What About… ? [by religidiots]: Recent Episodes
What About… ? [by religidiots]
This podcast is to explore some of the most common and debated questions about life and following Jesus. We don't claim to have all the answers, but we have a pretty good feel on which questions to ask. And we’ll have a little fun while we're at it.
Lots of curious thoughts. Really difficult questions. Some unpopular opinions. Always seeking truth.
Erik Jakubowski joins this episode to work through Sturgill Simpson's song, Just Let Go. It begins with a crazy cross-country journey and transitions into a discussion about how that trip becomes a life changing experience for Erik.
I think you'll enjoy it.
Chris Curry joins this episode to dive into Sturgill's Brace For Impact. Using this song that investigates the meaning of life and death, we hit on questions like:
- What good is an awareness of our own mortality?
- Are we dying to live or living to die?
- What's the good life really like?
- What good is generosity while we're here?
Hope you enjoy the episode!
Brandon Britton joins this episode for a great discussion revolving around Sturgill Simpson's Call To Arms. Along the way, we hit on:
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Our egos and why they can be so dangerous
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The distractions that prevent us from seeing what is true and good in life
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What it means to be prophetic at this particular point in history
"Being prophetic is not about looking into a crystal ball and predicting the future. It's about observing trends and connecting the dots of how they will impact the future." - Christopher Benek
Enjoy!
T.R. Webb joins this episode to talk about Living The Dream, a song from Strurgill Simpson's Metamodern Sounds In Country Music album.
Along the way, we discuss:
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What's the dream, really? How do we know if we're living it?
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What role does (should?) truth play in our day-to-day lives?
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Why does life sometimes become a "sit around and wait to die" situation?
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Are there remedies if I start to view life as pointless, meaningless, or useless?
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Who's responsible for the chaos in the world? Sturgill seems to blame the "ole man upstairs," but is that really true?
This episode is heavy on the restlessness and anxiety that plagues our society, digging into why so many are so disappointed with so much... Living the dream, but not really...
Hope you enjoy the episode!
Evan Kirby joins me in this episode to dive into an entire album instead of a single song. The Ballad of Dood and Juanita, Sturgill's 5th album, is the story of love and loss, of rescue, redemption, and revenge.
Along the way, we explore concepts like:
- How are habits formed and why we keep going back to them
- What we mean when talk about justice and how we balance the principle of reaping what we sow with the call to love our enemies
- The problem of chronic busy-ness
- The need for a sabbath-principle that slows us down in our lives
Enjoy!
My friend, Dylan, joins me on this episode to throw around some ideas about why the world is the way it is, why we often do what we know we shouldn't, how we come to believe things that aren't true, and what kinds of danger that brings into our lives.
The whole discussion is guided by the words of Sturgill Simpson's Voices, a song that reveals the deceitful thoughts and words that threaten to wreck our world.
Why do terrible things happen in life? How do we make sense of the evil, pain, suffering, and darkness in the world? Ever struggled with questions like these?
This episode uses Sturgill Simpson's song, Life Ain't Fair And The World Is Mean, to explore some of these really difficult questions. It's a deep dive into why the world is the way it is, what our role in it may be, and how we can make the best of whatever situation we find ourselves in.
In this first episode, we talk about the project and where it's going, highlight some of the transcendent questions of Sturgill Simpson's music (and the music of others like him), and move toward a better understanding for the pain and suffering in our lives.
The episode mentions a few writers and books that have shaped this conversation. Here's a short list.
Andrew Root's Ministry In A Secular Age series
Glen Scrivener's The Air We Breathe
Justin Brierley's Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God
Christopher Watkin's Biblical Critical Theory
Joshua Chateau's Telling A Better Story
Paul Gould's Cultural Apologetics
Tom Holland's Dominion
Songs referenced:
Sturgill Simpson: Turtles All The Way Down
Tyler Childers: Angel Band
Jason Isbell: 24 Frames, Last Of My Kind
Zach Bryan: East Side Of Sorrow
Enjoy!
The Mark of The Beast... fun to think about what it means, right? Imminent destruction? Apocalypse? Brain chip implants? Good questions..
