Podcast Summary:

Live Free with Josh Howerton – Episode 50
Slavery and Scripture: What Progressivism Isn’t Telling You
(Lakepointe Church, Nov 17, 2025)

Episode Overview

In this milestone 50th episode, Pastor Josh Howerton, co-host Paul, and returning guest Jana tackle challenging questions that intersect faith, history, and modern culture. Their discussion dives deeply into the reliability of scripture, the Bible’s perspective on slavery, and the growing gender divide in American political life—particularly among Gen Z. The conversation is candid, richly referenced, and framed by thoughtful biblical insights and honest personal reflection.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Acts 24: The Reliability and Realness of Scripture

(08:48–23:33)

• Historical Context:
  • Paul is on trial before Felix, a former Roman slave who became governor—the only instance of its kind.
  • The biblical account is corroborated by Roman historians like Tacitus and Josephus (16:01–17:04).
• Biblical Reliability:
  • The podcast debunks claims that the Bible is unreliable due to "photocopy of a photocopy" arguments.
    • “Every single Bible you’re going to read, if there’s a rare textual variant, it’s footnoted—there’s nothing to hide.” – Josh (14:18)
• On-the-Ground Reality:
  • The team shares photos from modern-day Caesarea, showing the exact places mentioned in Acts where Paul was held and tried, emphasizing the Bible's historical veracity (19:33–23:33).

2. Procrastination, Spiritual Delays, and the Story of Felix

(23:34–47:36)

• Felix’s Procrastination:
  • Despite hearing the gospel repeatedly, Felix delays his decision for two years and is ultimately lost.
    • “Every day for two years, he delayed a decision to give his life to Christ. And just to put it very frankly—Felix and Drusilla are in hell right now because every day for two years, they delayed a decision.” – Josh (25:46)
• Obstacles to Obedience:
  • Fear, thoughtlessness, perfectionism, “paralysis by analysis,” condemnation, and toxic family dynamics.
    • “Satan’s favorite day is ‘one day.’ God’s favorite day is ‘two day.’” – Paul (27:28)
    • “One of the greatest lies the enemy wants you to believe is that God is a really angry dad…” – Josh (37:54)
• Gender-Specific Struggles:
  • Jana notes, “Sometimes it’s about wanting to do it the right way or the perfect way, rather than just taking a step” (29:32).
• Delaying Obedience:
  • “Delayed obedience is disobedience.” – Paul (41:04)

3. Slavery in Scripture: Does the Bible Condone It?

(51:03–80:18)

• Context Matters:
  • The team unpacks how biblical “slavery” was radically different from American chattel slavery.
    • “When the Bible uses the term ‘slave’, does it mean the same thing we think it means from a modern context? Not usually.” – Paul (53:23)
  • Roman slavery included indentured servanthood, included people of all races, was often temporary, and included paid, sometimes esteemed positions. (61:05)
• Abolitionism’s Christian Roots:
  • Most of the first nations to abolish slavery were majority-Christian; abolition was driven by biblical convictions.
    • “All seven of the first nations in world history to abolish slavery were majority Christian nations. That’s not a coincidence.” – Josh (67:02)
• Scriptural Prooftexts:
  • The New Testament sows the seeds for abolition:
    • “There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free…” (Gal 3.28).
    • “Anyone who kidnaps someone… must die.” (Ex 21:16).
    • “If you can gain your freedom, do so.” (1 Cor 7:21).
  • The hosts explicitly reject twisting scripture to defend injustice.

