This week's episode of Faith Today has been slightly delayed in its release due to Chase's infant daughter Phoebe being in the hospital with a severe upper respiratory infection. (She is much better now) 

On this week's show, the primary topic is the death of leading atheist (or anti-theist) Christopher Hitchens, author of the book God is Not Great. How should Christians respond to his death? Is Hitchens our enemy? Is it appropriate for theists (believers in God) to be happy when somebody like Hitchens dies? 

In addition, we also discuss the 2011 Google Zeitgeist - the top rising Google searches for 2011. The top rising searches on Google are a great way to see what our culture in general is interested in. 

Finally, we turn to the question: Is the Bible hostile against wealth? In other words, do the teachings of Jesus and the apostles indicate that being rich is a sin, or that wealth is dangerous? 

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This week's Faith Today might be quite controversial, but it is also thoroughly Biblical and hopefully quite engaging. The main segment focuses on the issue of homosexuality, and weighs the question of how the church has responded to homosexuals and homosexuality in general. We make the case that the response of the church in general to homosexual people has thus far been wrong-headed, and not Biblical, and then consider the radical message of the Bible on all types of sexuality. Please listen to the whole segment and weigh what is being said before you make a judgment.  :) 

Here are some of the questions addressed: 

A. Why do Christians discuss homosexuality at all? What gives them the rights to have a position? 

B. What should the response of the Christian church be to homosexuality? (Including: Should homosexuals be welcomed in church, and what should be done about the all too commmon bullying of homosexuals.) 

C. What does the Bible say about homosexuality? Is it any different from what the Bible teaches about heterosexuality? 

D. Why have Christians treated homosexuals in a different way than other people? 

E. Why didn't Jesus discuss homosexuality? 

Four other  topics are addressed as well: 

1. What place should Santa Claus take in the celebration of Christmas for a Christian? 

2. A discussion of Tim Tebow and why he talks so enthusiastically about his faith. 

3. Under Islamic law, a female victim of rape is sometimes forced to marry her rapist, or serve a long jail term. 

4. Reader Feedback: More on Mitt Romney and whether or not Mormonism is a cult. 

As I am typing this, I am well aware, as noted above, that these topics have the potential to cause strong feelings and/or disagreements. Please feel free to post your comments, and to email us your questions. Comments that are crude, offensive, or over the top will likely be deleted, but we will try to answer every one of them. Thanks for listening and watching! 

Hello all!

After a long delay, here is this week's Faith Today. This episode is quite short compared to the others, partially due to the fact that we lost an entire segment of the show due to a technical glitch. On this week's show, we address four issues:

1. The unusual coming together of world religions that seems to be taking place in the Occupy Wall Street Movement. Is this a good thing?

2. Rob Bell has penned a companion, or sequel to "Love Wins", his best-selling novel that questions the existence of hell (and never bothers to answer the question clearly. Should we all rush out and get it?

3. Why are Christians eschewing Scripture and tradition to now engage in sex before marriage?

4. Ray Comfort's 180 movie, which can be viewed here: (CLICK HERE)

On the first segment this week, the discussion is focused on manipulation in the church, particularly during invitation time. We unearth a copy of the Jack Hyles church leader's manual, which seems to direct the preacher on how to manipulate people into coming down for an altar call. Everything from the tempo of the music to the exact words to use to coerce somebody to respond is discussed. Is this proper? Is it the right way to bring the Gospel to the world? We think not, and discuss some alternatives. We'd love to hear your feedback. Have you been manipulated in this way? What are some of your stories? If you disagree with us here - please let us know in the comments!! 

During segment 2, the Joel Osteen is the center of attention. Osteen, who pastors what may be America's largest church, was recently on the Piers Morgan show and balked at answering some hard questions about abortion and capital punishment. Is it fair for many Evangelicals to be so critical of Osteen? Is it right to call him out for preaching a prosperity message, or for waffling on important issues? In this segment, Osteen finds a surprising supporter in David. Our focus here is not to bash a man, or his ministry, but to raise the issue of how we should address high profile Christian leaders (like Pat Robertson) who teach and say things that are patently wrong according to the Scriptures. 

