On Culture

Evan Sherman and I talk about the Mideast (some) - but also how we have turned politics into the primary expression of the moral - and how that has moved dogma from religion into world of politics - altering what we acknowledge as fact. An excerpt … But morality exists within this reality we are called to live in. We don’t create it ourselves. Our in-group does not define it. And in order to act m...

Susan James and I talk about the latest post from The Embassy - All the President’s Dogs. On the mortgage crash, the President’s Dogs and the spells we are under Here is an excerpt … In C.S. Lewis’ The Silver Chair , the good Prince Rillian of Narnia is captured and put under a spell by someone known as The Lady of the Green Kirtle while above ground and the Queen of Underland in her underground Q...

From the latest piece from The Embassy - Do You Believe in Miracles? An Excerpt … When it comes to the paranormal, the extra-terrestrial, unexplained phenomena or UFO’s … we are a bit conflicted. We want there to be more, we hope we are not alone, we want the believe there is a truth that is out there, while we have a hard time actually believing in any particular piece of evidence. The recent rel...

(excerpts from the written piece - In Spirit and in Truth - theembassy.substack.com) I get it. I understand the search for meaning in community, in ritual, in spiritual experience. I just think that is a search in the wrong place. Jesus had a memorable conversation with a woman who went to a well in the middle of the day. She was a Samaritan, and the Samaritans had their own way of worshiping God....

Susan James and I talk about “Barbie” and “True Detective”. Really we talk about men, mostly. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (Jesus - John 15:12-13) Links Men and Petite Maman are polar opposite fairy tales - Ross Douthat, National Review The Church in a Time of Gender War - Samuel James, Digital...

On Culture is the podcast of The Embassy - this episode is based on this latest piece from The Embassy. Take Tish Harrison Warren is an Anglican Priest who has written a weekly Op-Ed column for the New York Times over the past few years. She is leaving that post and shared, in her last column, some of the reasons why. I’ll quote her at some length, and I recommend the whole piece. I think there is...

Among evangelicals on the right (which is by far most of them), the share among those who never attend and who believe that religion is somewhat or very important is 38%. So almost 40% of these evangelicals on the political right who never attend church believe religion is important. They believe it is important while they do not practice it in a form recognizable in the New Testament. Doctrine is...

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Matthew 5:9 Peacemaking, here, is a practice for God’s children to take up. His blessing does not name those who try to achieve their own inner peace, nor those who receive peace from God, but rather those who make peace with and for others. Theologian Justo Gonzalez calls this ‘for-otherness,’ the everyday habit of the kingdom...

The background for this episode of On Culture is this piece from The Embassy - Lost Without Translation. Here is a small excerpt: Paul illustrates an uncomfortable picture of what biblical connection, at least in part, looks like. Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those und...

Here is Nikola Jokic on work … Now if we compare worke to worke, there is a difference betwixt washing of dishes, and preaching of the word of God: but as touching to please God none at all … The homeliest service that we do in an honest calling, though it be but to plow, or digge, if done in obedience, and conscience of God’s Commandment, is crowned with an ample reward ... God loveth adverbs; an...

I talk with Chad about change and this era of change we are in. No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved....

The notes for this episode of On Culture are the most recent piece in The Embassy (from May 27, 2023) - The Logical Outcome . Thanks to Susan James for joining me on this one. Links No Other Options - The New Atlantis Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada 2021 - Health Canada ‘Disturbing’: Experts troubled by Canada’s euthanasia laws - Associated Press Canada’s Ministry of Death - National Review...

On Culture is the podcast of The Embassy -found on theembassy.substack.com Mike and Tony talk about Jury Duty, The Truman Show, and our need to be seen. Links The Truman Show Jury Duty West World TV Show X-Men Movies Sonic Movies Get full access to The Embassy at theembassy.substack.com/subscribe

Mike talks with Susan James and Bret Toth about our vices and our struggles - and how they may be necessary for our growth. Links A New Drug Switched Off My Appetite - What's Next? - Wired Get full access to The Embassy at theembassy.substack.com/subscribe

Mike Sherman flies solo and talks about the tension between hope and action, practicality and impact - and tilting at windmills. On Culture is the podcast of The Embassy - theembassy.substack.com Get full access to The Embassy at theembassy.substack.com/subscribe

Mike talks with Chris Bantz about the He Gets Us campaign - the us and them dynamic of the responses to it - the challenges of translating the message of transformation and love and truth into this culture - and the draw of outrage coming from in group and out group dynamics The piece that is the foundation for this podcast is here . Links He Gets Us A Letter on Justice and Open Debate - Harper’s...

Chad Myers and I talk about the trends related to Christianity in America - how they may be understood … and the surprises (unknown) that may upend them. As with all episodes of On Culture - this is based on the lasted dispatch from The Embassy - Predicting Faith. You can find it at theembassy.substack.com Links Modeling the Future of Religion in America - Pew Research The Rise of the ‘Umms’ - Chr...

The basis and show notes for this podcast come from this piece from The Embassy In Him We Live and Move and Have Our Being I’d love you to subscribe (for free) to On Culture wherever you get your podcasts. You can also subscribe to The Embassy at theembassy.substack.com … most of it is free! Links A Conversation with Bing’s Chatbot Left Me Deeply Unsettled - NYT Bing’s AI Chat: “I want to be alive...

On Culture I am joined by Chris Bantz to talk about the future, anxiety, expectations - and how that does (or should) intersect with a life of faith. The background for this episode is this piece from The Embassy. theembassy.substack.com Links China’s Balloon Recalls Cold War Crises - WSJ The Chinese Balloon and the Disappointing Reality of UFOs - The Atlantic Duck and Cover Drills in the Cold War...

More This, Less That  Stop This, Start That This is Good, That is Evil (or that person is good, this person is evil …) This is Smart, That is Stupid Headlines and tweets and takes are filled with these binary classifications. One or the other - with 180 degrees of nothing in-between. When it comes to movements, politicians, ideas, trends, celebrities, sports figures - we are continually given a ch...

Susan and I talk about what we were made to want - what we really desire whether we know it or not, and what we think we want instead - and how those around us can help us (for good or for ill) decide what we want. She wants boots. Take delight in the Lord,     and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 Links Why everyone wants the same things - Luke Burgis - The Free Press Meme st...

If you haven’t yet, check out the dispatch from The Embassy that is the basis for this discussion - The Road to Hell is Paved with Effective Altruism Also - Chad mentions Deitrich Bonhoeffer’s Ethics and his dilemma of working for the Nazi resistance (and the murder of Hitler) as a Christian. Bonhoeffer, to our point concerning humility, couldn’t say that what he was doing was right or that he cou...

A short message letting you know that the full episode is on it’s way … hope you are enjoying The Road to Hell is Paved with Effective Altruism - (not the road, the piece from The Embassy). Chad and I will be in this space on Monday - thanks! Get full access to The Embassy at theembassy.substack.com/subscribe

Jacob Schoettle (the “voice” of the intros and outtros) joins me to talk about wonder, awe, glory, and the Bethlehem Star. At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door … we cannot mingle with the splendours we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in.   C.S. Lewis - T...

The main source for this podcast is dispatch from The Embassy titled A Common Flourishing. Subtitled: Reflecting on Marx, Tolkien, Shakespeare, Dr. King, Heschel, the prophet Isaiah, and Ricky Bobby, I attempt to answer the question - what might a common flourishing look like? And would we want it? And would we want it is the first question here … Links What is Your Life’s Blueprint? - an address...