Confronting Christianity with Rebecca McLaughlin

Kyle Worley and Rebecca McLaughlin are joined by Justin Giboney to have a conversation about how Christians view diversity. Questions Covered in This Episode:What led you to the work you do now with the And Campaign?What would you have said to my 2008 UK self, trying to navigate that seemingly Christian values were evenly distributed between two options?Don’t Christians oppose ethnic and cultural diversity?What kind of diversity should the Christian community consider as a part of its pursuit? Are there limits on what that entails?How can we help people understand that there are different kinds of diversity?How do you respond to people who say “there is only one race”? Is that a helpful framework?It does seem like within the church, there are competing visions for dealing with the history of Christian complicity in rejecting people outside the majority. What do you do when you have a group of Christians who are trying to live in the tension of conviction and compassion and they see the pathway forward differently from each other?How do we navigate that well when we all come to the table with very different feelings about the table?If a young white evangelical Christian came to you and said “I’ve got to leave the church, do you know how complicit Christians have been in the history of racism in this country?” How would you respond?Is the perception that the present reality of the black church in america looks very different when it comes to some of the most important moral issues. Is that perception true or misleading?Help us understand why people think that black americans / black Christians would vote democrat and would therefore have more progressive views? How do we not fall for this misleading characterization that the black church is at heart progressive in anti-scriptural sense?What continues to compel you to move forward?Guest Bio:Justin Giboney is co-founder of the And Campaign, an attorney, a political strategist, a host on the Church Politics Podcast, and one of the co-authors of the book Compassion and Conviction.Resources Mentioned in This Episode:Revelation 7And Campaign“Reading While Black” by Esau McCaulleyAmazon affiliate links are used where appropriate. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, thank you for supporting Training the Church.Follow Us:Instagram | TwitterOur Sister Shows:Knowing Faith | The Family Discipleship PodcastConfronting Christianity is a podcast of Training the Church. For ad-free episodes and more content check out our Patreon. Follow Us:Instagram | TwitterOur Sister Shows:Knowing Faith | The Family Discipleship Podcast | Starting Place | Tiny TheologiansConfronting Christianity is a podcast of Training the Church. For ad-free episodes and more content check out our Patreon. Produced by⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Good Podcast Co.⁠⁠⁠⁠

Kyle Worley and Rebecca McLaughlin explore the question, are we better off without religion?Questions Covered in This Episode:Is America, in general, more religious than the UK?Would you say the perception of religion among non-believers is generally positive or negative?The change in 2005-2008 range, do you think the atheist tones were driving how people were thinking?Is there data around the psychological benefits of religious practice?What do you say when someone says: Religion is the cause of wars, bloodshed, and injustice? Religion hurts people…?Is religion bad or good? Why?Is there a benefit to religious worldviews abounding in the world whether they are Christian or not?Would you be comfortable describing yourself as a religious person?Are we better off without religion?Resources Mentioned in This Episode:Matthew 16:24-26“God Is Not Great” by Christopher HitchensHuman Flourishing Program at Harvard's Institute for Quantitative Social Science“Klara and the Sun” by Kazuo IshiguroAmazon affiliate links are used where appropriate. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, thank you for supporting Training the Church.Follow Us:Instagram | TwitterOur Sister Shows:Knowing Faith | The Family Discipleship PodcastConfronting Christianity is a podcast of Training the Church. For ad-free episodes and more content check out our Patreon. Follow Us:Instagram | TwitterOur Sister Shows:Knowing Faith | The Family Discipleship Podcast | Starting Place | Tiny TheologiansConfronting Christianity is a podcast of Training the Church. For ad-free episodes and more content check out our Patreon. Produced by⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Good Podcast Co.⁠⁠⁠⁠

Kyle Worley and Rebecca McLaughlin talk about deconstructing; where has this come from and how should we engage?Questions Covered in This Episode:Let’s talk about deconstruction: Where has this come from?What is the most helpful way for us to approach people's real questions?Don’t we also need cultural deconstruction?How often are we deconstructing how culture (sarcasm, the sexual revolution, systemic injustice) has influenced us and our beliefs?Can the church be salvaged? Why not just embrace an anti-institutional practice of following Jesus?Resources Mentioned in This Episode:John 6:60-71“After Doubt” by A. J. SwobodaAmazon affiliate links are used where appropriate. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, thank you for supporting Training the Church.Follow Us:Instagram | TwitterOur Sister Shows:Knowing Faith | The Family Discipleship PodcastConfronting Christianity is a podcast of Training the Church. For ad-free episodes and more content check out our Patreon. Follow Us:Instagram | TwitterOur Sister Shows:Knowing Faith | The Family Discipleship Podcast | Starting Place | Tiny TheologiansConfronting Christianity is a podcast of Training the Church. For ad-free episodes and more content check out our Patreon. Produced by⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Good Podcast Co.⁠⁠⁠⁠