In this episode, we talk a little bit about what the Mark is all about.
Have you heard that some translations delete a bunch of Bible verses from the Bible? It's true... kinda. And maybe there's good reason. In this episode, we'll talk about why that happens and what it means for the reliability of our Bibles.
You can't judge me! Ever heard anybody say that? Ever been the one who said it? It may be one of the most commonly quoted sentences that ever came out of Jesus' mouth. But what did he mean? Is it deeper than it seems?
Probably.
When this question came up on the most commonly searched list... it seemed a little strange. But there's good reason for asking. In this episode, we're thinking about why God prohibited yeast at times, why Jesus taught to beware of it, and what difference it makes for us.
Ever wondered what God looks like? That's a pretty normal question, especially if we're visual people. Fortunately for us, God gives us a pretty good description of his looks. And if that's not enough, he even gives us a picture.
Lots of our questions about God come from a deeper question: Does God want to punish us? And, maybe, from an even deeper question than that: Why do we assume the worst about God?
In this episode, we take a look at that question, think about if it fits with God's nature, and find out what He really wants.
When you hear the word "church," what comes to mind? Boring service? Outdated materials? A sterile building?
God planned more than that...
In this episode, we have fun with another segment and then dive into a talk about what church really should be about.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we introduce a new segment called "Segments." Check it out.
We also talk about how to make the most of life... how to not be conformed into the image of the world, but how to live a transformed life.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we take a look at one of the big questions of Christianity (and one of the leading roadblocks to faith among those who are skeptical)... if God is good, loving, and powerful, why do evil, pain, and suffering exist?
We hit on a few reasons for their existence, the role of both God and satan, and what our response should be.
Enjoy!
As always, like, share, and rate!
Life is full of choices. Like, when you go into a grocery store, there are aroun 45,000 options for you to choose. Ever wish you had a little help making the right choices?
Good news! Christianity includes this idea that God helps us with a bunch of those choices.
In this episode, we take a look at how that works... including a little discussion about what we don't know about it.
Enjoy!
The Bible is somewhere around 2,000 pages, contains 66 individual books, and was written a couple thousand years ago. So understandably, it can be pretty daunting, especially if we're pretty unfamiliar with it.
In this episode, we're going to talk about that book, discuss some reasons for reading it, and talk a little about how to do it.
Here are a couple of links to some of the resources we mentioned in the episode:
Read Scripture app: https://www.readscripture.org
The Bible Project: https://bibleproject.com
A pretty in-depth reading plan: https://www.mcheyne.info/calendar.pdf
Enjoy!
How's your prayer life? Good? Lacking? Non-existent? It's one of those parts of Christianity that seems to fall by the wayside pretty often. In this episode, we talk about:
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What prayer is and what it does
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Why we don't do it much sometimes
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A few prayer-hacks to help us in our prayer lives
Enjoy!
Why believe in God? Why trust in Jesus? Are there any really good reasons to have faith?
In this episode, we welcome in a guest to talk about those questions.
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Yes, there are good reasons for faith, like the Word of God, the person of Jesus, and the changed lives of believers.
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No, we don't expect anybody to take a blind leap toward faith. Instead, we take a look at the evidence for belief.
Enjoy!
In this 3rd episode, we are compared to Dumb & Dumber (which may be the best compliment ever) and talk about the subject nobody wants to talk about - the mistakes we make. Temptation. Sin.
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Why is sin so dangerous?
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What good did Jesus' death accomplish?
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What do we do with the gift God's given us?
Enjoy!
Jesus, no matter what you believe about his existence, was arguably the most important person to ever live. In this episode, we dive into some of the reasons for believing in him and some implications of it.
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A liar or a lunatic?
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A faith grounded in evidence, not a leap of faith.
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Why did his followers do so many seemingly absurd things?
Hope you enjoy!
We all have questions about life... Is this all there is? What's my purpose? What's this all supposed to be about?
What if Jesus offered the answers to those questions, but we've gotten sidetracked and missed it?
In this episode...
- Why "Religidiots?"
- What's with Jesus claiming to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life?
- How did we let something so exciting get labeled as boring and irrelevant?
Enjoy!