The Generations Radio Program

Who do we blame for the coronavirus outbreak? Sin generically? The sin of a nation? Our sin? My sin? Your sin? Sin, as defined by anybody out there? John Piper calls it a thunderclap calling us to repentance. But, N.T. Wright says it is to teach us lament over suffering in the world? But, we’re asking. . .What would Jesus say about it?

What makes for a solid church?  Not a revolutionary church — but a reformation?  We revisit the scandals that are taking apart the young, restless, and reformed churches, and the youth-led movements.  The New and Exciting, the Latest and Greatest, the Movements, the Youth-Driven Thing,  the Exclusive New Cool Church — these things tend to fizzle fast.  What is thought to be a reformation turns out to be another cultural revolution with devastating effects. It turns out what we really need is the Holy Spirit, long term discipleship, really unpopular preaching that doesn’t scratch ears, and real faith —  nothing spectacular except God doing supernatural things in people’s lives over the long haul.

The president announced on Fox Business the government’s plans to mobilize the military with “tremendous force” to vaccinate the country.  We discuss the history of the Posse Comitatus Act, and then study the matter of forced vaccinations from Supreme Court decisions in the past, from history and biblical principle. How might Christians seek an island of freedom, and is this worth pursuing as forced vaccinations appear to be an increasingly realistic scenario?  Certain vaccines are bothersome to Christians, especially if they were made with aborted fetal tissue, or if there was a measurable risk of breaking the 6th commandment (as in harming the person being immunized).  What is the value of seeking liberty for families to make these decisions?

Governments are concerned about your health records, your immunizations, your communications, etc., especially if you are going to cross state and national borders. Were George Orwell and Aldous Huxley right in their “prophetic” announcements of the Brave New World in 1984 or 2024? The national government's take of the GDP has risen from 0.3% to 25% in 100 years — ten times the involvement in our lives of what George Orwell experienced in the 1930s. Man’s relation with the state will only increase as his relationships in family, church, and community dissolves. This is the trend, and not much is slowing it down now. But, will God exempt His people from some of this? Will there be an island of freedom for us? Orwell forgot to include a sovereign God over all in his little story. 

Does the 1 Timothy 3:4 qualification serve as a gating factor for pastors in the church today? What would happen if all the pastors resigned whose children rebelled, abandoned church, and lived in fornication? The application of this qualification may be the most neglected qualification in the biblical list. Are there exceptions to this, or does the qualification die the death of a thousand qualifications?

Lot’s children didn’t seem to want to leave Sodom, and his wife wanted to go back. So many kids raised in Christian homes, Christian schools, and Christian homeschools get to be curious about the world, its lusts, its competitions, its pride and perversions. What’s the draw?  And, how do we disciple our children to avoid the toxic waste dump, and prefer Christ? 

We offer a brief review of the biggest book in evangelicalism, at least for last year — “Girl Wash Your Face.”  Rachel Hollis’s worldview is basically summarized as: ““I love Jesus, and I cuss a little. I love Jesus, and I drink alcohol. I love Jesus, and some of my best friends are gay.” Anyway, we contrast this Jesus and Gospel, with the real Gospel. . . and suggest a few book worth reading from the last 15 years.

Top-Selling evangelical authors in the 20th century were Tozer, C.S. Lewis, and Bonhoeffer.  Top-selling evangelical authors in 2005 were guys like John MacArthur and Larry Burkett. Now. . . the top-selling evangelical offerings are dominated by the pro-lesbian evangelical women authors — Rachel Hollis, Jen Hatmaker, et. al. This means one thing. . .  Evangelicalism R.I.P.  It’s a Psalm 80 and Psalm 137 moment for the Western church today. 

The Cal State brick and mortar universities are closing up shop for the 2020-2021 school year. But, hundreds of California pastors and churches are planning to open services on May 31st, whatever the Governor's orders. Has the time come to break the law? And, which law are they breaking? Where do you pay honor to whom honor is due, when there are differing opinions between local and state authorities, executive and judicial branches of government? It's not all cut and dried, but there are biblical principles that are to be brought to bear. 

By 2018, 71% of children born to women under 24 years of age were born out of wedlock. 57% of babies born to millennials were born out of wedlock. So now, the secular world claims the nuclear family was a mistake. We contrast the response of Jesus to the brokenness of the adulterous woman in John 8, with the Vatican’s support for transgender prostitutes. What would the real Jesus say about the broken family of the 21st century?