Kyle Worley and Rebecca McLaughlin are joined by Lisa Fields to discuss if Christians are addressing the right questions and what we need to learn to engage with people who don’t believe.Questions Covered in This Episode:Are Christians addressing the right questions?What made you want to start Jude 3?Rebecca, are there differences in the UK vs. US apologetics?Does it feel like so much of the “apologetics” discourse is rooted in answering objections that few consciously hold any longer?Can you share your own story of how and when you started thinking critically about your faith?What have you learned from discourse with people who have walked away from the faith?Are these conversations more personal than they have ever been?What are the 2-3 questions Christians in America need to start exploring?When you are talking with a skeptic, are they speaking for an entire group of people and not just themself?Guest Bio:Lisa Fields is the founder of the Jude 3 Project, where her primary mission is to help the Black Christian community know what they believe and why they believe. Lisa is an author and speaks regularly at evangelism, apologetic, and biblical literacy events across the country. She has received several honors, including being recognized in Christianity Today for her work as an apologist in the African American community. She is a graduate of the University of North Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Communications and Religious Studies, and Liberty University with a Master of Divinity with a focus in Theology.Resources Mentioned in This Episode:Jude 3 Project: Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, TwitterWhy I Don’t Go Season 1Why I Don’t Go Season 2Amazon affiliate links are used where appropriate. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, thank you for supporting Training the Church.Follow Us:Instagram | TwitterOur Sister Shows:Knowing Faith | The Family Discipleship PodcastConfronting Christianity is a podcast of Training the Church. For ad-free episodes and more content check out our Patreon. Follow Us:Instagram | TwitterOur Sister Shows:Knowing Faith | The Family Discipleship Podcast | Starting Place | Tiny TheologiansConfronting Christianity is a podcast of Training the Church. For ad-free episodes and more content check out our Patreon. Produced by⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Good Podcast Co.⁠⁠⁠⁠

Kyle Worley and Rebecca McLaughlin discuss what objections and questions people have about Jesus and what is essential to believe about Him.Questions Covered in This Episode:Two of your books are releasing this year: Jesus through the Eyes of Women and Confronting Jesus. Why all this interest in Jesus?Ok, but what if we’re wrong about Jesus? What are some objections people have about Jesus?When you and I engage with non-Christian friends and neighbors, what do they think about Jesus?How do we know we aren’t wrong about Jesus?What is essential to believe about Jesus?How do we walk confidently in the way of Jesus in a way that is faithful and persuasive?Helpful Definitions:Epistemology: How we know what we know.Hypostatic Union: Jesus is one person with two natures; fully God and fully man.Resources Mentioned in This Episode:“Jesus through the Eyes of Women” by Rebecca McLaughlin“Confronting Jesus” by Rebecca McLaughlinMatthew 7:12-14Amazon affiliate links are used where appropriate. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, thank you for supporting Training the Church.Follow Us:Instagram | TwitterOur Sister Shows:Knowing Faith | The Family Discipleship PodcastConfronting Christianity is a podcast of Training the Church. For ad-free episodes and more content check out our Patreon. Follow Us:Instagram | TwitterOur Sister Shows:Knowing Faith | The Family Discipleship Podcast | Starting Place | Tiny TheologiansConfronting Christianity is a podcast of Training the Church. For ad-free episodes and more content check out our Patreon. Produced by⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Good Podcast Co.⁠⁠⁠⁠

Kyle Worley and Rebecca McLaughlin are joined by author Rachel Gilson to talk about why God cares about who we sleep with. Questions Covered in This Episode:Rachel, can you share your testimony?It seems like a lot of people care about sex and sexuality. Why?When you hear the phrase “authentic self,” where does that register with you?What is often missing from this conversation?Why do we care about the sexual lives of the people around us?Now: Christians have to be honest - we have not always been paragons of sexuality, purity, holy pleasure, and principle have we?When a christian finds themself in a meaningful relationship with somebody who is living out a sexual ethic that is inconsistent with scripture. Is there ever a time to proactively take a step forward and address it?What is the vision that the Bible gives for same sex relationships?Guest Bio:Rachel Gilson is the author of Born Again This Way: Coming Out, Coming to Faith and What Comes Next. In addition, she is on on the leadership team for theological development and culture with Cru college ministry.Resources Mentioned in This Episode:“Born Again This Way: Coming Out, Coming to Faith and What Comes Next” by Rachel Gilson“Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis“Creation Regained” by Albert Wolters“Confronting Jesus” by Rebecca McLaughlinAmazon affiliate links are used where appropriate. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, thank you for supporting Training the Church..Follow Us:Instagram | TwitterOur Sister Shows:Knowing Faith | The Family Discipleship PodcastConfronting Christianity is a podcast of Training the Church. For ad-free episodes and more content check out our  Patreon. Follow Us:Instagram | TwitterOur Sister Shows:Knowing Faith | The Family Discipleship Podcast | Starting Place | Tiny TheologiansConfronting Christianity is a podcast of Training the Church. For ad-free episodes and more content check out our Patreon. Produced by⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Good Podcast Co.⁠⁠⁠⁠

