TRENDING Ridgepoint Church

This week we saw a few high-profile commencement addresses cause controversy on college campuses. As the clips continue to make the rounds on social media, what can we learn from this? What are some healthy, alternative ways we can honor graduates, and is it a good idea to bring in outsiders for these speeches?

Plus, the Apostle Paul is one of the most famous communicators to ever live, so how did Paul communicate in his letters? His style seemed to evolve over time depending on his audience and life experience, so this might be a helpful model for us to follow.

Pastor Joe has wise thoughts about speaking and listening for us to consider in this week's episode of Trending.

This week brought the highly-anticipated debut of basketball phenom Caitlin Clark in the WNBA. On today's episode of Trending, Matt and Pastor Joe draw some spiritual lessons and takeaways based on Caitlin's success so far, like the importance of mentoring the next generation, how to handle fame with humility and grace, and what Caitlin appears to have in common with Barnabas in the New Testament.

Two unique cultural events this week shared a common theme: public conflict. Many music fans are following the back-and-forth fued between rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar, and Tom Brady was the focus of a recent Netflix "roast."

Why are humans so quick to tear others down? How can we model healthy conflict resolution in a culture that seems to elevate anger and division? Pastor Joe shares words from Jesus and an interesting parrallel to the Old Testament judge Samson for us to consider in this week's episode of Trending.

This week the Catholic church released a new 3D AI "priest" who could answer basic theological questions for people researching Catholic beliefs. After some backlash, they made some changes to "Father Justin," but you can still talk with him today on their website.

What should we take from this? Is this taking AI too far? Is it ok to use AI as a "theological search engine"? But then where do we draw the line?

This technology is evolving so rapidly, so it's wise for us to have these conversations. Pastor Joe and Matt chime in with their thoughts on this week's episode of Trending!

Many kids (and parents!) across the world had big feelings this week as it looked like the popular kids TV show "Bluey" might be coming to an end. 😦 (Spoiler: It's not.)

As the show writers and producers take their "hiatus," it prompts some big questions: How much success is enough? How big should a show or program get before the creators scale back? How do you handle "overnight" success, and when is it healthy to step back and take a break?

We can learn some wise lessons (no surprise!) about rest and fame and creativity from the creators behind Bluey, so Pastor Joe and Matt discuss those in this week's edition of Trending.

This week two prominent UFC fighters exchanged some interesting Bible verses to each other through a X/Twitter thread. If we're honest, we have probably all been guilty of quoting a single verse out of context to help make a point we agree with.

This can be dangerous and potentially hurtful, so how can we avoid this practice as mature believers? How can we hang on to a holistic view of the Bible while also memorizing comforting and important individual verses? Are we inadvertently teaching this practice to our kids?

Pastor Joe has helpful thoughts to consider in this week's episode of Trending!