Restitutio

Our culture longs for authenticity. We’re tired of fakers and phonies who say one thing and do another. People should just be true to themselves and have the courage to flout tradition when it holds them back from genuine self-expression. However, this mentality results in major individual and social problems from sexually transmitted diseases to sexual harassment to racism and mass shootings. Christianity offers a better way, by providing a standard to conform ourselves to that maximally enables human flourishing. —— Notes —— Colossians 3:1-5 The terminology in v5 is excessively hostile: “put to death what is earthly in you.” Don’t reason with it, or seek to diminish its influence. Don’t try to understand it, or make excuses for it. Kill it! Put it down. Colossians 3:6 God did not design us to behave this way. He gave us passions but placed boundaries on them. When people defy His original intention, it bothers Him. Colossians 3:7-10 This is the language of clothing: put off and put on. We must strip off the old way of being a human (Adam) and clothe ourselves with the new way of being a human (Christ), which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its Creator—the way God originally designed us. Colossians 3:11 Not only behavior but social barriers need to change. Ethnicity, social status, education, independence are all outshone by the splendor of Christ’s radiant glory, enabling harmony between us all. Colossians 3:12-17 Imagine that there are two towns that live by each of these opposing ways: Freetown and Corpus Christi. Which would you rather live in? As you conform to the Christian lifestyle, it becomes second nature. It does not crush you or rob you of your humanity, but it provides the necessary boundaries to make human growth and flourishing possible. —— Links —— More episodes like this: Off Script 1: Seeing the Filter Off Script 2: Hyper-Individualism Off Script 3: Tolerance 72: Free as a Fish on Land Intro music: Jazzy Frenchy by bensound.com. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

