Ezra Institute Podcast for Cultural Reformation

Ezra Institute Fellow Dan Ogden makes his podcast debut to discuss the difference between international law, which is based on common consent, and supranational law, a coercive and unaccountable system. He explains some of the strategic and economic benefits of a globally connected world, as well as the complications that arise from it, and how to think in a principled, Christian way about a tangled and high-stakes context.

We interact with a classic interview with Yuri Bezmenov, a KGB agent who defected from the USSR in the 1980s. He explains the strategy of cultural infiltration that has been active since the 1950s, and the work of demoralization that has been accomplished in the West. As we approach election seasons in the USA, Canada and Britain, we must be diligent to also pursue personal sanctification and not compromise on principles for the sake of temporary fixes.

Ezra Institute Fellow Andrew Sandlin joins us to discuss the strange bedfellows of Marxism and Nationalism that have been keeping company lately, as well as antisemitism and the recent rise of nationalism of several stripes, including Christian nationalism, and how a reformational perspective guards against the excesses and reactionism of both progressive and conservative ideologies that are not based in Christ Jesus.

As governments and law enforcement deal with planned demonstrations for this upcoming Remembrance Day, Joe Boot considers the Islamic worldview commitments that are fundamentally at odds with Christian religious worldview commitments, and discuss the true and lasting peace that was accomplished through the cross of Christ. All month of November, save on the family advent…

On this Reformation Day, Tobias Riemenschneider joins us from Germany to discuss the West's death-loving culture, expressed in the horror of abortion. He explains how the wide-scale support for state-sponsored abortion is upstream from so many other forms of murder, euthanasia, the harm that it causes to women, and the folly of referring to abortion as a human right.

Race is an unbiblical concept, and there are two main expressions of it in the West: constructivist critical race theory, and primordial nationalism. The Christian must reject both.

John Cooper of the rock band Skillet returns to the podcast to discuss his forthcoming book, Wimpy, Weak and Woke. He explains how a spirit of entitlement and victimhood has pervaded Western society, with its philosophical roots in Hegel, the tragedy of Christians abandoning the truth of the Bible to capitulate to postmodern and politically correct assumptions, and offers a solution that begins at home, but grows outward to express the Kingdom of God in every area of life and society.

In the wake of the recent attack on Israel by Hamas, and the Israeli response, we consider the religious roots of anti-Semitism and conflict with Israel. We also discuss the eschatological goal of Islam to conquer the earth, and the difference between a reformational approach and the historic doctrinal assumptions and commitments towards Israel from dispensational theology.

The Canadian government's passage of legislation such as Bills C-11, C-18, and C-36 is beginning to bear fruit, in the form of increasingly invasive censorship policies levied on content platforms.

We've seen a lot of new listeners to the show the past few months, and a warm welcome to all of you! In this episode, Joe Boot, Ryan Eras and Nate Wright discuss how and why the Ezra Institute began, the issues and activities that we engage in, and what we're doing next.

Pastor and author Paul Dirks discusses his forthcoming book, Deep Discipleship for Dark Days, and explains why the time is ripe for Christians to embark on building healthy, godly families, churches, schools, and communities. Paul discusses how he perceived the need for this book at such a time as this, and lays out the scriptural rationale for whether rapid societal changes come from the political, natural, technological, or biological spheres, all such historical occurrences urge us to live in such a way that we are ready with a faithful response. A constant, general preparedness, and a particular discerning of the times (1 Chr 12:32) are interconnected.

Michael Thiessen discusses the recent Crown decision to withdraw charges against Alberta pastors James Coates and Tim Stephens, as well as some other pending legal cases on the question of the relation of church and state. The cases represent victories, but Mike explains why much more advocacy needs to be done at the constitutional level to bring a truly meaningful level of legal protection for religious freedom in Canada.

Ezra Institute Fellow Ted Fenske joins us to talk about the role of the Christian in medicine. As a veteran cardiologist, Dr. Fenske recalls his medical internship during the 1980s AIDS epidemic, and offers wisdom based on hard experience in ministering faithfully to LGBT patients.

We conclude the conversation begun last week about Christian character, and examine biblical figures to discuss several more dichotomies of virtuous versus vicious character traits that Christians must be actively developing.

In this episode Joe Boot draws examples from contemporary life on the importance of Christian character, and what happens when this is neglected by those in leadership. Joe touches on his time working with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, Justin Trudeau's separation from his wife and begins to look at opposing pairs of virtues and vices that are exhibited by biblical figures given for our example.

