The Alisa Childers Podcast

#162 Should Christians Rethink Original Sin? With Clay Jones by Alisa Childers

What we think about God affects what we think about everything else. Phylicia Masonheimer joins me to discuss how theology informs how we think about everything from politics to sex to sin struggles.

Beth Allison Barr's book "The Making of Biblical Womanhood" has become a best-seller in Christian circles and argues that complementarianism is linked with abuse. I invited my friend Dianna Williams from Southern Evangelical Seminary to review the book and talk about the difference between complementarianism and egalitarianism, and to share some agreements and disagreements with this popular book.

In 2019, an ancient curse tablet was found by archaeologists in Israel that is likely at least 3,200 years old. Scholars believe it may show the earliest Hebrew name for God. This calls into question the Documentary Hypothesis, which speculates that the first five books of the Bible were not written by Moses, but by various editors and authors. Dr. Jeremiah Johnston joins me to talk about what he thinks is the archaeological find of our lifetime.

On todays episode, I am joined by Dr. H.C. Felder, author of The African American's Guide to the Bible, to discuss these questions and other hot-button topics as they relate to race and Christianity.

#157 What's wrong with youth ministry and what can we do about it? with Greg Stier by Alisa Childers

#156: The Old Testament: Reliable history or a book of myths? With Kristen Davis by Alisa Childers

Do Christians care about women? Do pro-lifers only care about making sure babies get born? Ginna Cross is a nurse sonographer and the Executive Director of 2 Pregnancy Medical Clinics in SE Wisconsin. Ginna and her husband Steve are the parents of 5 children and are licensed foster parents. They are passionate about caring for the most vulnerable and bringing the Kingdom of God to a broken and desperate world.

Have you ever shared your pro-life view, only to be told something like: "pro-lifers are really just pro-birth!" Or "pro-lifers don't care about women, they just want to keep them from aborting their babies." Or "Christians don't care what happens to babies after they are born!" Recently, on the Cooper Stuff podcast, John Cooper interviewed Ginna Cross, the director of a pregnancy resource center in Kenosha, Wisconsin. She addressed these misconceptions with hard facts and data. I was so blown away by the insightful discussion that I reached out to John to ask if I could publish the episode to my podcast and he graciously gave permission.

Is it possible to start with Wonder Woman and end with the gospel? My guest, Frank Turek says yes— popular superhero movies point to the real superhero, Jesus. Frank and I had a fun conversation about his new book, Hollywood Heroes, and how popular movies can help start gospel conversations.

How do we engage pro-abortion arguments? How can Christians interact with pro-choice advocates on social media? Pro-life apologetics expert Scott Klusendorf joins me to answer the 6 most common objections to pro-life arguments.

In the second video of our 2 part series on politics, Os Guinness talks about how having a biblical worldview should make Christians actively engaged in politics.

Should Christians get involved in politics? In the first of a two-part series, Dr. Jeff Myers of Summit Ministries joins me to talk about how Christians should think biblically about public policy.

Over twenty years ago, Rosaria Butterfield was a tenured professor of English literature and women's studies at Syracuse University. Her primary academic field was critical theory specializing in queer theory. She lobbied for LGBT aims alongside her lesbian partner until she encountered Christ in what she described as a "train wreck" in 1999. She joins me on the podcast to share her razor sharp insights when it comes to biblical sexuality, identity, and repentance. Her academic background with a historical focus on 19th century literature informed my Marx, Darwin, and Freud has given her a unique understanding of how our culture has been influenced by these historical figures when it comes to sexuality and identity.

In the first installment of our 2 part series on biblical sexuality, Christopher Yuan joins me to talk about the controversy surrounding Side A Christianity vs. Side B Christianity, the Revoice Conference.

Frank Turek, author of the popular book, I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist joined me via YouTube livestream to talk about the book, and take reader questions.

Is Universalism the opiate of the Theologians? Dr. Michael McClymond has written a two volume work on the history of Universalism and joins me to talk about why he believes this doctrine fails from a historical, theological, and philosophical perspective.

Description: Is it possible to find meaning in suffering? This was a question philosopher Doug Groothuis had to grapple with not just from an intellectual standpoint as a seminary professor and author of a respected apologetics textbook. He had to wrestle through this question emotionally when his wife Becky was diagnosed with a rare form of dementia that would take her life. His insights are powerful and profound and ultimately put the goodness and sovereignty of God on display.

