In this episode I share a sermon I preached at my church on Sunday, June 30th. We are in the middle of a series called ‘Choices’, and I made the decision to explore what the book of Revelation tells us about making the choice to follow Jesus. I explain how to understand Revelation historically, exploring the author, the original audience (the seven churches in Asia minor), and the genre, which is called by historians and Biblical scholars ‘apocalyptic literature’. I then explain how Jesus’ position at the right hand of the Father makes him both king and priest over all the earth, and how who have placed our faith in him are his kingdom. I then look at the church in Laodicea in chapter 3, showing how they had become lukewarm because of their material comforts and that they needed to repent and trust in Christ. I discuss how American Christians can be easily distracted by our own wealth and possessions, and how Revelation shows that if we believe in Christ as King and our identity as his people we cannot afford to ignore our responsibility. I close by examining how the vision of the throne room (Revelation 4-5) and the new heavens and new earth (Revelation 21-22) challenge us to take Jesus seriously. The Protestant Libertarian Podcast is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute and a part of the Christians For Liberty Network. The Libertarian Christian Institute can be found at www.libertarianchristians.com. Questions, comments, suggestions? Please reach out to me at theprotestantlibertarian@gmail.com.  You can also follow the podcast on Twitter: @prolibertypod. For more about the show, you can go to theprotestantlibertarianpodcast.com. If you like the show and want to support it, you can! Go to libertarianchristians.com, where you can donate to LCI and buy The Protestant Libertarian Podcast Merch! Also, please consider giving me a star rating and leaving me a review, it really helps expand the shows profile! Thanks! 

In this episode, I talk with Noah Khrachvik, a Marxist and co-director of the Midwestern Marx Institute. He explains the dialectics of Marxism and why true Marxists are inherently populist. He demonstrates that Marxism is different from both postmodernism and critical theory, and why the American left has sold out their principles. We then have a long discussion about the Federal reserve, the military-industrial complex, and the Covid regime where he explains why communists should be against all of them. We also discuss the chaotic 2024 election cycle and the future of the United States. There is a surprising amount of agreement between the two of us on almost all the most important issues of our time!*My recording software defaulted to my computer microphone; I apologize for the less-than-stellar sound quality on my end! Media Referenced:Noah Khrachvik on X: @khrachvikMidwestern Marx on X: @MidwesternMarxMidwestern Marx Website: https://www.midwesternmarx.com/Midwestern Marx YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MidwesternMarx The Protestant Libertarian Podcast is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute and a part of the Christians For Liberty Network. The Libertarian Christian Institute can be found at www.libertarianchristians.com. Questions, comments, suggestions? Please reach out to me at theprotestantlibertarian@gmail.com.  You can also follow the podcast on Twitter: @prolibertypod. For more about the show, you can go to theprotestantlibertarianpodcast.com. If you like the show and want to support it, you can! Go to libertarianchristians.com, where you can donate to LCI and buy The Protestant Libertarian Podcast Merch! Also, please consider giving me a star rating and leaving me a review, it really helps expand the shows profile! Thanks!

In this episode I talk with Jeremy Kauffman, an entrepreneur and libertarian activist from New Hampshire. A recent article in Reason magazine was critical of the current direction of the Libertarian Party, and Jeremy debated the merits of the claim, as well as Reason’s funding and audience, with several Reason staffers, including Zach Weissmueller, who shared his perspective with me in my last episode. Jeremy talks about the philosophical differences between left-wing and right-wing libertarianism, arguing that Reason caters to the left, and argues that libertarians need to understand and be honest about their ideological commitments if we want to adequately express libertarian ideas. We also discuss the purpose behind the controversial messaging of LP New Hampshire and why he thinks it is effective, his senate run in 2022, the Libertarian National Convention, Trump, Oliver, the Covid Vaccine, the Free State project, and the 2024 presidential election.  For Zach Weissmueller’s take on the controversy, check out Ep 136: Reason Magazine, the Mises Caucus, and the Libertarian Party.  Media Referenced:Jeremy Kauffman on X: @jeremykauffmanLiz Wolfe Article: https://reason.com/2024/06/25/how-the-libertarian-party-lost-its-way/War is Gay campaign ad: https://youtu.be/kdfym6LKpQ0?si=DbjInfDn351m8cJm The Protestant Libertarian Podcast is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute and a part of the Christians For Liberty Network. The Libertarian Christian Institute can be found at www.libertarianchristians.com.Questions, comments, suggestions? Please reach out to me at theprotestantlibertarian@gmail.com.  You can also follow the podcast on Twitter: @prolibertypod. For more about the show, you can go to theprotestantlibertarianpodcast.com. If you like the show and want to support it, you can! Go to libertarianchristians.com, where you can donate to LCI and buy The Protestant Libertarian Podcast Merch! Also, please consider giving me a star rating and leaving me a review, it really helps expand the shows profile! Thanks!

