Ep. 102 Practical Practices for Building a Biblical Worldview
March 04, 2017
00:09:59
No matter what spiritual or cultural issue you face, the answer is to always share the truth of God and apply it to your life. That is exactly what co-hosts Jordan Chamblee and Cedra Sartin seek to do every week on Share Truth Apply Scripture, as they discuss a wide range of topics that concern young believers in today’s world. Listen on American Family Radio or online through the podcast.
Your worldview, whether it is biblical or not, was not built overnight. It has taken every day of your life to develop your belief system. So building, or strengthening, a biblical worldview is going to take time as well.
But what practices can we put in place to build a biblical worldview? What daily habits can we incorporate into our lives that will help us see the world through a gospel lens? Jordan, Jeremy, and Teddy discuss how they are pursuing the development of their worldview and making them conform to the truths of Scripture.
You can't build a biblical worldview if you can't identify what a worldview is. Teddy and Jordan invite George Barna with American Culture and Faith Institute. The ACFI has recently released the largest study of its kind dealing with how American Adults see God, the Bible, and the world around them.
You can take a look at the survey here. But one finding of the study that struck the Engage podcast team was that the younger a person is, the less likely they are to have a biblical worldview. Why is that? What causes Millennials to have a statistically significant weaker biblical worldview than older Christians? Listen to hear George Barna's insights.
After just wrapping up a discussion on a new movie Pilgrim's Progress, Wesley and TJ pull in Jordan and Jeremy to discuss the importance of reading older books.
One reason we don't really like reading old books is because we don't know what old books are out there to read. But let's face it, when we pick up a book written 100 years ago or more they are difficult to read. Jeremy has a great help to that in A Christian's Guide to the Classics by Leland Ryken.
But the team doesn't just focus on why reading old books are hard, although they do spend some time discussing why they are, but they also dig deep into how we can find time to read, and just how countercultural the act of reading is.
Have you ever read Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan? Neither has Wesley or TJ. But they are incredibly excited to see the movie. To help them talk about it, they brought in Steve Cleary, a producer of the new, animated film into the studio to talk about it.
Steve has a firm belief that good, Christian films should be appropriate and useable on the mission field. For what Steve means by that, and for what makes this movie so applicable to those on the front lines of mission work, listen in and check out how to support the movie on Kickstarter.
If you have an idea for a future show, you can always let us know at engagefaq@afa.net.
Wesley and TJ were serious for a longer period of time than either felt comfortable with. Now they get to have a little fun talking about Valentine's Day with speaker, author, and radio host Bill Federer.
Bill traces the roots of Valentine's Day to its beginning with Saint Valentine who was martyred for standing up to the Roman government. It took hundreds of years, a push of popularity from literature (something TJ gets excited talking about), and a declaration from a Pope, but we eventually got a day to buy overpriced flowers to show our affection.
But Valentine's Day goes much further than February 14. It explains why you sign letters with Xs and Os, and why you sign at the X on legal documents.
Listen in if you want to hear about the fascinating legacy of a man we celebrate every year but know little about.
Valentine's Day is approaching and we are going to talk about that, but first Wesley and TJ have some important business to address. Not joking, they are actually serious for once.
Religious freedom has become a buzzword in the Christian and conservative crowd. But it is an issue everyone should be concerned with. If people have the freedom to believe as they choose, then others have the freedom to not believe as they choose. If the government can force a group to stop believing, or acting on a belief, then the government can force a different group to believe something and act on that forced belief.
Right now you have an opportunity to defend the religious liberty that is supposed to be protected by the First Amendment. To help Wesley and TJ better understand the issue, Walker Wildmon joins them in studio. Alker is no stranger to constitutional issues. He has been a great resource for the Engage team on all things constitutional and political. He also has information about AFA's latest action and how you can get involved.
The last show focused on the film Unpopular. But in the movie is only as good as the content within it and that is what TJ and Wesley talk to pastor Emilio Ramos about in this episode.
Unpopular does not shy away from putting a blinding spotlight on the reality of man's sin. It is ugly, it is depraved. It is soul crushing. That is the bad news. The good news is that God can forgive our sin and has provided a means through which we can be cleansed of our sin. Emilio talks about the importance of the doctrine of sin and the doctrine of repentance, what happens if we get those doctrines and wrong, and how we can study to better understand them.
Were you popular in high school? TJ wasn't, but he has dealt with that.
TJ and Wesley talk to Emilio Ramos, pastor of Heritage Grace Community Church, and host of the movie Unpopular, a free video gospel presentation. It is made to help the lost understand their need for the gospel, but is incredibly beneficial for the believer to stand in humility of the supernatural act of their salvation.
Featuring Paul Washer and Dr. James White, the movie focuses on two ideas: sin and repentance. For more information, visit Red Grace Media.
In this episode, TJ and Wesley are joined by Pastor Joseph Parker to discuss whether or not God is pro-life and why. Drawing on the wisdom of scriptures, they explore the importance of the abortion issue and how it relates to the character of God Himself.
Wesley, Jeremy, and TJ, just wrapped up their discussion of how to make the case for life to believers who are prochoice. But only having talks and discussions keeps the issue abstract. The team wanted to give you something tangible and practical to do in helping save the lives of preborn children.
To accomplish this, they invited Dan Steiner, president of Pre-born. The ministry is seeking to put ultrasound machines in pregnancy resource centers across the country. Dan tells us that when a mother sees her infant inside her womb through an ultrasound, there is an 80% chance she will choose life.
