Up+Out

Where Should Christians Draw the Line on Secular Media?

Harry Potter, Pokémon, Game of Thrones, 50 Shades of Grey, Eminem, and AC/DC. These media products can bring fond memories from people’s childhood, shared memories of bookclubs, or even relaxing evenings binging shows at home. However, some of these products can also bring strong responses from Christians on whether or not we should be participating in modern media. Today, as we turn our minds out, we ask the question “where should we draw the line on secular media”? Up+Out is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit upandoutshow.substack.com/subscribe [https://upandoutshow.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

How Should Christians View & Think About Communion?

There are many views and rituals among the disparate strains of Christianity. Some believe in the physical presence of our Lord in the host and blood, and others believe that the bread and wine are merely symbols to remind us of the atoning sacrifice of Christ. Something seems to have been lost in Protestant worship when the table lost the primary position in our order of worship, and the sermon took its place as the culmination of a worship service. The message we receive from our pastors should come as an outflow of our gathering around the table. Some modes of modernism have seeped into our Protestant worldview, which has led to the dismissal of more mystical and mysterious elements of communion. The Catholic view of transubstantiation, then, fails to take into account Christ is in us and with us at all times. There must be a middle ground between the Catholic and Protestant views of Communion as it stands as the central ritual of our faith and should receive due consideration and contemplation by the faithful. As we look upward, we ask how should Christians view and think about communion? Up+Out is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit upandoutshow.substack.com/subscribe [https://upandoutshow.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

What Is the Proper Role of Diversity?

Few things have rattled the common culture of America as racial divisions, and in recent years, the scab of schismatic tensions was picked and blood flowed. A much-acclaimed reckoning arrived, and church leaders laid themselves prostrate at the altar presented to them, sometimes literally. However, we are called to be unified through Christ as Christ is unified with God, so what is at issue then? Perhaps it is one of focus. Diversity when mentioned in our current setting is a semantically overloaded term, hyperfixated on one particular, visual aspect of diversity, a type of diversity that is only skin deep and well covered by the gospel. For the Church, the variation to which we are called is inherently mission focused, different than what the world expects from us. What then are we to do in a culture so riven with strife? How are we to fulfill the desire that Christ has for us? As we look out from the Church, we discuss: What Is the Proper Role of Diversity? Up+Out is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit upandoutshow.substack.com/subscribe [https://upandoutshow.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Are Christians being Soldiers of God?

In Ephesians 6, the apostle Paul does not offer a suggestion or a gentle encouragement; he gives a solemn charge. He warns us that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against powers and rulers of darkness in the heavenly realms. This is not a metaphor to be softened or ignored. The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith—these are not quaint symbols but vital defenses for a battle as real as the air we breathe. The Word of God is described not as an ornament but as a sword. We must take up these tools, stand firm, and resist the forces that seek to undermine and destroy. This is a call to vigilance, a call to strength, and a call to readiness in the face of a relentless spiritual enemy. As we turn our attention up, we ask the question “Are we being soldiers for God?” Up+Out is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit upandoutshow.substack.com/subscribe [https://upandoutshow.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

How should Christians respond to the widening Gender Gap?

In the last decade, the gender divide between men and women has become wholly apparent in all levels of western society, and in the last five years what became apparent in the last decade has been cemented as fact in the cultural reality of everyone who finds themselves living in a western nation. Distinctions and radical divides have been drawn in the sand and the solutions to the separation of the genders is not readily apparent. Today, Will, Sam, and Zander discuss how should Christians respond to the widening Gender Gap. Up+Out is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit upandoutshow.substack.com/subscribe [https://upandoutshow.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]