Live interview and Q&A with Monique Duson

by | Jun 9, 2022 | Apologetics, Culture, Family, God, Jesus Christ, Justice, Reconciliation, The Church, Theology, Wisdom, Worldview

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Monday, June 6, 2022 at 7pmCT, we hosted a live virtual Zoom event with Monique Duson from the Center For Biblical Unity.

Watch the video recording – Link below.

Monique Duson has a background in social service and children’s ministry. She has worked with a diverse array of under-served communities.

Monique worked as a Missionary to South Africa for over four years, serving children and teachers impacted by drugs, violence, and trauma.

She spent two decades advocating for Critical Race Theory (CRT), but through a series of events, began to clearly see the contradictions of CRT with the historic Christian worldview. Monique is now convinced that CRT is not the best way to achieve racial unity and actively speaks out against the use of CRT within the church. Her mission is to promote a vision for racial healing based on the historic Christian worldview.

Monique has appeared on shows such as Relatable (with Allie Beth Stuckey), the Alisa Childers podcast, and Breakpoint (with John Stonestreet). Monique has a BA in Sociology from Biola University. She is working on a MA in Theology.

Monique has appeared at Wilberforce Weekend (Colson Center for Christian Worldview) two years in a row. Monique is one of the most sought after Christian thinkers and speakers on race and culture. She is straight forward, funny, and encouraging.

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In-person Course: Culture and the Christian Worldview – Ft. Worth, TX

by | Apr 25, 2022 | Apologetics, Christianity, Courses, Culture, Education, God, Jesus Christ, Personal Growth, Theology, Wisdom, Worldview

Deeper questions won’t be answered by shallow arguments.

UNKNOWN

Culture and the Christian Worldview – 8 week In-person Course at Christ Chapel Bible Church (Fort Worth Campus)

SPACE IS LIMITED – REGISTER TODAY

I want to share some exciting news! We’ll be offering a new class at our Fort Worth Campus beginning Sunday, May 1st. We will be covering how a robust biblical worldview should inform and guide our thoughts, conversations, and actions.

– Do you feel equipped to share you Christian worldview?

– Do you understand how and why people think the way they do?

– Do you struggle having crucial conversations with people who seem so far away from the truth?

– Do you grieve for loved ones, friends, and a culture that appears to be spiraling out of control?

– How do we disciple people through this cultural moment while reaching the lost?

Please feel free to forward and share with family and friends who may be interested.

Course Details:

Dates: Sunday, May 1st-June 26th (not meeting on Mother’s Day)
Time: 12:30pm-1:45pm
Location: The Den (Fort Worth Campus)
Childcare Available
Lunch provided
Resources provided
Cost: $20 per person
Ages: High School Student +
*This course will NOT be streamed or recorded – in-person only*

Register here…

Purpose and Expectations:

“Culture and the Christian Worldview” is an 8 week deep-dive into what it means to live out a Christian worldview in your spheres of influence. You’ll learn how to respond to our cultural moment in light of God’s Story.

The purpose is to equip and train you to:

1. Think critically about tough issues.
2. Articulate a biblical worldview with confidence.
3. Reach others for Christ for His Glory.

You will gain valuable knowledge, practical skills, and the confidence to engage in conversations about the important issues we face in this cultural moment.

What to expect:

– Develop a Christian understanding of worldview.
– Discover how culture informs us.
– Explore current societal pressure points.
– How we can walk wisely in our cultural moment (a cultural response).

As we explore topics and cultural issues, you’ll have the opportunity to engage in table discussions and ask questions in a context of Christian community.

We are created by God and called by God to this cultural moment!

Reflect on the following passages:

“God made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place.”
(Acts 17:26)

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
(Ephesians 2:10)

In other words, God made you for this time and place in human history to be His ambassador to a broken world.

Thank you and see you this Sunday!

Learn more and register.

*This course will NOT be streamed or recorded – in-person only*

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Sacred Cows, Ideas and Innovation

by | Mar 31, 2022 | Culture, Philosophy, technology, Theology, Wisdom, Worldview

Innovative ideas begin to shape future reality before the innovation is even fully developed. The Thinking Christian must possess a biblical foundation and the cultural intelligence to understand that ideas capture the imagination prior to being fully adopted and acted upon.

