Tag Archive for: Crimes

 

Why are so many people fascinated with evil stories of murder, and true crime? And more importantly, can we use that fascination to point them to Jesus? Christianity is the only worldview that answers the problem of evil adequately, and now there’s a new graphic novel that tackles this big question in a way that’s both artistic and compelling!

This week, Frank sits down with cold-case detective and bestselling author, J. Warner Wallace, along with his son and co-author, Jimmy Wallace, to discuss their new book, ‘Case Files: Murder and Meaning‘. As a father-son duo with deep roots in law enforcement, they’re using their real-life experiences to craft a crime story that sneaks apologetics into an action-packed graphic novel. Tune in as they address questions like:

  • Why do so many police officers become cynical, and what does that reveal about human nature?
  • How did their experience in law enforcement help Jim and Jimmy to write this story?
  • What makes ‘Case Files’ different from other apologetics books?
  • How can storytelling help people wrestle with questions about morality and justice?
  • What are some of the biggest misconceptions that the public has about police and detective work?
  • How did the George Floyd and BLM riots radically shift the police world?
  • What are some of the common internal and psychological struggles of police officers?
  • How did Jim overcome his season of identity crisis once he retired?

Be sure to pre-order your copy of ‘Case Files: Murder and Meaning‘ and then head to Jim’s website to grab some exclusive bonus resources! If you know anyone who loves crime stories, comics, or big questions about life, this book might just be the tool that sparks some amazing faith conversations!

If you enjoyed this podcast episode PLEASE HELP US SPREAD THE TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY BY SUPPORTING OUR MINISTRY HERE. 100% of your donation goes to ministry, 0% to buildings!

Resources mentioned during the episode:

Jim’s website: ColdCaseChristianity.com

J. Warner Wallace & Jimmy’s New Book: CaseFilesGraphicNovel.com

The Truth in True Crime: https://a.co/d/0fE9crT

Cold-Case Christianity: https://a.co/d/dABS4uA

Person of Interest: https://a.co/d/69NoUEw

 

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Were Harrison Butker’s bold statements during his recent Benedictine College commencement speech worth all of the public backlash he received in response? Although many are now hailing the Super Bowl winning NFL kicker as a hero for speaking up, others are calling for him to be fired from the league altogether. What exactly did he say that caused so much outrage and what biblical truths can we gather from the controversial (and now viral) speech?

For this midweek podcast, Frank unpacks Harrison Butker’s words from a biblical worldview and highlights how Butker called out some of the lies, harmful ideologies, and inconsistencies that our culture and national leaders have been feeding us. During this podcast episode, Frank will answer questions like:

  • Does the book of James teach salvation by works?
  • What does the game of football teach us about morality?
  • Do Christians always have to be “nice” in order to be loving?
  • Did Jesus ever engage in politics?
  • How is Joe Biden “neglecting the weightier matters of the law”?
  • Are biblical gender roles oppressive to women?
  • Is comfort the true meaning of life?
  • What are the pros and cons of becoming a Christian?

Later in the episode, Frank will share his own personal experience of being canceled in corporate America due to writing his book ‘Correct, Not Politically Correct: About Same-Sex Marriage and Transgenderism‘ and how it launched him into ministry full-time. He’ll also talk about the importance of being willing to speak up (like Butker) as a means to fight back against cancel culture and to illustrate TRUE love, even if it comes at a cost.

And if you want to learn more about how to stand up for truth in a toxic culture, consider enrolling at Frank’s alma mater, Southern Evangelical Seminary!

To view the entire VIDEO PODCAST be sure to join our CrossExamined private community. It’s the perfect place to jump into some great discussions with like-minded Christians while simultaneously providing financial support for our ministry.

You can also SUPPORT THE PODCAST HERE.

 

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Why do your kids believe what they believe about the world and the purpose of life? Are you equipping them to make good decisions now and in the future when you’re no longer there to protect them? Will their knowledge of truth, logic, and God’s Word ultimately prevail against the conflicting (and sometimes hidden) messages they might hear from friends, teachers, and TikTok?

