The Uncensored Unprofessor

Darwinists tell us the universe is empty and meaningless. But that's just not true once one begins studying life. For instance, the Leafcutter ant exhibits profoundly sophisticated behaviors. The queen ant, herself, follows innate algorithms that help her build and foster enormous colonies. Hence, life is pre-wired by intense and specific coding; all of which suggests the hand of an exquisitely sophisticated intellect. I also reflect on recent SCOTUS rulings and address the question of whether or not America is God's chosen nation.

What are the two central truths upon which I hang my own hat of belief? Importantly, both truths are rooted in history, fact, reality. The dogma of Lord Secularism says that the universe, for no discernible purpose, produced complex life; but there is no meaning to life. The Lord of creation sings that the cosmos is sated with beauty, love, and purpose; that life is grounded in meaning. Across these two diverse worldviews I examine the evidence. (Oh, and I also sing a Beatles song with new lyrics about top-level bribery.) Come laugh and think with me!

Most every self-aware person asks two questions, "what is life all about?" and, "who am I?" The human race always has, and does today, yearn for meaning. The Secular and the Sacred go about deep meaning in oppositional ways. Because it says the universe is empty and without purpose, Secularism shouts that we must create our own meaning. The Sacred, an element of reality that lives deep down in our bone marrow, says that the cosmos is sated with meaning. We don't just "need" religion, we are religion! I compare and contrast the Secular and Sacred on this ever-present question: what is life all about?

There is a shared public imagination: all science is peer-reviewed, all scientists are empty of bias, scientists work in labs, labs are sterile and pure. So all science is, itself, objective, impartial, and pure. But none of that is true. Science is, and scientists are, pre-loaded with bias, supposition, and philosophical coding. (If the Covid hysteria doesn't clarify that I don't know what would.) I describe how scientists (many, not all) try to blind us with the authority of their discipline. But their logic doesn't hold.

Like a big-plumming hat drum major marching out a steady beat for the entire band, secularism's facts-values dichotomy has been drummed down into every facet of life. Sadly that includes too much of the Church. More, that dichotomy helps us understand why so many confessing Christians can give their hearts to Jesus but then keep him entirely out of their intellectual processing. They've agreed with drum-major-secularism that religion is subjective, private, and something to be kept out of the public square. But, is that even true? Who lives as though there is no meaning in life? Or, who lives as though science is their ultimate guide?

I enjoy listening to Sirius XM radio. They have a couple comedy stations that crack me up. But when a comedian starts shredding marriage, "that ol' ball and chain!", I flip the channel. They are, like most of society, captured by the secular view of marriage as an impediment, an occlusion, an unnecessary obligation. I explore how philosophers' ideas creep into popular culture, and then how that shapes our views of both marriage and family. We also unpack the biblical view of marriage. The contrast between the secular and the sacred on marriage and family is stark indeed!

Most Protestants are products of the secular-sacred split. We believe there are realms that belong solely to God (our hearts, church, prayer, bible reading, evangelism) and realms that belong to not-God (our minds, and every single thing else in life!). No wonder then we do life mostly as do secularists. Worse still, we have jobs that we believe are less-than fully Christian. How to rectify this? Bring healing to this bad philosophy? I also talk about how a recent Jordan Peterson speaking engagement impacted me. And I discuss what to do about your non-Christian, even Christ-hating, friends and family.

Unaware, most Christians do life through a secular-sacred prism. We believe there are arenas that are isolated to the secular and others given to the sacred. Along similar lines we believe there things reserved for our minds to do and other, more private things, for our hearts to do. None of this is biblical and none of it is helpful. Most Christian colleges fall prey to this same schism and all politicians are chained to the secular-sacred split. In this ground-laying episode I clarify my own presuppositions and define important terms. Come think and laugh with me!

Reading the daily news one could easily be overwhelmed by the darkness. And yet there are significant ongoing developments that promote religious liberty and individual freedom from governmental coercion. Greg Cox, VP of Strategic Partnerships at Liberty Council, shares with me about several recent court rulings that sustain the free practice of the Christian faith. Liberty Council, driven by an expressly Christian worldview, is a dynamic presence on behalf of Gospel mission and personal liberty!

