Church & Culture Podcast

Dr. James Emery White
  • 4.8 (60)
  • 基督教
Church & Culture Podcast

The Church & Culture podcast is a weekly discussion with Dr. James Emery White on the latest trends happening in culture, and where and how the church should respond. While this podcast reflects on the church's part in what may be going on in the world, it is very much a show that anyone, no matter what walk of life you may have come from or are currently in, can glean useful information. Some episodes may be an extended conversation based off one of Dr. White's bi-weekly blog posts, as he does not shy away from the controversial hot topics. So to be ready for full context, be sure to subscribe to the Church & Culture Blog at ChurchandCulture.org.

  1. CCP134: On Predictions for 2025

    5天前

    CCP134: On Predictions for 2025

    In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss how this time of year always leads to both reflection on the year that has passed, as well as thoughts of what the year ahead will hold. For those listeners who subscribe to the Church & Culture blog, you'll have read Dr. White's recent blog titled “Twelve Predictions for 2025.” As Alexis noted, while the blog may not have contained worst-case scenario predictions, the list certainly wasn't optimistic. We didn't have time to walk through all twelve in this episode, but you'll be interested to hear more about what to anticipate for the year ahead. Episode Links The conversation started off with the massive shift that has taken place in our culture today - that churches seem far more invested in ideology than theology. This is not the first time this issue has been raised on the podcast. We'd encourage you to go back and listen to some past episodes if you missed them: CCP112: On January 6 and the Fastest Growing Christian Movement in America, CCP46: On the Clash over Religious Freedom and CCP37: On Christian Nationalism. Another concern that Dr. White shared has to do with the church taking the non-essentials of Christian orthodoxy and elevating them unnecessarily. This has been prevalent in the Church with the rise over the debate about women serving in ministry and the increasing embrace of Calvinism. Both of these topics have been discussed at length on the podcast, so we'd encourage you to go back and listen to these two episodes: CCP7: On Women in Ministry and CCP59: On Calvinism. The conversation then turned to parenting, and Dr. White noted an Aspen Institute study from 2022 that found children involved with travel sports teams spend 16.6 hours per week on average with those teams - including Sundays. What's sad is that the spiritual formation of these children is significantly impacted. You can read more about that study HERE. There are two past podcast episodes related to parenting that we've aired if you're interested in listening to those: CCP60: On Gentle Parenting and CCP101: On “Bluey” and Modern Fatherhood. Pivoting back to the Church, they discussed the need for the Church at large to truly become hybrid - offering a blend of online and in-person experiences. We'd encourage you to read Dr. White's book Hybrid Church for an in-depth look at how to make this shift in your church. The shift to the hybrid is part of what led to Mecklenburg Community Church's decision to end our multi-site model. You can read more about that in the Church & Culture blog “Why We're Ending Our Multi-Site Approach.” You can also check out the podcast conversation that he had with Carey Nieuwhof about this subject HERE. There are so many cultural changes taking place these days it's hard to keep up. And both Christians and non-Christians are often interested in knowing how the church would weigh in on these topics. Dr. White delivered a series at Mecklenburg Community Church called “What the Bible Really Says About…” after we polled Meck attenders via social media to find out their most pressing questions. The topics covered in this series include: A.I., Politics, Immigration, IVF and Abortion, and Angels. Finally, the podcast concluded with a look at the decivilization that has been taking place in our culture today - as though we have lost the ability to see others the way that God sees them. Even those outside the church are taking note of this. Dr. White referenced several recent articles in The Atlantic which have focused on this: Adrienne LaFrance, “Decivilization May Already Be Under Way,” The Atlantic, December 11, 2024, read online. Peter Wehner, “An Astonishing Level of Dehumanization,” The Atlantic, December 31, 2024, read online. For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