In this episode I talk with Zach Weissmuller, senior producer at Reason magazine and cohost of the ‘Just Asking Questions’ podcast with Liz Wolfe. Wolfe recently published a piece for reason entitled ‘How the Libertarian Party Lost It’s Way’, which is critical of the current direction of the LP. It generated a lot of conflict between Reason staffers and Mises Caucus-oriented libertarians, and Zach discusses the article, the controversy surrounding it, and his own video work on the Mises Caucus. We discuss the purpose of the Libertarian Party, the controversial messaging coming from some LP state affiliates such as the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire, the Chase Oliver campaign, the rift within the libertarian movement between so-called ‘left’ and ‘right’ libertarians, where Reason is located on that spectrum, and the prospects for libertarian unity and advancing libertarian ideas. We then discuss the current state of the 2024 presidential race and the potential for electoral chaos.  Media Referenced:Zach Weissmueller on X: @TheAbridgedZachLiz Wolfe Article: https://reason.com/2024/06/25/how-the-libertarian-party-lost-its-way/Zach’s ‘Reno Reset’ Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsgFdPqOAhkZach’s 2024 LP Convention Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky63JKjIBzEJust Asking Questions podcast: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBuns9Evn1w9K02WT8x-gzSI-UdeeXFG9&si=LSQaKOht85ZjkV81Reason TV: https://www.youtube.com/@ReasonTV  The Protestant Libertarian Podcast is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute and a part of the Christians For Liberty Network. The Libertarian Christian Institute can be found at www.libertarianchristians.com. Questions, comments, suggestions? Please reach out to me at theprotestantlibertarian@gmail.com.  You can also follow the podcast on Twitter: @prolibertypod. For more about the show, you can go to theprotestantlibertarianpodcast.com. If you like the show and want to support it, you can! Go to libertarianchristians.com, where you can donate to LCI and buy The Protestant Libertarian Podcast Merch! Also, please consider giving me a star rating and leaving me a review, it really helps expand the shows profile! Thanks!  

In this episode, I talk with Caleb Campbell, pastor of Desert Springs Bible Church in Phoenix, Arizona, about his brand-new book ‘Disarming Leviathan: Loving Your Christian Nationalist Neighbor’, out now on IVP. In this book he argues that we should view Christian nationalism as a missionary opportunity, seeking to lovingly lead Christian nationalists back to Jesus. He discusses his experiences with TPUSA, why Christian nationalism has become so popular, the characteristics of the average Christian nationalists, and how to prepare our hearts to lovingly engage with them. As an added bonus, I ask him about the threat of progressive Christianity and conspiracy theories.   Media Referenced:Disarming Leviathan: https://a.co/d/6vgKv9UCaleb Campbell Twitter: @calebphxDisarming Leviathan Website: DisarmingLeviathan.comDisarming Leviathan Twitter: @DisarmingL   The Protestant Libertarian Podcast is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute and a part of the Christians For Liberty Network. The Libertarian Christian Institute can be found at www.libertarianchristians.com. Questions, comments, suggestions? Please reach out to me at theprotestantlibertarian@gmail.com.  You can also follow the podcast on Twitter: @prolibertypod. For more about the show, you can go to theprotestantlibertarianpodcast.com. If you like the show and want to support it, you can! Go to libertarianchristians.com, where you can donate to LCI and buy The Protestant Libertarian Podcast Merch! Also, please consider giving me a star rating and leaving me a review, it really helps expand the shows profile! Thanks!

