Share Truth Apply Scripture

There are some issues the Bible seems to be silent on that requires the believer to study and have discernment. Then there are issues the Bible speaks plainly on. Wesley and TJ invited Dr. Jim Garlow to the Engage Program to discuss those issues. He covers many of them in his new book Well Versed: Biblical Answers to Today's Tough Issues.

Knowing what Scripture says is only half the work for the believer. We must also know how to live in light of what the Bible teaches. The trio talks about how we are live in the light of God's revealed will in a plethora of issues.

How do we know the right thing to do when the Bible doesn't clearly lay it out? Do we have to floss? The Bible doesn't say. Do we have to obey the speed limit? The Bible doesn't say.

However, the Bible does reveal the heart of God and it relays principles to us by which we are to live our lives. No matter what issue we face, Scripture has something to say about it, even if it is not a "Thou shall," or "Thou shall not."

Bert Harper joins Wesley and TJ in the studio to talk about how Christians can see these ideas in the supposed silence of the Bible. Fortunately, there are many things the Bible does speak directly to. Wesley and TJ have Dr. Jim Garlow to discuss that in the next episode.

In the last episode, TJ, Wesley, and Jordan discussed how our creativity reflects the character of God, especially in the life of a Christian, and how Christians can seek to glorify their creative God through their talents and creative gifts. Now they turn a corner and talk about a correct perception of creativity – is it only for artists and "creatives"? Or does everyone have some amount of creativity?

This podcast can also be viewed on YouTube.

Mankind is created in the image of the Creator – therefore mankind is creative. TJ and Wesley are joined by Jordan Chamblee (Engage Project Director) to discuss how our creativity reflects the character of God, especially in the life of a Christian, and how Christians can seek to glorify their creative God through their talents and creative gifts.

This podcast can also be viewed on YouTube.

As we talked about in the previous episode, Engage has been to several conferences. But during the latest one we attended, the Values Voter Summit in Washington, DC, Engage had an opportunity to lead a breakout session. During the session, TJ and Kendra White spoke about the Engage platform and how we all need to speak the gospel into the lives of every person, but especially those in our generation.

At the end of the breakout session, Kendra and TJ were asked several questions. Wesley and TJ go over some of those and dive a little deeper into the answers. You can watch the entire breakout session here.

Engage has been blessed to participate in several conferences over the last year. But our most recent was also our most involved. Several members of the Engage team, including Wesley Wildmon, Walker Wildmon, Kendra White, Abe Hamilton, and Teddy James, all attended the Values Voter Summit in Washington, DC.

Rob Chambers, director of AFA Action, also attended Values Voter Summit. Wesley and TJ have him in studio to talk about some of his key takeaways. One of Chambers' favorite moments was when Abe Hamilton took the main stage for 20 minutes.

Wesley, TJ, and Alex McFarland continue their discussion on being a good steward of time. Alex points to the fact that every moment we breathe is a gift given to us by God and we will be held accountable to how we invested and spent that gift.

Alex illustrates how God gives us all time, talent, treasure, and testimony. He has specifically gifted each of us in unique ways in these things. But we must view time as a limited resource and we must budget it accordingly.

Even in the midst of a busy schedule, Alex points out how we are still commanded to rest on Sunday and worship. The three open up about their personal temptation to work all the time and how God has convicted them about rest and why He commands it.

Most conversations focusing on stewardship deal with money. How should we spend money? How can we gain money? But the idea of stewardship is much larger than just finances. It deals with every limited resource in our lives, including time.

To help discuss this idea, Wesley and TJ bring in one of the busiest men they know, Alex McFarland. He is a student, husband, professor, speaker, writer, radio cohost, and much more. So what is his secret to keeping it all together while spinning so many plates at once?

Have you ever been so busy you are almost paralyzed and can’t get anything done? Alex shares how to master your schedule and keep your schedule from mastering you. He talks about how to make life a “decade-long ‘Thank You’ letter to Christ.”

