First, we discuss the President’s decision to end the DACA program with Galen Carey, vice president of government relations for the National Association of Evangelicals. He is responsible for representing the NAE before Congress, the White House and the courts. How can we consider this issue from a distinctively Christian point of view?

Mark Clark was a skeptic who became a Christian and then a pastor. He is now the founding pastor of Village Church in Vancouver, Canada. Mark wrote The Problem of God to explore the most difficult questions raised against Christianity. This conversation is invaluable for anyone who wants to understand how to talk about God with their atheist friend, neighbor or relative.

We use the term “worldview” a lot. Do we understand what that means? And why it matters? Because the question is not “do I have a worldview?” It’s, “which one do I have- and how do I know?” If a worldview is like a pair of glasses through we see the world, let’s take them off  for a moment and examine them.

Today, we have a special, extended conversation with the president of the Colson Center, John Stonestreet. We dive into all things “worldview”– what it is, how to discern and test a worldview, understanding the major worldview families and how they influence society.

 

We are still learning the full scope of Harvey’s impact and destruction. Half a million people are displaced, 10 million people directly affected and we’re all affected indirectly. If you live in the Eastern US, gas prices rose nearly 30 cents overnight as the pipeline from Port Aransas went under water. And then there’s the mess and disease that comes after a flood. Houston’s health department said there was not need to test the water – there is no question it’s contaminated.

We talk more about the heroic ongoing efforts and the needs of people affected with Mary Bates, the National Director & Disaster Coordinator for the North American Lutheran Church.

Issues of sexuality and identity confront daily in the news, media and culture. The same goes for our kids, and we need to be in front of those conversations, not lagging behind. Our guest, Dean Inserra wants parents to go beyond protecting their kids from porn and prepare them for conversations on sex and sexuality. they are coming. He says, “‘The talk’ about sex needs to go away. We need talking, an ongoing conversation.” He helps equip you how to do that with compassion and clarity.

First, we talk about a declaration of God’s design for marriage and sexuality, called the Nashville Statement. Why does this matter? The Nashville Statement is ultimately a provocation for conversation about the truth. What is true? Is God real? If God is real, has God communicated? If God has communicated, revealing God’s design and God’s desire, what are the options in terms of how we respond to that?

Our guest today is Dr. Jeff Myers leads Summit Ministries and  teaches Christians how to understand what they believe, why they believe it, and how to defend it against the idea viruses of the day. His latest book The Secret Battle of Ideas About God: Overcoming the Outbreak of Five Fatal Worldviews explores how Christianity is affected through the bad ideas spread by 5 different worldviews that don’t reflect Jesus and biblical living:

Secularism

Marxism

Islam

New Spirituality

Postmodernism

He addresses the real-world examples we all face and the real questions we all ask. For example one on all our minds with the pain we see from Hurricane Harvey. “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Listen as Jeff responds and equips you to as well.

Related articles and resources:

Secret Battle Book

Summit Ministries

Jeremiah Johnston is president of Christian Thinkers Society and a father of five in Houston, Texas who lives in the mandatory evacuation area. He was sheltering in place as instructed, but by Sunday night things escalated quickly. He joins us to share his story of evacuating his family of seven while water was rising around them. Jeremiah shares the message of hope, that God is with us in places of adversity, “He will never, never leave us or forsake us- no matter where you are. The Christian faith is built for adversity.”

Matt Carter is pastor of Austin Stone Church in Austin, Texas. First, Matt lets us know what he is hearing from friends and pastors in Houston. People still need rescue and definitely need money and resources to rebuild their lives. Many people did not have flood insurance and are facing a difficult road.

Today we also talk with Matt about his recent book: Steal Away Home: Charles Spurgeon and Thomas Johnson, Unlikely Friends on the Passage to Freedom?  This novel is the story of an unlikely friendship between Spurgeon, a famous white preacher, and Johnson, a freed slave. This is a work of historical fiction, but it has much to say to us today. Namely, we see what happens when the Gospel so pervades our lives that it influences every part of our lives and relationships.

First, Congressman Frank Wolf (Ret.) provides an update from his recent trip to Iraq on what Christians and religious minorities are facing today. Since many of these communities have finally been liberated from ISIS, Christians desire to return to their homeland, but fear for their security. We are at a “critical point” for the rebuilding the region and helping Christians and religious minorities resettle safely.