We engage in Quick Hitters for the final segment: 

Chase: Why was the press surprised that Rick Perry's pastor friend called Mitt Romney's Mormonism a "cult?" Evangelicals have been calling Mormons cultish for over a century - and for good reason! Mormonism is a cult, according to the Christian definition of the word. 

David: Grace in a shared meal - what are the benefits to be found when a family actually eats meals together regularly? It is surprising what a profound effect that this simple act will have on your family! 

Nick: A group of Ohio Amish are being attacked by a group of ex-Amish people who are cutting their hair and beards off. The Ohio Amish respond with their typical grace and patience! 

Kevin: There are now kosher traffic lights in England! Are we going to far into legalism? 

Hello all,

Here's this week's Faith Today. In the first segment, we discuss Fatherhood, and share some amusing (and slightly disturbing) stories about raising young children. We also discuss the great new movie Courageous, and get to see pictures of the toxic sudge that almost killed our producer, Chris. We kick off the segment discussing Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron's relationship with his dad, who is obviously a huge encouragement to him. 

In segment two, we consider the curious case of Bay Minette Alabama, and how the courtrooms there are allowing non-violent offenders to choose whether they want to go to church for a year, or go to jail. Is this a good idea? Does it violate the U.S. Constitution?

The final segment focuses on four quick-hitters. T.D. Jakes has been invited to participate in the next Elephant Room discussion, and his questionable position on the Trinity has caused many to question that invitation. Does one's views on the Trinity determine whether they are saved are not? In addition, we also discuss a home Bible study that might be outlawed, a church that gave away money in offering, and an Iranian pastor that has been sentenced to die for his faith.

Here's our freebies of the week: Digital Dead Sea Scrolls:   and Logos giving away 1500 books: AND this year's Desiring God messages (audio and video).

On this week's Faith Today, we show a video with Matt Chandler, Mark Dever and James MacDonald discussing their worst preaching mistakes. Following that, the Faith Today guys also discuss their worst preaching mistakes, including unintended confessions of pornography, accidental references to bathroom troubles, pants zippers not being stowed in an upright position, sudden sicknesses that happened while preaching and much more. 

In the show's second segment, the topic is the Southern Baptist Denomination and whether they should consider changing their name. Bryant Wright, the current SBC president, has appointed a task force to look into the issue. Thus far it seems that many younger SBC members seem to be in favor of the name change, along with such stalwarts as Albert Mohler, and others. On the other hand, there has been a significant backlash against Wright for even daring to appoint a commission to look into the issue. The panel discusses this, and asks the question, "would it be a hindrance for the average Alabama person to go to a New York Baptist church (in Alabama)" If the answer to that question is yes - then why should we expect a person from New York (or California, or North Dakota) to go to a SOUTHERN Baptist Church? Correcting a mistake from that segment, the pastor quoted was Jon Akin (son of Daniel) and not Daniel himself. 

In the final segment, we look at four quick hitters: 1. Euan Murray, one of Scotland's top Rugby players, has now decided to not play Rugby matches on Sundays, due to his desire to honor God and the sabbath. It reminds us of former Scottish hero Eric Liddell.  2. Rob Bell is leaving his ministry at Mars Hill Church.  3. An Irish Catholic bishop proposes marriage for priests.  4. Pat Robertson, who suggests it is okay to divorce a spouse with Alzheimer's vs. Robertson McQuilkin who resigned his position from a prominent Bible college in order to take care of his beloved wife who had Alzheimer's. Who is the better Robertson? 

Here's this week's Faith Today freebie of the week: A.W. Tozer's The Pursuit of God. Bonus tip: Check out the section below the book entitled "Customers who bought this book also bought...." You will find literally hundreds of free books by excellent authors like Charles Spurgeon, Andrew Murray, R.A. Torrey, John Bunyan, D.L. Moody, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis and may more!