In this episode, we speak with equipping evangelist Cory McKenna of The Cross Current, to review how the last three years of lockdowns and isolation have affected the work of relational ministry, the centrality of the local church, the work of discipling those who have not grown up in the church, and the spiritual hunger that people have felt in a season where we have been told to fear and avoid our neighbour.

In this episode of the Podcast for Cultural Reformation, we're joined by Richard Fangrad of Creation Ministries International as we continue our series on issues facing the church. This week's issue is theistic evolution. Richard explains what the theory is, where it came from, and what is at stake in the evolutionary debate. As we'll see, our source of authority has real-life implications for the doctrine of God, the nature of man, ethics, worship, and much more.

In this episode, faculty answer questions from students at the Worldview Leadership Academy. We deal with the charge of Christianity’s closed-mindedness, whether you can idolize the Bible, apologetics and evangelism, lying to the Nazis, whether you can lose your salvation, and more. Audio quality improves around the 15-minute mark! Get Joe Boot’s classic work of…

Michael Thiessen of joins us on this episode to discuss the latest developments in the ongoing saga of the church's relationship to LGBT issues, and the further complication of what happens when the state gets involved. We deal with news stories, citizenship, charity law, and the prophetic calling of the church.

This week’s podcast guest is Dr. Aaron Edwards. Dr. Edwards was forced out of his teaching position for supporting biblical sexuality on social media. He describes his experience, and examines the failure amongst evangelicalism to speak prophetically and biblically on key cultural issues.

Ezra Institute Fellow for Biblical Economics, Graeme Leach, joins us on this week’s podcast episode to discuss the phenomenon of Christians advocating for historically socialist and Marxist economic policies. Many Christians have had their economic views informed by the world rather than the Word of God, and Graeme explains how (at least) two of the…

In this episode, Andrew Sandlin and Joe Boot outline the biblical case for an optimistic eschatology and the historical and ideological events that led to this doctrine's present position as a minority perspective in evangelicalism. In dependence on the Holy Spirit and through an attentive reading of Scripture, Christians should expect that Christ will continue to establish His kingdom on earth and drive back sin, death, and the devil.

Joe Boot and Nate Wright are back again to answer a few lingering questions resulting from the Ten Commandments podcast series. In this episode we consider how the earliest humans married and reproduced, compared with later Mosaic incest laws. We also tackle questions on how the church and the individual ought to think and act with regard to charitable status, tax-exemption, and the administration of tithes and offerings.

In this episode we answer some more questions that emerged out of the Ten Commandments series, dealing with issues of what happens to believers after they die, and responding to the claim that the state only stepped in to provide welfare benefits because the church failed in this job.

Thanks to our listeners, we have some terrific questions emerging out of the Ten Commandments series. In this episode Joe Boot answers questions about Paul and Christ and their relationship to the law, what it means to 'fulfill' the law, and how believers kept the law before Christ and the giving of the Holy Spirit.

Joe Boot is joined this week by Ezra Institute Fellows Aaron Rock and Michael Thiessen to discuss the recent CBC investigation which identifies our churches and ministries, as well as those of several others, as leading efforts at godly cultural reformation in Canada.

Joe Boot closes our series on the Ten Commandments with some observations on the tenth commandment against covetousness, including how it works with the first commandment to encapsulate and summarize the whole Decalogue, how a covetous heart influences every other action, and how covetousness is manifest in the world not just at the individual, but…

Pastor Tobias Riemenschneider discusses the church's responsibility to its people and to the state, explains why he was prompted to draft the Frankfurt Declaration of Church and Civil Liberties, and how our response to Covid-related restrictions is training us for the next cultural and worldview crisis related to trans gender identity.

In this episode Joe Boot discusses the Ninth Commandment about bearing false witness, times where it is godly to withold the truth, and draws out the implications for law and society, as well as the ever-present question of who is my neighbour. We also look at the move by the Trudeau government to replace the crown on Canada's coat of arms with a new version bereft of Christian symbols.

In this episode Joe Boot reflects on the recent coronation of King Charles III, focusing on the nature of national oaths and covenants, and the proper place of the monarch in a role of delegated authority, living under God's law. It's a heavy responsibility and Scripture enjoins us to pray for our civil rulers.

P Nate of the Rebel Podcast joins us this week as we resume our series in the Ten Commandments. Nate explains how the commandment "you shall not steal" enjoins the opposite, positive principle to protect your neighbour's property, not to mention the presupposition of private property. Contra Klaus Schwab and Karl Marx, owning nothing is not a formula for human happiness.

The connection between all these themes becomes clear in this special guest episode with Dr. Vishal Mangalwadi. He explains the Third Education Revolution movement, the role of technology, and the historic impact that the gospel has had, through education, on the family, church, and all other spheres. Vishal is currently on a lecture tour of…

Joe Boot explains the biblical understanding of penology - the study and practice of punishing crime. Despite modern objections about the harshness of biblical justice, the penology outlined in God's law is in fact true justice, and its practice leads to a more just and free society.

