Ezra Institute Podcast for Cultural Reformation

Latest Episodes:

The Third Commandment: You Shall Not take the Name of the Lord in Vain Feb 15, 2023

Show notes

In this episode Ezra Institute Fellow Michael Thiessen discusses what it means to take the name of the Lord, both rightly and wrongly, in the church, in politics, and in any other sphere. We also talk about the nature of oaths and authority, the Sermon on the Mount, what it means for something to be damned by God, and door-to-door sales. NOTE: we do not use language flippantly, but this episode contains language that parents may not want your children to hear.

Students at Bryan College are eligible for scholarship funding and course credit at the Runner Academy or Worldview Leadership Academy.

The Second Commandment: Idolatry Kills Feb 08, 2023

Show notes

Idolatry takes any number of forms at the individual, church, and national levels, but its temptation is always the same: you shall be as God. And the results always lead to death. As churches capitulate to antichristian cultural pressures, they often keep their outward form, but lose the power and vitality that ought to sustain and animate them. The Lord reserved some of His hardest words for those who led their people in this apostate way.

Get the February Book of the Month, Why I Still Believe.

The Second Commandment: You Shall Not Make An Idol Feb 01, 2023

Show notes

We continue our series in the Ten Commandments with the command against idolatry. In this episode, Joe Boot discusses the root of idolatry in the heart, and deals with some listener questions about the possibility of making work or family into an object of worship. We conclude by examining idolatry within the church itself.

Get the February Book of the Month, Why I Still Believe.

The First Commandment: The Voice of God Himself Jan 25, 2023

Show notes

We’re officially underway with our series on the Ten Commandments. In this first episode, Joe Boot explains why this section of Scripture begins with the Lord declaring who He is, and why the commandments are ordered in the way that they are. If you’ve never thought about what our worship has to do with law, don’t miss this one.

Applications for the Runner Academy are now open.

Registration for the Christianity & Culture Colloquium are open.

The Heidelberg Diary is on sale until the end of January. New Book of the Month next month.

Writing His Law on Our Hearts Jan 18, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, Joe Boot explains how the opposite of law is not grace, nor love, but lawlessness, which often masquerades as love. Joe pulls illustrations from throughout Scripture to demonstrate the enduring validity of God’s law in the era of Christ’s resurrection. If Christ took the law seriously, and if we are to be imitators of Him, then it behooves us to take the law seriously as well.

Applications are now open for the 2023 H. Evan Runner International Academy, in Chatsworth, Georgia.

Get the book of the month, on sale all of January, The Heidelberg Diary: Daily Devotions on the Heidelberg Catechism.

The Beauty of the Ethical Life Jan 11, 2023

Show notes

We’re kicking off the new year with a new series, dealing with ethics and law generally, and the Ten Commandments specifically. In this episode, Joe Boot talks about the distinction between laws and norms, the fact that we live in a universe designed by God that is made to work according to His instruction, and what love has to do with fulfilling the law.

Get our BOOK OF THE MONTH, The Heidelberg Diary, on sale all of January.

Learn more about Biblical Sexuality Sunday.

Religious Environmentalism at the Mission of God Conference Jan 04, 2023

Show notes

On this episode Joe Boot and Ezra Institute Fellow Aaron Rock discuss the themes, issues, and ideologies related to the contemporary environmentalism movement. For those who didn’t get their questions answered during the conference Q&A session, we deal with several more of those questions here.

Get our book of the month, The Heidelberg Diary, on sale at Ezra Press all January.

Aquinas Wrap-up Dec 28, 2022

Show notes

We bring our series in Thomas Aquinas to a close by restating six significant differences between Thomistic thought and the reformation worldview that we believe is more consistent with Scripture. On the question of origins, nature and grace, ontology and anthropology, apologetics and Christian philosophy, the medieval thought of Aquinas falls short of the biblical position.

Get The Heidelberg Diary. On sale now for our book of the month.

Make your year-end donations here.

We Have Seen His Glory Dec 21, 2022

Show notes

This Christmas season, Joe Boot reflects on the staggering reality of God’s glory revealed to His people as he takes up residence, or tabernacles, among us. This fact ought to be a great source of strength for Christians, greater than any hardship we could ever experience.

Make a year-end donation to the Ezra Institute here.

Get the December/January book of the month, The Heidelberg Diary: Daily Devotions on the Heidelberg Catechism.

Christian Nationalism, Dechristianization, Idolatry, and Christmas Dec 14, 2022

Show notes

This Christmas season, we talk about the question of public, national worship, and the state in direct relation to God.

Read Joe Boot’s recent article on Diwali and Dechristianization

Start off 2023 with daily readings and meditations from the Heidelberg Catechism