When it comes to Genesis 1, Christians tend to divide into two major camps: old earth and young earth creationists. The former sees the days as long periods of time (e.g. Hugh Ross) while the latter insists on literal twenty-four hour periods (e.g. Ken Ham). Professor John Walton of Wheaton College advocates for a different reading of the bible’s first chapter. By carefully comparing Genesis to other ancient near eastern creation texts, he proposes that it’s talking about God providing functionality to the already-existing cosmos rather than creating structures ex nihilo. —— Links —— For a much more in depth explanation of Walton’s perspective on Genesis 1, see his book The Lost World of Genesis One Visit his faculty page at Wheaton College See podcast Off Script 30: Stewarding the Earth or 84: Kingdom Restoration Intro music: Jazzy Frenchy by bensound.com. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Do you ever stop and marvel at God’s creation?  Are you in wonder at what he has made?  Too often we take God’s masterful creations for granted, instead of seeing them as pointers back to God’s ingenuity, generosity, and artistry.  Although we can’t always take time out to praise God for plums, palm trees, and panthers, when we can it’s helpful to meditate on his handiwork. Here’s the video from this message that shows the relative sizes of our solar system’s planets and sun with other much bigger stars: Here are a couple of praise songs that tap into the proper sense of wonder we should experience because of God’s works:   Notes Psalm 19.1-6 The heavens declare God’s glory Psalm 104.1-35 The psalmist works through creation, marveling at God’s manifold artistry and brilliance. Psalm 8.1-9 Even though God is so powerful, so transcendent, so majestic, he still cares about us puny humans. C. S. Lewis’ attention to God’s every-day marvels: Lewis’s keen, penetrating sense of his own heart’s aching for Joy, combined with his utter amazement at the sheer, objective realness of things other than himself, has over and over awakened me from the slumbers of self-absorption to see and savor the world and through the world, the Maker of the world… Lewis gave me, and continues to give me, an intense sense of the astonishing “realness” of things. He had the ability to see and feel what most of us see and do not see. He had what Alan Jacobs called “omnivorous attentiveness” (Alan Jacobs, The Narnian, p. xxi.) I love that phrase. What this has done for me is hard to communicate. To wake up in the morning and to be aware of the firmness of the mattress, the warmth of the sun’s rays, the sound of the clock ticking, the coldness of the wooden floor, the wetness of the water in the sink, the sheer being of things (quiddity as he called it). And not just to be aware but to wonder. To be amazed that the water is wet. It did not have to be wet. If there were no such thing as water, and one day someone showed it to you, you would simply be astonished. He helped me become alive to life. To look at the sunrise and say with an amazed smile, “God did it again!” He helped me to see what is there in the world — things which if we didn’t have them, we would pay a million dollars to have, but having them, ignore. He convicts me of my callous inability to enjoy God’s daily gifts. He helps me to awaken my dazed soul so that the realities of life and of God and heaven and hell are seen and felt. I could go on about the good effect of this on preaching and the power of communication. But it has been precious mainly just for living. John Piper, “Lessons from an Inconsolable Soul,” Feb. 2, 2010, Desiring God Conference for Pastors   —— Links —— This message was inspired by Jerry Wierwille’s phenomenal sharing, “God — Our Spectacular Creator,” presented at Revive 2016. Check out Podcast 53: Does God Exist? for more examples of God’s creation pointing to him more sermons by Sean Finnegan see also John Cortright’s sermon, “The Living God“ Intro music: Jazzy Frenchy by bensound.com. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Kenneth LaPrade lives in El Paso, Texas, on the border between the United States and Mexico.  His wife is Mexican and many of the folks in his house church are from Mexico.  In such a context, immigration is always a touchy subject, but lately some Christians have baptized certain political rhetoric and presented it as “the” Christian position on this complicated issue.  LaPrade sees this as merely one aspect of the much larger problem of Christians trying to take power in America as if establishing God’s kingdom here, now.  In this interview, he urges us to retain the bible’s teaching about the future kingdom and see ourselves as Christians first and Americans (or Mexicans) second. Here’s the text of Ken LaPrade’s statement on how Christians should orient themselves politically that inspired this interview: I honestly feel a bit frustrated concerning the following situation (which I will briefly describe), and I believe its persistence is related to Satan’s tricks to promote biblical unawareness concerning the priority of the future kingdom. I know that my attempted reminders, in certain cases, keep falling on deaf ears. Please, pray concerning this highly distracting issue. I am earnestly still prayerfully concerned about so-called Christian efforts at erroneous “kingdom NOW” thinking – such as an obsession with American politics, either defending or demonizing “Trump” or current social or political trends. I personally work with several immigrants who have been quite hurt by very strange, insensitive comments (even bullying remarks) posted quite publicly as if representing a “Christian” perspective! In my estimation, ALL such misguided trends (either to justify or condemn pagan leaders in a pagan nation) are a failure (among so-called Christians) to really grasp the Kingdom of God as FUTURE! Present hurtful rhetoric is tantamount (in my assessment) to the hypothetical absurdity of retroactively getting 1st century Christians to hotly debate whether Tiberius, Nero, or Domitian were better or worse for the Roman Empire! As is obvious, 1st century Christians were far too future Kingdom focused to be so distracted! We, as 21st century Christians, do not help anyone by being seduced into speaking for one side or another of two (or more) warring camps of Gentile hate-mongers who are ruled in typically corrupt Gentile fashion! “Christian” pop-culture labels pasted on political & social movements do not “Christianize” blatant disregard for Jesus himself. Neither do they “COVER” for outright demonic evil – whether from “the left” or from “the right.” We’d be better off suffering NOW for obeying him, rather than getting bamboozled by a pseudo-Christian ( with NO Future Kingdom focus) bandwagon to get our way now – as if entitled …. by an “American idol.” Biblically speaking, the USA, and all current nations (Gentiles by nature) await JUST dismantling when our true theocratic King (Jesus) comes to reign. I still pray that King Jesus’ perspective NOW have the priority that it should have, at least among those who try to faithfully await his much needed intervention. —— Links —— Get in touch with Kenneth LaPrade at ldc84jpm@yahoo.com Listen to Interview 14: Ken LaPrade’s Baptism Journey Read articles by LaPrade that he wrote for Glad Tidings Books mentioned in this interview:

Last week we examined what the bible teaches about heaven. This week we’ll see what it says about hell. John Cortright explains there are three meanings of hell in scripture, including tartarus where fallen angels are temporarily imprisoned, hades/sheol where the dead remain until resurrection, and gehenna where the wicked are destroyed in the final judgment. —— Links —— More Restitutio podcasts with John Cortright Also, get more of Cortright’s sermons, classes, and articles at Living Hope Community Church Listen to an excellent debate on hell (eternal conscious torment vs. annihilationism) Podcast 10: Is Hell Forever? Chris Date vs. Phil Fernandez Check out the kingdom of God class podcasts Intro music: Jazzy Frenchy by bensound.com. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.  

