The Christian Worldview Radio Program

Transcript: Are screens hindering fellowship in the church?  This is David Wheaton with TCW Radio Program.  Acts 2:42 describes the four elements of the early church: teaching, fellowship, communion, and prayer. Today, we are majorly dependent, even addicted, to screens.  At church, most everything is projected on the big screen—song lyrics, announcements, Scripture, even the pastor.  Meanwhile, those who attend are as likely to check their smart phones for texts as they are to look up the sermon text. We need to be circumspect about screen time fostering a passive, impersonal, and entertainment-based environment, and make sure we’re devoting ourselves to fellowship by engaging in person with other believers. You can hear more about this by visiting TheChristianWorldview.org. This weekend, Joni Eareckson Tada joins us to discuss the growing push for human euthanasia.

“What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.” 1 John 1:3 Wherever you are—home, work, restaurant, school, airport, church—just stop and notice that most everyone around you is likely staring at some kind of screen.  It might be a smart phone, tablet, laptop computer, television, or video projection. There is no doubt all these screens have exponentially increased the amount of information, entertainment, and communication (electronic) that we desire, but is our addiction to them ruining one of the purposes of the church—fellowship?  Is all our staring at screens creating a self-centered, solitary world where we don’t interact in person with other believers? “Fellowship in the Church” was just one of the many messages given by noted pastors such as John MacArthur, Albert Mohler, Mark Dever, Steve, Lawson, and others recently at the Shepherds’ Conference in Los Angeles (free audio of general sessions here). This weekend on The Christian Worldview, we will highlight some of the key messages at the conference including the one about fellowship in the church and whether screens are taking away from believers sharing in each other’s lives.

Guest: Jim Warner Wallace, author, Cold-Case Christianity “And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence” (1 Peter 3:14b-15). When it comes to proclaiming the truthfulness of Christ and Christianity to non-believers, Christians have the most compelling evidence on their side to answer common questions like: “Is God the Creator, Sustainer, and Judge of man?”  “Is the Bible the Word of God?”  “Is Jesus Christ who He claimed to be -- the sinless Son of God and Savior of mankind?” Our guest this weekend, J. Warner Wallace, a former atheist and homicide detective in LA County, has written a book entitled Cold-Case Christianity in which he examines these questions (and others) using the same methods that detectives use to solve cold-case homicides. How did the claims of Scripture hold up to detective scrutiny?  What is the important difference between “belief that” and “belief in”?  Tune in to The Christian Worldview this weekend to find out how the overwhelming evidence about Christ and Christianity must become belief in it.

Guest: Dr. David Noebel, author, Understanding the Times “An hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me.” John 16:2-3 This week, the Republican Governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, vetoed a bill that would have allowed businesses to claim religious grounds for refusing their services.  The media and advocates for homosexuality labeled the bill as anti-gay intolerance and discrimination. What this now means is that if you are, for example, a wedding photographer, you will likely lose a lawsuit if you refuse to photograph a homosexual “marriage” because of your Christian beliefs. What ever happened to freedom America?  Shouldn’t private citizens and privately-owned businesses have the freedom to serve whom they want…and customers have the freedom to patronize or not patronize their business?  What’s next—Christian pastors being told they must “marry” homosexuals or else? Today, concepts like tolerance and discrimination mean very different things to Christians and non-Christians.  Dr. David Noebel, author of Understanding the Times, joins us this weekend on The Christian Worldview to discuss how unbiblical notions of tolerance and discrimination are being used to punish Christians.