On November 18th, 1978, over 900 men, women, and children were poisoned in a mass murder/suicide in South America under the prompting of cult leader Jim Jones. Jeremiah Roberts and Andrew Soncrant of the Cultish podcast join me to reveal some facts about Jonestown you may not have heard before, and talk about why Christians need to be aware of cults, and what we can learn from Jonestown.

#143 is Orange Children's Curriculum Going Progressive? by Alisa Childers

A few weeks ago, I released a short video explaining why I made the decision to not see the Redeeming Love, a move based on the Francine Rivers novel of the same name. My video was met with a mixed reaction. In today's podcast, you'll hear the audio from my video, along with my final thoughts as I engage some pushback and clear up some misconceptions.

It seems everyone is looking for answers to many of the problems we are facing. Natasha Crain has just written an important book warning Christians that many of the cultural solutions are promoting secular, rather than biblical ideas. She demonstrates how secularism is not neutral, but religious in nature, with the worship of God being exchanged for the worship of self. How can Christians live faithfully different in today's culture?

Dr. Jeff Myers of Summit Ministries joins me to talk about the biggest faith challenges American youth are facing. We talk about the importance of asking good questions, and talk through the intellectual, cultural, emotional, and theological obstacles that often stand in the way of faith.

Is deconstruction a word to describe experiencing doubt or an insidious movement bent on deconverting evangelical Christians? Tim Barnett of Red Pen Logic joins me to discuss the new book we are writing about the phenomenon of deconstruction. We answer questions like, did Martin Luther deconstruct from the Catholic Church? Was Jesus encouraging deconstruction when he said things like, "You've heard it said...but I say..."? We also discuss the recent comments of John Cooper (of Skillet) identifying "the deconstruction Christian movement" as a false religion.

#138 Is Christian Nationalism a Real Problem or an Overblown Strawman? with Neil Shenvi by Alisa Childers

What do books like "Jesus and John Wayne, The Making of Biblical Womanhood, The Color of Compromise, After Evangelicalism, and White too Long have in common? Neil Shenvi breaks down how the goal of these books is to deconstruct common evangelical understandings of Christianity and the gospel.

John Cooper joins me to talk about how Christians can stand strong in a culture of fear, intimidation, and deceit.

Can a historical Adam and Eve be reconciled with Theistic Evolution? Are the first 11 chapters of Genesis a type of "mytho-history?" A new book by William Lane Craig is igniting debate among Evangelicals as to the nature and relevance of this biblical couple. My friend and Adam and Eve expert, J.R. Miller joins me to share his review along with some questions and concerns he has about this controversial book.

#134 Want to understand what the Bible says about hell? Read about heaven! with Lee Strobel by Alisa Childers

Listen to my last livestream of 2021 as I debunked Christmas myths and answered all your burning questions! I covered questions like: What is my position on end-times? Can you lose your salvation? Do we go to heaven when we die or simply stay in a state of unconsciousness until Jesus returns? What's my opinion of N.T. Wright? Am I a Calvinist? I answered all these and more. Merry Christmas!

Ethan Nicolle, creative director for the Babylon Bee joins me to share his love of all things G.K. Chesterton. He shares why old dead guys like Chesterton are so relevant for our culture today, and gives us a special inside look at the Babylon Bee.

One of my most popular podcast episodes tells the story of Jac Marino being saved out of the occult. Many of you have written in with questions for Jac, so we recorded a livestream in which she answered questions live. If you are a concerned Christian parent wanting advice on how to protect your kids from the New Age and Occult, or simply want to know more about Jac's story, tune in for this special Q&A episode!

In this video, I continue my conversation with Teasi Cannon about the nature of spiritual abuse, and what danger signs to be looking out for in your own church.

My friend Teasi Cannon and I have walked through a lot together. We decided to give my viewers a bird's eye view of what our conversations have looked like as we've processed the spiritual abuse we walked through together. We pray it will edify and encourage the body of Christ and possibly be a vehicle of recognition and healing.

Greg Stier was raised in a family of bodybuilding, tobacco-chewing, fist-fighting thugs. He never knew his biological father because his mom had met his dad at a party; she got pregnant, and he left town. Though his mom almost aborted him, in a last-minute twist, Greg's life was spared for so much more. Greg joins Alisa to share his radical story of redemption and helps timid Christians to get over their fear of evangelism.

Can a boy be 'trapped' in a girl's body? Can modern medicine 'reassign' sex? Is our sex 'assigned' to us in the first place? What is the most loving response to a person experiencing a conflicted sense of gender? How has the scientific evidence surrounding sex and gender become politicized? Ryan T. Anderson, author of the book, "When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment" joins me to discuss these topics and answer your questions!

