The Good Life

How Your Eschatology Affects Your Life

What is eschatology and how does it affect your life? Some think your view of the millennium determines your level of social and cultural action, but is that true? 

Today I talk about a Ben Dunson article at the American Reformer that provides a partial answer to that question. But I suspect there's even more to the question than we realize. 

Ben Dunson - Eschatology and Politics

A New Political Spectrum - How Being a Political Nerd Actually Helps Me Love My Neighbor

Have you ever taken a quiz to know where you fall on the political compass? Are you liberal, conservative, authoritarian, or libertarian? Thankfully there are more options than those. Today I talk about how we can know where we call on the spectrum and how that knowledge can better help me to love my neighbor. 

P.S. In this episode I said that Noah Millman's article came out on the "League of Ordinary Gentlemen" blog. That is incorrect. It was on the now defunct "American Scene" website, which is available thanks to the reliable Wayback Machine. 

Articles mentioned

• Notes Towards a New Political Taxonomy - Noah Millman
• Tanner Greer's Summary of Millman's article
• A Better Model of Political Categories - N.S. Lyons (paywalled for subscribers)

 

Craftsmanship that will last - Joshua Klein

Joshua Klein is a woodworker, furniture maker, author, church elder, and editor of Mortise and Tenon magazine. He has written a fascinating biography of  Jonathan Fisher, an eighteenth-century jack-of-all-trades pastor titled, Hands Employed Aright. He also works with the Greystone Theological Institute's mechanical arts program to mentor young men in intellectual, theological, and craftsmanship skills. 

We discuss what drew him to woodworking, the role of beauty in craftsmanship, and what makes a working with your hands so satisfying. 

 

• Mortise and Tenon Magazine
• Mortise and Tenon Podcast
• Hands Employed Aright
• Greystone Institute Mechanical Arts Program

 

Five books on marriage you've never read

Having just celebrated Valentine's Day, here are five good books of marriage that can help any married couple, no matter how long they've been married. 

Delighting in the Seasons - Ryan Anderson

The Christmas season is almost here and who better to talk about it than a man who hails from the capital of the white Christmas (Vermont) - Ryan Anderson. Ryan grew up in Vermont, moved to Washington state, and recently returned to the land of his fathers. I met him through Twitter (now "X") and have enjoyed his posts about moving home and delighting in the season. We talk about how many good things there are to celebrate in fall/winter, what a family needs from a father, and why slowing down is a good thing this time of year. 

Ryan's Substack page - Old Hollow Tree

Ryan's X (formerly Twitter) account

The Rise and Fall of the Christian West - John Ehrett

What is "the West"? What is the role of Christians today in preserving our Western heritage? How does liberalism fit into the decline of Christendom? What is leading to the rise of Anti-Semitism among some on the right? I am joined today by John Ehrett to discuss these and other topics relating to our cultural history. John is a writer and attorney in Washington, D.C. who has written for multiple publications. Some of his best articles are listed below:

• Postliberal Gods and Monsters
• Tradition and Anti-Semitism
• Augustine Against Vitalism
• The Impossible Bronze-Age Mindset
• The End of Viking Vitalism

A Small Farm Republic - John Klar

John Klar is a jack of all trades. A lawyer, farmer, pastor, and public servant, he took on government bureaucracy and won, restoring the right of Vermont farmers to butcher their animals on their own farms. His most recent book, Small Farm Republic, describes the collusion of corporate farming with big government and provides hopeful options for people who want to resist that control. In this episode we talk about the Green (more like Red) New Deal, how conservatives must return to God's call as stewards of creation, and how cows restore the natural world. 

• Small Farm Republic
• John's Substack

Against the World - For the World

How should Christians treat the world? Are we against it, for it, or something in between? In this episode, I discuss the two views and who from Scripture successfully achieves both. 

Life in Old Ireland with John Waters

My guest today is Mr. John Waters, a journalist and Christian convert in Ireland. He has written several books, the most recent being Give Us Back the Bad Roads, which tells the story of how Ireland changed from being the most conservative country in Europe to one of the most liberal in a period of several decades. He wrote for a major newspaper until he was removed due to his stance against homosexual marriage and abortion. We talk about Irish history, economics, government, and literature.

Books

Give Us Back the Bad Roads

Was it For This? Why Ireland Lost the Plot 

Articles

The End of Pseudo-Liberalism

Broken Family, Broken Country

 

The Best Folk Tale in Scripture with Pastor Rich Lusk

Most people approach the book of Ruth with simplicity, thinking they already know it. In my interview with Pastor Rich Lusk, we discuss the beauty, wisdom, and delight to be found in this little book. It is a folk tale, a love story, and a picture of the gospel spreading to the nations, all wrapped in four short chapters. His book, Ruth: Under His Wings, breaks through the normal things we think we know about Ruth and gets to the message at the heart of God's revelation: God never leaves His people.