From whence does culture come? Well, directly, from a cult. I explore and explain how cult and culture are related in this U.U. shotgun. Variously, I also work through the recent lingual faux pas of the Dali Lama, a very funny church-joke, Ukraine's president and his skimming money from the USA, a statue to honor a pedophile's dream, the United Nation's new policy on pedophilia, the significance of Tucker Carlson's recent firing at FOX, and the recent non-defense of Title 9 by House Democrats. I finish the show with a reflection on how humans are greater than angels.

In this UU shotgun I plow through Twitter's new state-label accounts, a review of the new horror movie Nefarious, the recent horror-show of an election for Chicago's mayor, and some excellent college recommendations. Then I think through how progressivism is not only mutilating both bodies and reason, but celebrating that; and demanding that we celebrate that! I end the show with a reflection on Jesus' parable of the talents. Was he teaching a divine embrace of capitalism? Was he teaching we can earn our salvation? Come laugh and think with me!

Can a Christian be demon possessed? I walk through theology and experience on that matter. In this UU shotgun I also discuss tolerance, cell phone culture's effects on the brain, how the transgender movement is being challenged, Budweiser marketing ploys, and how Christian parents ought to evaluate movies for their kids. In the second half of the show I work through, at a 2K' macro level, what "in the world but not of" it means. To top off that theme I note three dominant positions the Church has taken vis-a-vis culture in the Modern era. Let's probe more deeply into our faith.

The war in Ukraine is 14 months old and 250,000 people have been killed. It's time for peace, so I pray to that end. I also work through why the Whitehouse wants to shut down natural gas. Then, as an act of humility, I confess three errors of prediction I made two years ago; you gotta own when you are wrong! Across the last half of the show I discuss the recent Asbury revival and frame it in light of America's history of revivals. Our national imagination has been deeply shaped by huge revivals! Then I both affirm and critique revivals.

Former president Donald Trump has been indicted and will be arrested before this podcast is issued. It seems so loud, so ill-fitting for civilized times. But Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago shows this extensive playbook has been successfully used before. We are not, as conservative journalists tell us, merely watching a kind of nincompoopish incompetence: "poor ol' Joe!" This is a strategy, the implementation of a historic playbook. How so? Let me work through the specific ways. Let's turn on our spiritual discernment.

Shotgunned UU topics: quickest thing in the world, prayer for a young couple, praying with biblical words, the result of the Twitter hearings, pastor Timothy Keller's third way reflection, comedic humor and ancient prophets, our having attended a live Babylon Bee show, uncomfortable truths about EVs, social contagions in history, cell-phone culture, a NYTimes article about masks, tone-splaining, Deacon Calvin Robinson's Oxford speech, the strategy inside the Russian gulag, and secular-Jew Naomi Wolf's reflections on the spirits at work in America. Come think and laugh with me!

Under Joseph Stalin there was intense hatred from the State toward the Russian citizenry. Today we are witnessing the same here in America. How did that then, and how does that today, manifest? I also variously work through what I think about UFOs, the Southern Poverty Law Center's having targeted Latin Rite Catholics, the effects of tolerance, and why the Church needs to put critical-cooperation into practice. Come think theologically and laugh heartily with me!

My friends grew concerned when their church changed its vocabulary and stopped preaching both forgiveness of sin and Jesus as sacrificial Savior. It made me wonder, who hates the atonement and why? Was it really only St. Paul who emphasized Jesus' atoning death? In this episode I also discuss Adam Curry's presence on Joe Rogan's podcast, whether tolerance is a Christian virtue, recent revelations about January 6, and I share poignant things I've learned reading The Gulag Archipelago. Come think and laugh with me!

What drove me to becoming a theologian? How did my youth play into that? What is the benefit of being a sinner? I also comment on several contemporary events including the Nordstream 2 pipeline explosion, the acquittal of Mark Houck, La County's deadliest-ever shooting, and local Spudlandia news stations' calls to end misinformation. If this epoch is the devil's punchbowl, what is our calling? Along the way I reflect on why it is that the bible endures, what is different about it compared to other books. Come think and laugh with me!

Shotgun: prayer for sore throats (w/a gross story), 300th episode!, why I don't like slogans or live according to pet slogans, my regular and constant prayers, Facebook's "most relevant" listings, Australian heart attack %s, who Trump blamed for the 2022 election slotch, Dr. Russ Spittler's death, and you carrying the weight of the world. The last half of the show is spent on examining Jesus vis-å-vis Jewish tradition. The gloss goes that Jesus hated religion, stood against Jewish tradition, and offered a free-floating spirituality. More carefully? Well, we take a look.

Concerning how God worked (works) in history, what is the constant biblical pattern? Will everyone be saved no matter what? Will only the pure in heart be saved? I examine both Genesis and John to discern the biblical template. Along the way I variously pray for children who have spurned the faith, teach about prayer using ancient words, note G.K. Chesterton's definition of tradition, muse aloud about a-historical and rootless believers, and work through some theological humor. Come think and laugh with me.

In this shotgun podcast I work through Jesus and his take on tradition, whether or how Christianity is a tradition, the strange phenomenon of Christians who don't want to be Christian, a prayer for traumatized folks, how teaching college compared to teaching adult Sunday School, what kinds of things will keep the Statist government from finally overwhelming the citizenry, and beauty. God loves beauty! In a sharing act he gave us beauty to love, too! Come e-hang out with me for a while and enjoy some laughter!

Before he died Pope Benedict wrote about the presence of the anti-Christ. What did he say? What did he say that I affirm? How did the anti-Christ appear to Jesus? In what form will the same devil appear to us that he had appeared to Jesus? I also work through four principles given to us by Benedict for conducting spiritual warfare. In the show's beginning I also think out loud about operating out of a Christian worldview. What does that look like? Let's turn our brains on for the mission and glory of Christ.

In this shotgun episode I discuss the ongoing "He Gets Us" tv ads. What are they about? From whom did they come? What critical elements do they omit? I also work through the Reformed perspective of Cessationism: that the gifts of the Holy Spirit ceased when the apostles died out. Is that true, accurate, or theologically helpful? Then I work through the whys and whats of the Christian worldview on distinctions. What is the theological root for all those distinctions? What does distinct mean for us today? Along the way I mix in irony and humor. Come think and laugh with me!

This show's four themes: a) Elon Musk, b) me being 61-and-a-half, c) how Anglicanism compares to Catholicism, and, d) Amy Grant's version of Christianity. Why do some want to nominate Elon Musk for American sainthood? What has been thrown into relief for me as I've been doing my daily bible readings from the church lectionary these last 5 years? How is Anglicanism different from Catholicism? And how does music star Amy Grant represent a massive cultural shift inside of low-church Christianity? What does her archetypal perspective do to Christian mission? Come think and laugh with me!

Father of eight children, Britton La Tulippe has given extensive thought to education. Himself the product of an elite military prep school (he later trained for the Green Beret), Britton variously compares and contrasts public school with prep schools, classical education schools, and homeschooling. What is the goal of public education? Should parents think of their own kids as Christian missionaries to public schools? Why or why not? This interview will inspire you to pursue greatness for the mission and glory of Christ!

Near Death Experiences (NDEs) consistently report a pattern that defies common Christian expectation. What's that pattern? Why does it matter? Then, prompted by my wife, I talk about what doctrine meant to the apostles and what it sh/could mean to us. Finally, I present and assess the new model of Christianity as therapy. Overwhelmed by cultural trends this psychological model is re-shaping Christianity. What dangers does that present? All along the way I'm laughing and thinking, and enjoying being alive in God.

In this shotgun show I reflect variously on the recent Twitter revelations, why free speech is necessary for civilization, a comparison of Jesus and the tree of life in Eden, and the limitations of Science. There is a growing trend of Scientism: the belief that science will solve all human problems and that science—isolated unto itself—is the final arbiter of truth and meaning. But science is, at definitional levels, incapable of measuring all manner of things that are deeply important to human beings. Let's think with nuance even while we enjoy some laughter!

Most people today hear "Catholicism" and they think the Pope or veneration of Mary or the Vatican. But what was the original definition of Catholicity? What might that ancient notion suggest for Christian relationships today? Then I share-reflect a reading from an Advent service wherein I participated. And finally I explore the growing movement of Third Way Christianity. I assess the motives and explain the cultural failure of Third Way Churches. Come laugh and think with me!