Prayer is often accused of being an inactive activity. But nothing could be further from the truth.

For evidence, Wesley and TJ bring Jessica Webb into the studio to talk about how she put prayer to action in her local school system. Jessica went through all the proper channels and organized a prayer walk through every school in her county. The group she led prayed over the administrators, staff, teachers, parents, and children in the schools. She provided prayer items for the teams to make sure everyone who would be involved in the school would be covered in prayer this school year.

Although this sounds like a fine thing to do, the school superintendent received some pushback and had to cancel the event. After much prayer and more work, God reopened the doors to the schools.

Listen to learn what happened and how one person brought prayer to the forefront of the minds of an entire county.

Have you ever closed your eyes to pray and wondered if you were doing it right? Of course, we know prayer is simply talking to God, but we often hear people pray and it seems like they are a symphony while we are a kid on a recorder.

Prayer should never be a source of shame or embarrassment in the life of a believer. But it should be something we study, wrestle with, and practice. Even the disciples had to ask Jesus how to pray in Luke 11.

Wesley and TJ share some of the prayer principles and tools they have found in studying the subject.

The two also let loose their husband sides and speak directly to men for a few minutes sharing the commands of Scripture of leading families in prayer, Bible study, and worship. You can find some of these tips discussed in an article here.

Are hymns dead? A quick look around the Christian media landscape could lead you to believe they are. In reality, there is a movement rising to breathe new life into ancient songs. One of the driving truths of the movement is because we have neglected some of these great works and thus have cheated ourselves of the doctrinal depth, lyrical beauty, and Christ-centered worship they offer.

Wesley and TJ listen to more than just hymns, and TJ even admits he used to loathe them. But Jordan Chamblee is in the studio to talk about why he loves them, and how we can use them in even the most modern worship sets. The three also discuss an ongoing series focused on rediscovering the old hymns of the faith.

No discussion of modern hymns can be had without mentioning the husband and wife duo Keith and Kristyn Getty. They are behind the lyrics and sounds of amazing songs such as "In Christ Alone," "The Power of the Cross," and "Behold the Lamb."

Keith's passion for hymns comes through not just in his songwriting, but also in they way he talks about them. That is why Wesley and TJ brought him onto to show to talk about the use of hymns in worship. The three do talk about the Gettys' music, but also about how to use hymns to deepen our faith.

Hymns are far from dead, as discussed in Episode 51, and Keith is one person responsible for showing people how to love them all over again. Take a listen to learn the role hymns can play in your private, family, and corporate worship.

We often hear that there is no command saying, "Thou shall vote." That is true, but does God ever say anything about political participation? Was Jesus involved in the politics of His day?

Neither Wesley nor TJ was sure, so we brought in Neil Mammen, author of Jesus is Involved in Politics (his answer is in the name of the book) to talk about it.

Jesus lived in an era when the leading politicians were also religious leaders. Therefore, when you read in the New Testament about the conversations He had with Pharisees and Sadducees, you are also reading about Jesus getting involved in the politics of His day. He did not shy away. He called leaders out.

But how can we follow that example? That is what we spend 13 minutes talking about.

Talking politics can seem like dirty business. But it definitely does not have to be.

Wesley and TJ have heard from all over the place that we as Christians have a responsibility to be active in the affairs of our local, state, and federal government. But rarely have we heard about the privilege of being involved.

The freedom to have our voices heard by all levels of government leaders is one men and women have fought for throughout many generations. It is one human beings dreamed of for centuries. It is one we take for granted.We draw heavily from Walker Wildmon's article Taking a 21st Century Stand for this episode and expound on the ideas he writes about.

TJ discusses how Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles helped shape his worldview and Wesley points out that he was too cool as a child for cartoons. Abraham Hamilton III joins the two again to provide some mature commentary (although he thinks TMNT are pretty cool too).