    45 分钟
  2. CCP133: On Keeping Christ in Christmas

    2024/12/13

    CCP133: On Keeping Christ in Christmas

    In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss how to keep the focus of the Christmas season on Jesus, as the birthday celebration it should be. “Keeping Christ in Christmas” has become almost a mantra in response to the ever-increasing consumerization of Christmas and how far we've seemed to drift from the historical event of Jesus's birth. And this has implications beyond how to tangibly keep Christ in Christmas. We also have to find ways to keep Christ in our giving and in our gatherings at Christmastime - the relationships that can make the holidays challenging for so many people and can take away from the joy this season is meant to hold. Episode Links There are a couple messages series that you may want to check out related to today's conversation. The first shares the title of today's episode, “Keeping Christ in Christmas.” It will help you take an even deeper dive into the various ways to keep Jesus as the focus of the Christmas season, with installments that look at: Keeping Christ in Your Celebrating, Keeping Christ in Your Relating and Keeping Christ in Your Giving. The installment on “relating” is particularly helpful if the holiday season brings more anxiety than joy. There was a book that he noted as well written by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend called Boundaries that would be a good one to read. Dr. White also touched on the significance of the season of Advent and all that can hold for our lives. For this, we'd encourage you to look at “The Advent Conspiracy.” When talking about the idea of giving being a key way to keep Christ in Christmas - particularly by beginning our gift-giving with Jesus - Dr. White mentioned an annual effort that was launched by Mecklenburg Community Church in 1994. You can read more about the “Giving to Christ at Christmas” effort in a recent blog that Dr. White wrote HERE. Finally, you heard Dr. White mention something called the Daily Headline News at Church & Culture - a collection of headlines from around the globe that are curated by Dr. White each weekday. The news stories shared here are to help give you a better picture of what's happening within our culture today, and how many of these cultural events impact the Church. For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

    38 分钟
  3. CCP132: On Near-Death Experiences

    2024/12/06

    CCP132: On Near-Death Experiences

    In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss near-death experiences (NDEs) - profound experiences people have when they have been clinically dead and then resuscitated. Studies over the years of those who've had an NDE share similar characteristics or common denominators. And they can provide a powerful testimony on what we might experience in the life to come. Episode Links 1440, a group that strives to provide “a fact-driven news and knowledge resource that respects your time and intelligence,” produced an interesting video on NDEs. You can watch “Understanding Near-Death Experiences” HERE. Dr. White discussed several books you may be interested in checking out pertaining to NDEs. The one that he would most recommend is The Case for Heaven written by Lee Strobel. He also mentioned a book written by Dr. Raymond Moody, who was one of the first to study NDEs and released his pioneering work called Life After Life. Another resource you may be interested in exploring is One Minute After You Die written by Erwin Lutzer. There are a couple of podcasts that we would recommend you go back and listen to that are related to today's conversation: CCP107: On Hell and CCP77: On Angels. The first dives into whether Hell is real and what happens after we die, and the second looks at the spiritual realm, including the demonic. For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

    33 分钟
  4. CCP131: On Losing Your Religion

    2024/11/22

    CCP131: On Losing Your Religion

    In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a question that has been debated quite a bit within the church: Can someone lose their salvation? While there are some Christians who would say, “once saved, always saved,” the Bible clearly points to cases of apostasy, defined as “the abandonment or renunciation of a religious or political belief.” Jesus Himself even said that, at the end of time, “many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other” (see Matthew 24:10, NIV). Episode Links As Alexis mentioned at the top of the podcast, this year marks the 10th anniversary of the release of Dr. White's book The Rise of the Nones. The “nones” represent people who, when asked to define their religious affiliation, simply respond by choosing "none of the above". Since the release of the book, the nones have only continued to rise. This was the topic of a past podcast episode that we'd encourage you to go back and listen to: CCP32: On a Non-Christian America. There has also been a growing trend with people “deconstructing” their faith - the process of rethinking foundational stances related to lifestyle, associations and beliefs, and usually in relation to a previously held spiritual faith. For more on this topic, again we'd suggest that you listen to CCP28: On Deconstructing or check out a series delivered by Dr. White at Mecklenburg Community Church called “The Deconstruction Zone.” Many who argue against the possibility that people can lose their salvation point to the idea of election - that God has decreed already those who will (or will not) be saved. This is one of the central doctrines of Calvinism, yet another past podcast episode. In fact, this has been one of the most popular episodes of the Church & Culture Podcast, and you can find CCP59: On Calvinism HERE. Finally, if you know of someone who has walked away from the faith, someone who has essentially returned the free gift of their salvation, Dr. White encouraged us to continue to try to evangelize them. There are a number of series that Dr. White has given at Mecklenburg Community Church that may help you to be able to share with someone wrestling with their faith. They are gathered under the category of “Evangelism & Apologetics” HERE. For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

