Filter: Biblical Clarity in a Confusing World

The real story of Saint Patrick is a fascinating tale of the gospel’s power and a missionary’s faithfulness. Sadly, many people today don’t know anything more about St. Patrick than shamrocks and green beer. I’m glad to welcome Ned Bustard to the podcast to discuss his new book Saint Patrick the Forgiver and what we can learn from the real story.   Ned Bustard is a graphic designer, a children's b...

Os Guinness returns to the show to share about his newest book Signals of Transcendence . We discussed the idea of a signal of transcendence and look at the lives of several notable figures to see how the signals played a role in their conversion. Os tells us about the stories of C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, W. H. Auden, and others. We also talked about what the signals mean and how to recognize...

In June of 2022, we saw the momentous Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade . Abortion has been a hotly contested issue ever since the Roe decision, but many people don’t realize that there is a history of abortion that goes beyond 1973. On this episode of Filter I am glad to welcome Leah Savas to discuss this history from her recent book co-authored with Marvin Olasky titled The Story o...

I’m excited to welcome Timothy Pickavance to the show. We discussed his new book Knowledge for the Love of God . We talked about the meaning of faith and why it is not contrary to knowledge. Tim also shows us how knowledge is necessary for the Christian life and growing in our relationship with God.   Timothy Pickavance is associate professor and chair of philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, B...

In Mark 11:22-24 Jesus said, “Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, everything you pray and ask for—believe that you have received it and it will be yours.” This passage speaks to an uncommon faith that l...

In John 3, Jesus told Nicodemus that in order to enter the Kingdom of God one must be born of water and of the Spirit. Later in the book of Acts, we read about Christians being baptized and receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Baptism in the Spirit is a theological topic many believers are unaware of or unclear on. Depending on your church background, the issue might be accompanied by baggage f...

On today’s episode, I’m glad to welcome Paul Gould. Paul and I discussed his latest book A Good and True Story: Eleven Clues to Understanding Our Universe and Your Place In It . He shares with us how we all inhabit a story and that within the story we inhabit there are signs that point us to the meaning of our story. Paul walks us through the implications of the various stories we might believe ab...

Every Christian should endeavor to be the best steward of his life that he can be. We ought to honor God with our souls, worship, possessions, and our body. Stewardship of our body includes not just resisting sinful temptations but also treating it well with healthy habits. I’ve discovered that one of the best ways to learn about caring for our bodies well is by learning it from the people who do...

How should Christians understand and apply the Old Testament law? Many Christians are bewildered by the law sections of the Old Testament and sadly tend to ignore them. My guest on today’s show wants to help us to understand the law and its applications to us today. His name is Richard E. Averbeck and we discussed his new book The Old Testament Law for the Life of the Church: Reading the Torah in...

In the summer of 2020, we saw chaos, riots, and violence on American streets. The fire in the streets was paired with the message that Western culture is fundamentally divided into “oppressed” and “oppressor.” Ever since, we have been hearing leaders in government, media, medicine, higher education, and even the church tell us how we ought to right these wrongs through radical programs of antiraci...

For decades, Christians in China have been oppressed the persecuted by a communist state. In spite of this opposition, the underground church there has continued to grow and thrive. We frequently hear the stories of their persecutions and courage, but it is a rare privilege to get to learn from the leaders of the Chinese church. That’s why I am so excited about a new book called Faithful Disobedie...

For many people, their job merely feels like a daily grind. But what if our vocations are a primary means of experiencing God’s purpose in our lives? On today’s show, I welcome Bryan Chapell to discuss his new book Grace at Work . We talk about how work is a vital way that we fulfill God’s purpose for us, as well as show his grace to those around us. Bryan shows us how we bear God’s image in our w...

We have recently seen a number of once-prominent Christian leaders—as well as a number of believers online—announce that they are “deconstructing” their faith. Sadly, this deconstruction is often succeeded by a de-conversion. They embrace the position that orthodox, biblical Christianity is outdated, boring, or repressive. My guest on today’s show argues against the deconstructionist position and...

Os Guinness returns to the show to discuss his latest book Zero Hour America: History's Ultimatum over Freedom and the Answer We Must Give . We discussed the crisis of freedom in Western society, the nature of freedom, and what freedom requires. Os Guinness (DPhil, Oxford) is the author or editor of more than thirty books, including The Dust of Death, The Call, Fool's Talk, and The Magna Carta of...

The calling of parenthood is to raise our children in the fear of the Lord. Yet, as all Christian parents know, this calling is easily lost in the chaos of life. We are juggling the various responsibilities of our households and the shifting challenges of raising our kids. In the midst of all this, how are we to teach our children to love God? My guest on today’s show is Sarah Cowan Johnson, the a...

Doubt is an experience in every person’s life—including the life of Christians. Yet, many of us are unwilling to acknowledge our doubts, or we are afraid of seeking help for our doubts because we fear that it reflects poorly on our faith. Therefore, too many believers will suppress their doubts with denial or eventually surrender to them in hopelessness. My guest on today’s show argues that doubt...

In Francis Schaeffer’s classic book Art and the Bible he wrote, “Is the creative part of our life committed to Christ? Christ is the Lord of our whole life and the Christian life should produce not only truth—flaming truth—but also beauty.” He argued that art is important to the Christian life because it is a work of creativity and God is the Creator. Moreover, since man is created in the image of...

How does God view me in my sins and sufferings? We often ask ourselves this question. We wonder if he pulls away from us because of our sinfulness. Our hearts doubt that he could desire someone who is as spiritually broken as we are.    In this episode, I share a teaching from one of my favorite passages in Scripture. The story of David and Mephibosheth in 2 Samuel 9 shows us how God views the spi...

Suffering causes us to ask hard questions about life. It also tests our faith as we question God’s goodness, or even existence, in the reality of a deeply broken world. One of the most important factors in how we handle suffering is the story that we believe about the world and ourselves. The story we believe will determine the answers to those hard questions. My guest on today’s show argues for t...

PRODUCER'S NOTE: Due to technical problems with recording this episode, we had to utilize the internet backup files. The conversation isn't affected, but the audio and video quality is lower than usual. Apologies! Can I be a woman born in a man’s body? Is it possible that God could have made a mistake when he made me? Is the idea of gender merely a social construct that I should reject in order to...

Do you find yourself distracted lately? We live in a culture that has trained us to expect constant entertainment, endless content, and no effort to achieve contentment. These expectations have been made possible by the dominance of digital media in our lives. Jay Kim returns to this episode to argue that we need the wisdom of the biblical worldview to discern the tech’s promises and break free fr...

Masculinity is a hot topic today in our swirling debates about gender and sexuality. Both in the church and the broader culture, people argue over the fundamental differences, roles, and definitions of masculinity and femininity. My guest on today’s show has an approach to considering the nature of masculinity that doesn’t rely on cultural stereotypes but instead looks at the motivating heart of a...

The Christian faith will always have opponents, skeptics, and seekers who will attempt to challenge its credibility, which is why apologetics is always a necessity. Moreover, we need apologists because there are a wide diversity of intellectual challenges and personalities which must be engaged when defending the faith. On today’s show, my guest is a Christian apologist with a new book that provid...

As Christians, we believe that every person in a relationship with God has a calling from God. We read this in passages such as Ephesians 2:8-10 where Paul tells us, “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift — not from works, so that no one can boast.  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of...

When we go through times of difficulty, we often question God’s plans, promises, and disposition towards us. It’s easy to wonder what his purpose is for us when we are experiencing trials and suffering. There’s consolation in that when we read Scripture, we see many examples of God’s people going through such times and asking similar questions. I recently preached a sermon at our church on God’s m...