We as Christians have a biblical command to examine the worldview we have allowed to be passively built for us by culture and build a new one based on the foundation of Scripture.

Part of that active building is being conscious of and seriously considering what we digest. The media we consume is like food for our soul. What we digest in our entertainment will impact the person we are becoming. It will impact the way we see ourselves, the way we see God, the way we see everything. For those reasons, there are two questions for you to ask yourself:

What are you becoming?

What are you allowing to define the way you see the world?

Also check out Gospel Defined Worldview by our very own Jordan Chamblee.

We share truth and apply Scripture every day in an effort to help you build a biblical worldview. We love discussing it so much we have devoted an entire category to the issue of worldview. Somehow, however, we have yet to actually discuss what a worldview is, much less a biblical worldview.

Wesley and TJ recognized they need some help in discussing this, so they pulled in Abraham Hamilton III, public policy analyst for American Family Association.

He defines worldview as the overarching lens through which you view the world. Think of it like glasses. If you have an orange-tinted lenses everything will look orange.

There are two ways your worldview is formed, passively and actively. In this episode, the three discuss the passive method. They show how your worldview has been formed through the cartoons you grew up with, books you read, and everything around you.

The next podcast focuses on how you can actively build a biblical worldview.

School may be over at graduation, but that does not mean waking up in a cold sweat from a nightmare of waking up late for a big test is. Have we mentioned TJ really needs some help?

But neither TJ or Wesley have kids of school age yet, so they brought in Chris Woodward. Chris made the decision to place his children in a private school, but they weighed the options of public, Christian, homeschool, and several others.

Chris and his family made their decision for personal reasons. But one thing all three agree on is that the ultimate responsibility for teaching kids sits on the shoulders of parents. Chris talks about the difference dynamics between a classroom where there is one teacher with twenty students versus home where there are far fewer children and parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and siblings who can help the kids learn.

Chris gives some practical tips on how to help your child learn and some key ideas to be careful of in this journey. He pulls from several of his articles on Engage and on One Million Dads.

Have you ever had a nightmare about being late for school only to realize you graduated five years ago? Apparently, TJ has some issues he needs to work on.

To go beyond reading, writing, and arithmetic, you as a parent are teaching your child theology. It isn’t a question as to whether you are teaching lessons about God, but whether you are teaching good lessons or not.

Wesley and TJ talk about ways they are trying to convey the greatness of God into minds that still haven’t mastered the art of tying their shoes (the struggle is read).

They also talk about some great resources you may find helpful including Theo; Owlegories; God’s Blueprint for Life, Liberty and Property; and the New City Catechism.

Whether you loved or hated school, education is something parents cannot and must not skimp on with their children. We have a duty, responsibility, and privilege of being the primary teacher for the minds of the little ones God has placed in our care.

Wesley and TJ continue their discussion with Alex MacFarland about the Islamic belief discussion. But this time they focus on how the worldview of Muslims can be opened to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Alex shares some of the opportunities he has had to share the faith with Muslims. Some came to believe in Jesus, others did not. The three talk about how we as Christians are not responsible for the results, but only for the faithfulness speak when God gives us the opportunity.

Click here to read "Reaching Out to Muslims in an ISIS-Charged Culture".

The news is filled with stories of Islamic terrorism these days. Hearing all this bad news can easily lead to fear and hatred. But the gospel compels Christians to a different response. We are to conquer Islamic terrorism with the message of Jesus Christ. To do that, we have to first understand the gospel (something Engage seeks to do every day) and second understand the Muslim worldview.

When we understand where Islamic followers are coming from it is easier for us to present the gospel message to them and bring them into the fold of the faith. Wesley and TJ know they have not spent enough time studying Islamic theology so they called Alex MacFarland for help. Alex has studied Islamic belief and knows how to present the Christian faith to them in a way that is approachable for them and simple for Christians. It may not change the world overnight, but the message can change a life for eternity.