Church & Culture Podcast

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the recent release of Starbucks' “Star Signs” in partnership with the astrology app called Sanctuary. Designed to help you figure out the perfect beverage for your astrological sign, it will also tell you your power words, give you a spring flower and color, and tell you your horoscope. What may seem like a harmless and fun gimmick from Starbucks is, in truth, dabbling in the world of the occult. Episode Links Dr. White has frequently blogged about topics related to the occult over the years - areas where people may believe something to be innocuous, but really they've crossed into the world of the occult. Here are four for you to check out: About Those Angel Numbers, The Season of the Witch, About that Horoscope App and About Those Tarot Cards. This topic has also been a part of several Church & Culture Podcast conversations. If you're interested, you can go back and listen to them: CCP45: On Superstition and God's Will CCP22: On Yoga CCP11: On Wicca Dr. White's series at Mecklenburg Community Church called “Paranormal” is a great one to listen to in order to give you a solid understanding of the world of the occult and the spiritual battle going on around us every day. Finally, today's conversation even talked about how this is a huge part of Satan's mission - to deceive people - and what this will look like at the end of time. You may be interested in the series “The Apocalypse: The Message of Revelation for Today.” For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a shocking statistic - that more than 200 million Americans are a part of the world of gaming. That's more than 60% of the U.S. population. Furthermore, the average “binge time” spent gaming has increased to five hours. This is having a profound effect, not only in the lives of children but on marriages as well. Episode Links Dr. White's newly released book is titled Hybrid Church: Rethinking the Church for a Post-Christian Digital Age. Among many topics covered in this book is a look at all that encompasses the digital revolution that has taken place in our culture, including gaming and the metaverse. There are several news stories posted to the Daily Headline News at Church & Culture that you may be interested in reading for more on this hot topic: Elanor Hayward, “NHS treats child gaming addicts who attack parents,” The Telegraph, March 27, 2023. Tom Hoggins, “World Health Organisation adopts 'gaming addiction' as official illness despite industry opposition,” The Telegraph, May 28, 2019. Sonja Haller, “'This game is like heroin:' Fortnite addiction sending kids to gaming rehab,” USA Today, December 9, 2018. Chris Moss, “Men and boys are in crisis, and technology is to blame,” The Telegraph, May 10, 2015. For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the results of a recent poll from the Wall Street Journal and the NORC at the University of Chicago. The title of the WSJ article reviewing the poll's findings read, “America Pulls Back From Values That Once Defined It.” The poll revealed a radical change in American values since it was last conducted in 1988. And much of that change has to do with a dramatic rise in individualism in the United States. Episode Links If you want to take time to dive into the poll's findings, you can read it all HERE. There were several books mentioned during today's conversation if you are interested in exploring topics related to the poll's findings. For more on the topic of today's culture as it compares to the founding of our nation, you'll be interested in reading Dr. White's book Serious Times: Making Your Life Matter in an Urgent Day. For more reading on American history Dr. White suggested reading David McCullough's work titled John Adams and Thomas Paine's “Crisis Papers.” To help give you a better understanding of a profound shift in our culture, read James Emery White's book “The Rise of the Nones: Understanding and Reaching the Religiously Unaffiliated.” Finally, for a picture of what our society really values you can read “The Day America Told the Truth: What People Really Believe About Everything That Really Matters” written by James Patterson and Peter Kim. We would also encourage you to go back and listen to two earlier podcasts that were brought up during today's conversation. The first is CCP2: On Ukraine, Russia and the Orthodox Church discussing how religious divides can lead to violent outcomes. And the second is CCP37: On Christian Nationalism exploring whether America really is meant to be a Christian nation. For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss whether it's okay for a Christian to get a tattoo or cosmetic surgery. Culture clings tightly to the belief that we, as individuals, have the right to determine what we do with our bodies and how we use them. But what does the Bible have to say about this topic? How much are we allowed to manipulate our bodies? Episode Links Dr. White referenced several articles from The Atlantic that have been written in recent years on tattoos. Katherine Wu wrote, “Tattoos Do Odd Things to the Immune System” discussing the body's response to