In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a term that may be new to many of our listeners - “larping.” Larping has been adopted by Gen Z and redefined as a slang word that refers to people who are inauthentic or performative. And the use of this slang term speaks to how highly Gen Z values authenticity in others; that is, how much they long for people who are genuine.

There are two articles that were referenced in today's conversation. Here they are if you'd like to do some more reading on this topic:

Rachel Hale, “All of Gen Z is larping. It's not what you think it is,” USA Today.

Rachel Hale and Owen Carry, “'Polyester' is Gen Z's newest viral insult. Here's what it means.” USA Today.

Gen Z is big on assigning labels (like larping) to people, but, ironically, they often struggle with their own self-identity and seemingly want to reject labels that culture would put on them. This is part of what led to the trend discussed last week on the podcast. If you missed it, be sure to check out CCP209: On the Rise of Bisexual Men.

Finally, if you want to go to school on Gen Z, we'd encourage you to check out Dr. White's book called Meet Generation Z, which you can find on Amazon HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the latest gender-related topic on the podcast - the rise of bisexual men. This is a somewhat new face of masculinity that is dominating Hollywood in particular, as evidenced by an article in The Wall Street Journal titled “Why the Bisexual Man Is Hollywood's Breakout Star.” So why is bisexuality becoming so dominant in today's culture and media? And why is it being specifically targeted at Generation Z?

As Alexis mentioned, this is not the first time that a conversation on or related to gender has been featured on this podcast. Here are some past episodes that we'd encourage you to go back and listen to :

CCP21: On Gender

CCP72: On Toxic Masculinity

CCP78: On Trad Wives

CCP156: On a Theology of Sexual Identity

CCP200: On Masculinism

In addition to the article from WSJ above, there was another article highlighting the latest shows that feature bisexual men: “The Bi Renaissance: 21 shows with amazing bi male representation.” And as noted above, Gen Z has become the cohort that Hollywood seems to want to influence the most, probably because one of the marks of Gen Z is their sexual fluidity. Dr. White explores this and other culturally relevant marks of this generation in his book Meet Generation Z, which you can find on Amazon HERE.

Finally, Dr. White mentioned some statistics about the rise of LGBTQ+ in the U.S. You can read the article titled “LGBTQ+ Identification in U.S. Now at 7.6%” from Gallup HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss one of the most dominant cultural medical news stories over the last several months - GLP-1 weight-loss drugs. In the U.S., 42% of adults and nearly 20% of children are clinically obese. And if you incorporate factors such as waist measurement and fat distribution, then the rates of obesity go up even higher. Being overweight is linked to more than 40 chronic conditions including diabetes, heart disease, stroke and various cancers. So how are we to consider the impact of these drugs from a Christian worldview?

As Dr. White mentioned, here are the links to a number of articles that are related to today's conversation that we suggest you take a moment to read:

Christopher Rowland, “Americans are taking GLP-1 drugs in record numbers,” The Washington Post.

Ariana Eunjung Cha and Aaron Steckelberg, “13 surprising ways GLP-1s may benefit the body, according to science,” The Washington Post.

Christopher Rowland, “3 ways GLP-1 drugs could be getting better,” The Washington Post.

Kelsey Kramer McGinnis, “Christians Debate Drugs vs. Discipline in the Age of Ozempic,” Christianity Today.

Shelby Grad, “Why we've become so suspicious of people who lose weight. John Goodman's trending moment,” Los Angeles Times.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's summertime rerun, Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye discuss the fact that as culture becomes less and less rooted in Christianity, and people (sadly) have more and more encounters with Christians who are not very Christlike, misconceptions and caricatures of the Christian faith seem to be growing. Today's discussion, which was a listener-submitted topic, will walk through four of the most common caricatures in today's culture.

Here are some series given by Dr. White at Mecklenburg Community Church related to the caricatures covered in today's discussion that you may be interested in taking a look at:

“The Science of God”

“Astrophysics… for People Who Are Open to God”

“Don't Check Your Brains at the Door”

“When God Makes Us Laugh”

“Why?”

And then here are a few past podcast episodes that you can go back and listen to in case you missed them that may add to today's discussion:

CCP103: On the Sudden Rise of LGBTQ

CCP92: On Challenges to Believing the Bible

CCP63: On Why Christians Are So Mean

CCP49: On Faith vs. Science

Finally, Dr. White mentioned a book that he wrote in the conversation today that you may want to check out: A Mind for God. It should also be noted here that he discussed a book by author Philip Yancey. Following the news that broke about Yancey's shadow life, we released another podcast episode you may want to go back and listen to: CCP179: On When a Beloved Leader Falls.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's summertime rerun, Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye discuss a congressional hearing on the subject of UAPs - Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon - more commonly known as UFOs. There has been a surge in sightings of UFOs, causing the government to take the issue more seriously. So is there really a place in a Christian worldview for belief in life on other planets? We thought it worthwhile to revisit this early podcast episode.

