The Problem of Sexual Extortion

Sexual extortion, or “Sextortion” as it is sometimes called, is a new and growing problem. In the 21st century, there have been various problems related to the “connectedness” that being online offers, and sometimes these problems are not evenly divided among the sexes. Sexual extortion is one of the newer ones. Young men seem to be particularly susceptible not just to being fooled into seeking and sharing nude pictures but also into an even darker situation when those pictures are used against them. Because of this, we wanted to release a short episode encouraging christian parents and ministers to do two things:

1. Parents - Talk with your children about why God invented sex but also the dangers associated with it.
2. All christians - Be clear that Christ died for all sins, and paid for all guilt and shame in the believer’s life so that we don’t have to fear consequences related to sin, even in our very online age.

This too shall pass.

"The Empires of the future will be Empires of the Mind." - Winston Churchill

This is Empires of the Future, conversations to encourage the Church in a time of change.

Sheol, Death, and the Grave

“There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!’: the grave, the barren womb, land, which is never satisfied with water, and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!’ Proverbs 30:15

“Sheol”, here translated “the grave” is a complex concept in the Bible. What did Old Testament believers (and non-believers) think when they spoke of “Sheol”? What are Christians to think about the afterlife? What is the relationship between the Hebrew “Sheol”, Greek “Hades” and “Gehenna”, and English “Hell”? We consider all these questions and more in this episode of Empires of the Future.

"The Empires of the future will be Empires of the Mind." - Winston Churchill

This is Empires of the Future, conversations to encourage the Church in a time of change.

On Gentle Parenting

In this episode, we discuss an article by Trevin Wax for the Gospel Coalition entitled “The Church’s Opportunity When ‘Gentle Parenting’ Crashes.” We agree with Wax that Gentle Parenting is lacking in some key areas, and examine the philosophy behind gentle parenting, what it assumes about children and people in general, and why we believe it does not reach the goals it strives for. We also outline authoritative, biblical parenting, which does not fall into either the domineering, authoritarian style nor the passive, discipline-lacking parenting that is too often the norm in our culture today.

"The Empires of the future will be Empires of the Mind." - Winston Churchill