Notable Quote

“You can’t read the Bible and think that, for instance, American chattel slavery was permissible. Fact checking, Bill Maher: The Bible is NOT an owner’s manual for slavery. Wrong.” – Josh (79:45)

4. Gender Divide, Progressivism, and Voting Patterns

(80:19–121:26)

• Stark Political Divide:
  • The panel analyzes election data showing young women overwhelmingly voting left, young men voting right—a divide that's widening (81:35, 84:02).
• Why?
  • Worldview and Empathy:
    • Jana: “If a person doesn’t have a biblical worldview… toxic empathy can change their perspective. Empathy is good, but it becomes toxic when it’s manipulated.” (86:32)
    • Paul confirms research shows women’s moral judgments often revolve around care, inclusion, and protection of vulnerable groups (88:28).
• Feminism’s Impact:
  • Jana traces how historical changes—especially waves of feminism—shifted women’s worldview from a family-centered to an individual-rights focus.
    • “Feminism is the ideological outworking of the curse of the fall to women in Genesis 3…” – Josh (109:35)
• Weaponized Empathy:
  • The left often wins over women via “centering the fringe”—highlighting rare emotional stories to shape the narrative around abortion, LGBT rights, and immigration.
    • “What toxic empathy does is focus the camera on the one person I want you to have empathy for… and then excludes everyone else from the equation.” – Josh (117:19)
• Differences in Maternal Instinct:
  • Progressive women, especially those without children, channel maternal instincts into broader social causes.
    • “In the absence of children… those instincts get aimed externally in society—at oppressed groups that need ‘mama bears’ to advocate for them.” – Josh (95:01)

Memorable Moment

• “Progressive women, especially white progressive women, they don't have kids…they have cats.” – Jana, in a rare ribbing, earning big laughs (94:54).

• “[Good] men and women are created equally in the image of God…equals but not equivalents. They sin differently.” – Josh (92:49)

5. Disciple-Making Application

• The call is to beware of both “truthless compassion” and “graceless truth”—the church must disciple women out of the former and men out of the latter (119:03).

Notable Quotes (by speaker & timestamp)

• Paul (on procrastination):
  • “Satan’s favorite day is ‘one day.’ God’s favorite day is ‘two day.’” (27:28)
• Josh (on faith and fear):
  • “If I don’t have any fear, I don’t need faith. Faith is actually—the ability to go, I’m really scared, but I have a God, the Lord of hosts, who is greater than my fears.” (36:09)
• Jana (on obedience):
  • “Just take a step and then He’s going to keep showing you the next step and just follow in obedience. So you don’t have to have the whole vision laid out before you…just take one step.” (29:32)
• Paul (on biblical manuscripts):
  • “We can literally be 99.9% confident that what we have is in the original place…far more than any other ancient manuscripts.” (14:49)
• Josh (on weaponized empathy):
  • “What toxic empathy does is it focuses the camera on the one person I want you to have empathy for, that will drive your political decision, but then it excludes the rest…so you won’t have empathy for them.” (117:19)

Timestamps for Major Segments

• [08:48] – Start of deep-dive on Acts 24, Felix, and scriptural trustworthiness
• [23:34] – Procrastination, Felix’s lost opportunity, spiritual delays
• [51:03] – Explicit transition: “Does the Bible condone slavery?” segment begins
• [67:02] – Early Christian nations and abolition of slavery
• [80:18] – Segment pivots to women, voting, and the empathy gender gap
• [86:32] – Toxic empathy and cultural influence, as explained by Jana
• [92:45] – Pastoring men vs. women, how sins and expectations differ
• [106:06] – Gen Z men/women’s ideas of happiness, family, and the media’s anti-family propaganda
• [119:03] – Discipling ‘truthless compassion’ and ‘graceless truth’
• [120:35] – Closing prayer by Jana

Takeaways for Listeners

• The Bible's message—both its reliability and its context—can withstand tough questions when carefully, honestly examined.
• Scripture does not condone or provide a manual for slavery; instead, the roots of abolition spring from the gospel.
• The widening gender gap in American politics may be substantially explained by differences in worldview, cultural messaging, the impact of feminism, and the manipulation of empathy.
• Real faith means acting—today—not waiting for comfort or convenience.
• Both men and women need to be discipled to reflect Christ—men out of graceless truth, women out of truthless compassion.

Final Word:

“We need to disciple women out of truthless compassion and men out of graceless truth…Jesus was full of grace and full of truth. We need both.” – Paul (119:03)

For further biblical resources, past episodes, and more, visit:
https://lakepointe.church/digital/