The Holy Post

Jon Ward is back! He's the senior political correspondent for Yahoo News and the author of the new book Camelot's End about the 1980 primary fight between Jimmy Carter and Ted Kennedy. Ward unpacks the current dynamics within the Republican and Democratic parties, and what to expect as we move toward the 2020 election. Also this week: Christians freak out over "McJesus" in Israel, social media fre...

Confused about the current standoff in Washington over the president's border wall? Matthew Soerens, U.S. Director of Church Mobilization for World Relief and National Coordinator for the Evangelical Immigration Table, is back to help us make sense of it all. He explains how the failure of immigration bills since 2013 got us to this place, and why neither Democrats nor Republicans are pursuing a c...

How's your new year resolution going? Drew Dyck is back to discuss his new book about self-discipline—which we all need more of. Unlike other books on the subject, his combines biblical wisdom with the latest findings from brain science, and Drew used himself as a guinea pig for research. Also this week, a teenage biohacker injected himself with DNA coded from the Bible. Is the lost Ark in Ethiopi...

Should social media companies be held responsible for the harm users inflict on their platforms? What about pharmaceutical companies marketing opioids? And gun manufacturers? Phil, Skye, and Christian get into a lively discussion about regulation and responsibility. Plus, can evangelical political engagement be explained by the 5 stages of grief? A new article argues white evangelicals will be pol...

Do your church leaders want to use you or equip you? Pastor and cultural architect, Dave Gibbons, joins Skye for a conversation about the future of the church. Having experienced everything from fundamentalism, to the seeker megachurch, and urban multiethnic ministry, Gibbons has an interesting take on where things are heading. Hint—its about launching people not institutions. Phil and Skye also d...

Nothing has caused more controversy among Christians in recent years than the advancement of LGBT rights and its implications for religious liberty. Is there a way forward that respects both sides? Gene Robinson, who was elected the first openly gay Episcopal bishop in 2003, and Skye discuss where they find common ground. Also this week, Phil responds to a California university's "whiteness forum"...

Last month American missionary John Chau broke the law by venturing to a remote island to share the gospel with an indigenous tribe who killed him. Phil and Skye unpack reactions to the story and what it says about our culture and how Christians now think about missionaries. Also this week, the "War on Christmas" has come to Idaho where a family is battling their neighbors over a live nativity sce...

Phil is off this week and Skye is traveling, so we have a special episode featuring a sermon Skye preached earlier this year at Mission Hills Church in San Marco, California. In the message, Skye looks at two ways Christians have viewed cultural engagement in the last century, and how both were rooted in fear and self-interest. He then explains a third, more faithful, option for those seeking to e...

A Dutch man is suing the government to legally lower his age by 20 years. He argues that if we can legally change our gender and our name why not our age? After decades of scandal, the Catholic Church thinks a Pokémon Go style video game is what it needs to reengage young people. Phil and Skye have a few other suggestions. New data says America's youngest generation is less moral, more self-center...

He wasn't a megachurch leader, nor was he a Christian celebrity, but a small church pastor with a love for the Bible managed to impact the faith of millions. This week we're joined by J.R. Briggs to talk about the ministry and legacy of his friend, Eugene Peterson. Plus, Phil and Skye breakdown the midterm elections, why are racists claiming there's a "white genocide," and a Bible professor explai...

In the wake of the terrible mass shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, more churches are debating whether or not to arm themselves in self-defense. Is armed security a faithful way to protect the flock, or do guns in church create more problems than solutions? Skye answers listener questions about the issue. Also this week, HBO wants to protect its actors from the harm caused by trivialized sex s...

Christianity teaches that Jesus took our sins upon himself and endured the punishment of death we deserve. Some critics of that view, however, claim a God who pours out his wrath upon his innocent Son is a moral monster. Friend of the show, Mike Erre, is back to set the record straight and explains what the "divine child abuse" critique of the cross gets wrong. Also this week, Christian and Skye t...

Since the 2016 election the statistic that a record-breaking 81% of white evangelicals voted for Trump has been widely cited. But is it correct? Katelyn Beaty is back to unpack new research done by Lifeway and the Billy Graham Center on the issue, but does it really "debunk" the 81% stat? And why did so many white evangelicals pick Trump? Hint—it wasn't because of abortion. Plus, Phil and Skye dis...

Much of the Evangelical Industrial Complex has been created to make Christianity relevant, acceptable, and attractive to our consumer culture. Author and missional expert, Michael Frost, says this is a mistake. Instead, we should be emphasizing our faith's weirdness and call more Christians to be eccentric—literally "off center." Also this week: Phil and Skye take on "The Good Place," a TV show ab...

The gang's all here for a potluck episode. Drug News: A restaurant in Maine has mercy on lobsters by getting them high on marijuana before boiling them alive, and Coca-Cola plans to sell marijuana infused drinks. #MeToo News: Beth Moore confronts the misogyny within evangelicalism and pays the price. Political News: Liberty University produces a film about a "prophet" claiming Trump will launch Nu...

Human dignity is one of Christianity's greatest gifts to the world, says author Daniel Darling. His new book pushes Christians to think beyond the "us vs them" tribalism of our culture, and calls us back to a prophetic posture of defending what's right even when it means supporting the other political party. He talks with Skye about why churches have abandoned discipleship to the news media, and h...

Americans love freedom. We sing about it, demand it, and fight for it. But what exactly is it? Os Guinness says we've become confused about what freedom really means and argues our un-American and unbiblical vision of freedom may be our undoing. Phil and Skye discuss what it means for America to be a "potluck nation," and what happens if someone brings poisoned chicken salad. Plus, how have corpor...

Why did a pastor in Alabama cut up his Nikes during a worship service? Drew Dyck is back with Skye to talk about the controversy over Nike's Colin Kaepernick ad, and why Americans now look to corporations rather than churches for moral guidance. Phil explores the resurgence of Black cinema, kindergarten pole dancers in China, and why sperm counts have plunged 60 percent. Plus, Phil and Skye plot a...

What is the relationship between the gospel and social justice? Some Christians are stirring controversy with a new statement arguing curing social ills is a distraction from the church's core mission to save souls. Dr. Russell Moore is back to discuss why this topic is rooted in America's history of racism, and why those on the extreme right and the extreme left both get it wrong. Plus, millennia...

Many Christians have elevated knowledge as the key to personal transformation which is why we've made sermons the center of many church gatherings. Aaron Niequist is back to challenge that assumption in favor of a practice-based faith. As a worship leader and liturgist, Niequist has discovered that transformation takes more than knowledge, and worship is more than celebration. Plus, Mike Pence off...

Our culture is rapidly losing it's spiritual vocabulary. Words like grace, virtue, sin, and righteousness have fallen out of use. Why does it matter? Because language shapes the way our brains work and how we see the world. Author and journalist Jonathan Merritt is back to discuss his new book about learning to use God language again. Plus, why are people getting plastic surgery to resemble Snapch...

Did God predestine every individual for eternal paradise or punishment before time began? It's one of the most confusing doctrines of Christianity, but pastor, podcaster, and proud Buckeye Mike Erre is here to help us make sense of predestination. The problem, he says, isn't the doctrine itself or the Bible, but our modern, individualistic way of reading it. Plus, a shark named Helen was stolen in...

Nestled amid the farms and wind turbines of Iowa, Phil and Skye are in Okoboji—the "Cancun of the North"—for their annual pilgrimage to the Okoboji Bible Conference. Joining them is Phil's brother Rob, Harvard Law School graduate and dean of St. Thomas Law School in Minneapolis, to discuss how Christians should think about the Supreme Court, and what's behind the Pope's decision to oppose the deat...

Phil and Skye are at the Okoboji Bible Conference this week, so we have a special episode featuring a message Skye preached a few weeks ago at Wellspring Alliance Church. Based on John 9, Skye looks at why the most religious, most theologically educated people rejected Jesus. Drawing from research conducted by a psychologist in the 1950s, Skye shows that the more certain we are the more blind we b...

The new documentary about Fred Rogers, "Won't You Be My Neighbor," has adults crying in theaters and has sparked a Mr. Rogers revival across the country. Skye is joined by co-host of The Movie Proposal, Josh Lindsay, to discuss the film and why it should be required viewing for everyone in America, and how Mr. Rogers should inspire Christians to worry less about being relevant and more about being...