The Uncensored Unprofessor

Why do we celebrate Christmas on December 25th? What does history show us about that? Then, in 1984 Apple Computer produced a memorable challenge-the-faceless-corporations tv advertisement, but in 38 short years they have become that faceless corporation. How so? What are the results of an at-home medical experiment I conducted? I also explore some of the aftermath of the SCOTUS June ruling that over-turned Roe. What is our ensuing cultural milieu? Come laugh and think with me.

What is it like to have a pregnant woman walk in the door when she's trying to determine what to do with her unexpected baby? In what way does church culture impact a crisis pregnancy? What measures and structures does Path Crisis Pregnancy center have in place to receive women? How can technology shape a woman's decision? How has the SCOTUS over-turning of Roe changed the dynamics of crisis pregnancy center work? What have both COVID and our inflation-wrought economy done to crisis pregnancy center service? What is a Christian approach to crisis pregnancies?

The Cambrian explosion—as scientists call it—raises some fascinating challenges to Darwinian evolution. I explore how that is so. I also variously work through fairness at the Southern border, whether I miss teaching, taking on the establishment, local television news in Idaho, the Evangelical framing of Christianity, the worldview of America's founders, and the second coming of Christ. Interspersed throughout are some NFL helmet-slogan inspired catch-phrases. Come think and laugh out loud with me!

Charles Darwin was not a neutral investigator. What were his pre-existing beliefs (that he had inherited from his father) which shaped his conclusions? There are lies and there is anti-truth, what is the difference? How do I read the imminent split that threatens (again) the Catholic Church? In this episode I also work through some funny memes and share some reflections on the season of Advent. Come think and laugh with me!

The podcasts are normally woven through by a theme. This is a series of mostly unrelated thoughts: where do I differ with Evangelicals? What did I learn and appreciate by reading two books about the Oregon trail? Did the human race really begin from one original pair? What do I yearn for everytime I see Caravaggio's painting of the "Emmaus Dinner"? Where do I experience the presence of God? What is science? I also share a couple funny memes I recently encountered.

Jesus said, "you cannot serve both God and mammon." That is true for individuals, but it rings just as true for society. Where the heart is—personal and corporate— there will be the treasure. What we promote and vote for reveals the state of our culture's soul. A theological analysis of the mid-term election is made in order to help us understand both the world (and church) we now live in and the opportunity that is ours in Christ. Come laugh and think with me!

What is it like to serve the homeless? How can or should we help them? Reverend Bill Roscoe has been a leader in homeless ministry for thirty years. In this interview he explains the grounds for ministry—short and long term—to people created in the image of God. What is involved in training the staff? What's it like to work with local government? What is the shelter's denominational affiliation? How have the clientele changed over the decades? How does he keep from becoming mired in depression?

Here on the cusp of a national mid-term election how do I go about voting? What are my priorities, non-negotiables? What do I look for with individual candidates? How do I assess legislation that we get to vote on? Do I care if the candidate is a Christian? Across human history voting is a rare privilege, so how do I approach this responsibility?

Peter, James, Paul. . . the entire apostolic community expected Jesus to return, bodily, in their lifetimes. Growing up, I didn't expect to make it out of high school before Jesus returned. The apostles were, and my boyhood church was, wrong. So just why has it been 2000 years since Christ ascended into heaven? Why the gap? What kind of missional and existential challenge does that gap present to us? And what is the most common temptation to sin here in our Post-Christian culture? All in this episode!

The Evangelical tendency? To personalize Jesus. And for the immediate that is all well and good. But the problem is that it minimizes the historic and cosmic impact of Christ's coming, person, and work. We need to marvel bigger, examine more sweepingly, because that historic cosmic coming reveals to us what God's telos is for the future. And still for all that? We see a proportionate polarization at work in our culture: it loathes freedom, beauty, and the Gospel.