Dr. Brad Sickler, Assistant Professor of Philosophy from the University of Northwestern – St. Paul, joins Neil Stavem in studio and answers Bible and faith related questions from listeners. Today’s questions ranged from “How many thrones are in Heaven” to “Is cremation biblical” to “Why is blood required for atonement.”

Now is the month of graduation speeches. Listening in to some big name ones will provide you with opportunities to bring God back into the conversation with the graduates you encounter. They offer an open door to point out how to recognize truth and that the ideas of secular humanism have their foundation in our faith.

Pureflix Communications Director Billy Hallowell helped us see the disconnect in mainstream media and even in the percentage of liberal vs conservative professors in universities that prevents young people from even hearing truth and being able to test their worldview against others.

If we are standing with our right, righteous and sovereign God, we will be standing apart from the crowd. With Pentecost Sunday approaching, let’s remember that there is power in the name of Jesus and that we have power in the Holy Spirit. Will we take the opportunities we have to speak into the lives of graduates we encounter this graduation season?

The situation in Israel is complex and the various Christian views about Israel’s place in end times eschatology add other layers to the conversation. We want to really be thinking about what we are thinking about as we enter into these conversations.

British Theologian and author of God Created Humanism, Theo Hobson, joined us for a discussion of the Christian roots behind such secular terms and ideas as humanism, pluralism and the separation of Church and State. Christianity is the foundation of these concepts, and being able to articulate that is a great avenue to Gospel conversation.

The Boy Scouts have now changed their name to Scouts BSA and girls are now welcome.  Mark Hancock joined us to respond to this latest news from the Boy Scouts and to share about the great work of Trail Life USA, a growing organization whose outdoor-focused leadership program for boys and men embraces a biblical view of manhood. In addition, award-winning poet Deborah Gerrish shared from her latest collection Light in Light and talked with us about the process and rhythm of poetry.

The conversation happening within the Southern Baptist Convention surrounding Paige Patterson is one about submitting to Christ in all things. It’s about relationships of men and women and about resignation and repentance. Let’s be prayerful that the conversation is one of redemption. Read more on the story here.

Randall Goodgame of Slugs and Bugs shares his heart for causing the truth of Scripture to soak into our bones through music. His latest album’s theme is the life, words and works of Jesus.

Rabbi Steve Leder spoke with us about what it’s like to be a Jew in America today as well as his new book, More Beautiful Than Before: How Suffering Transforms Us. Suffering is common ground in the human experience, and the challenge is to not come out of it empty-handed. It’s the best of times and it’s the worst of times for Jews in America, and there are similarities to the challenges facing Christians today.

In response to all the speculation surrounding what will happen now that President Trump has pulled the U.S. from the Iran deal, Christians can ask questions that will give insight into how people think. Questions like: How do you know this will lead to disaster? How do you know this is the wrong decision? How is evil best restrained?

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has gone to North Korea to bring back 3 American hostages which the President will welcome. This is an open door to a conversation about how God is actively liberating captives to this day.

Dr. Tod Bolsinger, Vice President for Vocation and Formation at Fuller Seminary and author of Canoeing in the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory, talked about the need to make seminary resources available broadly to those who are learning as they lead in missional ministries that are growing like wildfire.

Carmen walks through finding the disconnect that is behind some of today’s headlines so that we can find our entry into reconnecting the eternal to the everyday in these conversations. Today’s includes an example of the major disconnect of sex from marriage and marriage from God found in an article in the Los Angeles Times.

Luke Moon from The Philos Project gets us up to date with the situation in Israel which is about to celebrate its 70th year as a nation, as well as how things are playing out in Saudi Arabia and Iran and why Christians should care about and keep up with all of it.

In light of the wider conversation going on within the Southern Baptist Convention about relationships between men and women, it is a good time to be clear that both the culture and many in the church have gotten submission wrong. Biblical submission when lived out in earthly, temporal marriages is a reflection of the eternal, unchangeable reality that the Church is the bride of Jesus Christ, to whom we are submitted in every aspect of our lives.

Eric Geiger, Vice President of Lifeway Christian Resources, joined the conversation about the church’s response to the moral failings of leadership. In his book How to Ruin Your Life: And Starting Over When You Do, he reminds us that we are all perfectly capable of making wrong choices. We need to humbly recognize that, shore up our accountability in three main areas, spend more time on our knees than on social media, and seek redemption when moral failure does happen.

 

The theme for today’s National Day of Prayer is Unity. In this contentious day that we live in it is helpful to remember that we do not create unity. We are charged to keep it in Ephesians 4:3, but we are keeping what has been accomplished through Jesus Christ. Let’s be about prayer today on behalf of our nation.

Luder Whitlock, author of Divided We Fall: Overcoming a History of Christian Disunity, talked with us about how we got to this place in our nation and how we can begin to find our way back to a unity that demonstrates the Gospel and draws observers closer.