J. Warner Wallace joins me to celebrate the release of his new book, Person of Interest: Why Jesus Still Matters in a World that Rejects the Bible. We'll talk about this much-anticipated release, take your questions live, and hear from a couple of surprise guests.

Contemporary Christian Music has grown into a multi-million dollar industry in which the waters have become murky on what individual CCM artists believe. Public stories of deconstruction, and several CCM artists speaking out in favor of redefining the historic Christian ethic on sexuality and gender have left many CCM fans confused. In this livestream, Becket Cook will join me to share his story of being a gay man with a successful career as a set designer in Hollywood. By all appearances, he was living the dream. He was designing photo shoots for supermodels and hanging out with celebrities. But after experiencing the emptiness of that life, he surrendered to Jesus and trusted him for salvation. He will share what it has been like to trade that old life for a new life in Christ. Together, we will speak to issues surrounding biblical sexuality, and comment on the confusion we are seeing in the CCM industry.

Tom Gilson joins me to talk about his book, "Too Good to Be False: How Jesus' Incomparable Character Reveals His Reality." We talk about some insights into the character of Christ and what that can mean for our worship of and obedience to him.

Somehow we have arrived at a cultural moment where people are shouting their abortions and changing their pronouns. But how did we get here? And why does our culture think this is rational? We will talk to Nancy Pearcey (author, Love Thy Body) about how to think about our physical bodies in a biblical way. Alisa Childers co-hosts with Krista Bontrager.

Costi Hinn joins me for a candid discussion about his upbringing as the nephew of Benny Hinn, and his rejection of the prosperity gospel. He opens up about spiritual abuse, and the failings of the seeker sensitive mega church model.

In today's podcast, I'll give several short answers to big questions like, does the Bible condone Human Sacrifice? What is the Universal Christ? What are 5 apologetics questions every Christian should learn to answer? Do Genesis 1 and 2 contradict each other? What are the six pillars of deconstruction? I also open the podcast by giving my thoughts on the Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast, and offer some positives and well as a couple of cautions.

Elizabeth Urbanowicz of Foundation Worldview joins me to talk about how to help our kids learn the critical thinking skills they will need to properly think through their worldview...even the very claims of Christianity itself.

Join Dr. Richard Howe and Alisa for a round of "Stump the Professor," as they took on your toughest questions about Christianity. Dr. Richard Howe is Provost, Professor of Philosophy and Apologetics, and Norman L. Geisler Chair of Christian Apologetics at Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina. Some of the questions Dr. Howe addressed: Can God change his mind? Can you lose your salvation? Can we be happy in heaven if our loved ones are in hell? Where is Jesus' body right now?

Ken Samples, an expert on St. Augustine and all things Original Sin, joins me to respond to the 5 most significant claims against the doctrine of Original Sin argued by Progressive Christians. Professor Samples will answer the following claims: 1. St. Augustine made up Original Sin to explain his personal sexual hangups. 2. Jesus never heard of Original Sin 3. Original Sin is a Greco-Roman idea imported into Christianity 4. Original Shame/Original Blessing/Original Goodness are better explanations of human sin 5. Inherited sinfulness is not one of the curses on Adam and Eve in Genesis

Jeremy and Adrienne Camp, along with John and Korey Cooper of the band Skillet join me for an honest discussion about why there seems to be so many deconstruction/deconversion stories coming out of the Christian music industry.

How important to the gospel and good theology is a belief in a literal/historical Adam and Eve? Dr. JR Miller joins me to discuss how a historical Adam and Eve offers the strongest argument against racism and for racial reconciliation. We also discuss how a historical Adam and Eve relates to Darwin, abortion, and the history of eugenics in the United States.

Jac Marino tells her story of being seduced into the occult, initiated into the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and ultimately saved by Jesus out of witchcraft. Watch her powerful story...

What is the biblical model for racial reconciliation? Monique Duson of the Center for Biblical Unity joins me to tackle this topic.

My book club just read through Voddie Baucham's new book, Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism's Looming Catastrophe. We had the chance to ask Dr. Baucham our questions live! If you want to join the Alisa Childers Bookclub on Facebook, we will be opening it back up for new members, so be sure to listen to the end to hear details about how to join and to listen to a sneak peek of next week's episode!

Pastor Edwin Ramirez joins me today to talk about how he bought into woke Christianity, and how it affected his ministry and family. He tells the story of God walking him out of the social justice gospel and into the true gospel.