The Melissa Dougherty Podcast

What do you do with a mega-famous influential billionaire who says she's a Christian... but denies the core beliefs of Christianity? Instead, she believes in the divinity of humanity, the power of affirmations, the ability to speak and think things into existence, and that all religions lead to God and much more. Isn't she a New Ager, then? No. In this video, my goal is to explain why. What is this stealthy spirituality of Oprah Winfrey, and what are people missing?Timestamps: 0:00- Intro05:03- Part 1: Context, Controversy, and Bio: Who is Oprah Winfrey?20:37- Part 2: What New Age is... and What it Isn't. 40:04- Part 3: Why Oprah Isn't a New Ager.1:31:26- Part 4: The "Why" with Biblical Perspective.1:43:18- Final Thoughts.

In this video, I'm taking a deep dive into the episode behind a well-known clip of Oprah that's been widely shared in Christian circles. It's sparked a lot of discussion about her beliefs and where they stand in relation to Christianity. But I believe there's more to this clip than what's on the surface.I go over the majority of the episode, show what you didn't see, analyze Oprah and the panel's beliefs, and explore the spiritual questions raised, giving a lot of commentary on what I would consider to be unrecognized New Thought beliefs. This is not just about Oprah or another "Oprah EXPOSED" video. This is about something bigger—a set of beliefs that isn't going anywhere and I promise you at some point in your Christian walk, you'll be confronted with these arguments and beliefs this panel puts forth. I want you to be equipped.On top of this, I also give some (maybe) unpopular opinions about the interaction between Oprah and an outspoken audience member. I thought this would be a shorter video, but… that just didn't happen. Even for how long this turned out, I still could have spent another hour (or more) analyzing this episode and the clip in question.

Some Christians will say that for every counterfeit spiritual experience out there, there's an authentic version of it. This is how some odd and bizarre behaviors are explained to be not only biblical but also a display of spiritual power and favor from God. But what if that's not the case and there is more to this? I asked Dr. Berg, an expert on this topic, to come on my channel and talk about this. Dr. Berg's Information:Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@spiritoftruthoutreach7633His book: https://amzn.to/3zaWugxPeople can submit their free application to Hartwell School of Divinity to take courses on topics like the New Age Movement and Critical Race Theory: https://hartwelldivinityschool.com/apply/

There's a lot of strange stuff out there about the Bible. So I interviewed Bible scholar and historian Wesley Huff to give some clarity on this topic. Timestamps:03:59- Myth #1: The Bible was put together at the Council of Nicaea, where books were taken out.09:39-  Myth #2: The Bible has changed over time, especially with books being taken out, texts changing, and the Catholic Church having a different “Bible” than we do. 32:23- Myth #3: The Roman Catholic Church gave us the Bible.45:50- Myth #4: The King James Bible is the Best and Most Accurate Bible.56:51- Myth #5: The Book of Enoch Belongs in the Bible. 

We're digging deeper into the world of MLMs (Multi-Level Marketing). In this interview, I talk with two former MLM leaders, Kathy and Noble Gibbens, who are absolutely delightful. They were in a well-known MLM for over 20 years and were very successful. So why'd they leave it all?This is a follow-up to my initial MLM video. With as long as this interview was, there was till a LOT more to cover. Both Kathy and Noble have followed up on more thoughts about their experience in their podcast. You can find the info for that below.Social Media Contacts for Kathy and Noble Gibbens:Kathy:www.filteritthroughabraincell.comEpisode 237: The 15 Characteristics of an emotionally unhealthy environment: https://www.filteritthroughabraincell.com/podcasts/filter-it-through-a-brain-cell/episodes/2148661620IG: @filteritthroughabraincellNoble:www.eqgangster.comEpisode 453: The 15 Qualities of a Toxic Environment: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/453-the-15-qualities-of-a-toxic-environment/id1497445408?i=1000656864419IG: @thenoblegibbens