Why do we celebrate Christmas on December 25th? What does history show us about that? Then, in 1984 Apple Computer produced a memorable challenge-the-faceless-corporations tv advertisement, but in 38 short years they have become that faceless corporation. How so? What are the results of an at-home medical experiment I conducted? I also explore some of the aftermath of the SCOTUS June ruling that over-turned Roe. What is our ensuing cultural milieu? Come laugh and think with me.

What is it like to have a pregnant woman walk in the door when she's trying to determine what to do with her unexpected baby? In what way does church culture impact a crisis pregnancy? What measures and structures does Path Crisis Pregnancy center have in place to receive women? How can technology shape a woman's decision? How has the SCOTUS over-turning of Roe changed the dynamics of crisis pregnancy center work? What have both COVID and our inflation-wrought economy done to crisis pregnancy center service? What is a Christian approach to crisis pregnancies?

The Cambrian explosion—as scientists call it—raises some fascinating challenges to Darwinian evolution. I explore how that is so. I also variously work through fairness at the Southern border, whether I miss teaching, taking on the establishment, local television news in Idaho, the Evangelical framing of Christianity, the worldview of America's founders, and the second coming of Christ. Interspersed throughout are some NFL helmet-slogan inspired catch-phrases. Come think and laugh out loud with me!

Charles Darwin was not a neutral investigator. What were his pre-existing beliefs (that he had inherited from his father) which shaped his conclusions? There are lies and there is anti-truth, what is the difference? How do I read the imminent split that threatens (again) the Catholic Church? In this episode I also work through some funny memes and share some reflections on the season of Advent. Come think and laugh with me!

The podcasts are normally woven through by a theme. This is a series of mostly unrelated thoughts: where do I differ with Evangelicals? What did I learn and appreciate by reading two books about the Oregon trail? Did the human race really begin from one original pair? What do I yearn for everytime I see Caravaggio's painting of the "Emmaus Dinner"? Where do I experience the presence of God? What is science? I also share a couple funny memes I recently encountered.

Jesus said, "you cannot serve both God and mammon." That is true for individuals, but it rings just as true for society. Where the heart is—personal and corporate— there will be the treasure. What we promote and vote for reveals the state of our culture's soul. A theological analysis of the mid-term election is made in order to help us understand both the world (and church) we now live in and the opportunity that is ours in Christ. Come laugh and think with me!

What is it like to serve the homeless? How can or should we help them? Reverend Bill Roscoe has been a leader in homeless ministry for thirty years. In this interview he explains the grounds for ministry—short and long term—to people created in the image of God. What is involved in training the staff? What's it like to work with local government? What is the shelter's denominational affiliation? How have the clientele changed over the decades? How does he keep from becoming mired in depression?

Here on the cusp of a national mid-term election how do I go about voting? What are my priorities, non-negotiables? What do I look for with individual candidates? How do I assess legislation that we get to vote on? Do I care if the candidate is a Christian? Across human history voting is a rare privilege, so how do I approach this responsibility?

Peter, James, Paul. . . the entire apostolic community expected Jesus to return, bodily, in their lifetimes. Growing up, I didn't expect to make it out of high school before Jesus returned. The apostles were, and my boyhood church was, wrong. So just why has it been 2000 years since Christ ascended into heaven? Why the gap? What kind of missional and existential challenge does that gap present to us? And what is the most common temptation to sin here in our Post-Christian culture? All in this episode!

The Evangelical tendency? To personalize Jesus. And for the immediate that is all well and good. But the problem is that it minimizes the historic and cosmic impact of Christ's coming, person, and work. We need to marvel bigger, examine more sweepingly, because that historic cosmic coming reveals to us what God's telos is for the future. And still for all that? We see a proportionate polarization at work in our culture: it loathes freedom, beauty, and the Gospel.

PoMo culture has a couple dominant views about history: a) it is written by the winners, and b) it is meaningless. Both of those promote cynicism and apathy which corrode the human soul. Instead a biblical and Christian worldview says there is hope. I explore why that is so. I also pare back some problematic ways that Christians approach and think about history. Oh, and I unpack why it is that I am increasingly typified by dangerosity!

