Lauren and Owen Mitchell drop in to talk about what they've learned about building a great marriage -- from being Marriage Dynamics Institute facilitators for more than 25 years and by practicing marriage together for more than 28 years. In this conversation, they focus on how the small things often make the biggest difference in how partners experience marriage. This one is full of practical pointers that even the busiest and most stressed-out couples can start using today.

Click here for a link of upcoming ReConnect Weekend marriage retreats (referenced in the interview)

Link to article about Owen Mitchell's recent national championship win on the senior pickleball circuit

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Jonathan Skrmetti (Harpeth Hills Church of Christ), attorney general for the state of Tennessee, is the defendant in what the national media argue is the biggest case of the term for the United States Supreme Court: United States v. Skrmetti. 

In question is a 2023 Tennessee state law that prevents healthcare professionals from providing gender transition procedures to minors. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Biden administration brought suit against Tennessee for violating the 14th Amendment rights of three teens who seek gender transition procedures.

In this episode, Abilene Christian University professor (and practicing attorney) Dr. Kenneth Pybus asks Skrmetti to explain the "what," the "how," and the "why" of his defense of the Tennessee state law. 

Skrmetti also talks about how practicing the law is a ministry, the best way (and not best way) to go about that ministry and how he uses his office to protect the rights of ordinary citizens (such as when he takes big companies to court for making products that harm their users).

Skrmetti shares how he came to become a member of the Church of Christ and why he still prioritizes taking his entire family to Wednesday night Bible class every week.

Link to Bobby Ross Jr.'s The Christian Chronicle article about United States v. Skrmetti (December 2024)

Link to Bostock v. Clayton County (2020) case referenced in the interview

Link to the Cass Review (2020) referenced in the interview

Link to news report on the United Kingdom's ban on puberty blockers for minors (referenced in the interview)

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The way Christians think about and use sex is changing. For example, a recent study by Barna Group and Pure Desire Ministries shows that Christian porn use is almost equal to porn use by the general public. And an increasing number of Christians believe that it is OK to look at porn. At the same time, fewer and fewer congregations are addressing the issue from the pulpit, in recovery groups or in small groups.

Meanwhile, Adventures in Missions (AIM), a popular missionary training program at Sunset International Bible Institute discovered that is missionaries-in-training needed to talk about sex. Not only because of how sex often becomes an issue on the mission field, but because too many future missionaries are themselves victims of sexual trauma.

In this episode, Holly and Steve Holladay of Ultimate Escape talk about why sexual dysfunction and sexual sin are so prevalent in the church today...and how churches can (and should) address this head-on (instead of avoiding it or pretending it's not there).

Link to Bobby Ross Jr.'s Christian Chronicle report on "sex education" at Adventures in Missions

Link to Barna Group / Pure Desire study on porn use among Christians

Link to Ultimate Escape

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Get the ultimate Bible study experience. Explore graduate studies in theology at Freed-Hardeman University at fhu.edu/chronicle.

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The way Christians think about and use sex is changing. For example, a recent study by Barna Group and Pure Desire Ministries shows that Christian porn use is almost equal to porn use by the general public. And an increasing number of Christians believe that it is OK to look at porn. At the same time, fewer and fewer congregations are addressing the issue from the pulpit, in recovery groups or in small groups.

In this episode, Rodney Wright talks about the reasons that Christian attitudes about sex are changing, why the church seems to be retreating from the subject and what Christians and congregations can (and should) do.

Link to Barna Group / Pure Desire study on porn use among Christians

Link to Pure Desire Ministries

Link to How to Talk with Your Kids About Sex

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Get the ultimate Bible study experience. Explore graduate studies in theology at Freed-Hardeman University at fhu.edu/chronicle.

Be the hands of Jesus. Get involved with Healing Hands International at hhi.org.

The new film, Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin (Angel Studios) is drawing Christian audiences around the world, but does it get the depiction of its title character right?

Dr. Myles Werntz (professor of theology at Abilene Christian University) says it does not...and that Christians should view the movie with caution. In this interview, Werntz talks about the critical review he published about the film (perhaps the most widely read and quoted review out there).

