

We are still in the midst of our Orange Letter Campaign. But Christians cannot speak of persecution without some really serious questions coming to our minds. If God is for us, why does He allow persecution to happen? Why doesn't He just have justice now by slaying those who slaughter His children?

Why do Christians have to suffer in this world at the hands of evil? And what does the existence of this suffering reveal about the heart of God?

Wesley, Jordan, and TJ freely admit they do not hold all the answers to these questions, but not having the answers doesn't mean we shy away from talking about them. Listen to the episode and chime in with you thoughts in the comments below.

Have you ever wondered what must go on in the mind of an artist? Have you ever wanted to think like an architect and be able to look at an empty plot of dirt and picture a skyscraper in its place? Have you ever wondered how an apologist thinks?

Alex McFarland joins Wesley and TJ in studio again to talk about this idea. He goes into what resources are trustworthy and worth investing your time in reading and studying.

Alex also boils down the vast majority of questions apologists face into six different categories. According to him, apologists present, defend, and explain the gospel of Jesus Christ. Every interaction is boiled down to those three actions.

In the second half of the segment, Alex tackles some of the hardest questions people routinely ask, specifically how a good God could call for the genocide of an entire people group in the Old Testament.