Theology and Culture
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Christianbooks Podcasts
We review our favorite books, music and anything else that happens to pop into our heads.
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My hope for my podcast is to ignite in you a love to read, deepen your longing to learn, and cultivate your desire to grow. Grow deeper in your faith and stronger in your relationships. Just like a tree, your deep roots will help you withstand life’s unexpected storms as well as propel you to reach new heights. I look forward to digging deeper because Depth Matters.
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427 Historic Scandal; Christian Positions on Politics
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On Wednesday, July 23, 2025, Director of Nat'l Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard gave a Whitehouse Press Briefing. She explained her office now has documents that prove the highest level scandal in American history. This is no longer a conspiracy. Who was involved? For how long? What did they do to promote their narrative? I explain why this scandal is a…
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426 American Christian WorldviewState by State
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From 2020 to 2025 the Barna Polling Agency conducted 15 minute polls on nearly 18,000 Americans and their worldview. Recently Barna published the results of that poll and displayed the percentages of population that embraces a Christian worldview. The results are both shocking and fascinating. I work through all 50 states and humorously muse aloud …
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425 The Lord's Prayer—My Spiritual Scaffold
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Many Christians feel lost when it comes to prayer. How should one go about praying? Other believers feel aimless, "how can I come up with a novel & unique prayer every single day?!" In this episode I explain how the Lord's Prayer (Our Father, Pater Noster) serves as a scaffold for my own praying. Or, perhaps better, how the Lord's Prayer serves as …
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In this quick hitter (21:10 mins) I variously discuss: why I prefer Christ to Messiah; the Crusades e-booklet I will give to $10+ Patreon pledges; the two sermons I recently preached; the value of asking questions in a Post-Christian culture; our recent trip to the Oregon coast (all the animals I saw, all the brokenness I witnessed); my son's exper…
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423 Crusades (15) Siege of Vienna; My Challenges for Islam Christianity
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The siege of Vienna (1683) was an epic history-making event. Sultan Mohammed II and his Grand Vizier, Kara Mustafa, eyed the "Golden Apple" of Vienna with great hunger. If Vienna, the capital of the Holy Roman Empire fell, the spoils of Poland, Germany, France, and Italy lay ripe for the picking! At first two hundred thousand Muslim soldiers fought…
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422 Crusades (14) Dhimmitude: Life Under Muslim Rule; 1453 Fall of Constantinople
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What was it like, if you were not a Muslim, to live under Muslim rule? Even though the Koran calls for religious freedom why did that not, in fact, ever serve as the way of life? How would the Muslims carry out forced religious conversions? What kind of daily realities did the Dhimmi (subjugated, humiliated) live with? How were Jews treated? Then, …
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421 Crusades (13) 7th Crusade (Israel bombs Iran; The Bible on Nat'l Boundaries)
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France's King Louis IX led the 7th Crusade. But he broke with established crusader order by starting first in Tunis instead of Cyprus. Why? And what happened in Tunis? I peel back the layers of the seventh Crusade. We explore the great battle between the Mongols and the Muslims, show why Sultan Baybars earned the nickname "the merciless," and talk …
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420 Crusades (12) 6th Crusade (Teachers are Quitting?)
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The sixth Crusade is famous for the involvement of France's King Louis IX. What was he like? Why was he so beloved? What decision did he make that led to the disastrous end of the sixth Crusade? I also clarify what I admire about Medieval Crusaders. They had something that I see nowhere in the contemporary American Church. In the show's news-review…
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419 Crusades (11) Fifth Crusade (What about Harvard?)
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A short 9 years after the fourth Crusade ended the Pope called for a fifth. And the aim still was? Taking back Jerusalem. But the Crusaders—again!—made bad strategic decisions. And then, of all weird things, in the middle of the Crusade the Sultan was visited by Francis of Assisi. I recount the exchange between those two men and reflect on the spir…
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235. Words of Wisdom from my dad -- John Brownlee
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I have some sad news to share with you today on the podcast. Sadly, my dad passed away on May 22, 2025. My dad was such a pivotal part of my family. He was an amazing husband to my mom. He was such a loving father and a supportive and involved grandfather. This loss is deep. It is interesting because your mom and dad are there when you take your fi…
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418 Crusades (10) 4th Crusade (What about Christian De-Converters?)
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The Fourth Crusade was arguably the most disastrous of them all. In the year 1204 Catholics betrayed Catholics, Catholics and Byzantines betrayed one another, and Byzantine royal family members betrayed and murdered one another. What could go wrong?! I narrate the role and place of Venice in the fourth Crusade. Across the episode I also ruminate ab…
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417 Crusades (9) 3rd Crusade (My Framework Re. Bible & Violence)
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The Crusaders held Jerusalem and the Holy Land for a short 88 years (1099-1187). But when Caliph Saladin (a Sunni Kurd) recaptured both the relic of the "True Cross" and Jerusalem itself a third Crusade was called for by Pope Urban III. Among those who answered that call was Richard the Lionheart, the King of England who carried King Arthur's famed…
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234. Do you want to be Deeply Rooted? -- Jodi Snowdon
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Do you want to be deeply rooted? Do you want to be like a tree with deep roots that go deep in your faith? Do you want depth? Oh friend---This is something I am so passionate about. It is the title of my podcast and it is the title of my book. So I thought today I would share with you more about being deeply rooted, about having depth, and share th…
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416 Why Christian Colleges Always Veer Left; American Pope!
