You may be in the tribe that tells you that Christianity and the Republican Party are one in the same. Or perhaps you are in the tribe that is a reaction to that approach, proclaiming that the policies of the Democrat Party are actually where Jesus would land. What if the Bible offers a very different approach to politics than the one most Christians today take? Preston Sprinkle explores this approach, comparing the United States to biblical Babylon, where God’s people lived in exile, and to biblical Rome, where Jesus walked and the first century church got its start.
Psalm 9 Devotional – The God of the Oppressed
Oppression and injustice happen when a person or a group of people is deprived, usually by law or by force, of basic and equal rights that are allotted to others. Often oppression and injustice use categories of people to afflict their damages. For example, our country was founded and built on laws that allowed for the brutal killing and enslavement of blacks and Native Americans, with many laws explicitly benefiting white people by name. This is oppression and injustice. Refugees are oppressed by something going on in their home country that they are fleeing from in order to save their lives. This is often religious or ethnic persecution and is often related to wars or guerrilla warfare dangers. The oppressed are the ones under the boot of those with power. We get less comfortable talking about oppression and injustice when we start looking at the vast inequities in the United States between whites and people of color. It’s a lot easier to talk about oppression of biblical times and the distant past, but much more uneasy when it’s right under our nose and we may or may not even be aware of it or acknowledge it.
Ep. 33: How to Talk About Politics and Polarizing Issues (Part 2)
Noah continues the conversation started in Episode 32’s interview with Preston Sprinkle on how to talk about politics and polarizing issues in this divided cultural climate we find ourselves in.
Ep. 32: Interview with Preston Sprinkle on how to talk about politics & polarizing issues
Noah interviews Preston Sprinkle on how to talk about politics & polarizing issues. The heart of this topic comes from the social media and political climate we are in where it has become very difficult to have civil and loving conversation with people you disagree with. We also look at way the Church goes too far in being partisan or to the other extreme of avoiding biblical issues that happen to be political.
Ep. 31: Interview with Patrick Filipiak on why he thinks you should get rid of Facebook
In Episode 31, Noah interviews his oldest brother Patrick on why he (Patrick) thinks you should get rid of Facebook. Whether you agree or disagree with Patrick, you’re bound to look at your social media behavior differently after this interview.
We also jump into the mailbag for a BIG question about if God is in control of everything that happens or not.
Noah’s rant is back and epic as always.
Why Jesus & John the Baptist got to call people names and you don’t (especially your government officials)
Most people have been in agreement and very supportive. A few were distracted by my analogy of “How would you like it if you were doing the best you could at your job and people were belittling and insulting you for it?”… saying that our government officials are not doing the best they can (therefore we can insult them). I wasn’t expected that distraction to be there, as it’s obviously not the point of the post, but decided to keep it in after people started commenting. But what really got me thinking was the few commenters who referred to Jesus and John the Baptist calling 1st century religious leaders a “brood of vipers.” Saying that since Jesus and John set this example, then we by all means can do that to our government officials today.