Redeemer Broadcasting : A Plain Answer Redeemer Broadcasting, Inc.

Have you ever considered Psalm 82? Today we talk with one of the Advisors here at Redeemer Broadcasting. He unpacks this very encouraging Psalm for us. Maybe you have been longing for godly justice to be carried out in history as we see things crumbling. Well, don't let anyone convince you that God's plan does not include justice this side of eternity. Scripture itself, gives us examples to the contrary. Listen today as our pastor friend explains.

Here is a cut and paste of the entire psalm:

"1 God stands in the congregation of the mighty;
He judges among the gods.
2 How long will you judge unjustly,
And show partiality to the wicked? Selah
3 Defend the poor and fatherless;
Do justice to the afflicted and needy.
4 Deliver the poor and needy;
Free them from the hand of the wicked.

5 They do not know, nor do they understand;
They walk about in darkness;
All the foundations of the earth are unstable.

6 I said, �You are gods,
And all of you are children of the Most High.
7 But you shall die like men,
And fall like one of the princes.�

8 Arise, O God, judge the earth;
For You shall inherit all nations."

Participants: Pastor Bill Shishko, Dan Elmendorf

Recently we have seen encampments of students protesting on various campuses. They have some common elements. The students appear to bully those who disagree with them. Individual interviews are not terribly coherent. They supposedly are upset at Israel defending itself against Hamas, a terrorist organization that attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel suffered 1,139 people killed in these brutal attacks. Rockets from Hamas were seen pouring into Israel. Hamas has troubled Israel for years. Now, this conflict is brought to America more and more - both due to America's support of Israel, albeit weakly via the present administration. But also by these students who have clearly sided with Hamas. Some of these radicalized students have supposedly adopted Islam, and have been photographed in the typical worship postures that accompany their religion. There is a commonality between these campus encampments and the violence with what we witnessed back in 2020, with BLM. In that year, and roughly the same monthly timeframe, we saw riots triggered by the unfortunate death of George Floyd. Total property damage then was somewhere in the range of $1 to $2 Billion. Both then, and now, there were violent responses that were conveniently triggered approximately 6 months prior to a national election. Both in 2020 and now in 2024, one party is clearly ahead and the consensus by the other side seems to be that all efforts to thwart a legitimate win are acceptable, including violence, theft, cheating, bullying, and a take over of nearly all media. Such tactics seem to come from the old Communist playbook and are very familiar to those who have studied and observed such things since the 1960s. Contrasted with all of this trespassing and destruction of property, is the Christian family. The Christian family is much more fundamental than the state, and much more important. Stable Christian families are one of the greatest blessings to a peaceful commonwealth. We also look at the appropriateness of applying God's word to the real world of daily life. We look at the well known Shorter Catechism which says: Q. 3. What do the Scriptures principally teach?
A. The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man. We note that we do pretty well with the first half of this answer - our churches teach well, the tri-unity of God and His attributes. We seem to come up short on the second half that deals with the duty that God requires of man. So, we discuss this a little. Mention is made of St. Augustine and his emphasis in the midst of Roman rule. Our guest ends with words of wisdom and encouragement for Christian families. Participants: Dr. John Vance, Dan Elmendorf

This interview was originally recorded nearly six years ago, yet is directly applicable to our present time. Since the recording, our guest has authored another book titled: Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age.
We are privileged to hear the story of how hospitality was used of the Lord, as a proximate means, to win Rosaria Butterfield to Himself. As she explains, her book is about simply being ourselves and loving our neighbors, inviting them into our homes - into our lives. She makes the distinction that she is not advocating "preaching the world to the church." But what happens to the family when our children see Christ powerfully at work in the lives of wounded people that cross our paths and whom the Lord sovereignly changes? This sort of thing profoundly and positively affects our children. We also discuss the idea of building our lives so that there is margin. We are all so busy - how do we do that? Her book is titled: "The Gospel Comes with a House Key: Practicing Radically Ordinary Hospitality in Our Post-Christian World." You can find the book at rosariabutterfield.com, or Crossway(https://www.crossway.org/books/the-gospel-comes-with-a-house-key-hcj/), or Amazon. From an article she wrote: "Radically ordinary hospitality�those who live it�see strangers as neighbors and neighbors as family of God. They recoil at reducing a person to a category or a label. They see God�s image reflected in the eyes of every human being on earth. They know they are like meth addicts and sex-trade workers. They take their own sin seriously�including the sin of selfishness and pride. They take God�s holiness and goodness seriously. They use the Bible as a lifeline, with no exceptions." Participants: Dr. Rosaria Butterfield, Dan Elmendorf

The massive influx of illegal aliens has placed an unsustainable burden on our state infrastructures and welfare systems. There are also murders taking place now, such as the recent murder of college student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia campus. Drugs are flowing in - particularly Fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid drug. The end goal of the people driving this breaking of US law is a group of people who want all illegals to have voting rights. They have not paid taxes. Many expect handouts. Crime is through the roof, and they want more. So, in light of all that, its understandable that the American public is very concerned. Meanwhile our own Congress has approved massive amounts of money for Ukraine to essentially secure their border, while ours is left wide open. Does the Bible have anything to say about all this? Yes, it does. Today we look at the general equity of passages that address it. We also look into the idea of welfare for people who are not willing to work. What does the Bible say? Participants: Rev. Dr. Al Baker, Dan Elmendorf

Today we interview a man who has spent years researching climate change, environmental, and energy issues. He's also traveled to Greenland in 2007 to investigate global warming claims. He comes at this from the position of an investigative journalist, and follows the data no matter where it leads. We discuss the fact that climate always changes. We look at recent as well as older history to get a rounded out picture of the facts. Our guest includes the medieval warm period. We go back further to the Roman warming. We discuss the role that CO2 has. We discuss the stories that many of us had to endure in the late 60's and early 70's when the "experts" assured us of a future, soon-to-come global cooling, leading potentially to an ice age. The "solutions" then, to this global cooling, were the same as they are for global warming! We cover the roughly 1000 scientists who have now come out and declare they are skeptical of the catastrophic claims of the climate change alarmists. We talk about the danger that faces climate scientists if they come out and express a different opinion than the typical "approved" narrative. The danger is real and includes being "cancelled" and would directly affect their careers. Occasionally one of them retires and becomes curiously honest about climate change. Our guest runs a website at https://www.climatedepot.com/ He also has written a book available on Amazon titled The Politically Incorrect Guide to Climate Change. A more recent book deals with the Green New Deal. Participants: Marc Morano, Dan Elmendorf

What does a healthy family "look" like? So many younger folks today have a difficult time when they jump into marriage, because they were not blessed with being raised in a functional family. We see many single parent families. Drugs are often involved. Often the Dad will leave his home and go elsewhere. He is an absent Dad, and it tends to destroy the coherency of the family. Today, we are blessed to talk with the author of the book: "5 Traits of a Healthy Family: Steps You Can Take to Grow Closer, Communicate Better, and Change the World Together." The book discusses: A heart for service, Husbands and wives who relate intimately, Parents who guide their children, Children who obey and honor their parents, and Husbands who love and lead. Participants: Dr. Gary Chapman, Dan Elmendorf