    34 分钟
  5. CCP130: On People Wanting Pastors to Speak on Current Issues

    2024/11/15

    CCP130: On People Wanting Pastors to Speak on Current Issues

    In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the findings of a Lifeway Research study titled “Churchgoers Want to Hear Pastors Address Current Issues.” The study revealed that 80% of churchgoers believe their pastors need to address modern cultural issues to help them better understand the state of the world. So, are pastors taking on this challenge? Episode Links Many people today are truly confused about how to think about cultural issues of our day, especially when there are moral implications. At Mecklenburg Community Church, Dr. White has tried to speak out on a number of cultural issues over the years. Whether you are a pastor looking to craft a series on cultural topics or just someone wanting to learn how to engage some of the issues of our day, we've gathered these sermon series under the banner of “CULTURE” on the Church & Culture website HERE. Some of these hot topics also spill into the areas of another message category - “MARRIAGE AND FAMILY.” There were two specific sermon series that Dr. White mentioned during today's podcast that we wanted to direct you to as well. He explained that we recently had a series at Meck where we allowed Meck members and attenders to vote for the topics they wanted to hear the church discuss. The series was called “What the Bible Really Says About…” and counted from the fifth topic selected to the first choice. You can find that series HERE. Dr. White also mentioned that he often works a cultural topic into a series about the Bible. For example, in our recent series “Bad Girls of the Bible” (borrowed from and attributed to the books and research of Liz Curtis Higgs), one of the installments focused on “The Medium of Endor.” In this installment, he was able to address the cultural topic of the occult and the practice of witchcraft. You can find that series HERE. Finally, they discussed the importance of pastors building trust with those who attend their church in order to be able to speak with authority on cultural issues of our day - and to do the important research required. The problem is, many people do not place a lot of trust in clergy. This was the topic of a previous podcast episode: CCP94: On the Growing Lack of Confidence in Clergy. For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

    37 分钟
  6. CCP129: On the 2024 Election Results

    2024/11/06

    CCP129: On the 2024 Election Results

    With the results of the 2024 presidential election now determined, we felt it would be helpful to release an early podcast conversation this week. This will hopefully serve as a helpful reminder that we are called to be Christians first, and Republicans or Democrats second - a distant second. And also to remind us that no matter whether the outcome of the election was what you hoped for, that Jesus is still on His throne and that He is bigger than any election. Episode Links Part of today's discussion included Dr. White reading this past Monday's Church & Culture blog titled “A Presidential Prayer.” You can read that blog in its entirety HERE. You may also be interested in listening to a past series that Dr. White delivered at Mecklenburg Community Church called “Where Angels Fear to Tread: Meck Talks Politics.” You can find that series HERE. Also, you may be interested in two past podcast episodes that took a deeper dive into how Christians should engage the political world: CCP82: On Christians and Politics and CCP83: On Christians and Government. For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