What is heaven? Throughout the bible we find different layers of meaning, including (1) heaven as sky, (2) heaven as God’s throne, and (3) heaven as God’s realm or dimension. Although heaven is a reality, it is not where we go when we die. Rather the bible teaches that the dead are asleep until the resurrection when they inherit the earth, renewed and restored. —— Notes —— Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald famously sang about heaven: Heaven, I’m in heaven And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak And I seem to find the happiness I seek When we’re out together dancing cheek to cheek Yes, heaven, I’m in heaven And the cares that hung around me through the week Seem to vanish like a gambler’s lucky streak When we’re out together dancing cheek to cheek[1] 2 Samuel 18.9 9 And Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak, and his head caught fast in the oak, and he was suspended between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on. he was between heaven and earth what does that mean? he was between the sky and the land heaven is the sky Heaven as Sky (Realm of the Birds) Genesis 1.14-20 14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights– the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night– and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. 20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” Genesis 1.28 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” this is where my title comes from heaven’s for the birds! Matthew 6.26 26 Look at the birds of the air [οὐρανός]: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? so heaven’s for the birds but, it’s more than that! Heaven as God’s Throne Isaiah 66.1-2 1 Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? 2 All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. control room (throne): where God makes plans/decisions storehouse: where rewards are stored up w/ God Jesus says to lay up treasures in heaven where moth and rust cannot destroy (Mt 6.20) Peter says we have an inheritance imperishable kept in heaven (1 Pet 1.4) Paul says our citizenship is in heaven (Phil 3.20) N. T. Wright: “What then do the New Testament writers mean when they speak of an inheritance waiting for us in heaven? This has been much misunderstood…The point of such passages, as in 1 Peter 1.4, 2 Corinthians 5.1, Philippians 3.20, and so forth, is not that one must ‘go to heaven’, as in much-popular imagination, in o

Robin Todd has faithfully served as the director of the Worldwide Scattered Brethren Network for the last 10 years.  He helps biblical unitarians find each other all over the United States as well as some other countries.  In this interview, we talk about how he got started, what it takes to get on his list, and how he sees the future of the network. —— Links —— Visit the Worldwide Scattered Brethren Network or email Todd to get on his list or to volunteer to help with the website: robinsings4u@comcast.net If you live in Europe and you’d like to get in touch with Werner Bartl, you can reach him at redaktion@filmreif.at For more about virtual church, see Interview 32: Virtual Fellowship for Isolated Believers (John Truitt) To tune into Living Hope’s weekly live webcast, go to lhim.org/webcast on Sundays from 10:30 am – 12:00 pm EST Intro music: Jazzy Frenchy by bensound.com. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.    

