Worldview Legacy | The Think Institute

Joel Settecase & Parker Settecase explain Christian mentorship, including what content and which connections are vital in a new believer’s life, and whether discipleship is the same thing as mentorship. Get the full show notes here.

Listen to the unbelievable story of DeVonne Smith, a young man who adopted Atheism *after* becoming a Christian, and what brought him back to the Christian worldview. 

Get the full show notes at http://thethink.institute.  The Think Institute Creed is that, “we believe no Christian should ever get caught flat-footed when asked about the Christian message.” Put another way, we believe every Christian needs to be able to explain, share and defend the truth at all times.  That’s a tall order, it’s true. But it’s biblical.  Every believer needs to be committed and stay committed to honing his skills of explaining, communicating, and sharing the Christian message.  To get to that point takes preparation, and that’s what this episode is about. So what are some practices you can take to keep yourself from getting caught off-guard? Here are our top 10.

Subscribe to the Think Update: http://thethink.institute/articles/update Get the complete show notes for this episode at http://thethink.institute.  If you’ve been around churches, you’ve seen the crosses and crucifixes. The cross is central to Christian theology as a symbol of what we believe. But there’s a lot of debate about what exactly the cross represents, and what Jesus did when he died on the cross. Recently in my own circle, there’s been a lot of discussion on the subject of the Atonement. What did Jesus do when he died on the cross? And if the cross was part of God’s plan, is it fair to say God killed Jesus? So we could phrase the question this way: Why did God kill Jesus?   Dr. Wellum is Professor of Christian Theology and editor of the Southern Baptist Journal of Theology. He and his wife Karen have five adult children. Dr. Wellum has been influential in the development of New Covenant Theology and recently, Progressive Covenantalism, which are schools of thought for interpreting the whole Bible.  In this episode, Dr. Wellum and I are going to talk about the death of Jesus--what he did, why it matters, what it teaches us about God, and how we ought to respond in light of all this. We’ll unpack some of the competing views that are out there and get to the main idea, which is that the theory known as Penal Substitutionary Atonement is the best way of thinking about what Jesus accomplished.  It’s going to be a theologically rich episode, with very practical implications, and it will certainly make you think.

What is the Think Institute? Where did we come from? And why are we here? I thought I would answer a few basic questions and tell our story, to help you understand what this movement is all about.  Get the complete show notes at http://TheThink.Institute.

Let’s talk about evangelism. Bill Bright, co-founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, defines evangelism as, “Taking the initiative to share the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God.” When you think about sharing the Gospel, what comes to mind? Do you think about the words you will say? The faces of the people you will converse with (possibly furrowed brows or closed-off posture)? Or maybe you think about the emotions you will feel as you share (will you be all nerves? Excitedly energetic?). Sharing your faith can be one of the most exciting activities in the Christian’s journey. It can also be one of the most intimidating. And one thing we do not want to do is unnecessarily "weird people out."  Get the full show notes at http://thethink.institute.

I love Thanksgiving. Every year my side of the family gets together. My wife makes an absolutely unbelievable corn casserole. My contribution: I write a little family liturgy and we have a worship time as a family (we read the story of the first Thanksgiving, we sing a song or two, read Scripture, and pray.). So can we talk about thanksgiving? No, not the holiday, the attitude. Or we might say, the desire. That is, there is in each of us the innate desire to be grateful for the good things in our lives. We want to give thanks. Is it possible that the gratitude we feel when we experience goodness is itself evidence for God? I propose that the gratitude we feel–the very desire we have to want to give thanks to someone or something for gifts such as life, love, and the magnificence of human experience–makes no sense without God. To the extent that gratitude wells up within us when we admire a starry night sky or a freshly snow-covered field this winter, we experience something we are created to feel. We see that we were created to give thanks to God. Get the full show notes at http://thethink.institute

The Sons of Thunder Tackle a tough ethical question dealing with the dignity of humanity and the responsibility of people to care for animals. Sign up for the Think Update at http://thethink.institute!

Alright, so we all know the command of Jesus to his church in Matthew 28:19: “Make disciples.” This is the command of Jesus Christ to his church, as recorded in Matthew 28:19. That passage is often used as a text for evangelism (and rightly so), but what comes after evangelism--after a person has put his or her trust in Jesus Christ? This is where discipleship, the process of Christian formation, begins. It is also where a number of questions begin. What is the best way to disciple? What curriculum should we use? Is it enough to simply use the Bible? What skills should a new believer learn? What if I haven’t been discipled myself--does Jesus really want me to try and make disciples… on my own? Should I do this with a group? And what is a disciple, anyway? My guest today is Karl “KJ” Johnson. K. J. is the director  of the C. S. Lewis Institute in Chicago. He's a C.S. Lewis Fellow and holds a Masters in Military Studies from Marine Corps University as well as two Masters of Arts from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, both in Philosophy of Religion and Systematic Theology. During his 20-year career with the Marine Corps, he served as a helicopter pilot, weapons and tactics instructor and operations officer, and he’s a veteran of numerous deployments as well as multiple humanitarian assistance/ disaster relief missions. KJ is married to Nidia and they have two daughters. The CSLI develops “wholehearted disciples of Jesus Christ who will articulate, defend, share, and live their faith in personal and public life.” Along with being the CSLI director, K. J. is on staff with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. He’s also a good friend, and I’m excited to talk to him today. Get the full show notes at http://thethink.institute.

Well, how many times have you heard someone tell you this: “God is love”? The phrase comes from 1 John 4:8.  And the full context of that verse is this: “The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love” (that’s from the Christian Standard Bible, the CSB. The Bible has many translations in English. The CSB is one of my favorite translations. Maybe I’ll do a review on it some time. But in whatever translation you read it, 1 John 4:8, at least the second half of the verse, is pretty much going to say the same thing. In the Greek, it’s ὁ θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν--hah theh-ahs aGAHpay estIN. There’s not really any other way of rending it in English other than simply, “God is love”).  While God is love, he is also just. And a just God has to punish sin. These two attributes of God seem to be in conflict. Have you ever thought about that? Well we’re going to get to the bottom of it today. And I want to show you how to explain the Gospel basing your presentation off of two words: love and justice. Get the full show notes at http://thethink.institute.