Podcast
The Ezra Institute Podcast for Cultural Reformation
Hosted by Dr. Joseph Boot · EN
The Ezra Institute Podcast for Cultural Reformation on the Fight Laugh Feast Network
36episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
The Christian Worldview and the Myth of Neutrality
1w ago00:23:42Tap to summarizeMost of us were raised to think of the public square as religiously neutral territory. School is just school. Law is just law. Science reports the facts and leaves the value judgments to us. Joe, Michael, and Nate spend this episode arguing that none of that holds up, and that Christians have paid a heavy price for believing it. They start with what a worldview actually is and why nobody gets to opt out of having one. Underneath any reading of the world sit answers to a few unavoidable questions: who God is, what a human being is, where morality comes from, what history is for. Those answers don't vanish when a culture stops going to church. They get relocated. Secularism has its own answers, and it enforces them. A good stretch of the conversation goes to where this shows up in practice: curriculum, legislation, news coverage, research funding, family life, politics, the arts. Along the way they draw a distinction that's easy to miss. Christians can and should use tools that unbelievers built. The trouble starts when they take on the foundations along with the tools. The objections get their turn too. Can't we just meet on common ground? Isn't this too black and white? Does it mean Christians can't cooperate with anyone? And the one that comes up most often: isn't secular government neutral by definition? The answer to that last one is that every legal order enforces some moral vision. The only question is whose.
Transcribe →The Bible for All of Life
2w ago00:23:16Tap to summarizeIn this episode, we explore why Scripture is the final authority for every area of life. The Bible is not a technical manual for politics, economics, or science, but it provides the authoritative framework for understanding them rightly. We discuss what the sufficiency of Scripture truly means, the conflict between God’s revelation and human autonomy, and the consequences of allowing culture to define ethics, family, education, law, sexuality, and identity. Christians must do more than add Bible verses to secular ideas. We are called to think Christianly, interpret all of life through God’s Word, and ask where the world is setting the terms instead of Scripture.
Transcribe →The Mission & Message of Ezra: The Gospel of the Kingdom
3w ago00:23:15Tap to summarizeThe gospel is deeply personal, but it is never merely private. Jesus did not come only to forgive individual sinners; He came announcing the kingdom of God and was enthroned as King over all creation. In this episode, Joe, Michael, and Nate explore what Scripture means by the kingdom of God, why Christ’s ascension and present reign matter, and how the gospel transforms every area of life—from personal holiness and family life to vocation, justice, worship, and public life. They also address common objections surrounding the already-and-not-yet nature of the kingdom, the continued brokenness of the world, and the difference between biblical confidence and triumphalism. The Christian life is not about waiting to escape the world. It is faithful service under the reigning Christ—building, discipling, teaching, planting, and reforming with confidence that obedience will bear fruit across generations.
Transcribe →The Mission & Message of the Ezra Institute: Part 1
Jul 1500:22:50Tap to summarizeIn the opening episode of The Mission and Message of the Ezra Institute, Pastor Nate Wright is joined by Dr. Joe Boot and Dr. Michael Thiessen to explain why the Ezra Institute exists and why Christ’s lordship extends over every area of life. Originally recorded for Ezra’s new radio program in Atlanta, the conversation explores the false divide between the sacred and secular, the modern tendency to privatize Christianity, and the calling of believers to bring every thought, institution, and vocation under the authority of Jesus Christ. Where have we accepted the idea that Christ has nothing to say about a particular area of life?
Transcribe →Reformation, Not Revolution: Why God’s Law Matters for Society
Jul 800:55:24Tap to summarizeAuthor and pastor David Forsythe joins the Podcast for Cultural Reformation to discuss his new Ezra Press book, Reformation, Not Revolution: Why God’s Law Matters for Society. In this episode, David shares how his time in missions, pastoral ministry, and politics shaped his conviction that Christ’s lordship extends to every area of life. He and Nate discuss the difference between Christian reformation and revolutionary politics, the abiding authority of God’s law, sphere sovereignty, the distinction between sins and crimes, and why no society can ever be religiously neutral. This conversation challenges Christians to reject both retreat and reactionary revolution, and instead recover a biblical vision for faithful cultural engagement under the crown rights of Christ.