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Who invented the smartphone? Well, certainly Alexander Graham Bell and Antonio Meucci and Edison and Tesla had something to do with it. And the folks at Fairchild. And Palm and Cisco and General Magic and countless others.
When we insist on waiting until it’s done before we share it, we walk away from the most important component of innovation.

Seth Godin

Innovative ideas begin to shape future reality before the innovation is even fully developed.

Innovation is not limited to smartphones, the internet, or technology. Ideas like hospitals, orphanages, and liberty were innovations. Just as ideas like Critical Race Theory, postmodernism, queer theory, and trans-humanism were innovations. Ideas beget ideas and those ideas shape reality for good or ill.

Ideas are never stagnant. Once shared, they circulate and diffuse through groups of people. Before those ideas are even fully developed, they begin to mold the social imagination and sentiments. We live in a world structured around ideas. We often refer to it as ‘culture.’

Our cultural moment is shaped by innovative ideas and forces that began decades ago. Contrary to popular belief, not all innovations are good or beneficial. Innovative ideas emerge from the worldview of the person who conceived them. As an idea flows from the academy down through music, arts, media, elite circles, and politics, that idea carries with it a worldview (a belief about reality and how we behave based on that belief). The question is whether or not the worldview embedded in an idea is good or not – true or not.

We must ask questions:

“If I believe this idea, what is the result?”
“Where does this idea lead if taken to its logical conclusion?”
“Does this idea lead to human flourishing for everyone or just some?”
“Does this idea potentially harm people?”

For instance, women living in most Islamic cultures do not have the same rights as men. At some point, when faced with the innovation of the car, some Islamic clerics responded by putting forth the idea that women should not be allowed to drive. The result is that in a few (not all) Muslim majority societies, women are forbidden from driving or heavily restricted. This creates the conditions where females are dependent on males for transportation. Thus, limiting mobility and ultimately, freedom (of women).

Another example can be observed in predominantly Hindu cultures like India. The cow is sacred to most practicing Hindus in India. Cows cannot be killed or harmed in Hindu cultures. Due to the caste system, the population is segregated. The upper castes are forbidden from associating with the lowest caste (referred to as the ‘untouchables’). This creates the conditions of zero socioeconomic upward mobility for lower classes. They are stuck. When people are stuck, they are trapped in perpetual poverty – many are starving.

What does this have to do with sacred cows?

Since cattle cannot be killed or harmed in Hindu cultures, it means they cannot be used for food. India could feed its starving people beef but the idea that cattle cannot be killed prevents that from occurring. The result is malnutrition and mass starvation that could be prevented. Imagine 1200 lbs. of beef walking down the middle of the street crowded with starving people.

Ideas have consequences and bad ideas have victims. The idea of forbidding people to consume what God created for food is a bad idea. People die. Sacred Cows make good hamburger meat and maybe its time to innovate with the idea to feed the starving people of India beef.

The Thinking Christian must possess a biblical foundation and the cultural intelligence to understand that ideas capture the imagination prior to being fully adopted and acted upon. We need to understand that innovation is not limited to technologies. Ideas are innovations as well. I’d argue that ideas are far more powerful than technological innovations.

The solution?

We must recover a biblical vision of total reality, objective truth, and innovate against the bad ideas that harm people and God’s world. By simply sharing innovative ideas about that which is good, true and beautiful, we are actually shaping the future for God’s glory.

We would do well to develop a theology of innovation – beginning with “In the beginning God created…”

The Gospel of the Kingdom proclamation that Christ is risen and is currently ruling and reigning over ALL things, and that He will restore ALL things is the most powerful innovation ever. Let’s begin innovating with the truth – there’s an idea worth sharing.

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Gaining Wisdom and Cultural Intelligence

by | Mar 16, 2022 | Culture, God, Personal Growth, Theology, Wisdom, Worldview

Cultivating Wisdom and developing greater Cultural Intelligence will help you understand the time and place you live, along with the people who inhabit the world with you.

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In a world of disinformation, misinformation, mass-formation, click-bait, and soundbites how are we to know what to believe or respond?

How are we to navigate challenging conversations? How are we to create real solutions for seemingly impossible problems? The majority of real and lasting solutions to problems are created locally, not by distant institutions or bureaucracies. You and I are responsible for bringing solutions in our own spheres.

Now more than ever, we need Wisdom and Cultural Intelligence. How?

Let’s begin with wisdom.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Wisdom is defined as;
a : ability to discern inner qualities and relationships : insight
b : good sense : judgement
c : generally accepted belief
d : accumulated philosophical or scientific learning : knowledge

The world defines wisdom as a proper application of knowledge, or judgement.

