The Age of Ambient Christianity is Over

The Age of Ambient Christianity is Over

For generations, Christians could rely on cultural momentum, borrowed capital, and institutions that still retained traces of a Christian worldview. Those days are gone. We now find ourselves in a world increasingly hostile to Christian conviction, Christian families, and Christian institutions. The question before us is no longer whether Christians should build. The question is whether we will build intentionally or whether we will be built upon by the forces shaping the age. In this opening episode of our 4th season focus B.D. Flemings book, Strongholds of the Kingdom, we introduce the vision of the Christian borough. We explore why faithful Christians must think beyond individual piety and recover the work of building households, churches, schools, businesses, and communities that can endure for generations. We discuss Aaron Renn’s concept of the “Negative World,” the temptation of nostalgia, the example of Nehemiah rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls, and the growing fragmentation that marks modern life. More importantly, we cast a positive vision for what faithful Christian life can look like in an age of cultural collapse. The choice before us is stark: Borough or abyss. Over the next season, we’ll explore the practical mechanics of rebuilding Christian civilization from the ground up, one household, one church, one institution at a time. Because the borough is the seed and Christendom is the harvest. And, every harvest begins with builders. “And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations.” - Isaiah 58:12 #AltarsAndAshesPodcast #ChristianBoroughs #StrongholdsOfTheKingdom #BDFleming #Postmillennialism #ChristianCulture #FamilyDiscipleship #ChurchLife #ChristianEducation #KingdomBuilding #ReformedTheology Get full access to Dust & Glory Media at dustandglorymedia.substack.com/subscribe [https://dustandglorymedia.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Why A Positive Eschatology Matters

In this casual conversation, we talk about why eschatology is not just a chart at the back of a study Bible. What we believe about the future shapes how we live in the present. A negative view of history often produces retreat, fear, and short-term thinking. But a positive eschatology teaches us to labor with confidence, build with generations in mind, and believe that Christ is reigning now—and His kingdom will not fail. We discuss how hope changes households, churches, culture, mission, and courage. The Church is not called to hide in the corner until things collapse. We are called to faithfulness, dominion under Christ, and joyful confidence that “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” Until all Christ’s enemies are His footstool. #AltarsAndAshes #Eschatology #Postmillennialism #ReformedTheology #ChristianHope #KingdomOfGod Get full access to Dust & Glory Media at dustandglorymedia.substack.com/subscribe [https://dustandglorymedia.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

AI & The World We Live In.... Or Whatever

Welcome back to the Altars & Ashes Podcast. In this episode, we begin a new season and find ourselves between major projects, so we take up one of the biggest questions pressing on our age: artificial intelligence. AI is no longer science fiction. It is in our homes, our phones, our schools, our workplaces, our churches, and our children’s pockets. Like every tool, it carries both promise and peril. It can help us organize, create, research, communicate, and work with greater efficiency. But it can also train us toward laziness, deception, dependence, distraction, and even a counterfeit version of wisdom. So how should Christians think about AI? Not with panic. Not with blind optimism. But with biblical discernment. In this conversation, we talk about the good, the bad, and the strange world now forming around us. We consider how Christians should use technology without being used by it, how households should think about formation in an AI age, and why wisdom, virtue, truth, and embodied discipleship matter more than ever. Technology may change quickly, but Christ still reigns. The world is not spinning out of His hand. The question is not whether AI will shape the future. The question is whether Christians will meet that future with courage, clarity, and conviction. In this episode: * Why AI matters for Christians today * The good uses of artificial intelligence * The dangers of dependence, deception, and intellectual laziness * How AI may affect students, families, churches, and work * Why wisdom is more than information * How Christians can use tools without surrendering formation * Why Christ remains Lord over every age, invention, and empire The machines may be learning, but the church must not forget how to think. Until all Christ’s enemies are His footstool. #AltarsAndAshes #ArtificialIntelligence #ChristianWorldview #AI #Technology #ReformedTheology #ChristianLiving #HouseholdsOfFaith #Wisdom #Discipleship Get full access to Dust & Glory Media at dustandglorymedia.substack.com/subscribe [https://dustandglorymedia.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

The Assurance We Hold, The Judgment to Come

Dust & Glory Media is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. In this episode, we come to a close on Season 3 of the podcast, and we also conclude our series walking through the 1689 Second London Baptist Confession of Faith. We closed out this journey by discussing some of the most weighty realities a Christian can face: * Assurance of salvation * Death and resurrection * Final judgment This episode covers: * Chapter 18 — Of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation * Chapter 31 — Of the State of Man After Death, and of the Resurrection of the Dead * Chapter 32 — Of the Last Judgment And if you’ve followed the season closely, you probably noticed something along the way: we accidentally skipped Chapter 18 earlier in the season. But looking back, it may have been providential, because assurance belongs beside death. And, resurrection belongs beside judgment. How can a Christian face the grave without terror?How can a believer stand before the reality of judgment with confidence?How can ordinary Christians endure suffering, temptation, and seasons of darkness without collapsing into despair? That is exactly what these chapters answer. This episode is not merely about “end times” or abstract theology. It is about learning to live like people who know where history is going. The confession reminds us that Christ will return, the dead will rise, every person will stand before the judgment seat of God, and yet the Christian can still possess deep and abiding assurance. In this episode, we discussed: * The difference between true assurance and false presumption * Why assurance rests on Christ before it rests on feelings * How assurance grows through ordinary faithfulness * What happens immediately after death * Why the Christian hope is bodily resurrection—not escapism * The certainty and glory of final judgment * Why heaven and hell must be taken seriously * How eternity should shape households, churches, holiness, and evangelism As we close out Season 3 and conclude our study through the 1689 Confession, our prayer is that this series has strengthened your confidence in Scripture, deepened your understanding of confessional theology, and encouraged you to build your household upon Christ with greater clarity, conviction, and endurance. Christ is reigning. History is moving toward judgment. And, the people of God have every reason to endure with hope. Hold fast to Christ. Do not fear death. And, live ready for the coming King.” Thanks for reading Dust & Glory Media! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Dust & Glory Media at dustandglorymedia.substack.com/subscribe [https://dustandglorymedia.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

The Communion We Share, The Ordinances We Keep

In this episode of Altars & Ashes Podcast, we continue through the 1689 London Baptist Confession, focusing on the communion of saints, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper (Chapters 27–30). Today, we answer a foundational question: What does life together in Christ actually look like? Scripture teaches that Christians are not isolated individuals, but a people united to Christ and therefore united to one another. The church is meant to be visible, sacrificial, worshipful, and deeply connected. We also discuss the ordinances Christ gave His church: baptism as a public identification with Christ in His death and resurrection, and the Lord’s Supper as covenant remembrance and spiritual nourishment for believers. Key takeaway:The Christian life is not meant to be lived alone. Christ calls His people into communion, marks them in baptism, and nourishes them at His Table. Get full access to Dust & Glory Media at dustandglorymedia.substack.com/subscribe [https://dustandglorymedia.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]