    15 分钟
  7. CCP128: On Social Media Influencers

    2024/11/01

    CCP128: On Social Media Influencers

    In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the growing cultural force of social media influencers. Given what these influencers can make for simply sharing their opinions through their social media platform of choice, it's led many young people from Gen Z and Gen Alpha to aspire to become influencers themselves - a goal that a very minuscule percentage will attain. It's also interesting to note how willing people are to take the advice of influencers who, quite frankly, sometimes know very little about what they are even promoting. Episode Links Today's discussion was prompted by a Pew Research article titled “Who U.S. Adults Follow on TikTok,” revealing that users in the United States follow pop culture and entertainment personalities at a far greater rate than politicians or news organizations. And as mentioned earlier, young people today are increasingly saying they want to follow in the footsteps of social media influencers to become internet stars themselves. We'd encourage you to check out these articles to read more about that: Jacob Dirnhuber, “Children Turn Backs on Traditional Careers in Favour of Internet Fame, Study Finds,” The Sun. Tanith Carey, “Can Social Media School Make Your 16-Year-Old a Star?” The Telegraph. They also discussed how pastors and clergy are losing their influence on culture as more and more people have witnessed moral failings of pastors. This was discussed in CCP4: On Pastors and Moral Failings and CCP31: On Celebrity Pastors. Finally, when Alexis asked what the church could do to increase its reach and influence, Dr. White stressed the urgency for churches to have a stronger presence online - meeting culture where they are at in the world in which they live. You can read more about this in his book Hybrid Church: Rethinking the Church for a Post-Christian Digital Age. For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

    31 分钟
  8. CCP127: On Halloween

    2024/10/25

    CCP127: On Halloween

    In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss how misunderstood the cultural history tied to Halloween really is. For many people, Halloween offers an excuse to dress up in a costume, for kids to rack up an insane amount of candy, or a reason to dust off an old horror film for a night's worth of adrenaline. But there are a lot of Christians who grapple with whether they should stay clear of any and everything tied to Halloween. To really understand it, you need to be familiar with its history and its background. Because its Christian roots run deeper than you may realize. Episode Links Dr. White began today's discussion with a very helpful overview on the history and traditions that have led to our modern day celebration of Halloween. There is an article that you might find interesting written by Sophie Dickinson for The Telegraph titled “The origins of Halloween, from trick-or-treat to pumpkin carving.” And while a New York Times article from 1986 predicted that Halloween was on its way out as a cultural celebration, a recent article written by Aimee Ortiz highlights how it has quickly become a “retail monstrosity.” You can read that article HERE. Dr. White has blogged in the past about how while many children embrace the fun and childlike innocence that Halloween can hold, it's often parents who are making it dark through their hyper-sexualized costumes. You can read that past blog HERE, as well as the article that Dr. White referenced titled “Good Girls Go Bad, for a Day.” And if you're interested in knowing what the most popular costumes will be this year, you can find the list from Frightgeist HERE. Finally, at the top of today's episode, Alexis mentioned how another holiday is coinciding with Halloween this year - the celebration of Diwali. Dr. White wrote a recent blog titled “Should I Attend a Diwali Celebration?”, which you can read HERE. This was also the topic of a past podcast episode that we'd encourage you to go back and listen to: CCP38: On Attending Diwali Celebrations and Gay Weddings. For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

    32 分钟
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关于

The Church & Culture podcast is a weekly discussion with Dr. James Emery White on the latest trends happening in culture, and where and how the church should respond. While this podcast reflects on the church's part in what may be going on in the world, it is very much a show that anyone, no matter what walk of life you may have come from or are currently in, can glean useful information. Some episodes may be an extended conversation based off one of Dr. White's bi-weekly blog posts, as he does not shy away from the controversial hot topics. So to be ready for full context, be sure to subscribe to the Church & Culture Blog at ChurchandCulture.org.

信息

  • 创作者
    Dr. James Emery White
  • 活跃年份
    2022年 - 2025年
  • 单集
    134
  • 分级
    儿童适宜
  • 版权
    © Copyright 2025 by Dr. James Emery White
  • 节目网站
    Church & Culture Podcast

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