These things He [Jesus] said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” (John 6:59-60) Every person is either a child of God or a child of Satan (1 John 3:10). All those who don’t put their faith in Christ will suffer God’s wrath (John 3:36). Those who unrepentantly violate God’s moral laws will be sentenced to hell (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). Statements like these are the “hard truths” of Scripture. In other words, they are hard for  unbelievers—and even some believers—to accept because they seem so harsh, so opposite our human reasoning, so contrary to a “God of love.” But alas, the Bible clearly teaches these truths, and we’d better know how to handle them. Declare them in the wrong tone or with the wrong motive, and the hard truths can become a harsh turnoff. But proclaim them the right way, and hearers may be led to repentance and faith. This weekend on The Christian Worldview, we’ll discuss how to handle some of the hard truths of Scripture, and find out why it’s important to not ignore them, but rather to declare them to a world that desperately needs to hear them.  

Guest: Josh Mulvihill, pastor to children and families, Grace Church “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper” (Romans 1:28). Mention the word “bullying” and the thought comes to mind of some big, mean kid on the playground physically and verbally intimidating other kids. Who wouldn’t be in favor of protecting children from these kinds of bullies? But today, anti-bullying policies are being pushed into schools that restrict and punish a student or parent from expressing their beliefs on issues such as marriage, homosexuality, and religion because it may offend someone else. In one example of what is likely to happen in your own school district, an "anti-bullying bill" is pending in the Minnesota legislature called the “Safe and Supportive Minnesota Schools Act” (HF826) that purposes to “bring about ‘cultural shifts’, through changing the ‘attitudes, values and behaviors’ of all children to, among other things, ‘understand the nature of sexuality.’” (Child Protection League) If that sounds Orwellian to you, wait to you hear more about it from our guest, Josh Mulvihill, pastor to children and families at Grace Church in Eden Prairie, MN. He recently held a forum on the new definition of bullying and what it means for Christians. Related Resources: VIDEO: HF826 Explained and Exposed - This video explains why House File 826 violates children, violates basic constitutional rights and violates independent local school districts. Watch the video and find out why you should protect your children from HF 826. Preparing Children for Marriage by Josh Mulvihill - published by Grace Church in Eden Prairie, MN.  Additional Parenting Resources from Grace Church are also available here. Free to Speak Website:  - Gateways to Better Education and the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) have teamed up to help churches equip families with information on students' and teachers' freedom of religious expression in their public schools. Siecus.org - Write guidelines for public school sex education.

Guest: Scott Poling, pastor, Harvest New Beginnings “Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine, or with gluttonous eaters of meat; for the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe one with rags.” Proverbs 23:20-21 The dictionary defines gluttony as “excessive eating or drinking.” It is elevating and consuming food and drink to a degree God does not intend. It is eating and drinking all we want instead of what we need. Any discerning person recognizes that our society has a major problem with gluttony. And sadly, so do many Christians. Yet, hardly anyone would admit to being a glutton, and hardly any church talks about this sin. So we need to ask ourselves: does food and drink control us instead of the other way around? How can we have victory over our desires to excessively consume? Join us this weekend on The Christian Worldview as we speak with Pastor Scott Poling of Harvest New Beginnings in Illinois, who preached about gluttony as part of a series entitled “Habits: An Overcoming Journey.” Slaying the Dragon of Gluttony - Pastor Scott Poling Habits: An Overcoming Journey - Sermon Series by Pastor Scott Poling

Guest: Mark Durie, Australian pastor and author “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.” (John 15:20-21) The political left and radical Islam. The former is secular and libertine; the latter is religious and legalistic. So why do two groups with such different worldviews support each other’s causes? For example, why do political liberals complain about women’s and homosexual’s “rights” in America while supporting the Muslim Brotherhood in the Middle East, who treat women as second-class citizens and homosexuals even worse? Why do radical Muslims who want to implement Sharia Law support liberal politicians and policies in the West? Could it be that the political left and radical Islam have a uniting cause greater than their differences? Mark Durie, Australian pastor, theologian, author, and expert on Islam, recently completed a speaking tour in America where he spoke about “The Partnership of Radical Islam with Leftist Politics." He joins us this weekend on The Christian Worldview to tell us why the political left and radical Islam are NOT strange bedfellows, and what that means for Christians.