Next, we discuss this question: why should this matter to us in the United States? We talk with Tom Farr, is President of The Religious Freedom Institute, about the need to foster religious pluralism in Iraq. In addition to our concern as Christians who bear a biblical, familial relationship with believers of every nation, there is much at stake in the stability of the region.

Call to action: As we discuss in today’s show, there is actually a piece of legislation currently pending in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: HR 390 will help bring much needed relief and justice for Christians who have been persecuted for their faith by ISIS. It directs the government to direct already-appropriated aid to help victims of genocide resettle safely and find restoration.

Find out how you can help, and urge your Senators to pass HR 390.

Related articles and resources:

Frank Wolf’s report on visit to Iraq

Hurricane Harvey arrives: It is still raining in Houston. Thousands of people are displaced, and many are still waiting for rescue as first responders are simply overwhelmed by Harvey. Harrowing first-hand accounts like our friend’s Jeremiah Johnston recount the hopelessness and fear ravaging the area. Houston father: ‘How am I supposed to get five small children up on my roof?’

First, David Melber, VP of Send Relief shares updates from the ground and what people can do right now to support the relief efforts. Then, Laura Leonard, of the Humanitarian Disaster Institute at Wheaton College provides some ways the Church can prepare and respond to disaster and how to use wisdom in donating funds.

* Text SENDRELIEF to 41444 to aid those impacted 

* Samaritan’s Purse is also already on the ground rendering aid.

* Both organizations work with FEMA and the Red Cross to deploy the right resources to the right places at the right time.

Related articles and resources:

Must Read Monday: How to help people affected by Hurricane Harvey

A popular podcast is asking, why do religions encourage pilgrimages? What is unique about Christianity is that the pilgrimage to God is as close as a simple, desperate breath of prayer. Christ has already accomplished everything for your salvation, so you lack no spiritual blessing. No trip or journey required.

And for the Christian, the journey or “pilgrimage” of faith can end in a jail cell. We look to our brothers and sisters living and serving Christ where it is not easy nor accepted. As Derek Lam, a Christian in Hong Kong writes in the New York Times: “I Won’t Make Jesus Bow Down to Xi Jinping.”

 

Dean Niewolny previously spent two decades in the financial sector, but now serves in full time ministry as the CEO of the Halftime Institute. He wants people to consider what it looks like to do work that matters, to pursue a career with purpose. As Christians, we work for more than money. We can make a difference, at whatever career stage you currently are. His book is: Trade Up: How to Move from Just Making Money to Making a Difference.

We survey the headline news:

* The United States and South Korea are currently engaged in joint exercises designed to prepare troops for the prospect that the war with North Korea could turn from cold to hot at any moment. These drills have been a regular part of the US and South Korea’s readiness for more than 60 years. But with heightened tensions between North Korea and the United States, the drills take on potentially greater importance.

* White House sets rules for Transgender ban in military.

* Yemen is in the midst of a humanitarian crisis.

Rev. Michael Spurlock was assigned to a tiny, struggling church in Smyrna, Tennessee. He was preparing to sell the property when some refugees from Burma showed up and brought life to the church again. This incredible story is now portrayed in a major motion picture. But today, we get to talk to the real Michael Spurlock, the pastor who walked with his people through the challenges.

See the movie: All Saints 

How Myanmar refugees saved a dying Smyrna church and inspired a movie

Related articles and resources:

Reconnect Special Report on Gender Identity

The strangest bit of news that everyone is talking about today is Robert Lee – no, not Civil War era Confederate General Robert E. Lee, but a young Asian-American sports commentator for ESPN, Robert Lee. He was reassigned from calling a game in Charlottesville, VA, between UVA and William & Mary because of his name.

We all recognize that the world is not as it should be. We are not as we should be. We all know something is wrong. What is it that’s broken in us, between us and around us? And what does it look like to find restoration, both personally and as a community? Thankfully, this is not about perfection or knowing all the answers. Instead, Pastor and author Steve Wiens calls Christians to the wholeness for which we were created. His book is WHOLE: Restoring What Is Broken in Me, You, and the Entire World

Related articles and resources:

How a group of refugees saved a church on the brink of collapsing