Church & Culture Podcast

By: Dr. James Emery White
Listen for free

  • Summary

  • The Church & Culture podcast is a weekly discussion with Dr. James Emery White on the latest trends happening in culture, and where and how the church should respond. While this podcast reflects on the church's part in what may be going on in the world, it is very much a show that anyone, no matter what walk of life you may have come from or are currently in, can glean useful information. Some episodes may be an extended conversation based off one of Dr. White's bi-weekly blog posts, as he does not shy away from the controversial hot topics. So to be ready for full context, be sure to subscribe to the Church & Culture Blog at ChurchandCulture.org.
    Copyright 2025 by Dr. James Emery White
    Show More Show Less
Christianity Politics & Government Spirituality
Show More Show Less
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2
Episodes
  • CCP134: On Predictions for 2025

    CCP134: On Predictions for 2025
    Jan 10 2025
    In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss how this time of year always leads to both reflection on the year that has passed, as well as thoughts of what the year ahead will hold. For those listeners who subscribe to the Church & Culture blog, you'll have read Dr. White's recent blog titled “Twelve Predictions for 2025.” As Alexis noted, while the blog may not have contained worst-case scenario predictions, the list certainly wasn't optimistic. We didn't have time to walk through all twelve in this episode, but you'll be interested to hear more about what to anticipate for the year ahead. Episode Links The conversation started off with the massive shift that has taken place in our culture today - that churches seem far more invested in ideology than theology. This is not the first time this issue has been raised on the podcast. We'd encourage you to go back and listen to some past episodes if you missed them: CCP112: On January 6 and the Fastest Growing Christian Movement in America, CCP46: On the Clash over Religious Freedom and CCP37: On Christian Nationalism. Another concern that Dr. White shared has to do with the church taking the non-essentials of Christian orthodoxy and elevating them unnecessarily. This has been prevalent in the Church with the rise over the debate about women serving in ministry and the increasing embrace of Calvinism. Both of these topics have been discussed at length on the podcast, so we'd encourage you to go back and listen to these two episodes: CCP7: On Women in Ministry and CCP59: On Calvinism. The conversation then turned to parenting, and Dr. White noted an Aspen Institute study from 2022 that found children involved with travel sports teams spend 16.6 hours per week on average with those teams - including Sundays. What's sad is that the spiritual formation of these children is significantly impacted. You can read more about that study HERE. There are two past podcast episodes related to parenting that we've aired if you're interested in listening to those: CCP60: On Gentle Parenting and CCP101: On “Bluey” and Modern Fatherhood. Pivoting back to the Church, they discussed the need for the Church at large to truly become hybrid - offering a blend of online and in-person experiences. We'd encourage you to read Dr. White's book Hybrid Church for an in-depth look at how to make this shift in your church. The shift to the hybrid is part of what led to Mecklenburg Community Church's decision to end our multi-site model. You can read more about that in the Church & Culture blog “Why We're Ending Our Multi-Site Approach.” You can also check out the podcast conversation that he had with Carey Nieuwhof about this subject HERE. There are so many cultural changes taking place these days it's hard to keep up. And both Christians and non-Christians are often interested in knowing how the church would weigh in on these topics. Dr. White delivered a series at Mecklenburg Community Church called “What the Bible Really Says About…” after we polled Meck attenders via social media to find out their most pressing questions. The topics covered in this series include: A.I., Politics, Immigration, IVF and Abortion, and Angels. Finally, the podcast concluded with a look at the decivilization that has been taking place in our culture today - as though we have lost the ability to see others the way that God sees them. Even those outside the church are taking note of this. Dr. White referenced several recent articles in The Atlantic which have focused on this: Adrienne LaFrance, “Decivilization May Already Be Under Way,” The Atlantic, December 11, 2024, read online. Peter Wehner, “An Astonishing Level of Dehumanization,” The Atlantic, December 31, 2024, read online. For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.
    Show More Show Less
    45 mins
  • CCP133: On Keeping Christ in Christmas

    CCP133: On Keeping Christ in Christmas
    Dec 13 2024

    In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss how to keep the focus of the Christmas season on Jesus, as the birthday celebration it should be. “Keeping Christ in Christmas” has become almost a mantra in response to the ever-increasing consumerization of Christmas and how far we've seemed to drift from the historical event of Jesus's birth. And this has implications beyond how to tangibly keep Christ in Christmas. We also have to find ways to keep Christ in our giving and in our gatherings at Christmastime - the relationships that can make the holidays challenging for so many people and can take away from the joy this season is meant to hold.

    Episode Links

    There are a couple messages series that you may want to check out related to today's conversation. The first shares the title of today's episode, “Keeping Christ in Christmas.” It will help you take an even deeper dive into the various ways to keep Jesus as the focus of the Christmas season, with installments that look at: Keeping Christ in Your Celebrating, Keeping Christ in Your Relating and Keeping Christ in Your Giving. The installment on “relating” is particularly helpful if the holiday season brings more anxiety than joy. There was a book that he noted as well written by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend called Boundaries that would be a good one to read. Dr. White also touched on the significance of the season of Advent and all that can hold for our lives. For this, we'd encourage you to look at “The Advent Conspiracy.”

    When talking about the idea of giving being a key way to keep Christ in Christmas - particularly by beginning our gift-giving with Jesus - Dr. White mentioned an annual effort that was launched by Mecklenburg Community Church in 1994. You can read more about the “Giving to Christ at Christmas” effort in a recent blog that Dr. White wrote HERE.

    Finally, you heard Dr. White mention something called the Daily Headline News at Church & Culture - a collection of headlines from around the globe that are curated by Dr. White each weekday. The news stories shared here are to help give you a better picture of what's happening within our culture today, and how many of these cultural events impact the Church.

    For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.
    Show More Show Less
    38 mins
  • CCP132: On Near-Death Experiences

    CCP132: On Near-Death Experiences
    Dec 6 2024

    In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss near-death experiences (NDEs) - profound experiences people have when they have been clinically dead and then resuscitated. Studies over the years of those who've had an NDE share similar characteristics or common denominators. And they can provide a powerful testimony on what we might experience in the life to come.

    Episode Links

    1440, a group that strives to provide “a fact-driven news and knowledge resource that respects your time and intelligence,” produced an interesting video on NDEs. You can watch “Understanding Near-Death Experiences” HERE.

    Dr. White discussed several books you may be interested in checking out pertaining to NDEs. The one that he would most recommend is The Case for Heaven written by Lee Strobel. He also mentioned a book written by Dr. Raymond Moody, who was one of the first to study NDEs and released his pioneering work called Life After Life. Another resource you may be interested in exploring is One Minute After You Die written by Erwin Lutzer.

    There are a couple of podcasts that we would recommend you go back and listen to that are related to today's conversation: CCP107: On Hell and CCP77: On Angels. The first dives into whether Hell is real and what happens after we die, and the second looks at the spiritual realm, including the demonic.

    For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.
    Show More Show Less
    33 mins

What listeners say about Church & Culture Podcast

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.co.uk reviews

Amazon reviews
Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Pookie

excellent explanation

I am surrounded by parents who often share with me their views on parenting and seek my opinion as a non-parent which is always hard to give. this is a great podcast with a godly perspective on how we should raise children. I love that insight on the modern terms of 'gentle' parenting and how we all want to be gentle parents, but it can't exist without being loving Godly parents also.

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!