In this episode I welcome back Dr. James McGrath to discuss his brand-new book “Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist”, out now on Eerdmans press. In this book Dr. McGrath crafts a biography of John in which he offers a fresh look at the historical sources in an attempt to understand who John was and why he was so influential. McGrath explores John’s early life, including the tension between being the son of a priest and a Nazerite, they symbolic significance of his wilderness location and his baptisms, his critique of the Jewish temple, his understanding of messianic hope, his conflict with the Jewish authority, and how his legacy impacted the ministry of Jesus. McGrath correctly claims that you can’t understand Jesus without understanding John, and he explains why we need to take a fresh look John the Baptist. Media Referenced:Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist: https://a.co/d/cuxrD60James McGrath Blog: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionprof/James on Twitter: @ReligionProfJames McGrath Eerdmans Page: https://www.eerdmans.com/author/james-f-mcgrath/ The Protestant Libertarian Podcast is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute and a part of the Christians For Liberty Network. The Libertarian Christian Institute can be found at www.libertarianchristians.com. Questions, comments, suggestions? Please reach out to me at theprotestantlibertarian@gmail.com.  You can also follow the podcast on Twitter: @prolibertypod. For more about the show, you can go to theprotestantlibertarianpodcast.com. If you like the show and want to support it, you can! Check out the Protestant Libertarian Podcast page at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theplpodcast. Also, please consider giving me a star rating and leaving me a review, it really helps expand the shows profile! Thanks!

In this episode I explain inflation and the negative effects it has on society. I provide the correct definition of inflation, which is an increase in the supply of money relative to the amount of goods and services in an economy. I explain how the Federal Reserve, which controls the nation’s money supply and monetary policy, creates inflation by printing new money. It is this injection of new cash into an economy that creates higher prices, which has been mistakenly referred to as inflation. I read a passage from Ludwig von Mises that he wrote in the early 1960’s in which he explains how politicians and other beneficiaries of inflationary monetary policy shifted the traditional definition of inflation to simply mean ‘higher prices’ so that they could blame the negative results of their policies (higher prices for consumer goods) on individuals and businesses. I then read though a recent article written by Jeffery Tucker (found on Zerohedge) that explains how increasing the money supply hurts the average person trying to live within their means. If you have struggled to understand how inflation works and the damage it causes, this episode is for you!  Media Referenced:The Price of Everything, the Value of Nothing: https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/price-everything-value-nothingOn Money and Inflation, Mises: https://mises.org/library/book/ludwig-von-mises-money-and-inflationEp 66 on Inflation and War: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ep-66-the-high-cost-of-inflation-and-the-war-in-ukraine/ The Protestant Libertarian Podcast is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute and a part of the Christians For Liberty Network. The Libertarian Christian Institute can be found at www.libertarianchristians.com.Questions, comments, suggestions? Please reach out to me at theprotestantlibertarian@gmail.com.  You can also follow the podcast on Twitter: @prolibertypod. For more about the show, you can go to theprotestantlibertarianpodcast.com. If you like the show and want to support it, you can! Go to libertarianchristians.com, where you can donate to LCI and buy The Protestant Libertarian Podcast Merch! Also, please consider giving me a star rating and leaving me a review, it really helps expand the shows profile! Thanks!

