Tag: Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Resource: Southern Seminary ‘Honest Answers’ series

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, currently located in Louisville, Kentucky, was founded in the USA in 1859 with the aim of serving the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention “by training, educating, and preparing ministers of the gospel for more faithful service [source].”

As part of their mission to train, educate and prepare people for service, the Southern Seminary has put up a series of videos on Youtube they call “Honest Answers,” where they provide short but comprehensive answers to many of the questions people have about Christianity. In their own words, it is “a series where Southern Seminary professors honestly answer questions directly submitted by viewers about theology, ministry, and life.”

Here is a link to Honest Answers. Most of the videos are 5-10 minutes long on average: short enough to listen to on a quick break but long enough to explain key points in details. I highly recommend subscribing to the channel so you can be notified when new videos come out. It’s good to be deliberate about the kind of media you consume, especially on places like Youtube with millions of creators, but more on that topic another day.

Honest Answers is a great resource for Christians at all stages of life, but I believe it would be most helpful for new believers and the people discipling them, because it provides simple explanations for basic questions about how to live the Christian life. For example, “What is the purpose of fasting?” “How can I improve my prayer life?” and “What should I do if I doubt my salvation?” There are all kinds of topics about other things like the stock market, the lottery, civil disobedience, Halloween, New Years’ resolutions, etc etc.

Honest Answers also addresses more esoteric questions that won’t affect what you do on a daily basisl such as “Who were the Nephilim?” and “What is the Apocrypha?” So if you’re idly curious about something or just have time to spare and want to learn more about theology, it’s a good place to check and pass the time.

As at the time of writing (Jan 29, 2020) there are 85 videos out so far with new ones coming every week. Dig in and share helpful answers with others so that 2020 can be a year of greater knowledge and wisdom for all of us.

Resource: The Briefing with Al Mohler

The Briefing bills itself as a “Daily worldview analysis about the leading news headlines and cultural conversations.” Or as the host Al Mohler puts it, a daily analysis of the news and headlines from a Christian worldview.

In a time of unprecedented change and moral decline the world over, all Christians need to be pointed back to the Bible again and again to help us know how to think and respond to the latest news and legislation going on in the world around us.

Dr. Albert Mohler is a Christian speaker and author of no small repute. He is currently the President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a theologian with almost 25 years of experience. As we say in Ghana he is no “small boy” mouthing off about every current event but rather a mature Christian teacher who helps listeners make sense of the news and events going on in the world today.

Listening to The Briefing will help you articulate what exactly is behind that feeling of “But that’s wrong” you get when you read so many headlines today. Abortion, euthanasia, LBGTQI issues, war, natural disasters and all the other issues all require critical Christian thinking and responses. You’ll be able to make sense of these issues from God’s perspective and get the encouragement of knowing that His Word and His standards never change no matter what else does.

Through Al Mohler’s insightful analysis of the media and news articles of the day also comes in handy whenever you watch anything on the TV or radio, as you will quickly come to realize that there’s no such thing as agenda-free media. Every advert, every podcast, every movie, every broadcast has a message behind it that the discerning Christian would do well to listen to.

What I appreciate most about The Briefing is that it led me to realize that the Christian worldview is the only one that can stand up to the evil forces behind the so-called “moral revolution” sweeping the world right now. Everything else will crumble to the pressure eventually.

Tradition and culture? They change all the time.
Legality? Changes even faster, especially in the past 10 years.
Practicality? Just because something works or does not work doesn’t affect the morality of that thing in God’s eyes. It’s only the Christian worldview that lets you say “I’m going to do the right thing regardless of the consequences because God said so.” Whether you succeed or fail in the eyes of this world does not matter as long as you fulfill your ultimate purpose on this earth, to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

It really helps you know how to engage with unbelievers on these issues so you can keep bringing God’s timeless truths to bear on recent matters. Dr. Mohler is especially good at pointing out the many contradictions and hypocrisies that attend this “revolution” – though at the end your goal is not to see unbelievers squirm but to bring them to the light of Jesus Christ.

There’s only one major drawback to The Briefing: it mainly addresses news and affairs in North America and Europe. I’ve been listening every day for almost a year and haven’t heard Africa mentioned yet, much less Ghana. No news is good news, eh? It’s only natural for Dr. Mohler to deal with what concerns him. We should make our own local version of The Briefing to cover Ghanaian matters. Economic issues. The media. Tragedies like the Circle fire, road accidents, tragic murders. The recent spate of acrimonious ‘celebrity’ divorces. We can’t expect someone outside to cover things we could be covering ourselves.

And a minor drawback: it’s too short! 30 minutes isn’t nearly enough time to cover every single news items I would like him to cover. But that’s just me being greedy.

Check out The Briefing on weekdays on its official website here. I’m sure it will soon become part of your daily routine.