If you’re a Christian parent, these are the questions that keep you up at night, but have no fear–the great Shanda Fulbright is here! As a mom, former California public school teacher, and certified apologist, Shanda is no stranger to the challenges Christian parents face during these crazy cultural times. In this week’s podcast episode, Shanda and Frank discuss the subtle ways that secular society is indoctrinating or “discipling” today’s youth with destructive and even anti-Christian ideologies. During their discussion, Frank and Shanda will answer questions like:

  • What made Shanda question her faith as a 17-year old raised in the Church and what helped her overcome her doubts?
  • What are the 3 key characteristics of “discipleship” and how is it more than just a religious term?
  • What are 3 ways that the public school system is strategically discipling K-12 students?
  • How did Shanda react when a teacher shared a book about transgender ideology with her son’s class?
  • What do the statistics show about faith in God among America’s youth and their parents and what does that mean for the Church?
  • What are Shanda’s top 3 tips for parents who want to be more intentional about discipling their kids?

Parents and other caregivers–consider this your wake-up call! The reality is that your kids are being discipled by someone or some thing. If you don’t disciple them with THE truth, who will? We know you’ll benefit from this week’s podcast episode, and as a follow-up, consider enrolling your middle-school student in one of Shanda’s self-paced courses this summer, or join Shanda LIVE in her ‘Train Your Brain: An Introduction to Logic‘ PREMIUM course this fall!

To view the entire VIDEO PODCAST be sure to join our CrossExamined private community. It’s the perfect place to jump into some great discussions with like-minded Christians while simultaneously providing financial support for our ministry.

You can also SUPPORT THE PODCAST HERE.

Shanda’s courses:

Is Hell Real? Understanding a Place Nobody Likes to Talk About – Self-Paced Course
Let’s Get Real: Examining the Evidence for God – Self-Paced Course
Train Your Brain: An Introduction to Logic – Self-Paced Course
Train Your Brain: An Introduction to Logic – PREMIUM Course Starts 9/9/2024

Other resources mentioned during the episode:

Apologetics Curriculum for All Ages – 2nd Grade to Adult!
Jonathan Haidt – Research and articles on effects of social media on adolescents

 

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You love your pastor, but why won’t he address crucial cultural, moral, or political issues from the pulpit? Is there anything that you or your church can do about it? Furthermore, what risks lie ahead for faithful pastors who do actually speak out against the culture and rightly stand up for the truth of God’s Word?

For this midweek podcast episode, pro-life advocate and political leader, Tony Perkins, returns to talk more about the need for Christians and pastors to engage in political issues, and to defend the biblical worldview in the public square. If your pastor or your church seems totally disengaged from the political world, how can you inspire a change of heart? Why do so many pastors choose to remain quiet on culturally taboo issues like the right to life and natural marriage? And what resources are available for those who want to lead the charge and equip people in the church on where the candidates and parties stand on the most important issues? Frank and Tony will discuss all of this and MUCH more in the conclusion of their talk on faith and politics!

To view the entire VIDEO PODCAST be sure to join our CrossExamined private community. It’s the perfect place to jump into some great discussions with like-minded Christians while simultaneously providing financial support for our ministry.

You can also SUPPORT THE PODCAST HERE.

Resources mentioned during the episode:

Part 1: The Top 3 Reasons Why Christians Should Be Involved in Politics with Tony Perkins
Family Research Council: https://www.frc.org/
FRC Action: https://frcaction.org/
Pray Vote Stand: https://prayvotestand.org/
Tony’s website: TonyPerkins.com

 

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Should Christians get involved with politics, or should we just stay out of the way because “religion and politics don’t mix”? While some Christians have the tendency to idolize political influence, others have gone to the opposite end of the spectrum, choosing to completely shy away from engaging in public policy altogether. What does the Bible and common sense have to say about this?