In this concluding teaching of our apologetics conference, John Truitt gleans from Christ’s example key ways that we can imitate him in our own evangelistic efforts today.  He begins by looking how Jesus was completely obedient to God and how he prepared himself (both in knowledge and experience).  Next Truitt urges us to get moving, expecting God to direct us as we are obedient.  Lastly, he emphasizes the importance of radical love to our neighbors and the need for community. Here now is podcast 148 Evangelism, Jesus’ Way with John Truitt —— Links —— To find out how to join John Truitt’ s virtual church online watch this video or contact him directly at jtruitt@kalleo.net Check out the podcast episode with Truitt: “Virtual Fellowship for Isolated Believers“ Check out the other talks in this Apologetics Conference For more, here’s an entire Apologetics Class Intro music: Jazzy Frenchy by bensound.com. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Have you ever been in a corn maze?  The reason they work is because you can only see right in front of you.  If you had a live drone feed, you could easily orient yourself and find the way out.  This is the benefit of history.  We live in a postmodern culture, but it’s hard to see or understand what that means since we’re surrounded with it.  In this exceptional presentation, Kegan Chandler guides us through the history of premodernism, modernism, and postmodernism so that we can orient ourselves to how many people in our world think and approach life.  Not only will this give you a drones-eye perspective of our current situation, but it also will help you understand how to better share your faith with postmodern people. —— Notes —— Metanarratives and Postmodernism (Kegan Chandler) What is postmodernism? How in the world did we get here? Where do we go from here? Postmodernism is a worldview based on French philosophers, Derrida, Foucault, Lyotard w/ these four characteristics: no objective truth (Derrida) only interpretations (Derrida) no meta-narrative (Lyotard) interpretation in society results from power not truth (Foulcault) meta-narrative: overarching account that provides a pattern or structure for ppls beliefs and experiences postmodernist mission: deconstruction identify social constructs in the world and break them down if everything is deconstructed, what do we fill it with? our experiences community First Star Wars w/ Luke vs. last star wars w/ Luke, deconstructs everything premodernism belief in objective truth problem: priestly class determines truth problem: superstition authority structure suffocated learning and creativity Renaissance was a way to recover art and classics that the church had suppressed premodernism crumbles Reformation Galileo defeats Aristotle (dropping 2 lead balls from leaning tower of Piza) this challenges authority of Aristotle heliocentricity also challenges church’s imprimatur of Ptolemaic geocentricity modernism rejection of authority time and numbers don’t guarantee truth reason alone can find truth naïve optimism (holocaust, communism, eugenics) epistemological revolution, exalting empiricism, which reduced miraculous to superstition we can save the world if we just apply reason and science postmodernism glad that modernism rejected authority reject the idea that human institutions and states can save us only the individual can be free get rid of objective truth to build our own realities rejection of meta-narratives distrust that reason can bring enlightenment or satisfaction pomo is good for Christianity b/c it defeat naïve secular utopian dreams defeats empiricisms accepts supernatural, transcendent ennobles the individual’s journey of discovery problems w/ postmodernism the statement “there is no objective truth” is self-defeating you can always disagree, saying “that’s just your interpretation” I can just say “pomo is wrong” and no one can disagree b/c then they would have to appeal to objective reality just b/c everyone has their own interpretation doesn’t mean that there isn’t one correct one on any given subject a post-postmodernism worldview belief in objective truth belief in the right authoritative sources of truth (scripture) value

How should we think through the different major religions of our time? Are they all the same? What are their differences? In this presentation, philosopher of religion, Dale Tuggy, works through key questions that can help us differentiate and distinguish religions from each other. In the second half of his talk, he invites the audience to diagnose various quasi-religious perspectives popular in our culture, before offering comments on each.   Loading... Taking too long? Reload document | Open in new tab   —— Notes —— aspects of religion practical & ritual experiential & emotional narrative doctrinal & philosophical ethical & legal social & institutional material religious diversity vs. religious pluralism diversity: people are loyal to different religions pluralism: all religions are equally valuable on moral questions, major religions have a lot of common-sense overlap if they weren’t plausible and didn’t help they wouldn’t have gotten so popular four core claims diagnosis: fundamental problem facing humanity cure: how to positively and permanently resolve the problem methods: what to do to get the cure exemplar: actual person(s) whose lives show us how to live out the methods, getting the cure Christianity is more focused on truth than any other religion this is why we’re so quarrelsome this is why we write and read so many books shouldn’t assume other religions care about doctrine like we do there’s one theology/teaching per religion not even w/in Christianity Christianity on the four core claims we are fallen and sin, which causes dysfunction, harm, and death Christ died to pay for sin conversion, disciplines, follow Christ Jesus, apostles, Christian heroes over time   —— Links —— Visit Dale Tuggy’s website and podcast at trinities.org Listen to other podcasts with Dale Tuggy Check out the other talks in this Apologetics Conference For more, here’s an entire Apologetics Class Intro music: Jazzy Frenchy by bensound.com. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.