We're delving into the world of MLMs (Multi-Level Marketing Companies) and exploring their allure and controversy. And let me tell you... MLMs can be one of the strangest and most intriguing phenomena in the business world. I never intended this video to be as long as it did. But the more research I did, the more I decided that I needed to cover.  It took me many, many hours and almost 2 months to do this research. I have yet to see MLMs addressed from a Christian perspective. The *real* fuel for why I did this deep dive has to do with my background in New Thought and what I started noticing hidden within MLMs that needs to be talked about. (And it's not New Age.) I'm calling this the "dirty secret of MLMs." My goal is to approach this with fairness but also firmness. I think there's generally a lot of (understandable) anger and bitterness with some of the anti-MLM crowd, and I wanted to approach this from a different angle. I made this video with no resentments but with a genuine interest in the topic, your stories, and a love for people and truth. I actually had a really wholesome experience doing this research. ●Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewAgeToChristianity/●Instagram: @melissaldougherty ●Twitter: https://twitter.com/Meldougherty77●My Website: https://www.melissadougherty.co/

UFOs and aliens can be a fringe topic that many Christians don't know how to navigate. Surprisingly, there are many academics and theologians that have seriously looked into this from a Christian worldview. In this fascinating interview, I talk to Dr. Brian Huffling about this topic and his surprising conclusions. 

Why believe in God? Why believe in the Gospel? Why believe in Truth? I interviewed Dr. Neil Shenvi about one of the most fascinating arguments for God that we as Christians should become very familiar with.  Get Neil's book here:https://shenviapologetics.com/FOLLOW:Neil's Social Media-Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064262516458Twitter: https://twitter.com/NeilShenviWebsite: https://shenviapologetics.com/My Social Media-Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewAgeToChristianity/Instagram: @melissaldougherty Twitter: https://twitter.com/Meldougherty77My Website: https://www.melissadougherty.co/If led, support the channel! (Thank you!):One time donation on Paypal: https://paypal.me/MelissaDougherty77●Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewAgeToChristianity/●Instagram: @melissaldougherty ●Twitter: https://twitter.com/Meldougherty77●My Website: https://www.melissadougherty.co/

I invited my good friend Jon Noyes on to talk about a tough topic: Suicide. I was stunned to discover how serious this is when I saw a recent statistic showing the growing suicide rates. Why is this happening? How can we biblically look at this? What can be done? There is hope. 

Alisa Childers and I had the honor of interviewing Jinger Duggar Vuolo, author of "Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear." You might remember her from TLC's popular shows, "19 Kids and Counting" and "Counting On." We discuss some of the legalistic teachings of Bill Gothard and how there was an ironic prosperity twist on his Life Principles doctrine. We also ask her about her journey of disentanglement and why deconstruction was not an option for her because of her love for Jesus and truth. She has a humbling and inspiring story.  

It's Q&A time! A few weeks ago, I asked you all to email me some questions you'd like me to answer. The questions were compiled, and this is part 3. I did my best to answer them, and I hope it helps!Topics:-How can we encourage our children to continue studying God's Word without making it feel like a chore? -A cultural question about how we should Biblically go about ordaining men? -How can we discern when a passage or verse in the Bible can be applied to us and when it shouldn't?-The pastor of the charismatic church my wife attends recently recommends listening to music in certain frequencies. Is this frequency music thing dangerous or unbiblical?-How should we, as Christians, handle conspiracy theories? ●Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewAgeToChristianity/●Instagram: @melissaldougherty ●Twitter: https://twitter.com/Meldougherty77●My Website: https://www.melissadougherty.co/

It's Q&A time! A few weeks ago, I asked you all to email me some questions you'd like me to answer. The questions were compiled and this is part 2. I did my best to answer them and I hope it helps!Questions Asked:How do you talk to someone who is "deconstructing" their faith? Or how do you explain to them why deconstruction is wrong/flawed? What do you make of the longer ending of Mark? What would your explanation of Mark 16:18 be?What does it look like to lovingly say that a statement author or experience is wrong?Who are your top 5 pastors/preachers/teachers?Do you think it's wise to invite Mormon missionaries to my house with the goal of sharing the truth with them?●Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewAgeToChristianity/●Instagram: @melissaldougherty ●Twitter: https://twitter.com/Meldougherty77●My Website: https://www.melissadougherty.co/

What does historical and archaeological evidence say about Jesus? Archaeologist Dr. Titus Kennedy has firsthand seen and excavated discoveries connected to Jesus's birth, ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection. I ask him about the shroud of Turin, the Talpiot Tomb (or supposed "Family Tomb" of Jesus) that talks about his supposed wife "Mary," the fascinating Nazareth Inscription that talks about the resurrection if there is any archaeological evidence for Jesus' miracles and more.https://www.melissadougherty.co/

It's Q&A time! A few weeks ago, I asked you all to email me some questions you'd like me to answer. The questions were compiled and this is part 2. I did my best to answer them and I hope it helps!

You think you might know about the soul, especially if you're a Christian. But I promise you, there's more to this doctrine than you think. I invited my friend Eric Hernandez on to talk about the soul. He gives philosophical and biblical reasons why a soul must exist. Heads up, this is a very nerdy but fascinating interview. I learned a lot and I know you will too. Eric Hernandez is a dynamic, young evangelistic and apologetically inclined preacher who has a passion for defending his faith on both theological and philosophical grounds. He is a licensed minister, certified formation therapist and currently teaches at Magdiel Bible Institute.

It's Q&A time! A few weeks ago, I asked you all to email me some questions you'd like me to answer. The questions were compiled, and this is part 1. I did my best to answer them and I hope it helps!01:04- If God knew that Satan and the other angels would do what they did, why did He create them?07:16- Testing Fruit- How do these several scriptures actually apply in the New Testament when it comes to discerning a false teacher by their fruits? 15:22- I wonder what your thoughts are on the end times. Are you a post rapture, Pre rapture or mid? 17:58- Do Christian parents need to prohibit the reading and/or watching of things with magic or non-Christian spirituality present? Also should play time be monitored to stop children from pretending that they have magic?23:48- Would you have any godly advice for husbands and wives?

The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) is a popular and fast-growing new movement of Christians who emphasize signs and wonders and teach that God is giving a new revelation through new apostles and prophets. But is this biblical Christianity? This stuff used to be fringe. Now it's probably in your church in some way. Why is this dangerous, and how can you spot it? I talk with Holly Pivec and Doug Geivett, the authors of Counterfeit Kingdom, about this concerning movement. 

Angela Ucci is a former New Age Astrologist. She was into every facet of the New Age, including tarot, moon worship, mediumship, crystal energies, Law of Attraction, and much more. Her journey is filled with hills and valleys that ultimately led her to the last thing she expected: Jesus. FOLLOW:Angela's Social Media:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCieY3zrETIq1BUGmaoQBfEQInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/angelamarieucci/My Social Media:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewAgeToChristianity/Instagram: @melissaldougherty Twitter: https://twitter.com/Meldougherty77My Website: https://www.melissadougherty.co/

This is the story of Becket Cook. He was a gay man in Hollywood who had quite a successful career. He gave up everything to follow Jesus. It all started with a fateful event in a coffee shop... In this video, we discuss how this happened and how he overcame common objections to what the Bible says about homosexuality. We also discuss Christians going to gay weddings, Progressive Christianity's unbiblical (and unhelpful) stance on this topic, do's and don'ts when someone comes out, and much more. Our goal is to talk about these topics in a loving but firm way in a culture that is hostile to a Biblical perspective on sexuality. RESOURCES:https://www.amazon.com/shop/melissadoughertyDONATE:If you are led, consider donating:https://paypal.me/MelissaDougherty77FOLLOW:Becket Cook:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BecketCook/aboutInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/becketcook/Twitter: https://twitter.com/becketcookMelissa:My Social Media:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewAgeToChristianity/Instagram: @melissaldougherty Twitter: https://twitter.com/Meldougherty77My Website: https://www.melissadougherty.co/

Monique Duson, who spent two decades advocating for Critical Race Theory and is the founder of the Center for Biblical Unity, joins me to discuss BLM, microaggressions, marxism, equity, inclusion, and MUCH more. Monique breaks down the movements we're seeing in social justice, and she explains how it differs from the Gospel. We both see that racism is a serious issue. But CRT is *not* the answer. You can't become a gaslighting racist to get rid of racism. This isn't about politics. It's about what Biblical justice and unity look like in the eyes of God. Hope you have your popcorn. We don't hold back. WATCH:About Microagressions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtVX6dKoyoAMonique's Interview with Alisa Childers: https://youtu.be/FwyJk1G_Dm0Monique with Allie Beth Stuckey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMgjppPZqvA&t=1845sRESOURCES:Small Group Curriculum: https://www.centerforbiblicalunity.com/reconciledMonique's Podcasts (as mentioned in the video:) https://www.centerforbiblicalunity.com/podcastsFOLLOW:Monique-Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/centerforbiblicalunity/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/centerforbiblicalunityYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheRealMoniqueDWebsite: https://www.centerforbiblicalunity.com/Melissa-Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewAgeToChristianity/Instagram: @melissaldougherty Twitter: https://twitter.com/Meldougherty77My Website: https://www.melissadougherty.co/

The New World Translation made by the Jehovah's Witness religion is one of the most distorted translations I've ever seen. It's made by Jehovah's Witnesses for Jehovah's Witness theology. This means there have been a LOT of changes made to it to fit their beliefs. But even then, is it possible to use it to show them the Gospel and even show them that Jesus is Jehovah God, one of the most repulsive doctrines by the religion? My guest Vada Hedgeman, a former gang member now turned apologist, has a very creative strategy for doing just that. Join us and see how using their own publications is one of the best ways to get through to them. FOLLOW:Vada's Social Media-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/IsHeARealOneVadaRealMCInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/vadarealmc/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VadaRealMCMy Social Media:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewAgeToChristianity/Instagram: @melissaldougherty Twitter: https://twitter.com/Meldougherty77My Website: https://www.melissadougherty.co/If led, support the channel! (Thank you!):One time donation on Paypal: https://paypal.me/MelissaDougherty77

I got the great privilege to interview Elizabeth Urbanowicz, the founder of Foundation Worldview, about the tools she and her team have created to teach our kids critical thinking and life skills. I LOVE this stuff! Foundation Worldview is a Comparative Worldview Curriculum for kids and teens. Several years into Elizabeth's teaching experience, she realized that despite being raised in Christian homes, attending a Christian school, and being active in church, her students thought more like the culture than like Christ. So she did something about it! I ask her about this curriculum, discuss my personal interest in it, ask about parents that might feel discouraged, and overall how and why it's important to teach our kids -now more than ever!- about truth and critical thinking. Elizabeth's interview with Alisa Childers:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7PmXVltODM&t=2686sElizabeth's Interview with Mike Winger:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxog0VWWOEw&t=1641sElizabeth's Information:Website for Curriculum:https://foundationworldview.com/Use Coupon Code MELISSA for 15 percent off!Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foundation_worldview/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/foundationworldviewMy Social Media:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewAgeToChristianity/Instagram: @melissaldougherty Twitter: https://twitter.com/Meldougherty77My Website: https://www.melissadougherty.co/

The type of feminism I see today is toxic, loud, and entitled. There's a way to right wrongs, and this is not it. I share my straightforward thoughts about how modern-day woke feminism has overcorrected its cause and now has become a cesspool of hatred, bitterness, and anger that has caused immeasurable damage to all future generations of women. Yes, I'm aware of our cultural climate right now and I know there will be people that will brazenly disagree with me on this and yes, I kinda go a little Ted Talk about this topic. But these topics are important and need to be discussed openly and freely. I welcome *respectful* divergent dialogue in the comments. melissadougherty.co

*This is audio extracted from my YouTube video from March 2022 converted here in podcast land for your listening pleasure.*..I invited my friend Alisa Childers on my channel to have a conversation about the book "Untamed" by Glennon Doyle. This is a very popular (and trendy) book that has enchanted millions of people. Published in 2020, it's a memoir of Glennon Doyle. One reviewer describes the book in this way: "This testament to female empowerment and self-love, with an endearing coming-out story at the center, will delight readers." So yeeeaahhh... self-help. The scary patriarchy. Radical feminism. White supremacy. Oppressed by religion. Not to mention the Progressive/New Age spirituality scattered throughout the book. With a book so relevant and popular, not just culturally but spiritually, I just had to give my thoughts about it. There was no better person to do that with than Alisa Childers. Hey... Doyle wants us to go untamed, so we decided to take her advice. We weren't tamed in our review. Roar. Alisa's review of Untamed:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHKBfmFxxOM&t=2731sWhere you can get Alisa's book:Website: https://www.alisachilders.com/anothergospel.htmlAmazon: https://www.amazon.com/Another-Gospel-Christian-Progressive-Christianity/dp/1496441737

*This is audio extracted from my YouTube video from January 2022 converted here in podcast land for your listening pleasure.*..What in the crazy is happening in the world? The pressure Christians are under to buckle and give in to this ever-growing secular culture is unlike what we've seen in most of our lifetimes. How can we navigate through the cultural mess when there are so many loud voices in our faces pressuring us to compromise our values and God, and if we don't, then we're seen as bigoted, hateful, and close-minded? (Not to mention it's ten times harder to know we've even been seduced when most Christians don't read or study their Bibles.) We're ridiculed for standing for truth that corresponds to reality. Christians are accused of having the worst possible motives when we simply believe that there's a reason to live for truth, justice, and love from a Biblical perspective. How can we remain faithful in a culture that is becoming more and more aggressively hostile to the Christian faith? Here is one lifeline: This book.There are a few books on my shelf that are marked up and tabbed. I refer to these books often. This is one of them. This is one of the best books I've read about this topic, and possibly Natasha's best book she's written yet. (Which is saying something!) Reading Natasha's book was refreshing, thought-provoking and encouraging. 

Did Jesus actually perform miracles and did the Bible record it correctly? Was He just a magician? What about Jesus' claims to be God? Who was He praying to in the garden? What about the resurrection? Did Jesus actually rise again or are there other explanations for what happened? How Can we know for sure? I interviewed my friend Dr. Mikel Del Rosario, about these topics... who's much smarter than me. He's also known as the 'Apologetics Guy' on social media. Mikel's Website: http://apologeticsguy.com/My Website: https://www.melissadougherty.co/

*This is audio extracted from my YouTube video from June 2021 converted here in podcast land for your listening pleasure.*..Is there a better way to talk to and treat those you disagree with? Does loving others with who we vastly disagree mean we have to sacrifice our theology (and humanity) to do it? Where do we draw the line? Does the topic of Calvinism, atheism, politics, LGBTQ+, or other contentious topics deeply anger you to the point of being aggressive and reactively lashing out about it? How can we act more Christlike instead of looking like angry politicians in disagreement? I asked Dr. Sean McDowell on to talk about how we can accomplish this as well as asking his advice on how we can have real Biblical unity without compromising.Sean's YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/SeanMcDowell-infoSean's books:https://seanmcdowell.org/booksSean's website:https://seanmcdowell.org/Sean's Interviews/videos with Drew, the Genetically Modified Skeptic:1- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJX28l54YxE&t=0s2- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_-L4i5gL1kMy Website:https://www.melissadougherty.co/My Social Media:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewAgeToChristianity/Instagram: @melissaldougherty

*This is audio extracted from my YouTube video from June 2021 converted here in podcast land for your listening pleasure.*..Is it true that for every counterfeit spiritual experience or practice out there, that there's an authentic one? These are teachings such as clairaudience (speaking to angels), channeling spirits, spirit guides, spell casting, trances, astrology, auras, psychic powers, or just ‘fill in the blank' with any New Age teaching. In many churches and in Physics of Heaven, it's taught that there's an authentic version of these new age teachings that actually belongs to the Church. I want to give my respectful but firm disagreement about this ideaAnd guys, to be clear -yes- this book is a book currently sold at Bethel's book store and endorsed by Bethel's leaders. Beni and Bill Johnson contribute chapters in the book and Kris Vallotton gives the introduction. This book is the epitome of what concerns me about what is happening at Bethel and what they're teaching. When I'm having a conversation with someone at church and their theology is a direct result of what they read in this book? That means it's influencing Christians. I can't not speak about this. 

*This is audio extracted from my YouTube video from December of 2020 converted here in podcast land for your listening pleasure.*I define the Pendulum Problem as follows: when someone takes an unhealthy extreme stance in their beliefs for the purpose of distancing themselves as much as possible from their previous beliefs that were steeped in trauma or deception. This is something I'm sure we've all experienced and witnessed. It can be difficult for someone to see the opposite point of view depending on which end of the Pendulum they're on. I elaborate more on this in the video and express why this is an issue and hopefully what can be done about it.My website:  https://www.melissadougherty.co/

**This is audio extracted from my YouTube video from September of 2021 converted here in podcast land for your listening pleasure.*I'm going to give you some core differences between the type of love we see expressed in society, the culture, and the world compared to the love that is taught in the Bible… and yes, there's a big difference. When I was in the New Age, I had a complete distortion of what I understood ‘love' to be, but at the time, I truly perceived ‘love' to be a deeper spiritual law. It was emotional, but it was more than that. I thought of it as a universal power, used to wield peace and harmony sheerly based on the power of my thoughts and feelings and how I treated others. In my mind, it was through the power of ‘love' that we'd bring a sort of awakening through humanity. So when I started learning about what the Bible *actually* taught about love as defined by God, it took a very long time of intentional study to ‘unlearn' what I was taught. Website:  https://www.melissadougherty.co/

*This is audio extracted from my YouTube video from November of 2020 converted here in podcast land for your hearing pleasure.*Want to know why Universalism, the Law of Attraction, Mysticism, Religious Pluralism, and Oneness isn't Biblical? Well, here you have it. In a previous video linked below, I went over Five New Age teachings that I have seen enter into the church. Though there were a lot, I only went over the top five I saw the most. I won't be going over each one in detail like I did in the last video, but I will be going over how each one of these beliefs is completely against what the Bible says and what Jesus taught. Think of this as a sort of follow up video from the last one. My original Video of the Top Five New Age Teachings in the Church: https://youtu.be/FCDbO8Lc5NUMy Social Media:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewAgeToChristianity/Instagram: @melissaldoughertyWebsite: https://www.melissadougherty.co/ 

*This is audio extracted from my YouTube video from November of 2020 converted here in podcast land for your hearing pleasure.*Our culture is upside down. There are now hundreds of genders, truth is whatever you want it to be (as long as it's culturally acceptable), and tolerance is more than just a bumper sticker, but a redefined term that implies we 'conform' or we're canceled. We have celebrities like Demi Lovato changing her identity numerous times. Instead of seeing this as alarming, or that there's a deeper issue there, our culture celebrates it and sees anything otherwise as hateful. It's exemplified and put on a pedestal. (Please pray for her.) But what if these are just symptoms of a deep, dark hole in our spirit and soul? I interviewed my good friend Jen who is a former lesbian and new ager who came to Christ in 2018. She was brave enough to share her story with us all in the hope of sharing the hope and love that she found in Jesus. *He* was what she was searching for her whole life. This interview was no simple task and we discussed this on many levels before putting this out there to the world.The first part of this interview focuses on Jen's story. In the second part, we discuss common questions people bring up about this issue, but we don't go into as much detail as some would probably like. So please be sure to check out the resources here for this topic to learn more, and please pray for all those in the LGBTQ community.

*This is audio extracted from my YouTube video from November of 2020 converted here in podcast land for your hearing pleasure.*Micah Wilder was raised a faithful Latter-Day Saint, or LDS which some people might know better as ‘Mormon'. He is a co-founder of Adams Road ministry, a music ministry that is performed at over 1000 churches across the U.S. He briefly attended Brigham Young University, and at the age of 19 went on a two year mission in Florida for the Mormon church. In this interview, we discuss his book, "Passport to Heaven." This book tells of his incredible Journey of finding the grace of the biblical Gospel of Jesus Christ while serving on his mission. I've shared excerpts of Micah's book the last few weeks and was honored to be able to sit and talk with him about his book and his love for the Mormon people. I also share some of my insights and experiences with reading the book as well as my hope for the impact it will have on future readers. As always, there are *so* many things to discuss about this topic, so I hope our conversation is helpful and fruitful. 

*This is audio extracted from my YouTube video from November of 2020 converted here in podcast land for your hearing pleasure.*I got the great privilege to sit with my friend and brother in Christ, Wesley Huff, and ask him to talk about this. I would consider Wesley to be an expert on this sort of topic, so I find what he has to say on this topic to be very compelling and hopefully will be to you too.Wesley's Website:https://www.wesleyhuff.com/Wesley's blog about the Council of Nicea:https://www.wesleyhuff.com/blogWesley's List of Apologetic books You Should Have:https://www.wesleyhuff.com/blog/2018/11/13/the-apologetic-books-you-should-already-have-on-your-shelfMy Social Media:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewAgeToChristianity/Instagram: @melissaldougherty Website: melissadougherty.co

*This is audio extracted from my YouTube video converted here in podcast land for your hearing pleasure.*What do we do when we have churches with their hearts in the right place but their methodologies, priorities, and goals are flawed? The "American Church" style has a reputation for entertainment, preaching prosperity, life application, wonders, healing, and miracles... but not necessarily the Gospel, or exegeting scripture and theology. It creates a frustratingly watered-down gospel and puts the need for discipleship on the back burner. I asked Dale Partridge on to get his insights on this and what we can do about it. Dale's Information:Reformation Seminary about House Church Planting: https://reformationseminary.com/Dale's Website is about teaching Biblical literacy and getting back to the Bible: https://relearn.org/Follow Dale on Social Media:https://www.instagram.com/relearnhq/Follow his Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...My Social Media:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewAgeToChri...Instagram: @melissadougherty77 My Website:https://www.melissadougherty.co/If you are led, please consider donating:https://paypal.me/MelissaDougherty77

Men are amazing, useful, necessary, and contribute immeasurably to society. Demi Lovato is a woman.A few years ago both of these statements would have been obviously true and acceptable. Now, they conjure up wrath, division, and bitterness. Sometimes I just gotta stir the pot. So stir I shall. *swish.*My website: melissadougherty.co

*This is audio extracted from my YouTube video from May 2020 converted here in podcast land for your hearing pleasure.*Let me get mushy for a second.This is made in hopes that we can have some insight into how we look, sound, and act as the Body of Christ. I have found myself visiting the same set of Scriptures over the last few months, and I thought it would be an encouragement to all of us during a tough time, but also in hopes that we can all learn how to treat others as we would want to be treated. We're not going to be perfect. I'm definitely not! But I'd hope that we can remember that making our lights shine doesn't mean sacrificing good theology... or our ability to be kind. Especially to those we disagree with. 

*This is audio extracted from my YouTube video converted here in podcast land for your hearing pleasure.*Heads up... Dense conversation ahead.You've been warned. What do you do when suddenly everything in your culture gets turned around? We're finding more and more people embracing blatant lies thinking it's the high moral ground. As language becomes less expressive, minds are more easily controlled. Wrong is right. Right is wrong. Up is down. Down is up. Babies in the womb aren't actually babies. Men have periods. Men are women. Women are men. At the same time... there are no men or women. Gender is fluid. The color of your skin determines your worth and character. Never in my lifetime did I think this would be considered 'progress'. It ironically hurts more people than it helps, especially those who truly struggle with their sexual identity and those begging to be heard about true injustices. The world hurts the world to help the world. Slavery is freedom. War is peace. Love is hate. This reminds me of Orwell's "Newspeak." This is confusing.And I think it's supposed to be.Why?Power.Apathy makes people prefer the false peace of conformity to the tensions of liberty. Whatever and whoever has the power can pressure you into believing their version of truth.... even if they're flat-out lies. Anyone who opposes this is viewed as backward and ignorant. We live in a world where there is more and more intense social pressure to accept that there is no such thing as objective truth. There's only power. Whoever holds the power decides what is true and false. The value of truth claims depends on who's making them. More and more people are knowingly believing lies out of fear of opposing them. Personally, in a few short years, this has been in my face. It's been difficult and confusing to sort out what's happening and trying to understand it in a meaningful and accurate way. It felt messy. It's like you're trying to clean your kitchen, and can handle the regular mess of everyday life. Then suddenly, your kitchen expands ten times bigger and the mess is no longer one you're capable of handling by yourself. It's time for reinforcements who have had MUCH more experience dealing with MUCH bigger messes. So I handed Greg Koukl his metaphorical mop and broom. I asked Greg on to give me his thoughts on this. As I mention at the beginning of the video, I listen to his podcast, Stand to Reason, regularly.  He did one in May that really resonated with me. We discuss things like:How do we discern truth in this divided world? Are we really entering into soft totalitarianism? What does that even mean? Are we inflating this? With such militant and intense pressure to conform, what can we do about it? And much more. I walked away from this conversation with a lot of the understanding, perspective, and insight that I've been craving about these topics. So yeah. This was an interesting interview.

*This is audio extracted from my YouTube video converted here in podcast land for your hearing pleasure.*I mean... someone needs to say it, right? The Megachurch world can be a mess. I know I'm going to make a lot of people uncomfortable with what I'm saying in this video, but someone needs to say this. This is not me being nitpicky, being a guns blazin' heresy hunter, or trying to point out minor differences in how worship is done or how sermon styles are conducted.No, this goes FAR beyond that. This is an actual legitimate issue that needs to be talked about in the megachurch. A lot of thought and prayer went into making this video. I hope that I relay my thoughts on this with integrity. The ending was sorta off script, but I kept it because I meant it. Please pray for all Megachurch pastors. 

This is my first actual podcast outside of uploading previous content from my YouTube channel. This was actually really fun and I'm looking forward to making another. I intro the podcast, give some background on the name, offer some encouragement, and what to expect from my talking face in the future. 

This video was originally on YouTube. The audio is extracted for this podcast.Today I break down one of the best posts and advice I've seen in 2020, and in general. Why is it wise to listen to perspectives and beliefs that are different than yours?I hope to elaborate on that.My friend Rob Bowman made this post, and he's one of the most respected men in his field. He's a biblical scholar and apologist with 35 years of ministry experience. He's authored about a dozen books, one of my favorites being, "Putting Jesus in His Place: the Case for the Deity of Christ" which he co-authored with J. Ed Komoszewski. 

On my YouTube channel, this has been by far my most popular video, with almost 700,000 views. It's now in podcast form!New Age in the Church?! Yep. It's been going on for quite a while now. In fact, you'd be shocked to know that a lot of Christians believe in many New Age beliefs and don't even know it. I might make a part 2 to this at some point because I realize that there's a LOT of New Age practices out there. But in putting this video together, these are the top 5 deceptions that I kept thinking about that I see the most in churches today: Law of Attraction, Oneness, Religious Pluralism, Universalism, and Mysticism. I talk about what each of these are and how they are so deceptively synced together in many Christian worldviews.