Empires of the Future

Smart glasses are coming.  This new technology will enable not only easier interaction with the internet and augmented reality, but a greater capability to record everything we see, whether people around us might know it or not.  We talk about all this in this episode of Empires of the Future, dealing with this article by Austin Gravley for the Gospel Coalition. 

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/churches-smart-glasses/

"The Empires of the Future will Be Empires of the Mind"

- Winston Churchill

Christians are generally in agreement that baptism is an important practice, but there is considerable disagreement on many other aspects of baptism.  In this video we discuss the rise of infant baptism in the church and the teaching of the New Testament on baptism.  

Gavin Ortlund's video on "How did Infant Baptism Begin?: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WE0Ea2ke_c

Infant Baptism Rap Battle by Reformed and Dangerous: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od5U9qNTpSw&list=RDod5U9qNTpSw&start_radio=1

This is Empires of the Future, conversations to encourage the Church in a time of change. 

How can we best prepare ourselves and our children for the challenges they will face in the world?  What does it take for a young person to grow up, accept responsibility, hold down a job, and all the rest?  One answer to that question is to take a “gap year”, meaning to take a year off after high school to work or serve one’s country in the military.  We talk about this idea and reference an article by Erica Komisar from the Institute for Family Studies.

https://ifstudies.org/blog/the-benefits-of-taking-a-gap-year

"The Empires of the future will be Empires of the Mind." - Winston Churchill

 

This is Empires of the Future, conversations to encourage the Church in a time of change. 

The First Sexual Revolution

Much has been written about the sexual revolution, and in past podcasts we’ve mentioned a recent book by Louise Perry called “The Case Against the Sexual Revolution”, and believe she makes a strong case that the sexual revolution was actually bad for men, women, and children.  In an article posted at First Things, Kyle Harper explains how Christianity actually drove a completely countercultural sexual revolution in the first century whose effects are not only still felt today, but too often taken for granted.  We explore all this and more in this episode of Empires of the Future. 

"The Empires of the future will be Empires of the Mind." - Winston Churchill 

The Problem of Sexual Extortion

Sexual extortion, or “Sextortion” as it is sometimes called, is a new and growing problem.  In the 21st century, there have been various problems related to the “connectedness” that being online offers, and sometimes these problems are not evenly divided among the sexes.  Sexual extortion is one of the newer ones.  Young men seem to be particularly susceptible not just to being fooled into seeking and sharing nude pictures but also into an even darker situation when those pictures are used against them.  Because of this, we wanted to release a short episode encouraging christian parents and ministers to do two things: 

1. Parents - Talk with your children about why God invented sex but also the dangers associated with it.  
2. All christians - Be clear that Christ died for all sins, and paid for all guilt and shame in the believer’s life so that we don’t have to fear consequences related to sin, even in our very online age.  

This too shall pass. 

"The Empires of the future will be Empires of the Mind." - Winston Churchill

This is Empires of the Future, conversations to encourage the Church in a time of change. 

Sheol, Death, and the Grave

“There are three things that are never satisfied,
four that never say, ‘Enough!’:
the grave, the barren womb,
land, which is never satisfied with water,
and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!’ 
Proverbs 30:15

“Sheol”, here translated “the grave” is a complex concept in the Bible.  What did Old Testament believers (and non-believers) think when they spoke of “Sheol”?  What are Christians to think about the afterlife?  What is the relationship between the Hebrew “Sheol”, Greek “Hades” and “Gehenna”, and English “Hell”?  We consider all these questions and more in this episode of Empires of the Future. 

"The Empires of the future will be Empires of the Mind." - Winston Churchill

This is Empires of the Future, conversations to encourage the Church in a time of change. 

On Gentle Parenting

In this episode, we discuss an article by Trevin Wax for the Gospel Coalition entitled “The Church’s Opportunity When ‘Gentle Parenting’ Crashes.”  We agree with Wax that Gentle Parenting is lacking in some key areas, and examine the philosophy behind gentle parenting, what it assumes about children and people in general, and why we believe it does not reach the goals it strives for.  We also outline authoritative, biblical parenting, which does not fall into either the domineering, authoritarian style nor the passive, discipline-lacking parenting that is too often the norm in our culture today. 

"The Empires of the future will be Empires of the Mind." - Winston Churchill 

This is Empires of the Future, conversations to encourage the Church in a time of change. 

The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan

Beginning in 1678, Puritan John Bunyan published The Pilgrim’s Progress, a religious allegory that took the English-speaking world by storm and remains one of the most read books in the English language.  According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica, it is the most famous Christian allegory still in print. 

Written while the author was in prison, this work attempts to consider and reflect upon all manner of troubles the christian will encounter in his or her life, and remains a gold mine of devotional reflection and christian imagination and encouragement.  In this episode Jackson and Denton reflect upon their own experiences with the book. 

"The Empires of the future will be Empires of the Mind." - Winston Churchill

This is Empires of the Future, conversations to encourage the Church in a time of change. 

Why Don’t Men Sing in Church?

Some men do sing in church, to be sure.  But many don’t.  A great deal of ink has been spilled about contemporary worship music and whether or not it encourages men to get involved in the corporate gathering, but we want to ask a few different questions in the four parts of this episode: 

1. Is there a biblical mandate to sing?
2. What is singing about anyway?
3. Are we assuming that women do sing in church? Is the struggle to get men to engage in singing a new development in the church? 
4. How do we foster and encourage male voices?

The article that we discuss in this episode is entitled “All about that Tenor: Why Men Don’t Sing in Worship” by Kelsey Kramer McGinnis for Christianity Today

https://www.christianitytoday.com/2023/09/men-not-singing-in-church-male-voice-masculinity/

"The Empires of the future will be Empires of the Mind." - Winston Churchill

 

This is Empires of the Future, conversations to encourage the Church in a time of change. 

Beauty and the Eye of the Beholder

In this episode, we consider the article “Gaming’s Uneven Progress Toward Diverse Female Figures” by Jamal Michel for the New York Times. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/18/arts/video-games-women-gamergate.html 

In addition to considering how women have been and should be portrayed in video games, we ask more foundational questions about beauty and dignity as well.  

"The Empires of the future will be Empires of the Mind." - Winston Churchill This is Empires of the Future, conversations to encourage the Church in a time of change.