Cross & Gavel Podcast

Host Mike Schutt again welcomes East Texas preacher Drew Nelson to the podcast to discuss The Odyssey, Homer's ancient epic poem about . . . well, wait. What is it about?  Mike and Drew explore that question and more-- including why good Christians should read good pagan literature and why you might like The Odyssey-- as they highlight its major themes and give some background to the poem. Their hope is that a couple of regular guys reading big books might encourage other regular folks to do the same.    Drew Nelson is preacher at Southside Church of Christ in Mount Pleasant, TX, and Mike Schutt is host of the Cross & Gavel podcast, director of Christian Legal Society's Law Student Ministries, and Clinical Associate Professor at Trinity Law School. Cross & Gavel is a project of Trinity Law and CLS.

Greg Rummel, President and CEO of Rummel Agency in Frankenmuth, Michigan, has a word of encouragement for us in this global pandemic: God's got this, too. Listen in as Greg shares with host Mike Schutt how battling cancer helped hm to think well about living in difficult times-- and to focus on what is really important. You'll be encouraged! Cross & Gavel podcast is a project of Christian Legal Society and Trinity Law School.     

"The efficiency brought by new forms of technology has just made us demand more of one another," says Myron Steeves, dean of Trinity Law School. "Our important innovations sometimes give us the opposite of what we desire." In this episode, Dean Steeves and Mike Schutt explore the topic of technology and the tyranny of time. If advances in technology and greater efficiency in our lives don't make us better people all by themselves, why do we keep chasing them as ends in and of themselves? Is too much of a good thing still good? Join the conversation as they ask these questions and others!  Cross & Gavel is a project of Trinity Law School and Christian Legal Society. 

Carl Caton is the founder and president of the San Antonio Marriage Initiative, a ministry focused on bringing help and hope to the city of San Antonio. Carl and his team, in partnership with volunteers around Texas, seek to network, equip, and mobilize the local church community to strengthen marriages in the city. One of the organization's key strategies is to "identify best practices and resources" and to "collaborate with like-minded individuals who will deploy that knowledge throughout the local faith community." This, amazingly, includes the family law community.  Listen in as Carl describes a vision for the family that includes reliance on the expertise of lawyers, judges, and others invested in the family law system. Carl also sees the need to minister to and encourage those attorneys and judges in the system, who see, day after day, the toll taken divorce and custody battles. His compassion for the legal professionals runs deep in his own history, and listeners will be inspired by his wisdom for those seeking to do redemptive work in this field. Carl Caton's message is a message of hope and redemption in a troubled world and profession.  For more information on the San Antonio Marriage Initiative, visit their website.  Mike Schutt is host of Cross & Gavel and is Clinical Associate Professor at Trinity Law School and director of Law Student Ministries for Christian Legal Society. 

Join host Mike Schutt as he welcomes local preacher Drew Nelson to the podcast to talk about the classic "On the Incarnation," by Saint Athanasius, 4th Century Bishop of Alexandria.  As a young man, Athanasius attended the Council of Nicea and spent the rest of his life standing firm against the Arian heresy that remained popular, despite its condemnation by Nicea.  On the Incarnation is a wide-ranging apologetic regarding the eternal Son of God taking on flesh to reveal the Father and save humanity.  Drew and Mike read the book with their Wednesday morning men's group, and they report on their impressions.  Drew Nelson in preacher at Southside Church of Christ in Mount Pleasant, TX, and Mike Schutt is host of the Cross & Gavel podcast, director of Christian Legal Society's Law Student Ministries, and Clinical Associate Professor at Trinity Law School. Cross & Gavel is a project of Trinity Law and CLS.  

The CLS Law School Fellows program is designed to build a community of scholars around the topics of professional formation, vocational stewardship, and Christian jurisprudence. Each year, CLS gathers a group of students in Washington, DC for an intense week of lectures, mentoring, discussion, and fellowship. CLS pays the expenses of accepted candidates.  In this episode of Cross & Gavel, Fellows Founding Director Mike Schutt discusses the program with CLS CEO David Nammo, Trinity Law School Dean and Fellows faculty member Myron Steeves, and two 2018 Fellows, Ronia Dubbaneh and Paulina Belovarski, who are both attorneys.  For more information on the Fellows program, visit the website. Rising 1Ls and 2Ls should apply before midnight on March 1! Cross & Gavel Audio is a cooperative project of Christian Legal Society and Trinity Law School. 