Transcribe →Canada at the Crossroads: Lament, Law, and the Lordship of Christ
Jul 101:17:58Tap to summarizeOn this Canada Day episode of the Podcast for Cultural Reformation, Dr. Michael Thiessen is joined by Dr. Joe Boot and Dr. Aaron Rock for a wide-ranging conversation on the state of Canada in 2026. Is Canada a nation to celebrate, lament, or both? They reflect on the spiritual and cultural condition of the country, the continuing relevance of George Grant’s Lament for a Nation, the dangers of progressivism and statism, and the urgent need for Christians to recover a biblical vision of law, liberty, nationhood, and public life. From church leadership and Christian education to government overreach, surveillance, and the question of whether Canada will live under God’s law or man’s law, this episode calls Christians away from despair and toward faithful, hopeful, generational obedience under the lordship of Jesus Christ.
Transcribe →Think Christianly About Life: Part 2
Jun 2401:13:20Tap to summarizeIn this episode of the Podcast for Cultural Reformation, Dr. Michael Thiessen and Dr. Joe Boot continue their discussion on the sanctity of human life by tracing the modern culture of death from the sexual revolution to today’s expanding embrace of abortion and euthanasia. They argue that these are not merely private medical issues or isolated policy debates, but expressions of a deeper religious worldview: the worship of autonomous man and the all-powerful state. From ancient Molech worship to modern abortion clinics and assisted dying regimes, they expose the same underlying logic—the sacrifice of the vulnerable for the sake of convenience, control, and false compassion. But the Christian answer is not merely opposition. It is the proclamation of the God who is life, who creates life in the womb, sustains it until the final breath, and offers new life through Jesus Christ to all who repent and believe.
Transcribe →Think Christianly About Life: Part 1
Jun 1801:12:58Tap to summarizeIn this episode of the Podcast for Cultural Reformation, Pastor Nate Wright and Dr. Joe Boot continue the Think Christianly series by addressing the sanctity of human life from womb to tomb. Working through Psalm 139, they examine the intimate providence of God, the mystery and wonder of life in the womb, and why the Christian defence of life must begin not with public policy, but with the doctrine of God. From abortion to euthanasia, they trace how the rejection of God’s authority has led to a culture of death, where human autonomy and state power seek to usurp the Creator’s lordship over life. They also consider the often-neglected closing verses of Psalm 139, showing why Christians must learn to hate evil rightly while calling sinners to repentance under the mercy of Christ. This conversation calls the church to recover a biblical vision of life, worship the God who forms us in the womb, and speak courageously against the destruction of His image.
Transcribe →What Bill C-9 Means for Christians
Jun 1101:13:58Tap to summarizeIn this episode of the Podcast for Cultural Reformation, Pastor Nate Wright and Dr. Joe Boot revisit Canada’s Bill C-9, now moving toward becoming law, and explain why its implications extend far beyond Canada. They discuss the bill’s vague definition of “hatred,” the removal of religious protections, and the potential consequences for pastors, churches, Christian schools, and ministries seeking to remain faithful to Scripture. Nate and Joe also consider how this legislation may affect preaching, church discipline, Christian education, institutional policies, and public witness. Rather than calling Christians to panic or retreat, they urge the church to prepare now with courage, clarity, and conviction—remaining faithful to Christ even when faithfulness becomes costly.
Transcribe →Think Christianly About Identity
Jun 301:14:22Tap to summarizeIn this episode of the Podcast for Cultural Reformation, Dr. Michael Thiessen and Dr. Joe Boot discuss identity from a biblical worldview. They look at how modern culture has detached identity from God and made it something each person must create for themselves. They trace how ideas from philosophy, psychology, critical theory, transgenderism, and transhumanism have shaped the modern view of the self. In contrast, Scripture teaches that human identity begins with creation: we are made by God, in the image of God, male and female, with purpose and responsibility before Him. This episode explains why the modern identity crisis is really a worship crisis, and why true identity can only be found in Jesus Christ.
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