While that definition is helpful, a theological definition brings a fuller vision of wisdom into view. Michael S. Craven defines wisdom as an “ancient virtue.” He develops it further by stating, “Wisdom is an ability, it’s a skill. It’s the ability to discern what is good, true and beautiful.“

Wisdom is not the same as education or knowledge.

Wisdom is not attained through academic or intellectual pursuits. Wisdom and its opposite folly (or foolishness) are moral categories. No amount of education can make one wise. Wisdom can’t be learned by just reading books or listening to lectures. Those are just means of transferring information. By all means, we should all read and learn. However, we should not confuse academic knowledge with wisdom.

We all know wise people who do not have a college degree or who barely finished high school. Think of that older lady or gentleman in your life who may not have a formal education but, they are extremely wise. You seek out their advice and act on it, right?

On the same token, we all know foolish people who have degrees from the finest universities. They’ve attained the highest levels of knowledge but they are foolish. Think of professionals, CEOs, doctors, heads of state, attorneys, and the like who make foolish decisions and end up in jail or on the front page of the paper. Would you seek out their advice?

In our modern culture, we falsely believe we can educate people into being moral and wise citizens. Highly educated people are not necessarily wise people. In fact, education devoid of morality and the virtue of wisdom can create morally empty monsters (fools). They use their academic knowledge for ill. Today, we educate a man without cultivating virtue in him. Thus, we give him more advanced and sinister devices to commit evil.

Theodore Roosevelt said, “A man who has never gone to school may steal a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad.”

“In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.”


– C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man

“Biblical wisdom is deep, immeasurable, priceless, and rare.” (Dr. Michael A. Milton)

My working definition of Wisdom.


Wisdom begins with the fear of God. Wisdom is the art and virtue of living one’s life by applying understanding of God’s moral commands. It is the active application of knowledge, understanding, and discernment to everyday life. It leads to answering the deeper questions of life. Wisdom is designed to be passed down to future generations. In fact, not transmitting wisdom to the young is foolishness.

What is the purpose of wisdom?

Wisdom brings the individual in line with reality as God created it. It aligns the one who attains wisdom with God’s commands. The result is a rich and meaningful life that brings a ‘moral good’ into the culture.

It begs the question, “Do I want my children and grand children to live wisely or foolishly?” If I hope for the former, then it is my responsibility to transmit wisdom to them. It is their responsibility to apply wisdom and live accordingly.

Cultural Intelligence

Without going into too, much detail, I’ll give you my working definition. Cultural Intelligence is the understanding of the place, time, people, and movements of a current moment. It combines a kind of a cultural situational awareness with an understanding of historical antecedents, current reality, and ability to extrapolate where society is heading. Cultural Intelligence is the ability to draw the cords of the past, present, and future in order to understand how to respond. In other words, Cultural Intelligence is understanding the times in order to respond properly.

To be culturally astute, one must understand the assumptions and sub-currents that shape current reality. This affects how we think of ourselves in relationship with others and the world around us.

How does one cultivate Cultural Intelligence?

It requires effort. Reading books, news papers and blogs, watching forms of media, and such is required. The objective is to posess a general understanding of how an issue became an issue. Reading primary sources and counter-perspectives is vital to Cultural Intelligence. Understanding where and why people disagree is clarifying and helps our critical thinking. Talking to others who are either experiencing something or have a good working knowledge of an issue is important as well.

For instance, the suicide rate among teenagers and young adults has risen significantly in the last three years in America. Why? What set the preconditions for this to occur? What are the root causes of the current suicide crisis? Simple, one answer conclusions rarely reveal the root cause. We must dig deeper. When we do, we often discover a confluence of movements, events, sub-currents, and philosophies leading to the current moment. The massive uptick in suicides did not just appear out of thin air. We’re seeing the emergence of an issue that is decades in the making.

The Tsunami Example

An analogy may be helpful. A tsunami is created by the shift of tectonic plates deep with in the earth (or volcano). That shift generates an earthquake. The movement from the quake displaces water deep beneath the ocean’s surface. It transfers energy from land to water. As the energy moves through the ocean, it creates a wave. That wave undetectable on the surface until it approaches shallows. By the time it crashes on the shore, they tsunami can be a hundred feet tall and move at 20-30 mph (NOAA).  It only takes one foot of water moving at these speeds to carry away vehicles and destroy buildings. Remember the tsunami that struck Indonesia in 2004? It was devastating.