He also talks about the real Dietrich Bonhoeffer and where Christians can look for the most accurate and insightful information about him.

Link to the Marc LiVecche film review (and critique of Werntz's review) from World Magazine (quoted in the interview)

Links to Bonhoeffer resources that Dr. Werntz recommends:

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Biography by Eberhard Bethge

From Isolation to Community: A Renewed Vision for Christian Life Together by Dr. Myles Werntz

The Bonhoeffer Phenomenon: Portraits of a Protestant Saint by Stephen R. Haynes

Strange Glory: A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer by Charles Marsh

Dietrich Bonhoeffer 1906 - 1945: Martyr, Thinker, Man of Resistance by Ferdinand Schlingensiepen

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: An Introduction to His Thought by Sabine Dramm and Thomas Rice

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Christian Chronicle Podcast partner Freed-Hardeman University sponsored this special episode on a crisis that is emerging under our noses: screen addiction.

In this conversation, Freed-Hardeman University president David Shannon shares some of the latest research on how (much more) young people are using devices and how dramatic increases in "screen time" over the last few years correlates to a rise in anxiety, depression and suicide among emerging generations in and out of the church.

Shannon offers insight on how churches, educators, ministers and parents can respond with better awareness and and greater habits and practices. He also shares how Freed-Hardeman University is working to make an environment where its faculty, staff and students are putting healthier screen habits into practice.

Link to The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt (referenced several times in the interview)

Link to the 2024 World Happiness Report (referenced in the interview)

Link to research on the correlation of anxiety, depression and suicide to smart phone and social media use among young people

Learn more about our sponsor for this episode, Freed-Hardeman University

Dr. Bill Pink, a Church of Christ lifer (and outstanding song leader) is president of 10,000-student Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan.

In this episode, he talks about how he practices Christianity while being a faithful public steward of a secular, tax-funded university where all faiths (and no faiths) have a place. Dr. Pink:

• Talks about the trends that are shaping higher education in the 21st century (and how universities like Ferris State might respond)
• Why Christians have a place (and, indeed, a Commission) to study and work at public universities
• Argues against Christians in places of public authority using that authority to "mandate" Christianity
• Makes the case that his generation of Christians may owe future generations an apology for failing at civility and kindness
• Explains how he can be supportive of professors and students whose beliefs and practices are not in line with his own Christian beliefs and practices
• Talks about how he and his administration are preparing for the possibility that the federal government may try to deport Ferris State employees and students

Link to Bobby Ross Jr.'s profile of Church of Christ member Ryan Walters, superintendent of public instruction for the state of Oklahoma, referenced in this interview

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Since it opened almost 119 years ago, Abilene Christian University (ACU) has been educating, forming, and training Christian evangelists who spread the news of Jesus Christ around the world.

This year, however, the university is launching something that has the potential to change the world and save lives in a surprising new way.

ACU is building and preparing to fire up an experimental nuclear reactor that is cheaper, cleaner, safer and more scalable than any other kind of nuclear technology available in the world today. And it has the potential to cure cancer, eliminate existing nuclear waste and provide energy to the poorest regions of the world.

In this episode, you'll hear form lifelong Texas oil man (and nuclear convert) Doug Robison, who is on the ACU board of trustees and a principal investor in the university's nuclear experiment. He explains both the how and the why of ACU's nuclear turn and how this is an extension of the university's Christian mission.

Link to the American Nuclear Society's report on the ACU nuclear reactor

Link to the NEXT Lab at Abilene Christian University

Link to Natura Resources (the company Doug Robison founded to invest in the ACU nuclear experiment)

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This Christmas special features a message of "good news of great joy for all the people" (Luke 2:10) by Brother Jerrard Davis (Spencer Church of Christ, Spencer, Oklahoma) and vocal arrangements by Praise & Harmony.

This Christmas special features a message of "good news of great joy for all the people" (Luke 2:10) by Jonathan Storment (Pleasant Valley Church of Christ, Little Rock, Arkansas) and vocal arrangements by Praise & Harmony.