In this episode I talk with New Testament scholar Dr. Najeeb Haddad, who has written two very compelling books critiquing the popular perspective in Biblical studies that the apostle Paul was actively opposed to the Roman empire. We discuss the history of the Paul and empire debate and explore some of the key scholars and interpretive methods that have been used to justify the belief that Paul was anti-imperial, and Najeeb demonstrates that many of these methods are not supported by historical evidence. He explains how Paul understands the Roman empire to be a part of the Old Creation and is more focused on spreading the Gospel of the New Creation to all who will listen. He then explains why a lot of anti-imperial scholarship ignores the dignity of human beings by focusing only on systems, how scholars easily bring their own political biases into their work, and the nuanced anti-imperial reading of Paul offered by Christoph Heilig. This conversation provides a lot of historical nuance that everyone interested in the relationship between Christianity and politics ought to know.   Media Referenced:Najeeb Haddad on Twitter: NTHaddadNajeeb Haddad on Academia: https://ndm.academia.edu/NajeebTHaddadPaul, Politics, and Empire: https://a.co/d/8WMaZxgPaul and Empire Criticism: https://a.co/d/8WMaZxgInterview with Christoph Heilig: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/the-apostle-and-the-empire-dr-christoph-heilig/Interview with Clint Burnett: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ep-125-paul-imperial-divine-honors-and-the-roman-empire-with-clint-burnett/ The Protestant Libertarian Podcast is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute and a part of the Christians For Liberty Network. The Libertarian Christian Institute can be found at www.libertarianchristians.com.Questions, comments, suggestions? Please reach out to me at theprotestantlibertarian@gmail.com.  You can also follow the podcast on Twitter: @prolibertypod. For more about the show, you can go to theprotestantlibertarianpodcast.com. If you like the show and want to support it, you can! Check out the Protestant Libertarian Podcast page at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theplpodcast. Also, please consider giving me a star rating and leaving me a review, it really helps expand the shows profile! Thanks!

In this episode I talk with Stephen Wolfe, author of ‘The Case for Christian Nationalism’ about the thesis that he outlines in the book and why he believes that Christian Nationalism is the solution to our political problems. This is not a debate; I ask him about various aspects of his work and let him explain his ideas and how they would work in practice. He defines Christian nationalism, how it dovetails with the Reformed tradition, why we need Christian laws and customs, the Christian prince, and violent revolution. The last 25 minutes of the show is a great dialogue between Stephen and I about the many surprising similarities between my libertarianism and his paleoconservatism, as well as where we diverge. You won’t want to miss this one!   Media Referenced:Stephen Wolfe on Twitter: @PerfInjustBuy The Case for Christian Nationalism: https://a.co/d/1JGcPkgAmerican Reformer: https://americanreformer.org/Alex and Stephen Greenroom Debate: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/stephen-wolfe-alex-bernardo-christian-nationalism-christian-libertarianism/  The Protestant Libertarian Podcast is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute and a part of the Christians For Liberty Network. The Libertarian Christian Institute can be found at www.libertarianchristians.com.Questions, comments, suggestions? Please reach out to me at theprotestantlibertarian@gmail.com.  You can also follow the podcast on Twitter: @prolibertypod. For more about the show, you can go to theprotestantlibertarianpodcast.com. If you like the show and want to support it, you can! Go to libertarianchristians.com, where you can donate to LCI and buy The Protestant Libertarian Podcast Merch! Also, please consider giving me a star rating and leaving me a review, it really helps expand the shows profile! Thanks!

In this episode, I explain why I am unhappy with everyone’s interpretation, including my own. Christians from every political perspective want to either claim Romans 13 validates their position or try to explain it away theologically, and I don’t believe that either of these approaches are historically correct. I examine the many shortcomings with popular interpretations of Romans 13, including incorrect assumptions about the nature of scripture, privileging theological readings of the text over historical ones, the failure to integrate this text with either its context in Paul’s letter to the Romans and other aspects of Pauline thought, reading it anachronistically as if it addresses modern, post-Enlightenment political questions, and our own limited knowledge of the Greco-Roman world. This episode is sure to offend everyone equally. Enjoy! Media Referenced:Romans 13 Episode: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/libertarian-romans-13/ The Protestant Libertarian Podcast is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute and a part of the Christians For Liberty Network. The Libertarian Christian Institute can be found at www.libertarianchristians.com. Questions, comments, suggestions? Please reach out to me at theprotestantlibertarian@gmail.com.  You can also follow the podcast on Twitter: @prolibertypod. For more about the show, you can go to theprotestantlibertarianpodcast.com. If you like the show and want to support it, you can! Go to libertarianchristians.com, where you can donate to LCI and buy The Protestant Libertarian Podcast Merch! Also, please consider giving me a star rating and leaving me a review, it really helps expand the shows profile! Thanks!