Postmodern Realities Podcast

Editors Note: This episode contains an extended discussion about emotional and physical child abuse and thus its content may not be appropriate for all listeners. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you Exod. 20:12 ESV. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord Col 3:20.Scripture commands us to honor...

The biblical depiction of Moses as an ancient leader par excellence, albeit a somewhat reluctant one, is wholly believable despite scholarly claims to the contrary. Some recent interpretations anachronistically analyze the historicity and leadership of Moses with little concern for comparative ancient data or context. One example compares him to George Washington, as a jack of all trades leader, w...

Trigger Warning: This episode contains graphic descriptions of various types of abortions. Therefore, this content might be disturbing and traumatizing and not suitable for some listeners. During the fall of 2018, a public and brutal Supreme Court nomination battle saw Judge Brett Kavanaugh assume the seat left vacant by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the highest courts perennial swing vote, establishin...

While there are many potentially healthy shaping influences for a Christians spiritual growth, one of the greatest shaping influences neglected by many Christians today is the Christian calendar. A 2016 survey done by LifeWay Research reveals that fewer than three in ten American evangelicals observe Lent 28 percent. Even 40 percent of Roman Catholics surveyed said they did not observe Lent. This...

Editors note We realize that various interpretations and reactions to storyline elements in this film and their ramifications have been debated. We offer this review as one plausible viewpoint. Please also be aware there are spoilers in this episode, as major plot points are discussed. A weak and problematic entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the female centric Captain Marvel is heavy hande...

Perhaps the most difficult and emotionally charged question ever asked the pastor or apologist is why God let a particular child suffer or die. The question is rarely abstract. Ive never been asked why God lets children die. Im asked why God let six year old Ethan get killed by a car while he was skateboarding or why God let four year old Kaylee die of leukemia. The typical Christian answer is, We...

The classic film 200 A Space Odyssey played on the fear that computers would soon become conscious, independent, and dangerous to humanity. A fear of computers is not just the stuff of scifi nightmares but also is shared by Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates. They need not worry. While Kubrick, Hawking, Musk, Gates, and the rest of us should be afraid of what some people armed with superco...

Pulse Evolution is an entertainment company that used a hologram technique several years ago to summon the ghost of slain rapper Tupac Shakur at the Coachella music festival. The necromantic language seems appropriate. This was not a music video per se, but a live performance. Whether Ghost Dancing will become a new entertainment venue or just another passing fad remains to be seen, but it says so...

Nothing is the great dread that threads Ernest Hemingways literary work. Most of his characters believe that nothing awaits them at death. Their machismo is a stance that both accepts and defies lifes collapse into nothing. For Hemingway, it is Christ crucified and not Christ resurrected that holds interest. His work demonstrates that this world leaves each human, ultimately, alone. This Postmoder...

In the beginning, ancient aliens visited planet Earth, significantly influenced human history, and possibly even engineered human life to evolve. Furthermore, as a result of ancient alien visitations, history is replete with clues regarding these alien astronauts. Flying saucers and little green men may seem the stuff of 1950s B movies, yet ideas like the ones just described are gaining momentum n...

Humans may disagree on what behaviors are moral, or on the best way to make specific moral decisions. Even so, our fundamental concept of goodness has to come from somewhere. This is what the moral argument for the existence of God addresses. Put simply, morality exists therefore, God exists. For a culture intoxicated by naturalism, morality provides a strong reason to believe in a Creator the pre...

Emotional religious doubt presents an enigma. Exceptionally prevalent and sometimes excruciatingly painful, religious doubt is experienced by believers in a wide variety of ways. Distraught sentiments often appear habitually as agonized What if scenarios. Viewed in the context of other forms of doubt, there are many differences. However, the common notions of how to progress toward healing doubt a...