So, the suicide epidemic in America is much like a tsunami. In order to solve it, we must understand how it came to be – it’s root causes. This is where Cultural Intelligence comes in.

The good news is that you don’t have to be an expert to cultivate Cultural Intelligence. You just need to be open-minded, a critical thinker, and willing to accept facts as they are. You have to be willing to learn from history and explore deeper understanding. Often times, that will require conversations with people who are very different from you. That’s the exciting part!

Combining Wisdom and Cultural Intelligence

In the final analysis, cultivating Wisdom and developing greater Cultural Intelligence will help you understand the time and place you live, along with the people who inhabit the world with you. We live in a world of massive institutional programs and one-size-fits-all solutions pushed by governments and corporations. Wisdom and Cultural Intelligence will help you bring meaningful solutions that are localized to your community. The majority of real and lasting solutions for social problems are created locally, not by distant institutions or bureaucracies. At the end of the day, you and I are the ones responsible for bringing solutions to the problems we face.

Wisdom and Cultural Intelligence are necessary now more than ever. Below are some resources to help you on your quest!

 …

Additional Resources:

What does the Bible say about wisdom?

Proverbs: The Wisdom We Need Right Now

BreakPoint Podcast and Commentaries

Colson Fellowship

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What Time Is It?

by | Mar 10, 2022 | Culture, God, History, Personal Growth, Theology, Thinking, Wisdom, Worldview | 1 comment

The modern concept of time is truly unique to moderns.
One of the most powerful technologies ever invented was the clock. Prior to the clock, time measurement was not precise. Seconds, minutes and even hours were not something humans considered. Think about a world without clocks and watches for a moment.

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What time is it? What if I told you, your watch, the timepiece on your phone nor the clock on your wall can tell you what time it is. Time is a realm we think we understand but don’t.

We’re told that in the grand sweeping scope of human history, we’re just a ‘blip on the radar’ – Here today and gone tomorrow! That is true to some extent. But, are we to live like a ‘blip’?

Are we simply left to resign ourselves to a YOLO (You Only Life Once) mentality in which we strive for every mountaintop experience or pleasure we can find? Or are we just left to thoughts of life as some cruel joke?

Do our individual, family, community, and national stories trickle like meaningless isolated streams through human history?

Are we to adopt the fatalistic determinism of Friedrich Nietzsche where human existence is a cold dark reality and life is absurd and hollow?

By no means!

Here’s the question behind the question.

Does your individual life have meaning?

Either life has meaning or it doesn’t. How you answer that question will determine how you live.

What we believe about the meaning of life will determine how to understand time.

A major over-arching theme in my work is to help individuals realize they are created for a time and place. Moreover, you (reader) were born into a certain family, in a specific location, culture and time in history.

The modern concept of time is truly unique to moderns.

One of the most powerful technologies every invented was the clock. Prior to the clock, time measurement was not precise. Seconds, minutes and even hours were not something humans considered. Think about a world without clocks and watches for a moment. Today, cultures remain that do not share the modern-western understanding of time. We tend to call those people “backwards” or “behind the times.” But are they really?

As moderns, we are time bound slaves to the clocks on our wrists, phones, walls, and calendars. I hear the refrain, “I don’t have time!” “I’m running out of time!” “I’m killing time.”

In our rush and hurry between meetings and events, we miss the everlasting moment that is rich with meaing. Frantic activity is followed by chronic inertia. It’s exhausting and sucks the joy and meaning out of life. We wake up and ask, “Where did the time go?”

Don’t confuse the moment with the story. Don’t miss giftedness of each moment.

“Time is at the heart of our existence.”
– Os Guiness

Time therefore has a purpose. You were placed in a specific time and location in history. Don’t miss the significance of that.

In the book, “Carpe Diem Redeemed – Seizing the Day, Discerning the Times“, Os Guinness makes two points to reflect upon.

You have a choice to know and develop a relationship with the “Author of Time” or not. If there is a God who created time, space and reality, don’t you think it’s important to know him?

If you determine that God is the “Author of Time” then, you need to learn what part He calls you to play in His “grand story.”

Os Guiness suggests, “We will never be able to see and understand time objectively” if we are so immersed in time that we miss the bigger story we’re a part of.

I leave you with the question and one of my favorite passages.