This week Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council who has worked with congress and presidents for decades, joins Frank to talk about the need for Christians to take politics seriously and use it as a means to advance the Gospel by protecting religious freedom and to love their neighbors by protecting them from evil for generations to come. As a pro-life/pro-family advocate and political leader with a background in both the U.S. Marine Corps and ministry, Tony will share some valuable insights into the current political landscape, urging Christians to actively participate in shaping laws and policies. During their conversation, Frank and Tony will answer questions like:

  • How did Tony unexpectedly enter the realm of politics and why does he think more Christians should do the same?
  • How can Christians be salt and light in the government and treat it as a mission field?
  • What should Christians do when candidates for each party are morally compromised?
  • How have Christians been negatively impacted by bad policies?
  • What political issues can Christians disagree over?
  • How can Christians and conservatives make real policy gains?

A force for good in Washington, Tony will lay out just a few reasons why Christians should not only get involved in politics, but view it as a form of ministry. He and Frank will also address the latest controversy with Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, explain the distinction between imposing religion and legislating morality, and lay out some of the key platform differences between Democrats and Republicans. And don’t miss the conclusion to this eye-opening conversation as Tony returns next week for the midweek podcast!

To view the entire VIDEO PODCAST be sure to join our CrossExamined private community. It’s the perfect place to jump into some great discussions with like-minded Christians while simultaneously providing financial support for our ministry.

You can also SUPPORT THE PODCAST HERE.

Resources mentioned during the episode:

Family Research Council: https://www.frc.org/

FRC Voter Guides: https://frcaction.org/

iVoterGuide: https://ivoterguide.com/

Tony’s website: TonyPerkins.com

 

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Can Christians learn to love the same way God loves? Cold-case homicide detective turned Christian apologist, J. Warner Wallace, answers that question for us in his brand-new book ‘The Truth in True Crime: What Investigating Death Teaches Us About the Meaning of Life.’ But how exactly did researching some of his own murder investigations lead him to discover the truth about God’s nature and His love for humanity?

For this midweek podcast episode, Jim returns to talk more about his new book and to share what he’s learned about marriage, justice, grace, and mercy through his deep study of contemporary true crime. What key quality is needed to be successful in life? Why do so many police officers struggle in their marriage? Why is pride such a dangerous sin? What’s the distinction between shame and guilt? All of these questions and more will be addressed as Frank and Jim wrap up this intriguing and insightful two-part discussion!

To view the entire VIDEO PODCAST be sure to join our CrossExamined private community. It’s the perfect place to jump into some great discussions with like-minded Christians while simultaneously providing financial support for our ministry.

You can also SUPPORT THE PODCAST HERE.

Order Jim’s Book: The Truth in True Crime

Listen to Part 1 of the discussion: The Truth in True Crime with J. Warner Wallace

 

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Have you ever wondered why America is so obsessed with death and murder, or why some of today’s most popular podcasts, shows, and TV networks are all centered around the topic of true crime? What’s the reason for our curiosity with murder and what life lessons can we learn from studying even the worst of these true crime stories?

If you’re a true crime junkie, this is the podcast episode for you! This week, our favorite cold-case homicide detective turned Christian apologist and author, J. Warner Wallace, sits down with Frank to talk about the inspiration behind his brand-new book, ‘The Truth in True Crime: What Investigating Death Teaches Us About the Meaning of Life‘, which explores 15 life-truths that he discovered through his study of the Scriptures and some of his most notorious murder investigations. During their conversation, Frank and Jim will answer questions like:

  • Why are women especially drawn to the genre of true crime?
  • How do men and women view identity differently?
  • What is the true cause of trauma and PTSD?
  • What are two common ways that identity is formed in people?
  • How does humility contribute to human flourishing?

