God, Law & Liberty Podcast

Special Edition: Last Friday, I said I thought the use by evangelicals of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Free Exercise Clause emphasis on “religious acts” to mean protection for certain for civil conduct “diminishes the glory of Christ respecting what Christ accomplished on the Cross.” The following quotations from one of the leading Puritans on the dominion of sin and Chri...

What is the relationship between the protestant understanding of the doctrine of original sin and the purpose of First Amendment’s Free Exercise of Religion Clause? The U.S. Supreme Court's failure to consider that doctrine has made its interpretation of that clause wrong. But I believe its interpretation and evangelical reliance on it for protecting civil conduct demeans the gospel. It was...

I offer the following brief explanation of Romans 7:20-21 by John Owen from 1667 that I hope provides a better understanding of the effect we can expect the “dominion of sin” to have on our political endeavors and will lead to a better understanding of tomorrow’s important episode about the true purpose of First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause. Support the show: https://ww...

Why are large numbers of people in Minneapolis, many educated, choosing to do things that to many of us just don’t make sense? Is Christ, the prophet to His Church, revealing something to His people? If so, what is it? Is the answer something more than "Sinners sin"? I think so. It may be controversial, but I think it affects the "strategy" we need going forward? Support the show: https://ww...

In this 4 minute special edition, find out why Richard Dawkins, the atheistic evolutionary biologist, and a strict Calvinist, J. Gresham Mechen, agree on one thing: Certain Christians have abandoned Christianity. It shows up in how we approach the transgender issue in law and public policy. Support the show: https://www.factennessee.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today I discuss how a heresy I unwittingly embraced affected what I thought my 30 year engagement in law and politics could accomplish. Do you think my description of that heresy and its application is dominate among evangelicals and Roman Catholics? I do, and explain why. Support the show: https://www.factennessee.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our society and law have progressed from prohibiting access to contraceptives in 1879 to a Supreme Court argument this week about human sexuality to U.S. Senator Josh Hawley asking a Doctor if a man can get pregnant. Why has this "evolution" occurred and gone in only one direction? And why don't we ask "Why" questions anymore? It's all of one piece. Something fundamental may be missing in our thin...

Today I explain the dirty trick the U.S. Supreme Court played on the states to foist on them a new understanding of human meaning, a new anthropology. You will see how the Court degraded the high view of marriage expressed by a Massachusetts statute dating from 1879 to the constitutional protection of fornication in 7 years, from 1965 to 1972! Support the show: https://www.factennessee.org/donate...

This special episode is for those who want to dig a bit deeper into "understanding the times" that I explained earlier this week using SCOTUSs decision in Eisenstadt v. Baird. Two short audio clips of TN Senator Marsha Blackburn's interrogation of then judge Ketanji Brown-Jackson and my explanation of them demonstrate the cosmological merry-go-round of metaphysical nihilism we are on. Understand t...

Today, I explain how the United States Supreme Court came to understand the word “liberty” in the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause and the changes in society's understanding of the cosmos that influenced it. Understanding the evolution of that word is critical to everyone who wants to understand our times and know better how to “walk in wisdom toward them that are withou...

Today, I pass on my answer to a great question asked by a Christian state legislator who listened to last week’s podcast about working to restore God’s “ordered liberty”: If we are to do that, how should we have argued for the bill not allowing men to compete in women’s sports? Equally important is what can we learn about ourselves by thinking through the two differen...

Today David explains how the thoughts of Puritan John Owen in his monumental work, Christologia, completely re-ordered his thinking about law and legal and public policy advocacy in recent years, and how those thoughts relate to the God’s creational intention for every Christian in the present. Creation, the image of God, the Fall, and the “ordered liberty” of  government th...

The Holy Spirit inspired Isaiah to record a prophesy that "the government shall be upon his shoulder"--a baby in a manger. Today, David examines what no one ought to overlook: Even SCOTUS knows that God prepared the Western world for His Son's Kingdom. But the Spirit also said the scope of his governance and its peace would increase. What are Christians and non-Christian to think of that part of t...

The apostle Paul wrote, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law” (Galatians 4:4). Today I examine how reason led to an understanding of law by 50 B.C. that was ready for the law to become incarnate. Its the story we need to hear in our day, especially Christian lawyers. It's amazing! And I explain why the story of the per...

Today we examine the test Isaiah provides us on whether our thoughts on winning are God's thoughts or conform to those of our age. And I will examine that test in light of a recent case argued before the United States Supreme Court by Christian lawyers and my wrong application of that test and compare them both to how Isaiah might have us apply that test to our legal and political arguments. Suppo...

Part 2 of my 3 part Thanksgiving gift to you on "winning" in a society rife with exhausting rivalries. Today we look at what John Owen meant when he spoke of "loving the person of Christ"--what I submit is the key to how we think about winning and how we go about winning. Support the show: https://www.factennessee.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's episode is Part 1 of my Thanksgiving gift to you. It responds to the fact that our society runs on rivalry. One person wins means the others lose; one group wins means the other groups lose. It's exhausting. I pray this gift will help you go back into your part of the world after the Thanksgiving weekend with joy and peace (Isaiah 55:12 ). And I pray it will jump start an Advent season fil...

Today we consider Justice Ketanji Brown-Jackson's answer. to "what is a woman" at her U.S. Senate Confirmation hearing 3 years ago. . Her answer was ridiculed, but she said something important about law. Her answer will help us understand why lawyers no longer believe in law. And we will consider how she might have answered the question, “What is law?” Support the show: https://www.fac...

Today's episode expands on last week’s episode by explaining why I think Jesus might "double down" on his "woe" for today's Christian lawyers. The reason: lawyers are taught not to believe in law and that can hinder others in coming to know Christ. That was true of my experience as lawyer, legislator, and lobbyist. Blackstone, Kuyper, Holmes, and Einstein help prove my thesis. Support the sh...

SPECIAL REPORT: Don't be discouraged now by those who may have led you to believe the Kim Davis case out of Kentucky might be the one that SCOTUS would use to overturn its 2015 "gay marriage" decision, Obergefell v. Hodges. Don't let anyone "cover up" what I said was wrong with the case from the get go. And listen to the steps we can take now to get a good "Obergefell case" up to SCOTUS. Support t...

Jesus had a pretty damning word in his day for some of the practicing lawyers among His people. Today, I explain why I think they apply to many Christians practicing law today and why the people of God need to know what they are doing. Why? Because Jesus said his people were being "hindered" by the lawyers of his day. Support the show: https://www.factennessee.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listene...

In the recent contention over Tucker Carlson’s interview with Nick Fuentes and comments about the nation of Israel, that Tony Perkins and others in the sphere of public policy have now commented on, have you seen anyone address the application of the prophecy in Isaiah 49:1-3, particularly v. 3, “And He said to me, ‘You are My servant, O Israel, In whom I will be glorified’...

A Senior Fellow for Biblical Worldview for a national Christian ministry recently commented on needing a certain win in the U.S. Supreme Court and on how to win. The question we examine today is whether his thoughts on the subject are his own or those informed by God's word. The answer depends on something I once never considered: Our knowledge of and love for the person of Christ. Support the sho...

Today we examine the belief of a “Senior Fellow for Biblical Worldview” for a national organization about the importance of winning as a guiding principle. We examine this belief in light of the argument Christian lawyers recently made in favor of the unconstitutionality of state laws prohibiting "conversion therapy." We will also compare his belief that "the left" is being "ridiculous...

Last week we examined the questions a Senior Fellow for Biblical Worldview suggested for discerning “Who is a Christian?” and “Who is on our team?” Today we take that examination a step further. Is it possible that getting the “right answers” to worldview questions has obscured the good news of Christ, the actual gospel? Is it possible that the gospel is better...