ink-filled needles. Amanda Mull wrote, “Tattoos Now Have an Exit Strategy” looking at the increasing popularity of semipermanent tattoos. And finally, Adrienne Green wrote an article titled “Watching Tattoos Go From Rebellious to Mainstream” about how much culture has come to embrace the art of tattoos. Dr. White did a series at Mecklenburg Community Church called “Is it okay for a Christian to…” looking at everything from watching R-rated movies to smoking marijuana. One of the installments focused on whether it's okay for a Christian to get a tattoo or to be cremated. He also mentioned another series in today's conversation called “Seasons of Life.” The installment on the 40s explored how a fixation on anti-aging and all that we try to do to fight it tends to creep into our mindset during this decade of life. Finally, Dr. White read an excerpt from an essay written by Lore Ferguson titled, “Beautiful Beyond Our Control.” We'd definitely encourage you to read the whole thing as it's so beautifully written. For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss The Chosen - a multi-season series on the life of Jesus written and directed by Dallas Jenkins. The following for this series has been unprecedented, with more than 100 million people who've seen at least part of the show. So is the series biblically accurate? Does it matter whether it follows the Bible verse by verse, or could the Holy Spirit be creatively working through the series? Episode Links Dr. White wrote a blog called "Topical or Expositional" that will offer a helpful explanation to a topic that came up during today's conversation. The discussion also explored Christian film and television, and how it often changes or is shaped by culture. Dr. White brought up six movies/series (some overtly Christian and others that are more Christian-adjacent) and the cultural differences at the time of their release. For reference, those movies are: Godspell (1973) Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), Jesus of Nazareth (1977), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), The Passion of the Christ (2004) and The Chosen (2017). Finally, the conversation turned to how series like "The Chosen" do so much to make Jesus relatable to us. Dr. White led a series at Meck that explored a unique side of God - it is called "When God Makes Us Laugh." You can find that series HERE. For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the revival that started at Asbury University in Kentucky back on February 8. For those who don't know what that is, what started as a small Wednesday night chapel service turned into a more than two-week long prayer and worship experience with thousands of people pouring into Wilmore, Kentucky to be a part of the experience. Important to this conversation is having a good understanding of what revival is, and why and how God can use revivals to advance the mission of the Church. Episode Links The topic of revival was brought up during our Church & Culture LIVE Podcast, which then prompted today's conversation. If you missed that, we'd love for you to go back and watch or listen to that HERE. There are two blogs written by Dr. White that we'd encourage you to check out on the topic of revival. The first is called “The Importance of Remembering Camp Meetings,” which discusses the power they held to help bring about social change and spiritual revival. At the end of the conversation, Dr. White talked about how every day the church has a responsibility to turn outward and to be ready for the work of the Holy Spirit. He wrote the blog called “Don't Wait for Revival” urging the church to be on mission. It was also interesting to see how the outside, watching world viewed the revivals. Thomas Lyons wrote an article in The Atlantic titled “When a Christian Revival Goes Viral.” For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the recent release of the latest book written by Dr. White called Hybrid Church: Rethinking the Church for a Post-Christian Digital Age (Zondervan). Three years of research and writing were poured into this book, charting the sweeping, historic change that has taken place in our culture and in the life of the church. As Dr. White said, never has he prayed more for the ministry of a book he has written than for this one. Episode Links Dr. White has been the author of more than 20 books to date, and he has proven to be on the cutting edge of some critical cultural changes that would impact the church in pivotal ways. If you've not read them, be sure to check out The Rise of the Nones: Understanding and Reaching the Religiously Unaffiliated and Meet Generation Z: Understanding and Reaching the New Post-Christian World. For a preview of some of the book's content, you can check out this series of four blogsthat gives you a quick insight into the content of the book: The Need for a Hybrid Model Church 3.0 Opening the Digital Front Door The Importance of Affirming Online Engagement For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a modern heretical movement that many people are susceptible to without even knowing it. They had an earlier discussion on this topic - CCP33: On the