Pre-born has broken down the cost of each ultrasound and it comes to $28. For that amount, you can sponsor a mother having the opportunity to hear a heartbeat, see a tiny body, and choose life for her child.
Since the ministry started a few years ago, over 33,000 babies have been saved. You can help save another 33,000.
Can a Christian support abortion? That is the question of discussion for Wesley, Jeremy, and TJ on today's program.
As January is Sanctity of Human Life Month, Engage will be focusing on the issue of life through the next several podcasts.
There are many, many great organizations that can teach how to present the case for life to those outside the faith. But Wesley, TJ, and Jeremy have all run into Christians who profess to be strong believers and support the supposed right of a woman to choose abortion.
The three discuss some of the most common arguments they hear from Christians in support of abortion and their responses to them.
Talking about abortion is never easy, nor should it be. It must be handled with firm grace. The firmness comes from standing resolutely on the value God places on each human life. The grace comes from acknowledging there are people who have been touched by abortion and are always in a place of shame and regret over it.
No discussion of abortion should take place without the inclusion of the grace God offers. He can make beauty from ashes, no matter how badly burned those ashes may be. Listen to today's program for challenges, answers, and prayerful grace.
Continuing our discussion on New Year's resolutions and how we utterly fail at them at the time, Wesley, Jordan, and TJ ask the question: are all resolutions doomed to failure?
The answer they come to is simple: Yes. That is if we are trying to better ourselves by our own might and our own strength.
The fact is that if we want to truly better ourselves, we have to understand a few things about ourselves and, more importantly, a few things about God.
In ourselves we lack the ability to truly better ourselves. Even if we were to master some skill or quit some habit, we would take undue pride in the fact we were able to do it in ourselves and thus create a new weakness in our hearts. We may also fall into legalism and not discern the difference between legalism (something that grieves the Spirit of God) and discipline (something He commands).
No matter how many resolutions you have failed in, there is hope. If Jesus Himself was fully dependent on the Holy Spirit, why would we ever think we don't have to?
In this thought, the team discusses Romans 8:5-8 in an attempt to understand our greatest resolution, focusing more on and understanding better, the person of the Holy Spirit.
So what about you? How are you going to be more reliant on the Holy Spirit this year? What plans do you have in place to practice more spiritual discipline? How do you avoid legalism in pursuing the spiritual disciplines? Let us know in the comments or on our Facebook page.
Do you do New Year’s resolutions? Have you ever failed at one? Ok, let’s be honest, we all fail at them, that’s why it is a constant joke this time of year. But what does that say about us and what hope do we have to truly better ourselves? That is the topic of discussion on today’s episode of Engage Magazine Podcast.
Wesley, Jordan, and TJ talk about some of their New Year’s resolutions from 2016. They give the good, the bad, and the epic fails.
Wesley read a book. TJ wants to write a book. Jordan didn’t want to get better in 2016 (he succeeded by the way).
But the team looks ahead to 2017 with areas they want to strengthen or build up. You can listen in to find out what they have planned for the next 12 months, or watch Jordan talk it in his latest vlog.
Engage also has a few resolutions, one of the biggest being our first annual conference. If you don’t know anything about it, click here to learn more. If you do know about it, make a resolution to join us in March. Click here to register and get the early-bird discount.
Discussion continues for Engage's Created to Reflect Worldview Conference with Wil Addison. Wil and his wife Meeke are speaking at the conference along with Sean McDonald, Alex MacFarland, Kendra White, Scooter Noland, and Teddy James (TJ).
Wil talks about why the Created to Reflect theme was chosen, why it matters in today's world, and he introduces BSAC, a coalition of biblically-sound Christians artists.
If you are into hip hop or anything close to genre, visit BSAC. You will be sure to find something you like, and everything there is coming from hearts that share Engage's vision of sharing truth and applying Scripture.
Engage has had one desire from the very beginning: help you build a biblical worldview. To that end, we write articles, record videos, and produce this podcast. The next logical step for us is to do a one-weekend conference. The 2017 conference is Created to Reflect.
Part of putting together a great conference is having great speakers, but another aspect is hosting great music. That is why Wesley and TJ have Cam on to talk about his music, his ministry, and what you can expect when you see him at the Engage Worldview Conference. You haven't registered for the conference yet? You can do so here.
It is always a struggle to keep Christmas celebrations focused on Christ instead of the gifts, food, movies, and all the other fixings that come during this season.
As Jordan and TJ were talking about how they planned to keep Christ in the center, Jordan said, "The best person I know who does this consistently is my dad, Jeff Chamblee."
So the natural response was to bring Jeff, director of American Family Studios, onto the program and ask him how he keeps his heart and the heart of his family focused on Christ during Christmas. His best advice: Don't wait for Christmas. Keep Christ the focus for the other 11 months as well. He gives some practical wisdom for families with young and grown children.
Have you let Christmas celebrations stress you out? Are you trying to make everyone in your family and your spouse's family happy by trying to be everywhere at once? You aren't alone.
There is a conflict that comes when trying to start new traditions in your family while honoring the traditions your family had while you grew up. But there are things you can do, decisions you can make, and purpose you can consider that will help remove some of the stress from celebrating Christmas. Jordan and TJ discuss how they have tried out new Christmas traditions for them and their wives while honoring the traditions of other family members at the same time.
