Communications

Discerning What Is Best
with Dr. Rex M. Rogers

Details: Written by: Rex M. Rogers; Published: 02 October 2023

I’ve been trying to rethink my approach to sharing what I believe. Will you join me in this?

Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #111 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how I analyze current issues and events, and how then I apply a Christian worldview to these developments.

I suppose some might say, I hope, that I do a reasonably good job of identifying and detailing the problems, that I can tell you what’s happening, what’s wrong with it or threatening about it, maybe who’s behind it. I can describe the emerging worldview or rejection of historic Judeo-Christian values. Drawing on the scholarship and evaluations of many others, I can even predict what might happen next, that is, where this slippery slope is headed.

I can describe our American 21^st Century culture that’s constantly offended at anything and seemingly everything, the culture giving itself over to nihilism and perpetual rage. This culture is not a pretty picture.

All this is well and good, and I’d argue necessary if we are to understand the post-Christian culture in which we now live.

But if my assessment of my own abilities and track record are accurate, then OK, what’s the problem?

The problem is that I don’t think I am nearly as adept at providing or recommending solutions, in particular biblical remedies for the challenges we face in our post-Christian age. Or if I am, I don’t spend as much time on this part of the situation report, thus potentially leaving those who listen to me feeling down, discouraged, and God forbid, hopeless.

It’s easy to do this. In a speaking engagement, Sunday School class, blog, radio program or podcast, there is only so much time or words to configure a topic. You have to get in, say something meaningful, and get out. OK, but how does one use the available time and space?

Too much time on background and definitions, trends, and current stats—to set the scene, and viola, time’s up. No time for, “OK, what does God want us to do about this?”

I know I have done this, and God forgive me, it bothers me to think I’ve left people with a sense of the problem but beaten down or befuddled about how to respond.

For what became a 1976 best-selling book, the late Francis A. Schaeffer famously borrowed his title from the Old Testament passage, Ezek. 33:10, “How should we then live?”

That’s the point. How can I do differently in my analysis, such that I point listeners toward hope, not hopelessness, toward what God says about “How should we then live?” in this present post-Christian culture?

In his 2018 book, The Church in Babylon: Heeding the Call to Be a Light in the Darkness, theologian Erwin Lutzer says, “We have lost the culture war. The winners are drooling over the spoils. (Referring to the Jewish captivity in ancient Babylon, he said,) but we must remember that God didn’t abandon the Jews to random fate, nor does Jesus abandon us to our own foolishness.

Jesus promises us, ‘Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’ (Matt 28:20). Things are not what they appear. Temporary victories and defeats do not tell the whole story. The story will only be written when Jesus returns to settle forever who the winners and losers are.”

Then Lutzer goes on. “Babylon, the United States, the Middle East, China—God is not intimidated by humanism, Islam, or American leftists. He will lead us if we seek him. There is no combination of Satan along with his demons that can permanently defeat us if God thinks we have work to do.”

Lutzer noted that there is blessing in desperation—people turn to God when they find themselves in trouble, and there is encouragement in divine sovereignty—

Christians can be forever optimistic because we know the author of the story—“his-story”—and we know the end of the story. Our task is not to be winners or to be successful per se. Our task is to be faithful.

So, part of providing hope is to provide perspective, an accurate and truthful big picture, and that means answering the question as best we can, What is God doing?

Scripture is eminently clear, not necessarily about the details of the future, but who holds the future and how we should relate to him.

God is Sovereign, omniscient, and omnipotent. He is never surprised, never confused, never not in charge.
In his Word, God has given us “everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of himwho called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Pet 1:3).
Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, and Jesus said, “Never will I leave you;never will I forsake you” (Heb. 13:5).
The Apostle Paul said, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39).

Now, none of this means that we should ignore life challenges. We live in a real world with real challenges. God expects us to be “in the world” even as he expects us to be “not of the world” (Jn 17).

This does not mean we ignore current problems and pain. It means we look upon these things with perspective.

I want to do a better job of reminding people that God is there, and he is not silent, that God is God in the face of the world’s false ideological “isms” and in the midst of life’s trials. Indeed, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I will fear no evil,” Why? “Foryou are with me” (Ps 23:4).

I want to do a better job of reminding people that God is working…now.

For example, we know that God is doing more among Muslims than at any time in history. We know this because of what SAT-7, the ministry with which I serve, hears and sees on a daily basis and because of what other Middle East ministries tell us. We should find this encouraging and spiritually energizing.

We know God worked in ancient Babylon, and he is the same God today, so we know he will work and is working in our, so to speak, “Babylonian culture.”

We know that while people can mean things for evil, God can mean them, or use them, for good. As I noted in another podcast, there is no better illustration of this than the Roman cross, an instrument of pain, shame, and death that God turned into an international symbol of redemption and hope because of the work of Jesus Christ.

We know that things are not worse now in our post-Christian culture than they were for the early church in the First Century A.D. If God was faithful to the new believers then, he can be and he is faithful to believers now. If he could send revival into the prideful Roman Empire, he can send revival into our prideful culture today.

We know that for every sin there is a biblical remedy, a biblical solution provided by faith through grace in Christ.

We know there is nothing in this world, no circumstances, opportunities, and challenges of life beyond the ken of God’s Word. Consequently, we can seek to apply our Christian or biblical worldview to everything we experience.

What really does God want us to do and therefore, how should we then live? We can do this with everything in life. We can review, consider, and discern what does God want us to do and therefore, how should we then live?

We can do this with a pandemic, with sexual liberation issues, national security, education, race and racism, and business. God is there and he is not silent.

Our task – my task I think – is to share his voice of truth and hope.

Well, we’ll see you again soon. This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best. If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Download an episode for your friends. For more Christian commentary, check my website, r-e-x-m as in Martin, that’s rexmrogers.com.

And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.

*This podcast blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.

Details: Written by: Rex M. Rogers; Published: 14 February 2022

Jesus said, Be in the world but not of the world. But to do that, we have to think, we have to Discern What Is Best. But how, pray tell, do we do this?

Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #1 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.

Years ago, one of our sons returned from a date with his girlfriend. They’d gone to a movie and decided to walk out because the film proved to be less than worthy.

What was interesting to me at the time was his exasperation when he got home—something that turned out to be a teaching moment for me and what he later said was a maturing moment for him. Remember, they’d walked out because the film got nasty. I was proud of them for doing so. But when we talked about it at the dining room table that evening he said, “But Dad, it was PG-13. It was supposed to be OK.”

Yeah, it was supposed to be OK.

He’d wisely checked the ratings, as we’d taught our kids to do, to assure he wasn’t taking his girlfriend to a raunchy movie. But the film’s language and sex scenes belied the rating.

The teaching moment was this: Checking the ratings was a good thing. But a rating of PG-13 doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good movie, or one that’s worth your time and money. Hollywood or critics may say it’s a good movie, but that doesn’t mean it actually is. A rating is one indicator. It helps, but you still have to think. You have to exercise your spiritual discernment.

Through that experience my son learned to think more carefully, purposefully, and thoroughly.

He learned to apply his Christian worldview and to flex his Christian critical thinking muscles. He took another step toward mature spiritual discernment.

Thinking, particularly the kind where we apply knowledge of the Scripture to life’s everyday issues and events isn’t what it used to be.

In my estimation, as a culture if not individually, we give over too much to a host of pretenders we let do our thinking for us = celebrities, politicians, preachers, athletes, super models and super stars.

But God does not want us to be confused by the world’s false teachers and wayward influencers.

In Col. 2:8, the Lord said, “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.”

God does not want us simply to absorb our culture’s philosophy du jour. To “catch our worldview like measles” as Francis A. Schaeffer once said.

God does not want us confused and disillusioned.

God created us to think. He created us in his image as reasoning though we’re not always reasonable beings and he entrusted us with the responsibility to think well and wisely. This we must do to care for ourselves, our families, our country, and the world. God wants us to think, to discern as the Scripture calls it.

Spiritual discernment is rooted in Philippians 1:9-11.

God said,

9 - “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,

10 - so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,

11 - filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”

It’s the act of using biblical principals and values to Discern What Is Best so that we may live the Christian life the way God intended. It’s about holiness, Christian liberty, independent judgment, and mature decision-making. It’s the act of living “in the world” while being “not of the world.”

We’d do well to rediscover or to develop how to “think Christianly.”

What, for example, does Christian spiritual discernment suggest about these thorny issues?

--immigration

--religious professions or protestations of presidential candidates

--respecting Muslims while disagreeing with tenets of Islam

--deficit spending and debt

--climate change

--healthcare

--aging

--human sexuality

--welfare

The list of issues needing, nay crying, for Christian thinking is virtually endless.

So, I say, learn to discern and think Christianly…about everything = Discern What Is Best.

That’s what this podcast is about, Discerning What Is Best. If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, look for us on your favorite podcast platform. Download an episode for your friends. Helps us all learn to discern what is best.

How do we learn to discern what is best?

By learning biblical doctrine – In 2 Peter 1:3, God said, “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”

So how do we discern what is best?

By understanding the principals and values we’ve drawn from unchanging biblical doctrine, by learning about real world issues in this rapidly changing world, and by applying our biblical, Spirit-guided discernment to real world concerns and everyday issues of life.

As long as we breathe, we can never “not think.” We live, we are Christians, therefore we (should) think Christianly. It is our great blessing and liberty.

Well, we’ll see you again soon. For more Christian commentary, be sure to subscribe to this podcast, Discerning What Is Best, or check my website, r-e-x-m as in Martin, that’s rexmrogers.com. And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.

Details: Written by: Rex M. Rogers; Published: 10 February 2022

This is the trailer for my new podcast, which will be officially launched later this month. This trailer is already available on Apple Podcast and several other podcast platforms.

*This blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.

Details: Written by: Rex M. Rogers; Published: 18 January 2022

Learning about podcasts is my latest thing. It’s been fun.

A podcast is simply a pre-recorded (mostly) audio or (some) video episode made available online. They can be streamed or downloaded, generally for free.

Last estimate, there are maybe 1 million, or still fewer, podcasts now being distributed. This sounds like a lot, and in one sense it is if you take into account podcasts didn’t exist until the early 2000s. They were popular for a time, dropped off for some reason, and more recently seem to be surging again.

But podcasts relative to other media distribution platforms are still a new thing. According to Buzzsprout.com, “There is a lot of unexplored space in the podcasting industry. There are at least 600 million blogs, 23 million YouTube channels, but only 800,000 podcasts in Apple Podcasts. That means for every podcast, there are 750 blogs and 29 YouTube channels.”

Some 67 million Americans listen to a podcast every month, and this number has grown 100% in past 4 years. So podcasting is a brave new world for communicating simply, personally, inexpensively, and without barriers online, making your voice and point of view, literally, accessible to the world.

The average podcast is 30 minutes, while the average listener hangs in for 22 minutes. Interestingly, the average American commute is 25 minutes. Podcasts range in duration from 4-5 minutes to 3-4 hours.

So it would seem that if you really want to get in, grab someone’s attention, and get out, something less than 22 minutes might be optimal, but it depends upon the topic and podcaster preference, not technological constraint and generally not cost.

In the early days podcasters had to work to get their podcast RSS feed onto a variety of distribution platforms. Now, with one-stop-shopping services like Buzzsprout, the service does the work of distribution once the podcaster signs on and uploads the latest episode.

Not counting the cost of a laptop, podcasters can get started with an outlay of less than $250 for a good microphone and associated equipment. Recording and editing software, a “DAW” or digital audio workstation, like GarageBand is available for free on Apple products.

Most podcasts feature interviews or conversations, while many churches and other similar organizations that regularly produce audio content simply use the podcast medium as another way to disseminate their content. A “true podcast,” one in which the podcaster is offering original content exclusively via the podcast medium are less common but are increasing in number.

I’m researching because I’m looking hard at launching my own podcast, in the midst now of learning and deciding whether to brand the podcast on my own or as an associated expression of the ministry with which I serve, SAT-7 USA.

Time will tell.

Details: Written by: Rex M. Rogers; Published: 18 January 2022

Learning about podcasts is my latest thing. It’s been fun.

A podcast is simply a pre-recorded (mostly) audio or (some) video episode made available online. They can be streamed or downloaded, generally for free.

The average podcast 30 minutes, while the average listener hangs in for 22 minutes. Interestingly, the average American commute is 25 minutes. Podcasts range in duration from 4-5 minutes to 3-4 hours.

So it would see that if you really want to get in, grad someone’s attention, and get out, something less than 22 minutes might be optimal, but it depends upon the topic and podcaster preference, not technological constraint and generally not cost.

Time will tell.

Details: Written by: Rex M. Rogers; Published: 24 February 2021

1–What will the Internet, originally envisioned as a place open to everyone for the free exchange of ideas, become in the months/years ahead?

2–Who will control the Internet?

3–Will tomorrow’s Internet block certain religions, like Christianity—what historically has been considered a matter of religious liberty and freedom of speech?

4–Will tomorrow’s Internet censor given religious beliefs deemed misinformation or out of sync with the “prevailing acceptable narrative,” e.g., biblical moral teachings about sexuality, gender, abortion, or maybe ideas about health or climate change, etc.?