Kyle Worley and Rebecca McLaughlin faithfully explore the question, “how do we know anything?”Questions Covered in This Episode:How do we know anything?What is a thing to be known and how do we know it?Is it okay to talk about faith and trust in terms of knowing?How do we measure things that claim to be true?We both believe the God of the Bible is the one true God. Why do we believe these things and how do we know them?What about revelation?So, if you were chatting with a neighbor and they casually said to you, “How do you know anything” What might you say?Helpful Definitions:Emotivism: My feelings are a reliable indicator of that which is true.Empiricism: Whatever I can touch, taste, see, and experience through my senses is true.Faith: Affirmation, affection, and allegiance.Revelation: The self-disclosure of God. God Himself is the sole and proper witness to himself. God has spoken in His word, the Bible, and it is a reliable testimony to who he is and his purposes for the world. Resources Mentioned in This Episode:“Confronting Jesus” by Rebecca McLaughlin“The Sacred Canopy” by Peter L. Berger“Rethinking Sex” by Christine Emba“Salvation by Allegiance Alone” by Matthew W. Bates“The Lord of the Rings” by J. R. R. Tolkien.Amazon affiliate links are used where appropriate. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, thank you for supporting Training the Church.Follow Us:Instagram | TwitterOur Sister Shows:Knowing Faith | The Family Discipleship PodcastConfronting Christianity is a podcast of Training the Church. For ad-free episodes and more content check out our  Patreon. Follow Us:Instagram | TwitterOur Sister Shows:Knowing Faith | The Family Discipleship Podcast | Starting Place | Tiny TheologiansConfronting Christianity is a podcast of Training the Church. For ad-free episodes and more content check out our Patreon. Produced by⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Good Podcast Co.⁠⁠⁠⁠

Kyle Worley and Rebecca McLaughlin talk about why they decided to start the Confronting Christianity podcast and what you can expect on future episodes! Hint: Hard questions faithfully explored.Questions Covered in This Episode:How did we get here?Who are we?Why are we doing this?What’s our tagline and why?Why are we a good tag team?What if you and I don’t agree on something?What kinds of things will we explore on this podcast?Resources Mentioned in This Episode:Knowing Faith“Confronting Christianity” by Rebecca McLaughlinThe Family Discipleship Podcast“A Grief Observed” by C.S. Lewis“Confronting Jesus” by Rebecca McLaughlinAmazon affiliate links are used where appropriate. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, thank you for supporting Training the Church.Follow Us:Instagram | TwitterOur Sister Shows:Knowing Faith | The Family Discipleship PodcastConfronting Christianity is a podcast of Training the Church. For ad-free episodes and more content check out our  Patreon. Follow Us:Instagram | TwitterOur Sister Shows:Knowing Faith | The Family Discipleship Podcast | Starting Place | Tiny TheologiansConfronting Christianity is a podcast of Training the Church. For ad-free episodes and more content check out our Patreon. Produced by⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Good Podcast Co.⁠⁠⁠⁠

Kyle Worley and Rebecca McLaughlin talk about their new podcast Confronting Christianity, where they seek to faithfully explore hard questions.Questions Covered in This Episode:Why another podcast?What is the goal of Confronting Christianity?Follow Us:Instagram  or TwitterConfronting Christianity is a podcast of:Training the ChurchFor ad-free episodes and more content check out our PatreonOur Sister Shows:Knowing Faith | The Family Discipleship PodcastConfronting Christianity is a podcast of Training the Church. For ad-free episodes and more content check out our  Patreon. Follow Us:Instagram | TwitterOur Sister Shows:Knowing Faith | The Family Discipleship Podcast | Starting Place | Tiny TheologiansConfronting Christianity is a podcast of Training the Church. For ad-free episodes and more content check out our Patreon. Produced by⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Good Podcast Co.⁠⁠⁠⁠