We live in a world broken by sin. One manifestation of brokenness is found in those living with disabilities. God shows great affection for the lost, including those who live with brokenness the blind, lame, crippled, etc. It behooves us to ask how we can more effectively respond to this vast and often forgotten population. We ask, How can the church share the Good News with people whose intellect...

This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with JOURNAL author James N. Anderson about his article The Internal Testimony of the Holy Spirit How Do You Know That the Bible Is Gods Word? Topics covered in this episode include what is meant by the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit? Why is it important to know that the Bible is Gods Word, and isnt it enough to just to have faith? Is ther...

Mormon Evangelism in the Twenty First Century For many years, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Mormons have practiced what they call friendshipping. This coined word describes the attitude that Mormons are told to have in their relationships with less active members or those who have no connection whatsoever to the LDS Church. By going out of their way to do kind gestures...

Originally a niche medium, anime Japanese animation has experienced a massive explosion in popularity in recent decades. Its cultural influence is widespread, from massive conventions full of truly devoted fans to Hollywoods biggest blockbusters and family films. However, anime can be daunting to explore and understand due to both cultural differences as well as its willingness to feature more mat...

What Cops Can Teach Christians about the Critical Use of Language Why should Christians avoid Christian jargon when witnessing to non Christians? J. Warner Wallace talks about his evangelistic tips on witnessing to nonbelievers without using Christianese. He answers questions like Why is it important to avoid specifically Christian language when talking with non Christians? What was difficult for...

After Exodus International, the largest and most prominent ministry to address homosexuality, closed its doors in 2013, the public, both Christian and secular, became more skeptical about the possibility of homosexuals going straight. As a result, a different approach developed, one in which someone who was Christian but same sex attracted could still identify himself as gay but also hold the hist...

Historically, people within the church who experienced homosexual feelings went unaddressed, creating a void. They recognized both the Biblical and cultural prohibitions against yielding to their temptations, but also realized the temptations remained. Afraid to confess and deal with them, many fell into secret homosexual sin, while others eventually came out as openly gay. Still others remained f...

Alfred Hitchcock was one of the most forward thinking filmmakers of the 20th century, advancing the art form and anticipating the taste of audiences. Through his most famous films Psycho, Rear Window, and Vertigo we find a common theme anonymous watching. This theme is exponentially more relevant today than in Hitchcocks own time, living as we do with the power to present our stories and peer into...

If the Great Commission tells us anything, it tells us that the mission to make disciples doesnt rely on ministry professionals. The very notion of a distinction between secular work and full time ministry would have been incoherent to the original apostles sent out ones, especially Paul, a tentmaker whose greatest recorded evangelistic success began in the Athenian agora, a sprawling marketplace...

Recently the World Health Organization added Gaming Disorder to the 11th International Classification of Diseases ICD-11 3 a tool for diagnosing diseases. Combine this with the many parents dismayed by their childrens obsession with the video game Fortnite, and it seems that the game industrys darkest demons are being exposed. More than two billion people play video games worldwide and in America...

MY FEELINGS AS A CHRISTIAN POINT ME TO MY LORD AND SAVIOR AS A FIGHTER. ADOLF HITLERIt is not difficult to find collections of quotes like this one, intended to prove that Adolf Hitler was a Christian. In many of his speeches and writings, Hitler referred to God or Jesus or quoted the Bible. Consequently, it is argued, Hitler must have been a believing Christian. The matter, however, is not that s...

If the battleground over abortion resembles a chess board, the new Netflix documentary Reversing Roe is an offensive bombardment on the pro life movements front lines. The problem is that the film talks around abortion without ever really talking about it at all. Its release is eerily timely its conclusion set the stage for the dramatic showdown over Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. And its...

It is evident from social observation that human beings desire happiness, not as a means to something else but as an end in itself. Many major worldviews seem to agree that one crucial ingredient of happiness is virtuous living. This idea goes back at least as far as ancient Greek philosophy, particularly the works of Aristotle, who argued that virtue is necessary for a healthy soul, and that the...