416 Why Christian Colleges Always Veer Left; American Pope!
Release Date: 05/14/2025
443 Living a Missional Life, Convo w/Miles Galla-Rini
The Uncensored Unprofessor
For the last 40 years or so Miles Galla-Rini has been a believer. But he wasn't always committed to a walk in Christ. In this one-on-one conversation he recounts his various struggles with drugs and despair and purposelessness, and then how Jesus Christ turned his life around. But it wasn't a one-time deliverance, a once-and-done crisis event. Following Jesus, for Miles, was and is a daily commitment. Today he runs his roofing company in So Cal and uses it as an avenue for missional engagement. Oh, and we also talk about spiritual gifts and their operations. Come and think with us about a...
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442 Is Pride always Bad?, Convos w/Mark
The Uncensored Unprofessor
Augustine wisely argued that pride is the root of all sin. That's a solid interpretation of biblical teaching but is that all there is to be said on the matter? Obviously not. It is not wrong to exercise one's gifts—or agency or abilities—to the good of one's family, neighbors, or society. So we need to be theologically aware about pride but recognize that a lack of ambition is detrimental for who and what a person is. Here's another angle: why is government so consistently inefficient? Because there is a lack of personal ownership in what gets done; if no one is finally responsible it...
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441 What about the Good?, Convos w/Mark
The Uncensored Unprofessor
Can Christians be good? Can non-believers be good? Mark and I work through questions like these inside a biblical and Christian worldview. There is an established and severe piety that says human beings are only evil, and there is a kind of popular piety that say I can never be good enough. How should we think through these issues? What kinds of patterns in life can we recognize that go toward the good? And then, just what is the Christian mission? Evangelism alone? Or is doing good, even beautiful, things also part of what the Lord has for us? In that work do we have to be perfect for the...
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Christianity E & W, but mostly East!
The Uncensored Unprofessor
What is Eastern Orthodoxy? How does it compare to Western Christianity? Do the Orthodox follow the Pope? In this requested episode (thank you, Hannah!) I describe distinctives of the Eastern Orthodox tradition of Christianity. When did the West and East split? Why did they split? Can Orthodox priests marry? Are Orthodox patriarchs and bishops allowed to marry? How do the Orthodox want a congregant to feel during a Liturgy (service)? What is the purpose and effect of icons? What do the Orthodox teach about the process of becoming like Christ? As we ask and answer these questions I am also...
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439 God, the Devil, and the Flesh (Conversations w/Mark)
The Uncensored Unprofessor
Across a Christian's daily life different agents—God, the devil, and human flesh—play a role in what we do, or don't do; and those three definitely play a significant role in how we process our own misery. Mark and I discuss how daily, even little and constant, decisions shape our souls and define our character. In that process of becoming it is easy to blame the devil for misery or chaos, but as often as not we have made a whole trail of decisions that move us into situations that are uncomfortable. As examples Mark and I discuss: eating donuts, the nothingness of the Minneapolis...
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438 Dark Clouds Forming? Charlie Kirk Aftermath
The Uncensored Unprofessor
The effects of Charlie Kirk's public murder continue to emerge. What are the patterns we—my friend Mark and I—are recognizing that follow in the wake of Kirk's assassination? Was the murderous shooter just a lone nut? Is society's Overton Window closing? Why is the Left inciting such violence? And then here's one for you: when should you move to another town or state? Is it a lack of trust in God to pick up and move? (Why did Ed's ancestors move out of Eastern Europe?) How does false piety get in the way of wisdom about staying or leaving a given place? At bare minimum we are seeing a...
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437 Daily Life—Fighting Spirit vs Resting Spirit
The Uncensored Unprofessor
The Scriptures are full of admonitions both to fight for the Lord and his ways and to rest in the Lord. But what does that look like in everyday life? When to fight? When to rest? And even worse for everyday-Sunday believers, what to do when a syrypy-goo is poured thick over all that?! We talk through everyday realities between the poles of fighting and resting, then we also ask what it means to fight (or whether to fight) for the health of culture and sign. On the one hand we're called to be gracious (which gets corrupted to mean "we must be nice!"). On the other hand we're called to be...
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436 Charlie Kirk; History is Pivoting
The Uncensored Unprofessor
I was only 7 years old when both MLKJr and RFK were assassinated in 1968. (I've been to the MLKJr Memorial and Museum in Memphis.) But I do still recall the swirl, energy, anger, the horror people felt from their assassinations. Those two mens' respective murders propelled the Civil Rights movement into dominance. No less is happening today with the assassination of Charlie Kirk three weeks ago. And this season of national grief is impelling a revival in the Church. But it won't be a revival like we've seen in the past. No, this revival both stems from and will passionately move toward a...
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435 Charlie Kirk Aftermath—Moral Equivocation
The Uncensored Unprofessor
Like me, you have seen and heard the folks who are either celebrating or giving a pass to Charlie Kirk's assassination. That celebration's been pretty obvious. More subtle are the attempts to cause moral confusion. And that confusion comes specifically through both moral equivocation and the drawing of false moral equivalencies. What do those two means look like? I give examples. How do some pastors and churches fall in with equivocation and false equivalences? Why do they do that? I also mention how one Southern California university has been dealing with the Charlie Kirk murder and what it...
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434 Charlie Kirk Assassination
The Uncensored Unprofessor
On Wednesday, September 10, a prophet was assassinated in Utah. That public horror was an archetype of desecration for us all. Truth is, Charlie Kirk was a prophet. What do I mean by that? What does the Bible show us about prophets? What do I think Charlie's public murder represents about where we are in Church history? What do I, building out of Charlie's vision, believe is the way forward for Church mission? Charlie's vision was filled with Christ, an eternal perspective, love, and family; his was a celebration of what it meant to be male and female and children and families. How can we...
info_outlineI'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, because the Roman Catholic Church has elected a new Pope I reflect on the prospects of a Pope Leo XIV papacy. Who is he? He's from America but how American is he really? Why did the Cardinals vote him in after only 3 votes? Why do I—yes and amen—want him to be an advocate for the planet's disenfranchised populations?! Along the way I also reflect on a recent vivid X.com picture I saw and tie that into a reflection about Elon Musk now having sired 12 children. What is unique about that? What does it say about where society is headed? Come think and laugh with me.