Later in the episode, Jim will open up about his own personal journey through an unexpected season of identity crisis and reveal the most shocking discovery he made while writing the book. Be sure to pick up your copy of ‘The Truth in True Crime‘ and come back next week to hear the conclusion of Frank and Jim’s discussion on how true crime exposes certain truths about human nature.

To view the entire VIDEO PODCAST be sure to join our CrossExamined private community. It’s the perfect place to jump into some great discussions with like-minded Christians while simultaneously providing financial support for our ministry.

You can also SUPPORT THE PODCAST HERE.

Order Jim’s Book: The Truth in True Crime

 

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By Ryan Leasure

This past weekend, two mass-scaled shootings transpired on American soil. El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio experienced unspeakable carnage. Two men, fueled by hatred for mankind, slaughtered dozens of innocent people in cold blood.

In response, people of all stripes spoke out against these atrocities. Men and women, democrat and republican, Christian and atheist, all condemned these crimes. In other words, the denunciation of these senseless and cowardly acts has been universal.

But doesn’t this universal agreement fly in the face of our relativistic cultural values? “Don’t force your morality on others” suddenly doesn’t sound so appealing in situations like this. Don’t we all want everyone else to adopt our same moral position on murder?

This, of course, raises important questions. Does objective morality exist? That is, were those two men objectively wrong in what they did over the weekend? And if so, where does this agreed-upon morality come from?

Objective Morality?

Relativists argue that there is no such thing as objective morality. Rather, morality is subjective — dependent on individual opinions. So in situations like these mass shootings, the relativist cannot say that the shooters were wrong. If so, that would imply that an objective standard exists that these two individuals missed.

Rather, the relativist can only say they didn’t care for these events. They found them distasteful. “Murder is wrong,” and “rape is evil” are just opinions on par with “pepperoni is better than sausage.”

But isn’t it self-evident that mass murder is in a different category than pizza toppings? The very fact that society has universally condemned these acts ought to tip us off that something more than mere opinion is at work here. When we all cry “foul” in unison, we’re implicitly affirming that “fair” exists.

C. S. Lewis made this argument years ago. He wrote:

[As an atheist] my argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe to when I called it unjust?1

What Lewis and so many others have argued is that objective morality exists, and this is most evident when people don’t live up to that moral standard.

If we learn, for example, that a man raped a little girl, brutally murdered her, and dismembered her body, would we say that he committed evil? If yes, then we recognize an objective moral standard exists that was not met. Our senses tell us that acts such as abuse, rape, theft, deceit, murder, etc., all fail to measure up to a standard of some sort.

This moral standard seems so patently obvious; it’s odd when people try to deny it. A quick rule of thumb is that when a certain group can’t condemn the Holocaust as evil, we conclude that their views are absurd. Of course, if those same relativists had been in those concentration camps, they’d drop their relativism and recognize evil for what it is.

Even the most committed relativist will come around if you steal his wallet or spread false rumors about him. Phrases like “that’s not right” or “that’s not fair” will come spewing out faster than you can blink your eye.

Where Does Objective Morality Come from?

The reality of objective morality raises a significant question. Where does it come from? For the naturalists (those that believe only the natural world exists), these objective morals are mere illusory by-products of evolution and social conditioning.

For most naturalists, science is the only begetter of knowledge. But science itself is amoral. Science cannot tell us how things ought to be. It can only tell us how things are. That is, science can tell us how to make chemical weapons, but it cannot tell us whether we should use them.

Objective morals simply cannot derive from something morally neutral like science. And they certainly don’t arise from Darwinian evolution. According to Darwinists, people only do good because it aids in their survival. But if that’s the case, can we really call their actions morally good? Fundamentally, the motivation behind “good” acts is self-serving, and thus not worthy of praise.

Also, doesn’t Darwinism, on the whole, make morality arbitrary? Couldn’t the human race have found rape or killing each other for food acceptable if it would have evolved like other species from the animal kingdom? Sharks do this all the time, but are they immoral?