In this previously unaired interview, Joe Boot and Andrew Sandlin discuss the ideology of cultural Marxism, explaining how it differs from original Marxism, and how it mimics Christian doctrines of worship, eschatology, and the kingdom of God.

This week we pause our series in the Ten Commandments to reflect on the shooting at Covenant School in Nashville. In a de-christening culture, those who worship the true and living God should expect to suffer hatred and violence, even unto death, from those who worship the false god of self. But the Christian's hope is the promise of light and life dispelling darkness and death.

In this episode Joe Boot discusses the narrow and broad definitions of adultery in light of both Moses and Christ, explaining how sexuality is much more than the modern notion of consent. Contrary to contemporary thinking, sexual activity outside of the blessed structure of covenant marriage has drastic personal and social consequences.

Kyle Thompson of the Undaunted Life podcast joins us for a discussion of the commandment "You shall not murder." We talk about war, self-defense, and the failure of the state to properly prosecute justice on murderers, as well as the responsibility of the individual to defend his family and neighbor.

We begin this episode by examining the biblical definition of murder, and looking at cases where the taking of life is prohibited, where it is permitted, and the single situation where it is required by God. We also consider how our society's rejection of God is evident in legalized murder in the form of abortion and euthanasia, as well as Jesus' teaching about murderous talk and attitudes that break this commandment.

We take a short recess from the Ten Commandments series to talk about drag queen story hour protests, global Anglicanism, and other important news from around the world. And is the Ezra Institute going to be on the CBC?

In this episode Joe Boot and special guest, pastor Joel Webbon, discuss the fifth commandment, how it applies not only to young children, but to everyone, and how a worldly mindset has led us to neglect this commandment when it becomes uncomfortable or burdensome.

Sabbath rest is a biblical principle that seems to invite a level of controversy: how often, when, who, and in what ways are is the Sabbath to be observed. Joe Boot discusses the connection between work, rest, and worship, why Sabbath-breaking was a capital offense in ancient Israel, and the difference that Christ makes to the form of our observance.

In this episode Ezra Institute Fellow Michael Thiessen discusses what it means to take the name of the Lord, both rightly and wrongly, in the church, in politics, and in any other sphere. We also talk about the nature of oaths and authority, the Sermon on the Mount, what it means for something to be damned by God, and door-to-door sales. NOTE: we do not use language flippantly, but this episode contains language that parents may not want your children to hear.

Idolatry takes any number of forms at the individual, church, and national levels, but its temptation is always the same: you shall be as God. And the results always lead to death. As churches capitulate to antichristian cultural pressures, they often keep their outward form, but lose the power and vitality that ought to sustain and animate them. The Lord reserved some of His hardest words for those who led their people in this apostate way.

We continue our series in the Ten Commandments with the command against idolatry. In this episode, Joe Boot discusses the root of idolatry in the heart, and deals with some listener questions about the possibility of making work or family into an object of worship. We conclude by examining idolatry within the church itself.

We're officially underway with our series on the Ten Commandments. In this first episode, Joe Boot explains why this section of Scripture begins with the Lord declaring who He is, and why the commandments are ordered in the way that they are. If you've never thought about what our worship has to do with law, don't miss this one.

In this episode Joe Boot pulls illustrations from throughout Scripture to demonstrate the enduring validity of God's law in the era of Christ's resurrection. If Christ took the law seriously, and if we are to be imitators of Him, then it behooves us to take the law seriously as well.

We're kicking off the new year with a new series, dealing with ethics and law generally, and the Ten Commandments specifically. In this episode, Joe Boot talks about the distinction between laws and norms, the fact that we live in a universe designed by God that is made to work according to His instruction, and what love has to do with fulfilling the law.

On this episode Joe Boot and Ezra Institute Fellow Aaron Rock discuss the themes, issues, and ideologies related to the contemporary environmentalism movement. For those who didn't get their questions answered during the conference Q&A session, we deal with several more of those questions here.

We bring our series in Thomas Aquinas to a close by restating six significant differences between Thomistic thought and the reformation worldview that we believe is more consistent with Scripture. On the question of origins, nature and grace, ontology and anthropology, apologetics and Christian philosophy, the medieval thought of Aquinas falls short of the biblical position.

This Christmas season, Joe Boot reflects on the staggering reality of God's glory revealed to His people as he takes up residence, or tabernacles, among us. This fact ought to be a great source of strength for Christians, greater than any hardship we could ever experience.