Culture
153 conversations where the hosts get into culture.
153 conversations
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Dear LFTP: the mother-in-law moved in
- My mother-in-law moved in seven months ago and it’s been difficult — how can we sort this out?
The last letter comes from a wife whose mother-in-law moved in seven months ago with no boundaries, rising bills, unpaid prescriptions, and open disrespect.
From No. 604 · Rearview Mirror
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Church, emotions, and the self-focus of affluence
- How do you help people in an affluent, self-focused culture see that they need Jesus?
Ben revives a question from two or three shows back: are church services and worship tunes postured toward certain personality types — predominantly emotions and dealing with emotions?
From No. 603 · Found Out
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Dear LFTP: a son's Taiwanese wife
- My son married a woman from Taiwan whom I dislike and have nothing in common with; what should I do?
Mike (speaker-2) reads a Dear LFTP letter from a parent whose son married a woman from Taiwan: she is sweet but the writer calls her 'uncultured,' dislikes her housekeeping, cooking, English, and dress, and says they are never invited over.
From No. 537 · The Bible Confuseth
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Article: why people reject Christianity, and record unhappiness
- Can you be holy and happy at the same time?
- Are people actually unhappier than past generations, or just more willing to say so?
A host reads an article arguing that beneath surface objections, two reasons top the list for rejecting Christianity: bad experiences with professing Christians who look nothing…
From No. 519 · Folk Ain’t Happy
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The sinlessness survey: American Worldview Inventory 2023
- Fewer than half of born-again Christians say Jesus lived a sinless life on earth: is that surprising, and what explains it?
A host presents the American Worldview Inventory 2023: the share of born-again Christians saying Jesus lived sinlessly fell from fifty-eight to forty-four percent since 2020, with…
From No. 494 · 500-ish
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Dear LFTP: the quinceanera the stepmom was cut out of
- For the sake of peace, is continued silence better about being cut out of the quinceanera?
A first-generation Mexican American woman married into a Caucasian blended family writes that she invited her stepdaughter Lisa to a quinceanera she would help lead, the extended…
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Declining faith and deaths of despair study
- Is declining faith fueling a rise in deaths of despair?
A host reads a Daily Mail article on a Wellesley College study linking rising 'deaths of despair' (suicide, alcohol and opioid abuse) among middle-aged white Americans to declining faith and church attendance.
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The He Gets Us campaign: "I hate this"
- Is the He Gets Us $100M ad campaign good evangelism?
Ben reads from the article on the $100M He Gets Us Christian ad campaign (TV, online, billboards targeting millennials and Gen Z, funded by wealthy anonymous families).
From No. 487 · Sing What You Want
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Church image problem, point one: politics
- Does the church have an image problem, and are the article's six fixes good?
- Should Christians and churches stay out of partisan politics to witness better?
The Carey Nieuwhof article walkthrough begins: 'The church has an image problem — six ways to fix it.'
From No. 477 · Shofar, Shogood
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Prophecy article: should pastors teach the end times?
- Should pastors teach Bible prophecy and the end times?
- What are the top three reasons Jesus rebuked his disciples?
The hosts read a Christian Post article on evangelical leaders urging pastors not to forsake teaching Bible prophecy (Jack Hibbs: 20–40% of the Bible; Revelation 19's 'Jesus is the spirit of prophecy').
From No. 451 · Mississippi Don’t Push
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Dear LFTP: the aging parent nobody wants to house
- What should I do about aging and housing when my family does not want me to live with them?
A healthy writer in their mid-sixties with grandchildren asks what to do when family members eye-roll at the idea of housing them someday.
From No. 451 · Mississippi Don’t Push
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We look for things that make us right, from the Declaration to the dog
- How do we get better at interacting with the notion of truth day to day?
"We don't look for truth. We look for things that make us right," a participant says, joking that the Declaration of Independence promises the pursuit of happiness, not truth.
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Pick your own pharaoh: America, free thought, and the persecuted church
- Is restricted freedom the reason Jesus is flourishing in countries like China?
Chris is invited to speak and asks whether restricted freedom in places like China is why Jesus is flourishing there.
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Secular's answer and Dear LFTP: the waiter said 'you guys'
- Is it insulting for a server to address a table of women as 'you guys'?
Secular's answer to the first letter: the couple will be happier if she stops obsessing; if the attention ever makes the husband uncomfortable he can say so or involve his supervisor.
From No. 428 · Old Church Ideas
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The mythical 'perfect Christian' posturing
- Is the 'perfect Christian' posture a real thing churches run into, or just an easy target for opinion pieces?
A host asks whether the 'perfect Christian' — people posturing as having it all together — is a real thing churches run into or just an easy target for opinion pieces.
From No. 424 · When Culture Lacks Objective Reality
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How do you get the fear of God?
- How does a person get more awe, respect, or fear of the Lord?
The hosts wrestle with how anyone cultivates awe of God in a Western culture with no ultimate authority to respect.
From No. 387 · Renewing Deuces and Fearing God
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News spin, buckets, and advertising culture
- To what extent are you responsible for other people's perception of what you say?
The hosts work the question: news is delivered as fact-plus-spin and audiences only read their own spin; people sort each other into buckets ('compassionate liberal,' 'heartless wingnut') to avoid complicated middle-of-the-road conversations.
From No. 360 · Divided We Thrive
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Article read: the case against monogamy as a cultural norm
- Is relationship science unfairly biased by the culture of monogamy?
Ben reads a Vice article titled 'Why we need to challenge the culture of monogamy.' The article's author, who identifies as polysexual, argues the monogamy norm is so pervasive…
From No. 351 · Marriage For One
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What's Trending: Christians and public morality
- How active should Christians be in speaking out publicly about issues of morality?
A host (addressed in the audio as "Dan") brings the Bristol Palin news — the abstinence-education advocate pregnant a second time out of wedlock — and asks how active Christians…
From No. 239 · Faithful in the Means
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Devotionals, snippet culture, and applying Scripture today
- Would you disagree with most devotionals?
Answering a chat question, the hosts agree most devotionals are 'cotton candy' — half a verse plus pages of commentary — though one host's college biblical professor paired scholarship with devotion well.
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Dear Life: a southerner adjusts to northern manners
- As a southerner visiting northern homes, should I just get over the manners difference?
A graduate student writes that she moved from the south to the east coast and feels northerners are rude for not taking her coat or inviting her to sit.
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Recapping the sign fallout; how to answer the 'bigot' label
- How do you combat being labeled a bigot or social Neanderthal for Christian beliefs?
Returning to the church-sign story, the hosts recap the facts: a sticker placed on the sign within hours, coverage in the Register and on Channel 8, threats against the pastor's…
From No. 88 · February 13 2012
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Dear LFTP: should she keep her last name?
- Should a bride take her husband's last name when his name comes from an absent father?
- Is it appropriate for a man to give a female coworker a nickname?
A 33-year-old listener engaged to Kip does not want his last name, since Kip never knew the father who abandoned him as a baby; she is proud of her own father's name, a hard-working Vietnam veteran.
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Dear LFTP: 'Cheated' and the boyfriend who won't commit
- What should a 31-year-old woman do when her boyfriend of 11 years keeps refusing to have a baby?
A host reads a heavy letter from a 31-year-old woman whose boyfriend Chad, 35, has strung her along for 11 years, had her get two abortions five years in, and now refuses to have a baby.
From No. 77 · November 21 2011