Darwinists who find this notion uncomfortable typically adopt humanism — the belief that humans are the center of the universe and morality is based on what helps them flourish. But again, isn’t humanism purely arbitrary in a Darwinian world?

Darwin, after all, taught that every living species descended from the same common ancestor in the primordial soup. Thus, humans are simply one small branch on his tree of life. Other branches include crickets, lions, fungus, and every other living species. Why should we think the human branch is the most valuable? Why are we more important than crickets? Doesn’t this make us guilty of speciesism?

Ultimately, atheism’s understanding of morality is purely arbitrary. It simply cannot account for objective morality.

In the end, God is the best explanation for objective morality. God’s very nature grounds morality so that anything done that goes against his character is wrong and/or evil. Furthermore, because God made humans in his image, each person possesses intrinsic value.

Answering the Skeptics’ Objections

Without a doubt, the first objection raised to the claim that objective morality doesn’t exist without God is that atheists do good without believing in God. But this misses the point. Of course, people can still do good things without believing in God. The question is not: do we have to believe in God to do good? Rather, the question is: if God doesn’t exist, is anything objectively good at all? As I’ve argued, moral categories are arbitrary in an atheistic world.

If we acknowledge, however, that the two mass-shooters committed evil, then objective moral categories exist. And if objective moral categories exist, then a transcendental lawgiver is the best explanation.

Which leads to the second objection — the Euthyphro Dilemma. The dilemma goes like this: Is something good because God wills it? Or does God will something because it is good? Skeptics raise this objection to put the theist between a rock and a hard place.

For if we say something is good because God wills it, then good is ultimately arbitrary. But if we say God wills something because it’s good, then the objective standard exists beyond God. But the skeptic presents us with a false dilemma here. A third option exists which states God wills something because he is good. That is to say; he is the standard by which we get all moral categories.

Another frequent objection is that we don’t need the Bible to know that we shouldn’t murder or steal. After all, other religious books tell us the same as do most legal codes. But again, this is not the argument theists make.

Nobody’s arguing you need to read the Bible to know right from wrong. Rather, we’re arguing that objective right and wrong don’t exist in a world without a transcendent moral law. But the very fact that every world religion and legal code agree on basic fundamental morals suggests that a moral law exists that transcends the human race.

The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 2:14-15. He writes, “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them.”

That is to say; people don’t need the Bible to know right from wrong. God has instilled this moral code in the hearts of all people.

Which raises a final objection. If a moral law exists, why is there so much disagreement on morality? Disagreements certainly exists around issues like abortion and sexuality. But does that imply no right view exists? Of course not. Which is why we strive to make our views the accepted ones. In fact, if culture adopts our views, we’ll say things like our culture is progressing. Progressing toward what? The moral standard we believe to be right.

Be that as it may, the human race generally agrees on several basic points. People have certain rights. We should treat others with respect. Love is better than hate. Honesty is better than deceit. Courage is better than cowardice. And so forth. As C. S. Lewis aptly states:

Think of a country where people were admired for running away in battle, or where a man felt proud of double-crossing all the people who had been kindest to him. You might just as well try to imagine a country where two and two made five.2

The universal agreement on the most basic moral categories suggests a transcendent moral law.

The Moral Argument for God

I believe that objective morality is one of the strongest arguments for God’s existence. Perhaps a more helpful way of looking at it would be this syllogism:

  1. If God does not exist, objective morality does not exist.
  2. Objective morality does exist.
  3. Therefore, God exists.

This argument is logically air tight. If premises 1 and 2 are true, then 3 necessarily follows. I’ve made a case for 1 and 2 in this article. It concludes then that God exists.

So can we be good without God? No, because if he doesn’t exist, nothing objectively good exists either.

 


Ryan Leasure Holds a Master of Arts from Furman University and a Masters of Divinity from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He currently serves as a pastor at Grace Bible Church in Moore, SC.

Original Blog Source: http://bit.ly/2KJFXnY