What time is it?

Reflect and meditate on this passage:

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”

– Ecclesiates 3:1-11

“So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12)

Related Posts:

Cease Striving by Dr. Ben McWilliams

Faithful in the Moment by Lance Cashion

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Understanding Ukraine and Russia Conflict Through a Historical Lens

by | Mar 7, 2022 | Christianity, Culture, Current Affairs, History, News, Politics, Theology, Video, Wisdom, Worldview

With the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, it is a good time for a history lesson. I commend to you a very insightful and well-guided discussion. You’ll glean valuable information and enjoy learning some of the history of the Ukraine – Russia situation in order to better understand it.

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Recommended resource below – Podcast or video format “Ukraine and Russia: History and the the Theology of Nationalism”

Let me take a moment to set up what I’m commending to you, as your time is valuable. I will not pretend to fully understand the situation in Eastern Europe between Russia and Ukraine.

To my own detriment, I tend to see everything from my limited American historical lens. We Americans tend to believe that world history revolves around American history. American history is very important. However, American history is set within a much larger historical context of world history which is equally important.

Nations are important to God

As a thinking Christian, I must understand that there are theological undercurrents that shape events, cultures and nations as well. The situation in Ukraine did not arrive out of thin air. It is hundreds of years in the making. That said, we have an opportunity. We can recover a theology of nations. “Nations” (Gk. ἔθνος, ους, τό – ethnos) is mentioned throughout the Bible. It’s where we get the English word ‘ethnicity.’ The notion of nations distinguishes people of a common culture, common customs, and typically a geographic location (Samaria, Canaan, Rome, etc). So, nations must be important to God.

Cultural Movements in history and ideas that shape them

Furthermore, the events and cultural movements we are witnessing today have historical pathologies. Events are caused by preceding events which are caused by preceding events, and so on.

People have ideas that create and shape cultures – ideas shape histories. Sometimes those ideas are good, like the invention of the telephone. Sometimes those ideas are bad, like Hitler’s ‘Final Solution’.

We live in an unprecedented historical cultural moment of a connected world. As I’ve said in a previous post, our devices bring the horrible situation in Ukraine into the palms of our hands in realtime. As usual, there is no shortage of ideas being put forth by politicians, pundits, technocrats, celebrities, and others as possible ‘solutions’ to the conflict. But, are those ‘good’ ideas? Do the people pushing those solutions thoroughly understand the problems?

Benefits of wisdom in this historical moment

My good friend wisdom tells me to pause and try to understand the bigger historical situation in order to better understand the current moment. This action offers several benefits. First, I actually turn off media and turn on learning. Second, I’m seeking to understand a situation by diving into the history leading up to it. Third, I remember that these geopolitical events are usually way more complex than I imagined. Forth, I remember that over-simplistic, one-size-fits-all solutions sound good but typically cause more harm than good. Finally, I have a greater appreciation for the current moment when I understand the history leading up to it.

Recommended resource well worth your time

With the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, it is a good time for a history lesson. I commend to you a very insightful and well-guided discussion. You’ll glean valuable information and enjoy learning some of the history of the Ukraine – Russia situation in order to better understand it.

Below is a link to a podcast (or video if you prefer) that provides some historical insights into what is going on. Dr Glenn Sunshine is a history professor emeritus at Central Connecticut State University, a Research Fellow of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, an associate at Reflections Ministries, founder of Every Square Inch Ministries, a theologian, and a Senior Fellow at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Previously, he taught at Calvin College and was a visiting professor at the Universität der Bundeswehr-Hamburg (now Helmut Schmidt University) in Germany. He is also an adjunct professor at Ostroh University in Ukraine with family roots in the region. I trust Dr. Sunshine’s historical analysis and theological perspective.

 

Theology Pugcast: “Ukraine and Russia: History and the Theology of Nationalism”

“With the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, Glenn thought it a good time for a history lesson on Ukraine and Russia. As you might expect, he started over 1000 years ago, but noted especially more recent history and why the Ukrainians want to get out from under Russian domination. Along the way, he noted some genuine problems with Ukraine and their treatment of Russian minorities, part and parcel of the messy way borders work in Central and Eastern Europe. The guys finish with a discussion of the theological significance of nations, noting that they seem to survive in a purified form into eternity.”

Podcast Link: Theology Pugcast – Ukraine and Russia: History and the Theology of Nationalism

Video:

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