The Department of Education has proposed new regulations that are open for comment by the general public. Two sections of the new regulations are designed to protect religious student groups from being singled out and denied benefits because of their religious identity.  Kim Colby, Director of the Center for Law and Religious Freedom at Christian Legal Society, summarizes the proposed regs and why they are needed. She also suggests that those who are in support of these regs should take action to comment in support of their final adoption. Here are the regulations Kim addresses on the podcast: Proposed regulation 34 CFR § 75.500(d) (§ 76.500(d) is essentially verbatim): “A public institution shall not deny to a religious student organization at the public institution any right, benefit, or privilege that is otherwise afforded to other student organizations at the public institution (including full access to the facilities of the public institution and official recognition of the organization by the public institution) because of the beliefs, practices, policies, speech, membership standards, or leadership standards of the religious student organization.”  The Center for Law and Religious Freedom has a guide to the regs and tips on how to comment at CLSReligiousFreedom.org/CampusComments. Here are the basic steps on how to submit a comment on or before February 18: Go to https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=ED-2019-OPE-0080-0001  (You are at the right place if the title is “Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards, Direct Grant Programs, State-Administered Formula Grant   Programs, Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program, and Strengthening Institutions Program” and the ID No. is ED-2019-OPE-0080-0001.) In the upper right hand of the page, press “Comment Now.” Write your comment in the large blank space in the middle of the page (up to 5000 characters). At the top of your comment, type ID: ED-2019-OPE-0080-0001. If your comment is a document longer than 5000 characters or you want to include an attachment, type in the blank space, “I support the Department’s proposed regulations 34 CFR § 75.500(d) and § 76.500(d) for the reasons given in the attached comment” and upload the longer document or other attachment below the large blank space. Fill in your first and last name (or initial). Note that your name will appear on the public website. Hit “continue” to go to the next page. Check the small box indicating that you “have read and understand the statement. Hit “submit comment.” Cross & Gavel Audio is a cooperative ministry of Christian Legal Society and Trinity Law School. Mike Schutt is director of CLS Law Student Ministries and the Institute for Christian Legal Studies. He is a Clinical Associate Professor at Trinity Law. 

Law professor Jeff Brauch argues that our beliefs about human nature will drive our politics, our policy, and our culture. In his recent book, Flawed Perfection: What It Means to Be Human and Why It Matters for Culture, Politics, and Law (2017), he lays out a compelling case for the importance of an accurate understanding of human nature. He begins with the idea that our fundamental presuppositions about the nature of human beings will drive how we approach almost anything in the public sphere. From there, he provides examples from the fields of human rights, criminal justice, and bioethics, to name a few.  Join Professor Brauch, Executive Director of Regent Law School's Center for Global Justice, Human Rights, and the Rule of Law, as he and host Mike Schutt discuss this important topic.  Professor Brauch joined the Regent Law faculty in 1994 and served as dean from 1999-2015. He has taught Christian Foundations of Law, International Human Rights, Civil Liberties and National Security, Torts, Negotiations, International Criminal Law and other courses. Prior to teaching, Brauch served as a law clerk for Justice William Callow of the Wisconsin Supreme Court and then worked five years as an associate with Milwaukee law firm Quarles & Brady, where he specialized in commercial litigation. Cross and Gavel is a project of the Institute for Christian Legal Studies, a cooperative ministry of Regent University School or Law and Christian Legal Society, founded eighteen years ago through the collaboration of Dean Brauch and CLS in the work of Cross & Gavel host Mike Schutt.  Pick up a copy of Flawed Perfection from our friends Byron and Beth Borger at Hearts & Minds Bookstore. 

On the 80th episode of Cross & Gavel, August Huckabee, economics professor at Worldview at the Abbey in Colorado, returns ("Feel the Bern," Ep. 52) to discuss cultural trends and countermeasures in these strange times. August teaches students at the Abbey, directs TeenPact programs around the country, and lectures at Worldview Academy. Host Mike Schutt asks him about trends he is seeing in this generation and what educators and parents might do to cultivate both courage and grace in the face of the challenges facing people of faith as they both engage and create culture. Join the conversation and pass it on to friends! You'll be encouraged and edified by the conversation.  If you'd like to learn more about Worldview Academy or Worldview at the Abbey, follow the links.  Here are some of the books Huck and Mike discuss on this episode. Visit our friends at Hearts & Minds Books to order: F.A. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom Burton W. Folsom, The Myth of the Robber Barons Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom Cross & Gavel is a project of Regent University School of Law and Christian Legal Society. 

This week, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, holding that the Commission's "clear and impermissible hostility toward" religious beliefs violated the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Already, commentators dispute the breadth and lasting import of the Court's 7-2 holding on narrow legal grounds.  In this episode, Mike Schutt talks with Kim Colby about these questions. Kim is Director of Christian Legal Society's Center for Law & Religious Freedom, an expert in First Amendment law and a long-time friend of religious freedom.  Listen in as the discuss what the case held, why, and what the holding may mean for future cases. Also learn what Constitutional lawyers mean by GVR.  Kim Colby is the director of Christian Legal Society’s Center for Law and Religious Freedom , where she has worked since graduating from Harvard Law School in 1981. She has represented religious groups in several appellate cases, including two cases heard by the United States Supreme Court. She has filed numerous amicus briefs in federal and state courts. Ms. Colby has prepared several CLS publications addressing issues about religious expression in public schools, including released time programs, implementation of the Equal Access    Act, and teachers’ religious expression. Visit the Center's website for resources on its first amendment work.  Cross & Gavel is a production of Regent University School of Law and Christian Legal Society.