Dr. White wrote a blog on this subject called “UFOs… Confirmed?” that explores the significance of what it would mean for life on other planets to be confirmed. During the podcast, they also mentioned a book series called The Space Trilogy written by C.S. Lewis that you can find HERE on Amazon. Finally, it may also be helpful to listen to a series Dr. White delivered at Mecklenburg Community Church called “Astrophysics… for People Who Are Open to God.” It explores our fascination with cosmic things, and whether they point away from God or toward Him.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's summertime rerun, Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye discuss a topic that we frequently get asked about at Church & Culture - Calvinism. There are really two dynamics behind the ministry of Church & Culture: to look at the interplay between the Church and the culture of our day, but also to examine the culture within the Church itself. And it's with the latter that today's discussion lands. We thought it worth sharing this episode from our first season with you again.

There are three helpful resources that Dr. White mentioned during the podcast, particularly when it comes to the debate over passages found in Scripture referencing election and predestination, as well as an understanding of Arminianism. They are:

William Klein, The New Chosen People: A Corporate View of Election.

“N. T. Wright on Predestination and Election,” watch on YouTube HERE.

Roger Olson, Arminian Theology: Myths and Realities.

Another topic that came up frequently in the conversation was grace. Dr. White recently delivered a series at Mecklenburg Community Church called “Christianity's Most Scandalous Idea” that focused specifically on grace as it relates to the Christian faith. You can find that series HERE.

Finally, the idea of women in ministry and leadership within the church is a tension point for those who hold to Calvin's beliefs. You can listen to our recent podcast on that topic HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can submit your questions through the form on the podcast website HERE.

In this week's summertime rerun, Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye discuss a topic that was sparked by a series given by Dr. White at Mecklenburg Community Church called “Primordial: Genesis and the World's Primeval History.” The culture of our day seems to want to place science and faith at odds with each other when in reality everything in science compliments God's existence - in fact, it demands it. What's ironic is that the study of science itself was deeply rooted in a Christian worldview.

In addition to the aforementioned series at Meck, there are two other series that Dr. White led on this topic that would be very helpful to check out. The first is called “The Science of God” with installments that explore the science of God's existence, of God's creation and of faith. The second is “Astrophysics… for people who are open to God.” As a culture, we seem to be almost obsessed with cosmic headlines from the Big Bang to black holes, from quarks to quantum mechanics, and from the search for planets to the search for life in the universe. This series explores whether when you delve into such things, they point away from God or to Him?

Dr. White has also written blogs tied to today's conversation that we would encourage you to read. “A Post-Empirical God” discusses the concept of reductive naturalism and how scientists have become increasingly hostile towards religion. “From How to Who” is a blog that discusses the Scopes Trial you heard mentioned in today's episode. It points to the fact that the real issue of our day is not between creation and evolution, but rather between theism and naturalism. Finally, he wrote a blog titled “UFOs… Confirmed?” taking a look at the significance of life on other planets and how future discoveries in science may impact our faith.

Dr. White's book Christianity for People Who Aren't Christians: Uncommon Answers to Common Questions is a great resource for you or others you may know who are open to exploring the Christian faith. He takes on the topic of faith vs. science in this book as well. You can find it HERE on Amazon or from your favorite bookseller.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode.You can submit your questions through the form on the podcast website HERE.

In this week's summertime rerun, Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye discuss the (still) hot topic of women in ministry within the Church. Throughout Christian history, with the increased institutionalization of the Church came very set patterns of misogyny. And certain passages of Scripture have been used to fuel both sides of this debate as to what role women can and should take within the Church.

Dr. White has written several blogs that may serve as helpful additions to today's conversation, such as a blog titled “Beth Moore in the Pulpit,” in which he explores the complementarian vs. egalitarian views held by many within the Church. And one of the most foundational things Dr. White laid out was to follow “The Biblical Model of Leadership.” The conversation also touched on Jesus and how He viewed women. Check out this blog simply titled “Sexism” to explore more about this.

Also mentioned was the letter of I Timothy in the New Testament and how that has impacted many churches' views on women in ministry. Dr. White mentioned that a good book on this is The Message of 1 Timothy & Titus by John R.W. Stott.

And at the beginning of the discussion you heard Alexis mention a conversation that took place in a Christianity Today podcast titled “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill.” While the entire podcast had a lot to contribute to the topic of women in the Church, Episode 13 in particular includes an insightful interview with the CEO of CT, Tim Dalrymple.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can submit your questions through the form on the podcast website HERE.