JTalkin'

I've heard many people say that one book of religion is the same as another.  And often they will lump the Bible and Quran together in that ignorant statement.  Those who say that simply don't know what they are talking about.  Please listen in to my comparison to the two books.  

Ben Shapiro's movie "Run Hide Fight" shows an ISIS jihadist team attack an American college campus and slaughter innocent unarmed people (pretty typical of what ISIS and other jihadist groups do).  But Ben and others call such terror groups "Islamic radicals", "Muslim fundamentalists", "Islamic extremists", and the like.  Are these Muslims extremists? ...

I love people...I really do!  As a Christian I have had many respectful and kind interactions and debates with Muslims (here in my country of the United States and elsewhere).  However, there are groups of Muslims who want me dead because I am an "infidel," and they have proven that with numerous bloody attacks going all the way back to 1990. In America our Constitution was created out a...

All tyrants fall.  It may take a while, but all tyrants fall.  I will never forget how I felt in the late 1980s and early 1990s watching the disintegration of the evil empire of the Soviet Union.  We couldn't understand it at the time because no one really believed that we could actually defeat and put out of business this communist giant.  But it happened...and it all culminated on Christmas...

I left off the last podcast without mentioning the casualties of the Vietnam War (both for North and South Vietnam and the United States), so I wanted to mention that plus the ecological disaster (Agent Orange).  I remember well this time period: how we all just wanted to forget about the Vietnam War, how we mistreated our vets, how Jimmy Carter almost single handedly destroyed our economy, our mi...

The United States had the Vietnam War won by 1971.  What happened so that the communist North Vietnam won just four years later?  And what happened to Vietnam's neighbors at the same time?  How did Vietnam change from the time of their victory in 1975?  

The Cold War was not so cold in Southeast Asia for the twenty years of the 1950s through the 1970s.  Hundreds of thousands of people perished in a civil war and a war of ideologies.  What prompted America to enter into this area of the world where it had no real vital interests, other than trying to stop the spread of communism?  What were the events leading up to it, and how did the United States...

A unique aspect of the tension between the Communist Soviet Union and the Free World of the United States and its Western Allies was the competition in space.  Who would be the first nation to land a man on the moon?  The Soviets definitely had a good lead in rocket technology and scored many impressive accomplishments.  But it wasn't long before Americans would catch up.  What was it like to...

It is often called "The Forgotten War", or "The Coldest War."  The Korean War was the first open shooting war between Communist forces and the forces of the Free World.  It was eventually a stand-off, and today we still have the brutal regime of North Korea occupying the northern half of the Korean peninsula, while the free Republic of Korea occupies the southern half.  How did...

Did you know that NO full length feature film has ever been done on George Washington?  WHY?  I have no idea.  However, Angel Studios is really on a roll these days.  They have produced a really good movie about the life of George Washington before the American War for Independence.  This is a pretty good movie...I would actually watch it again.  And your children (probably age 12 and up) should w...

Happy Independence Day everyone!  I hope you all have a great day celebrating the 250th birthday of the United States of America.  As we take stock of our great country, I thought it would be good to compare the ideas, values, and accomplishments of our founding with the stated goals of a major political party in the US today:  The Democrat (Socialist) Party.   

The aftermath of World War 2 is what we call "the Cold War"...a war between the Soviet Union and communism versus the Western nations (the US, Great Britain, etc.) and capitalism/political freedom.  The march of communism in China begins in the early 20th century and progresses into a victory for Mao Zedong in 1949.  The defeated armies of the Nationalists (under Chiang Kai-shek) flee to...

The United States dropped the atomic bomb on Japan.  Why?  What was the reasoning of the US at that time?  And what did the US do for its allies, and even its former enemies immediately after World War 2?  And how did we get such states as communist North Korea and communist China?  The answers all lie in what happened at the end of this war and its aftermath.  

By 1943 it was clear that the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) were not going to win The Second World War.  Through numerous brutal campaigns the Allies (Britain, Soviet Union, America) slowly slogged their way across Europe and the Pacific to invade the home territory of the Axis Powers and finish them off.  

World War 2 was known not only for the staggering loss of life (some 60 million people perished), but the war saw entire state governments targeting vast groups of people for extermination.  What are some of the lessons we can learn from this evil?  

You'll hear me say this many times...the way things are now, they won't be forever.  In 1941 hope looked pretty bleak for the free world.  Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo and their armies looked pretty invincible.  But things change.  And fortunately the Nazi, Fascist, and Imperialist armies were stopped cold in Europe, North Africa, and the Pacific.  The war was not over by a long shot, but...

We Americans are notorious for NOT knowing a lot about history, even the history of the not too distant past that affects us today!  We know something about World War 2 battles because of movies ("Saving Private Ryan") or because our great-grandparents were involved.  But do you know WHY it happened?  What were the events that led up to a war that killed 60 million people in six years? ...

When you come to know Christ as Savior and Lord, you become part of God's forever family.  You are adopted by God.  You are His child.  And there are many wonderful truths in the New Testament associated with that new status as one of His kids.  Enjoy your blessings with God as your Father!

God is no longer your enemy, if your faith is in Jesus.  The Bible is clear that a state of hostility has existed, and continues to exist with the lost human race.  But through the death and resurrection of Christ, that hostility has been removed for everyone who takes their refuge in Christ.  

Is the grave the end, or does God have something greater in store for us in the future?  Listen in to Dr. J explain important truths from 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4 about the resurrection and glorification of the believer's body.

If believers in Jesus have been justified, redeemed, and reconciled to God, is there anything else left in our future?  Yes, glorification.  Our bodies await a future resurrection in which we will be given a body just like the one the resurrected, glorified Christ has right now.  Listen in as we discuss the "redemption of our bodies" that Paul speaks of in Romans 8:23 and Philippians 3:2...

We all love stories of redemption, like "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. A man is broken, twisted, mean, greedy and in bondage to his own darkness.  But something supernatural happens and eventually this broken man is transformed and brought out of his bondage and into freedom.  This is a good picture of the redemption purchased by Christ.  Listen in as Dr. J explains this crucial...

Well "propitiation" is a word we hardly ever use in English, but it is a wonderful word!  It is used rarely in the New Testament, but once you grasp it's meaning, you will rejoice in such a strange sounding word.  Because of the death of Jesus, God's justice is satisfied, and His righteous wrath against sin is forever turned away from all who believe in Jesus.  Thank God.  

Is the Christian life just "fire insurance", or is there a true process in which God purposely makes us more like Him in this world, and prepares us for the world to come?  The Bible is pretty clear that all Christians are separated by God from this world to Himself, to be a witness in this fallen world.  And this process of separating ourselves from sin and to God is called "sancti...

The Apostle Paul tells us throughout his epistles that we are justified (declared righteous) before God by faith in Christ alone.  But James in his epistle tells us that we are justified by faith plus works.  Is there a contradiction there?  Not at all.  Listen in as Dr. J goes through the much-debated passage in James 2 and explains what sort of justification James is talking about.