Ron Johnson Discipleship Podcast

I am joined today on this special Thanksgiving podcast by my lovely wife, Marion! We begin with the first Thanksgiving Proclamation issued by George Washington highlighting the undeniably Christian roots of our founding as a nation. We read a second proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln issued in the middle of the Civil War reminding us of God's blessings and faithfulness even when we, as a na...

Ohio voters adopted Issue 1, which creates a constitutional right to abortion. What's even more disturbing is that an estimated 20% of the voters were evangelicals, and 30% of evangelical voters voted in favor of abortion on demand throughout the entire term of pregnancy. The Bible, of course, is clear on the issue. God calls abortion an abomination. So how could so many "believers" vote...

The Church of Jesus Christ is called to be the conscience of the State. When the Church fails to speak for those who have no voice, we shirk our God-given responsibility, and everyone suffers from our silence. How can we speak prophetically to the most critical issues of our day - issues like the sanctity of life, marriage, sexuality, transgenderism - and avoid being "political?" Have we...

A common error among Christians today is to suppress the Truth in favor of demonstrating "love." We avoid the contentious and controversial issues of our day in the name of loving our neighbor. However, truth and love emanate from the same Source. Jesus is perfect Truth and perfect Love embodied. This is why we cannot separate them with doing damage to both. Truth and love are perfectly...

There are many pastors today who argue that the Church should focus exclusively on evangelism. "What is more valuable than a soul?" they argue. It follows that speaking about anything that might offend an unbeliever is of secondary importance and should be avoided at all costs. After all, why should a lesser issue become a stumbling block to the greatest issue - salvation. Is this the ap...

Episode 177 What happened to the robust, passionate faith of Luther, a faith that was willing to die if necessary for truth? According to Bonhoeffer, it had dwindled to a faith of mere intellectual assent. The faith of the German Church had been reduced to a belief in proper historical creeds and doctrinal truths. The result was a hollow, passionless, heartless "faith" and a twisted form...

Episode 176 Deitrich Bonhoeffer experienced first-hand the failure of the Church to address the evils of his day. He understood "Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act. God will not hold us guiltless.” When people fail to speak out, the price of speaking rises. As the price to speak rises, still fewer speak out, which further causes the pric...

Episode 175 In response to Hitler's "cancelling" of Jewish people from full participation in German life, Deitrich Bonhoeffer helped to draft the Barmen Declaration. This document served to draw a clear line in the sand between the National Reich Church that was subservient to Hitler, and the Confessing Church which was fully submitted to Jesus Christ as its Head. What was shocking was t...

On January 31, 1933, Adolf Hitler came to power as chancellor of Germany. What followed was nothing short of a "fundamental transformation" of German culture. Hitler acted with lightning speed to bring about a "synchronization" of German life with Nazi ideology. Crises were created and executive powers were seized to bring order. Political opponents were demonized. Voices of op...

On Reformation Sunday, November 6, 1932, Dietrich Bonhoffer stood in the pulpit of the leading church in all of Germany and delivered a prophetic call for the church to return to Jesus, her first love. The fiery church of Luther was gone. In its place was a Christianity void of Christ! Bonhoeffer called it "cheap grace." If the Church did not arise as the true Church of Jesus Christ, but...

In his book, Letter to the American Church, Eric Metaxes asks, "How is it that so many in the American Church of our time have shrunk back from public engagement, and quietly assented to the decidedly unbiblical—and decidedly un-American and unconstitutional—view that the truth of God is not applicable beyond the churches?" We discuss the reason for the Church's retreat from relevance in...

The pandemic exposed a great deal of ambiguity concerning the role of the Church. Many pastors and their congregations were confused over where to find their marching orders. Do we blindly comply with the directives of unelected "health experts?" Are we called to follow the orders of the State? The parallels between the German church during the rise of Hitler and the passive and impotent...