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I'm interrupting my series on the Medieval Crusades to think with you about the question, why do Christian Colleges always slide to the Theological (and with that, Cultural) Left? I listened to a recent Theology Pugcasters podcast episode and they really got me to thinking. I add my own reflections and experiences to their insightful analysis. Then…
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415 Crusades (8) Second Crusade (Turn the Other Cheek)
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What happened in the Mid-East that motivated the second Catholic Crusade? Why did a monk, Bernard of Clairvaux, preach the Crusade? What happened to the armies of King Conrad and King Louis VII along the way over and down to Constantinople and Cappadocia? How did the centuries-old suspicion between Orthodox and Catholic Christians play out during t…
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233. Special Mom Story -- Jackie and Alex
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Have you ever been frustrated with not getting a prayer answered in the timing you hoped? Maybe you wish God would do it quicker? Honestly, I know I have struggled with God’s timing on certain things in my life, so I am excited for this episode with my friend, Jackie and her son, Alex. It is one of my special mom stories for the month of May. They …
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414 Crusades (7) Jerusalem Kingdom (Pacifism & Capitalism)
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Truth is? I hadn't planned on producing this episode. But way back when I was working on my PhD I learned that one has to go where the historical record takes one. So in this episode I narrate details about the Jerusalem Kingdom (the 600 square mile empire) that arose after the First Crusade. Led by different orders of Knights, the Jerusalem Kingdo…
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413 Crusades (6) First Crusade (and Reading the Koran)
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They started heading southeast in 1096. Three full years later, June of 1099, the Crusaders arrived at the walls of Jerusalem, multiple armies led by multiple personages. And, other than wanting to rescue the Holy Land from Muslims, they weren't even on the same page. So then, what happened when they finally sieged the walls of Jerusalem? On a rela…
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232. Graced: How God Redeems and Restores the Broken -- Teresa Whiting
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Have you ever walked with silent shame? Maybe there is something you have gone through? Maybe there is something you experienced? Or maybe there has been something done to you, and you thought to yourself, I don’t want anyone to know this. But in your mind, these words just keep playing, If they only knew? If this describes you, I have hope for you…
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412 Crusades (5) Three Key Pre-Crusades Battles
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European folk, besieged in the East and invaded in the South, believed their civilization was at stake. They heard all about the Muslim invasions in the Balkans and the Muslim destruction of Christian Egypt. So the truth is there were many battles prior to the Crusades and in this episode I unpack three of those: one in Syria, one in Constantinople…
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411 Crusades (4) Muslim Religious Motivations
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Welcome to the most-difficult-to-produce episode I've ever put out! Why? Because I am talking about Islam following the way Mohammed and the Koran talk(ed) about Islam. The West suffers from a kind of historical amnesia about both the Crusades and Islam; almost like there is a willful ignorance at work. But what did Mohammed himself offer to Muslim…
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231. A Story of Faith, Hope and Love in Loss -- Diane Herman
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Have you ever met someone and just be in awe of their faith? They have walked through many hard circumstances, but they come out on the other side stronger in their faith than ever before. I am so excited for you to hear from Diane Herman. She is one of the contributors to the *Mothers Like Me book by Angie Green that we talked about last time on t…
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In my first two episodes I laid out geographically-oriented motivations for Crusading. This week we explore the religious motives of Crusaders. What were they offered by the papacy in return for joining a crusade? Was every Crusader on a journey of religious gain? Were Crusaders motivated either by their own poverty or a desire to evangelize pagans…
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What stirred up the Crusades? Last week we saw that it was the spread of Islam, and Muslim invasions of Christian lands. In this second episode I explain how Muslim violations of holy Christian sites and locales (and monks and women) was further grist, greater motivation, for Holy Roman Empire Catholics to ride far East and Crusade. But first? What…
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230. Mothers Like Me -- Angie Green & Linda Stirling
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Has someone ever walked with you through a hard time? Maybe they have experienced the exact same thing or something similar. It gives you peace to know you are not alone. It is also encouraging to have a friend that you can share your thoughts and feelings with, and you know will understand. I am excited about the book we are highlighting this week…
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There are several curated narratives pertaining to the Crusades. Those narratives dominate not only our understanding of the Medieval Crusades but understandings of the Middle East today. But, what really happened? What initially, and really, motivated Holy Roman Empire Catholics to travel over 1200 miles eastward at the price of great sacrifice? T…
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407 Anxiety—The Snake That Strangles All (4) Empathy? Exhausted!
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Perhaps more than other people, Christians are susceptible to having their emotions manipulated. After all, love of neighbor is an express way to show love of God. But that beautiful attribute can be abused, primed, and played. What's happened? Well, we used to encourage compassion: feeling for the other such that one is moved to action. Today the …
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229. 365 Truths For Every Woman's Heart -- Holley Gerth
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What truth do you need God to speak to your heart today? Is it that you are His Beloved? Is it that you were created for a purpose? Or is it God is with you—He will never leave you, nor forsake you. I am so excited to have Holley Gerth back on the podcast and we are going to talk about her new devotional, *365 Truths For Every Woman’s Heart: A Dail…
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406 Anxiety—The Snake That Strangles All (3) Sober-Mindedness
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The Bible is most aware of the problem of anxiety vortexes. But whereas too many believers today get sucked into those vortices the Bible counsels sober-mindedness. In this episode we unpack just what is sober-mindedness and offer some steps for how to achieve emotional sobriety. If you've ever watched professional golf you'll have realized that th…
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