Rise of Heresy - that you definitely need to go back and listen to if you missed it. But today's discussion takes a deep dive into the “prosperity gospel movement,” also known as the “health-and-wealth gospel.” This is the idea that if you come to faith in Jesus, along with the eternal reward of heaven comes other benefits as well - specifically in the areas of health and finance. This is prosperity preaching, and it has no place in the life of the church. Episode Links A lot of prosperity preachers pull Scripture out of context to make sweeping generalizations about what followers of Christ should expect God to give them. Learning how to properly read and interpret Scripture is so vitally important for those who call themselves Christ followers, which is why Dr. White led a series at Mecklenburg Community Church called “How to Bible”. One of the installments is on how to read and interpret Scripture. He also wrote a blog on this topic titled “Two Main Principles for Getting the Bible Right” that you can read HERE. A large part of today's conversation centered around the idea of receiving blessings from God, something that is absolutely a biblical truth. But God is not a genie in a bottle, and any type of preaching that says, “If you have enough faith God will give you everything you ask for” is heresy. For a better understanding of blessings that come from God, check out a series by Dr. White called “God's Blessing, Your Life.” Finally, in case you missed the Church & Culture LIVE Podcast, you can go back and listen to that HERE. For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday.

Thanks to those of you who joined us for the first-ever Church & Culture LIVE Podcast with Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye. There were some great questions submitted through the chat on everything from whether it's okay for Christians to use CBD to the changing dynamics of online vs. in-person services. It was a fantastic conversation. Check out the Episode Links below for the podcasts, blogs, series and books that were mentioned as a part of the live podcast episode. Episode Links Church & Culture Podcast Episodes: CCP44: On Artificial Intelligence CCP7: On Women in Ministry CCP30: On Quiet Quitting and the Church Church & Culture Blogs: "The People Meck Needs" "Beth Moore in the Pulpit" "The Importance of Affirming Online Attendance" Church & Culture Series: "The Under-Protective Parent" "Is it okay for a Christian to..." "Primordial" Recommended Resources: James Emery White, Hybrid Church. James Emery White, Meet Generation Z. James Emery White, A Mind for God. John Stott, Guard the Truth. For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a topic that was sparked by Dr. White's latest series at Mecklenburg Community Church called “Primordial: Genesis and the World's Primeval History.” The culture of our day seems to want to place science and faith at odds with each other when in reality everything in science compliments God's existence - in fact, it demands it. What's ironic is that the study of science itself was deeply rooted in a Christian worldview. Episode Links In addition to the aforementioned series at Meck, there are two other series that Dr. White led on this topic that would be very helpful to check out. The first is called “The Science of God” with installments that explore the science of God's existence, of God's creation and of faith. The second is “Astrophysics… for people who are open to God.” As a culture, we seem to be almost obsessed with cosmic headlines from the Big Bang to black holes, from quarks to quantum mechanics, and from the search for planets to the search for life in the universe. This series explores whether when you delve into such things, they point away from God or to Him? Dr. White has also written blogs tied to today's conversation that we would encourage you to read. “A Post-Empirical God” discusses the concept of reductive naturalism and how scientists have become increasingly hostile towards religion. “From How to Who” is a blog that discusses the Scopes Trial you heard mentioned in today's episode. It points to the fact that the real issue of our day is not between creation and evolution, but rather between theism and naturalism. Finally, he wrote a blog titled “UFOs… Confirmed?” taking a look at the significance of life on other planets and how future discoveries in science may impact our faith. Dr. White's book Christianity for People Who Aren't Christians: Uncommon Answers to Common Questions is a great resource for you or others you may know who are open to exploring the Christian faith. He takes on the topic of faith vs. science in this book as well. You can find it HERE on Amazon or from your favorite bookseller. Once again, we hope that you'll be able to join us for the upcoming Church & Culture LIVE Podcast on Thursday, February 23 from 12 - 1 p.m. You'll be able to access the podcast live through Meck's Online Campus platform. And if you can't make it that day, not to worry - you'll still be able to listen in on the conversation through all the usual channels the next day. For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday.