Just Thinking Podcast

  A group of evangelical Christians has come together under the banner ‘Call To Pause’ to argue against the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court. Their primary rationale is that Kavanaugh’s appointment would be detrimental to the poor and “disenfranchised” and would foster an ongoing “culture war”. Listen as Darrell and ‘Omaha’ (who is back in the saddle after a two-week hiatus from behind the mic) take an in-depth look at what ‘Call To Pause’ is advocating and why. Resources Related episodes * N/A Related blog articles * In Reply To a Beloved Brother Regarding the Kavanaugh SCOTUS Nomination Related external media * Call To Pause (Freedom Road Media) * Why Building a Border Wall Is a Morally Good Action (Dr. Wayne Grudem) * U.S. Supreme Court (Official website) Support To support the podcast, please click here or copy/paste the following link into your browser - https://justthinking.me/support/ Disclaimer © Darrell B. Harrison and Just Thinking…for Myself

  Sinful anger is a problem for many people, including Christians, perhaps even you. But what is “sinful” anger? How do we discern sinful anger from righteous anger? How are you and I, as Christians, to deal biblically with our sinful anger? Listen in as Darrell flies solo and takes listeners through the Robert D. Jones book ‘Uprooting Anger: Biblical Help For a Common Problem’ in an effort to help us understand better how to deal with our sinful anger in a gospel-centered way. Resources Related episodes * N/A Related blog articles * N/A Related external media * Uprooting Anger, Biblical Help for a Common Problem (Robert D. Jones) * How To Kill Sinful Anger (Desiring God) * Killing Anger (Ligonier Ministries) Support To support the podcast, please click here or copy/paste the following link into your browser - https://justthinking.me/support/ Disclaimer © Darrell B. Harrison and Just Thinking…for Myself 2012-2020. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and writte

  On July 2, 2018, Trinity Church of Portland (Oregon) released a statement announcing the removal of Dr. Art Azurdia from his positions as an elder and Senior Minister of Word and Worship at Trinity Church. This sad news served as the impetus for the Just Thinking podcast addressing the broader issue of sexual immorality within the body of Christ as a whole. Please note that this is an expanded episode of the podcast and that Darrell is flying solo, as his trusty sidekick and wingman ‘Omaha’ (Virgil Walker) is away attending to other priorities over the next couple of weeks. It is our prayer that you will find this episode sobering, yet encouraging and edifying. Parental Discretion Strongly Advised Resources Related episodes * N/A Related blog articles * N/A Related external media * A Statement Regarding Art Azurdia From the Elders of Trinity Church of Portland (Trinity Church of Portland) * The Real Root of Sexual Sin (Desiring God) * Sexual Destruction (Ligonier Ministries) * This Moment

  This week we are getting to know the guys behind the podcast. Listen as Darrell and Virgil ask each other questions that they would like to know and you would like to know as well. Resources Related episodes * N/A Related blog articles * N/A Related external media * N/A Support To support the podcast, please click here or copy/paste the following link into your browser - https://justthinking.me/support/ Disclaimer © Darrell B. Harrison and Just Thinking…for Myself 2012-2020. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Darrell B. Harrison and Just Thinking…for Myself with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.   --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/podcast-just/support

  Immigration. It’s today’s “issue du jour” both in the world and in the church. Constant media reports of children being forcibly separated from their families at the border between the United States and Mexico have people around the world, including many Christians, angry and upset about America’s immigration policy. But is it possible to set aside emotions and consider what the Scriptures objectively say about this issue? Listen as Darrell and Virgil attempt to find out what, if anything, the gospel has to say about this issue. Resources Related episodes * N/A Related blog articles * N/A Related external media * 10 Things You Should Know About Christian Ethics (Tim Challies) * The Deadly Toll of Human Smuggling and Trafficking in the US (CNN) * What Is The ‘Regulative Principle’? (Ligonier Ministries) Support To support the podcast, please click here or copy/paste the following link into your browser - https://justthinking.me/support/ Disclaimer © Darrell B. Harrison and Just Thinking…for

  Since the earliest days of Christianity, false doctrine has been a threat to the gospel of Christ and to His church. This is no less true today as false teachers, from within and without the church, continue to mislead countless souls by deliberately misinterpreting and misconstruing the Scriptures in accordance with their own sinful agendas. How are we, as Christians, to respond to false teachers and the false doctrines they espouse? How can followers of Christ know for certain what is true and what is false? Listen as Darrell and ‘Omaha’ (Virgil) look to God’s word for answers to these and other questions concerning false teachers. Resources Related episodes * N/A Related blog articles * N/A Related external media * Tim Challies: 7 False Teachers in the Church Today (Tim Challies) * The 5 Tests of False Doctrine (Tim Challies) * The False Teachers: TD Jakes (Tim Challies) * The Pathology of False Teachers (John MacArthur) * The Distinguishing Marks of False Teachers (Thomas Broo

  Recently, celebrities Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, two people who seemingly had it all: wealth, notoriety, and popularity, committed suicide. When a person commits suicide, particularly someone who is well known, invariably the question is asked: Why? Notwithstanding the specific reasons why either Spade or Bourdain would decide to take their life, the gospel has an answer to that question. Listen in as Darrell and Virgil address the topic: Suicide and the Gospel. Resources Related episodes * N/A Related blog articles * N/A Related external media * Did You Know That Charles Spurgeon Suffered From Depression? (Michael Reeves, Crossway) * Resources on Suicide (Desiring God) * The Heart of Depression (Ed Welch, TableTalk Magazine) * The Gospel Cure (Elyse M. Fitzpatrick, TableTalk Magazine) * Westminster Larger Catechism * Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Its Cure (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones) * Spurgeon’s Sorrows: Realistic Hope for those who Suffer from Depression (Zack Eswi

  On May 25, 2018, citizens of the Republic of Ireland, in an effort to achieve a “modern Constitution for a modern country”, according to its Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, voted to repeal the 8th Amendment to its Constitution which, since 1983, had outlawed abortion except in cases where the life of the mother is at risk. When the results of the referendum were announced, supporters of the repeal literally celebrated the outcome. Many would say abortion is a solely “women’s issue”. Needless to say, Darrell and Virgil adamantly disagree. Listen as these brothers apply the gospel to this issue and discuss why Ireland legalizing the murder of God’s unborn image bearers makes it a nation more analogous to Old Testament Israel than a “modern” country. Resources Related episodes * N/A Related blog articles * Abortion, Evil, and the Sovereignty of God Related external media * Irish women celebrate after abortion referendum * Ireland votes overwhelmingly to legalize abortion (New Yorker) * Is the ‘Wok

  The Barna Group recently published a follow-up to a study originally conducted in 1993 about how Christians view their personal responsibility in evangelism and sharing the gospel with others, and the results are disheartening, to say the least. So disheartening, in fact, that Darrell and Virgil considered the study results worth addressing on an episode of the Just Thinking podcast. Listen in as the brothers look deeper into the study results and talk about some reasons why the numbers are on the decline. Resources Related episodes * N/A Related blog articles * The One Sin You Don’t Think You’re Guilty Of, But Probably Are Related external media * Sharing Faith is Increasingly Optional to Christians (Barna Group) * What Is Evangelism? (Ligonier Ministries) * What is the Church? (Ligonier Ministries) Support To support the podcast, please click here or copy/paste the following link into your browser - https://justthinking.me/support/ Disclaimer © Darrell B. Harrison and Just Thinking…for My

  On May 18, 2018, 17-year old Dimitrios Pagourtzis, a former student at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, allegedly used a firearm to murder 10 of his classmates and injure 10 others. Predictably, calls from special-interest groups, politicians, and others for tighter “gun control” laws immediately sprang up on social media and in the mainstream media. But are guns actually the problem? Conversely, are more laws the solution? In this episode of the Just Thinking podcast, Darrell and Virgil tackle these questions through the lens of the gospel and discuss why the real problem dates back to long before guns were ever invented. Resources Related episodes * N/A Related blog articles * The Fallacy of Gun Control as a Means of Behavior Change Related external media * 10 People Killed at Texas High School (Business Insider) * Texas School Shooting Victim’s Mother Says Daughter Rejected Suspect’s Advances (CBSNews.com) * Gun Timeline (PBS.org) Support To support the podcast, please click here

  In this episode of Just Thinking, Darrell and Virgil give listeners to the podcast two for one. First, the brothers take a look-see at what the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is doing to promote social justice within its organization, including achieving what its president, Steve Gaines, refers to as a “maximum percentage” of ethnic diversity on the various committees within the group. And if that wasn’t enough SJWism for you, the brothers discuss a move by the University of Connecticut – UConn – to start offering a minor in Social Justice beginning in the fall of 2018. Seriously, you ask? Yes, seriously. Resources Related episodes * N/A Related blog articles * N/A Related external media * Ethnic breakdown of Gaines’ appointments released (Baptist Press) * UConn creates minor in ‘Social justice community organizing’ (Campus Reform) Support To support the podcast, please click here or copy/paste the following link into your browser - https://justthinking.me/support/ Disclaimer © Darrell B.

  Why would a 7-word tweet by Kanye West, a black man, be so upsetting to so many black people? And why do black people make other black people pay a price for thinking outside of what is considered to be culturally normative? To answer these questions, Darrell and Virgil take you back to Genesis 1 and discuss, with a little help from Friedrich Nietzsche (of all people), how the ability to use one’s mind and think for one’s self is an evidence of what it means that we are individually and uniquely created in the “image of God”. Resources Related episodes * N/A Related blog articles * N/A Related external media * Kanye West’s Tweet About Candace Owens Has Twitter Divided * Kanye Praises Black Conservative Activist Support To support the podcast, please click here or copy/paste the following link into your browser - https://justthinking.me/support/ Disclaimer © Darrell B. Harrison and Just Thinking…for Myself 2012-2020. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and wri

  Much is being made today of local church congregations becoming more ethnically diverse, and that ‘white supremacy’ is primarily the reason why “white churches” aren’t more ethnically diverse than they are. But Christ promised that His kingdom would be composed of believers from “every tribe, tongue, and nation”, so what’s really driving this effort to movement to make white congregations less white? Listen as Darrell and Virgil exposit the Scriptures and explain why this is similar to what Booker T. Washington once referred to as “artificial forcing”. Resources Related episodes * N/A Related blog articles * N/A Related external media * "Up From Slavery" (Booker T. Washington) Support To support the podcast, please click here or copy/paste the following link into your browser - https://justthinking.me/support/ Disclaimer © Darrell B. Harrison and Just Thinking…for Myself 2012-2020. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s aut

  In this episode of Just thinking, Darrell and Virgil discuss the wide-ranging theological impacts of an Episcopal church in San Francisco that is making news for its plans to host a Beyoncé Mass in late-April 2018. Resources Related episodes * N/A Related blog articles * N/A Related external media * This California Church is Hosting a Beyoncé Mass (Huffington Post) Support To support the podcast, please click here or copy/paste the following link into your browser - https://justthinking.me/support/ Disclaimer © Darrell B. Harrison and Just Thinking…for Myself 2012-2020. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Darrell B. Harrison and Just Thinking…for Myself with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.   --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/podcast-just/support

  In this episode of the Just Thinking podcast, Darrell and Virgil address a concerning development among Christian social justice advocates – the adoption of the doctrine of “sin by proxy.” Sin by Proxy is a term Darrell coined (listen to episode 23) to define the theology of social justice Christians who blame current generations of white people for sins their ancestors may or may not have committed against black people in America in previous decades and centuries, and are demanding they repent and atone for those sins today. Listen in as Darrell and Virgil apply the Word of God, starting in the book of Genesis, to this unbiblical idea of Sin by Proxy. Resources Related episodes * N/A Related blog articles * The Problem Is Enmity, Not Ethnicity Related external media * Peace and Calamity (Dr. R.C. Sproul, Ligonier Ministries) Support To support the podcast, please click here or copy/paste the following link into your browser - https://justthinking.me/support/ Disclaimer © Darrell B. Harrison

  The MLK50 Conference held on April 3-4, 2018 by the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) has been controversial, to say the least. Some Christians saw the conference as unifying and necessary, whereas others saw it as divisive and unproductive. The MLK50 Conference is a topic that Darrell and Virgil intended to not discuss on the Just Thinking podcast but were urged to by many who reached out to them on social media after having heard some of the messages that were emanating from that event. Having live-streamed portions of the conference themselves, Darrell and Virgil use this episode as an opportunity to convey their own thoughts on how, in their opinion, the conference misses the mark of the gospel. Resources Related episodes * N/A Related blog articles * Races Don’t Reconcile, Hearts Do Related external media * Jupiter Hammon: An Address to the Negroes in the State of New York (BlackPast.org) * MLK50 Conference Support To support the podcast, please click here or copy/paste the

  In this episode of the Just Thinking podcast, Darrell and Virgil get very personal by sharing with listeners their respective experiences of how God, in His providence, led them from Pentecostalism and Arminianism to Reformed theology and the Doctrines of Grace. Resources Related episodes * N/A Related blog articles * N/A Related external media * What Is Reformed Theology? (Dr. R.C. Sproul, Ligonier Ministries) * What Is Reformed Theology?  (Dr. R.C. Sproul) * Experiencing the Truth: Bringing the Reformation to the African-American Church  (Anthony J. Carter) * What’s So Great About the Doctrines of Grace? (Richard D. Phillips) Support To support the podcast, please click here or copy/paste the following link into your browser - https://justthinking.me/support/ Disclaimer © Darrell B. Harrison and Just Thinking…for Myself 2012-2020. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerp

  In this episode of the Just Thinking podcast, Darrell and Virgil conclude their discussion of the National Geographic article ‘There’s No Scientific Basis for Race – It’s a Made-Up Label’ and argue why the church needs to wholeheartedly reject the socio-cultural and “scientific” lies to which it has been so susceptible to believe in recent decades, lies that have served only to divide, not unify, the body of Christ along class and ethnic lines. Resources Related episodes * N/A Related blog articles * N/A Related external media * There Is No Scientific Basis for Race – It’s a Made-Up Label (National Geographic) * The Claims of the Negro Ethnologically Considered (Frederick Douglass) * The Marxist Roots of Black Liberation Theology (Dr. Anthony Bradley) Support To support the podcast, please click here or copy/paste the following link into your browser - https://justthinking.me/support/ Disclaimer © Darrell B. Harrison and Just Thinking…for Myself 2012-2020. Unauthorized use and/or duplicatio

  It is a sad state of affairs when a secular publication conveys a universal truth that many Christians have, and continue to, refuse to accept. Namely, that ‘race’ is a myth. In this episode of the Just Thinking podcast, Darrell and Virgil discuss at length, with a little help from that renown theologian Frederick Douglass, a National Geographic article that leverages objective scientific evidence to completely obliterate – perhaps to the consternation of many so-called ‘race workers’ and ‘social justice warriors’ – the false idea of ‘race’. Listen in as Darrell and Virgil deal with this undeniable reality through the lens of the gospel of Christ. Resources Related episodes * N/A Related blog articles * Why ‘Racism’ Isn’t Wrong Related external media * There’s No Scientific Basis For Race – It’s a Made-Up Label (National Geographic) * The Claims of the Negro Ethnologically Considered (Frederick Douglass) Support To support the podcast, please click here or copy/paste the following link into

  In this current milieu of social justice and racial reconciliation, the evangelical church in America is expected to be all things to all people. This is particularly the case regarding the expectation of churches composed of primarily of white congregants to pursue ethnic congregational diversity solely for the sake of ethnic diversity. But is that truly the church’s mission? In this episode of the Just Thinking podcast, Darrell and Virgil discuss the reported “quiet exodus” of black Christians from white evangelical churches; and why such departures are often the result of misguided – and unbiblical – expectations of the church. Resources Related episodes * N/A Related blog articles * Seeking a “Social Savior” Related external media * A Quiet Exodus: Why Black Worshipers Are Leaving White Evangelical Churches (New York Times) * Sunday Morning Segregation: Most Worshipers Feel Thier Church Has Enough Diversity (Christianity Today) Support To support the podcast, please click here or copy/pa