Patriotism has fallen on hard times in America. Perhaps it's because we are more divided than ever over what it means to love our country. One side of the ideological camp focuses on all of the great things America has done throughout history. The other side seems to only focus on her faults. However, to truly love America, we must somehow see both sides simultaneously. We do not fail to see the s...

The concept of American exceptionalism is controversial largely because it is tragically misunderstood.  Is America exceptional? If so, what is so special about America? What sets us apart from all of the nations of the world? Why is this understanding so critical if we hope to steward and sustain the republic we have been given?

How important is the character of our leaders if we hope to keep the fragile republic of ordered freedoms entrusted to us? Many today conveniently compartmentalize a leader's character from his/her competencies. One's ability to "get the job done" is really all that matters. Who cares about a leader's personal indiscretions! Our Founders saw things differently. Characterless leaders unde...

Heroes are vitally important to the health of any nation. When Saul and Jonathan were killed in battle, David composed a funeral song and commanded that it be taught to the people of Israel. He wanted future generations to know of the heroic sacrifices of these men. Why? Because heroes inspire us. Heroic examples call forth from us a powerful desire to be good and great and heroic ourselves. They...

What united a loosely connected group of individual colonies into a single people with a common identity as Americans? The answer: George Whitefield and the First Great Awakening. After three decades of anointed, tireless preaching, a remarkable 80% of the population of the American colonies experienced Whitefield's ministry at least once. The impact was profound. His preaching served as a great s...

Americans are freedom loving people! Our founding Fathers did a magnificent job securing our liberty by winning the Revolution. They secured and ordered those liberties by giving us a Constitution. The real issue before us now is how do we sustain the precious freedoms we have inherited? We discuss a powerful idea called "The Golden Triangle of Freedom." It's the secret sauce of sustaina...

Today we begin our discussion of Eric Metaxas' best-selling book, _If You Can Keep It: The Forgotten Promise of American Liberty. _In 1776 a nation was formed in a way that was absolutely unique in human history. It was something entirely new: the nation as an idea. It was nothing more and nothing less than this singular idea that held America and Americans together, and the idea in which they bel...

Some have suggested that America is in her twilight. The sun is setting, and darkness is quickly encroaching. Are we doomed to a future of moral debauchery and depravity? What we are witnessing is the fruit of a godless, materialistic worldview which reduces people to biochemical machines. We are simply the products of our chemistry and environment. Life is ultimately meaningless. Power is the goa...

When Christians share the good news of the gospel with others, especially those from different cultures, we are often accused of being ethnocentric or imperialistic. Our modern culture chides us for thinking one culture might be doing things better than another culture. Who are we to impose our values on others! Cultures should be judged by their own standards. Our biblical exclusivism, thinking t...

While we prepare to celebrate another national birthday, it's important to understand the cause for American strength and stability. Thankfully, America is not a democracy, because democracies don't last long. Our founders opted for a constitutional republic which required both the people and their rulers be constrained by the rule of law. And it was God's law, immutable and transcendent, which fo...

Why are some nations so poor and others so rich? Do cultural beliefs and values condemn whole cultures to poverty? Does inner wealth produce material wealth? What type of worldview is necessary to inspire engineers and entrepreneurs to create labor saving devices to serve the poor and needy? What is the Protestant work ethic and how did it lead to unparalleled prosperity in the West? Today we expl...

Compassionate care for the sick, the weak and the elderly has become a hallmark of America. Why is this the case? Other worldviews show little concern for the weak and infirmed. Medical knowledge alone does not create a caring, compassionate culture. It was the Bible that revealed God as “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.” Jesus became the Messiah for the sick, the sorrowing and the su...

Four decades after the failed French Revolution, Alexis de Tocqueville, a French magistrate, came to the United States seeking explanations for the success of American democracy. He published his findings in his two-volume classic,  Democracy in America . You might be shocked with his conclusion. He said the chief cause of our "extraordinary prosperity" and "growing power" is due to "the superiori...