We only see the upper 5' of the iceberg that is homelessness. Down beneath the surface is a massive soul-deadening, cold, indifferent, objectifying culture. That culture teaches us to treat the homeless like incurable objects while politicians use homelessness to score points on their largesse. What should a Christian response be? How does a Christian metaphysic view the problem? How does the book of Lamentations help frame the problem? I also note a recent Pew Forum examination of Christianity in the USA.

On Thursday, September 8, 2022 Queen Elizabeth died. I watched the long parade-drive to Windsor Castle and have, for 2+ weeks, been listening to her funerary music. How did that touch me? What stood out to me? How does it point to the Parousia of Christ himself? I also muse about Youtube censorship, Alex Berenson's legal victory, the state of Texas vs. media censorship, and share more about a corporate churchly bearing/presence vis-a-vis culture.

Climate change sounds benign: good folk want to help the planet stay hospitable. But is that only where this is headed? How do leaders of the World Economic Forum, Bill Gates, and Bank of America envision climate change? How might climate change be used for alternative purposes? I also think aloud about the role and place of a Christian bearing, a churchly bearing, in and to culture. What are the dominant models at work today with regard to Church and culture? Come laugh and think with me.

To save the planet we all need to embrace green and renewable energies, right? Well, perhaps, sort of. This episode works through the dominant renewable energies noting their pluses and minuses. I also explore questions like, can we mine enough global lithium to eliminate all fossil fuel powered cars? Are electrical vehicles as clean and efficient as we are led to believe? The show opens with a reflection on the beauty of vocation in a God-created world. Come laugh and think with me!

Climate Change is expensive. $370 billion dollars just passed by the Democrats shows us just how expensive it really is. So how do those policies impact the indigent? And stemming from that why did the Progressives trade the poor—their ardent concern in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s—for today's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion? What do we learn from that trade? I also think aloud about how economics works like spider webs. This is complicated and sensitive stuff but we can chuckle and smile as we think it through.

With every forest fire, hurricane, snow storm, or hot summer we hear the cry, "climate change!" But are things really getting worse across the planet? Why are we led to believe they are? Then, how do green policies on the West coast actually make things worse? I also talk about my brother who, as an insurance adjustor, worked hurricane Katrina. In this episode I also share some of my own m.o. for doing the show, why the show is formed the way it is.

In 2015 most of the nations entered into the Paris agreement on capping of Earth's temperatures. What standard did they all commit toward? Now after 7 years how is that going? What are the potential pitfalls of the agreement? How might fraud and grift both play into Climate Change? I also work through necessary elements for Christian spiritual discernment.

With global warming all the glaciers are melting and the islands are being flooded, right? We'll take a careful look. We are causing Earth to approach catastrophic levels of sea rise, right? Hundreds of millions of people live under immediate threat of being flooded into annihilation, right? Let's study it. Why do I find the ancient Roman city of Pompeii so amazing? All of that and more in my continuing climate change series. Oh, and what about the recent increase in IRS agents? What does that indicate about where America is headed? Come think and laugh with me.

Are glaciers around the planet melting or expanding? Why? What about icy Antarctica? Do glaciers melt simply due to air temperature? How can cosmic rays and meteors contribute to ice ages? In this episode we explore these amazing rivers of ice that form all over the planet. Also, if you've listened before you know I like the term "PoMo". But what does that mean? And how is our era far different from, more sinister than, the normal conservative vs. liberal pendulum swing? Come think and laugh with me.

The constant public refrain is that humanity is destroying the planet, that we are the problem, that our presence is the single greatest driver of climate. But actually? The science doesn't go so neat and tidy in that direction. What about the power of the sun? What about our position in our galaxy? I also think with you about reducing inflation by spending $370 billion. What is going on? Why?

That the human race is a cancer to planet Earth is becoming a mainstream notion. The media constantly beat that drum but so also do movies like M. Night Shyamalan's "The Happening." I think through that movie and then compare its message with a biblical worldview on the relationship between humanity and Earth. Near the show's end I remark on the economic meltdown of Sri Lanka and how its governmental policies have played into the mess. Also, why does (should) culture matter for the Gospel of Christ?