Posts with a podcast.

Tag Archive for: Podcast

Podcast: Reflections on the Heard-Depp trial

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The podcast topic this week was requested by a young adult a couple of Sabbaths ago. Seeing that a lot of people were talking about it, the Heard-Depp defamation trial seemed a good opportunity to model biblical thinking about an oddly big pop culture moment, so we were all in. Then, as we were uploading it last week, we discovered we were making a basic error of fact—which Mr. Robinson explains early in this podcast—so, we re-recorded today. Facts are important! Still, we hope you enjoyed the first installment of “Five Questions” with Mr. DeSimone last week, and we look forward to doing more in the future.

Also, as mentioned in the podcast, we now have a dedicated email address you can send questions, comments, or suggestions to (thank you, IT Department!). That address (which I will type oddly in a vain attempt to fool the spam bots) is podcast [at] livingyouth.org. We’d love to hear from you! Here’s the podcast…

A Couple of Tips on Meditation

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Here’s a basic question for you: How do you draw close to God? 

If you’ve heard that one before, you might know some of the answers. The Church of God helpfully focuses on four big actions we can take to draw close to God: Christians can pray, study their Bibles, fast, and meditate.

It can be a little tricky to start doing these things regularly. Thankfully, the Church provides plenty of help on how to get the most out of prayer, study, fasting, and meditation. When I tried to start doing these activities regularly, it was a slow process, but I gradually felt myself get better at prayer, study, and fasting. Little by little, I felt like I was getting more out of these things. Some days were better or worse than others, but generally, these practices seemed to be going in the right direction in my life. 

Meditation was different—I rarely felt like I was getting much better at it. I knew the basics: think about a godly concept deeply. True meditation is not emptying one’s mind, as some religions teach. Philippians 4:8 tells us that “whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” That’s a great list, but what does it mean practically? How exactly are we supposed to think deeply about those things?

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Podcast: How Do We REALLY Prevent Mass Shootings?

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The tragic event in Uvalde, Texas—and the political back-and-forth about it—had us thinking this week, and it seemed an appropriate topic for the podcast. In this episode, we try to think about the issue biblically, focusing on the solutions Christ surely longs to implement. We hope you find it helpful.

(In other news, many of you have requested that the podcast be made available in other formats, and we think the time has come to do just that! We hope to have more news on that front next week. Thanks for your patience with us as we’ve learned and the podcast has grown! Your feedback has been very helpful.)

P.S. After we posted this, we forgot that we had mentioned Mr. Weston’s telecast “Will God Forget Your Children?” We’ve added a link to it below. Also, we mentioned Mr. Mark Sandor’s upcoming article on false freedom & liberty, but it has not yet been published, so we can’t link to it. But look for it in the next Living Church News, due out in July!

Podcast: What can Living Education do for you?

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Today (Friday), the Class of 2022 graduated from the on-campus Living Education–Charlotte program, and yesterday, we had the opportunity to sit down with Mr. Jonathan McNair and pick his brain about both the program and his own long history of working with youth in the Church. Whether you are a teen or young adult with questions about Living Ed, a parent trying to decide how to guide your kiddos into their futures, or just someone wanting to know more about the program, this podcast answers all the questions. it was a real pleasure to sit down with Mr. McNair—who informed us, by the way, that there are still openings for the 2022–2023 year here in Charlotte! If you are interested in checking it out, listen to the podcast, and click on this link to apply.

Podcast: Dating and “Good People” in the World

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This week’s podcast focuses on another question we’ve received: What’s so wrong with dating “good people” in the world? It’s a great question! And both the Bible and, when you really think about it, common sense provide important answers. We hope it helps, and we hope our sound quality continues to improve! Again, your feedback is so helpful. Please let us know what you think.

Also, we don’t mention an article or booklet in this episode, but an old classic by Mr. Gerald Weston came to mind—an old 2006 Tomorrow’s World article written for the “Tomorrow’s Youth” feature, in which he included six of his “Unshakable Unbreakables.” Great advice worth reviewing—or reading for the first time for most of you, given it was published almost 16 years ago!

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Podcast: What Gives Us the Right to Be Dogmatic?

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This week’s podcast answers a question emailed to us from a Church family. The father—who grew up as a teen in the Church, himself—pointed out that, when he was younger, he would sometimes wonder what gives the Church the right to speak so dogmatically. After all, we speak pretty strongly! We draw clear lines about right and wrong and make no bones about it—and those lines differ greatly from the lines being drawn by many in the world around us. So what does give us the right to speak so dogmatically? It was a great question, and we hope you’ll find the answer helpful!

As usual, we refer to some additional items in the podcast—one LCN article by Mr. Mark Sandor about “doubtful things” and one of our foundational booklets, The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy. Below the embedded video, you’ll find links to both.

(By the way: We hope you enjoy the improved sound quality! We’re still learning, but our Disclaimer Guy (Chris Leonard) is also our wonderful IT guy, and he has helped us put together a better audio set up. Let us know what you think, and thanks for your patience as we continue to learn what in the world we’re doing.)

Podcast: Roe v. Wade and Abortion

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If you’ve heard all the talk in the news about the Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court case and abortion, you know that something potentially big is up. Essentially, the 1973 court case that created a “right” to abortion in the U.S. is potentially about to be undone, according to a leaked draft of the decision (which is not yet finalized). It was already a passionate topic for many, and you can expect the rhetoric to reach new levels of full-throated zeal in the days ahead.

But our concern is always what do God and Jesus Christ think about this, and what do They want me (and you!) to think about this? And, as we consider such things, can we avoid the traps the Devil will lay out for us to ensnare us and suck us into the world of political striving by remembering that the Kingdom we are called to represent is not a part of this age or world (John 18:38)? Young people care about the world in which they live—and the Tempter is skilled at turning our passions into bait on his hook.

On today’s podcast, we chat about those things. We hope you find it profitable! (Also, we refer to several articles you might find helpful—links to this are below the video.)

Here are links to those articles: