Topics from 2011
Playground Paganism: The Seducing Spirit of Social-Emotional Learning
“Antidotes to Idolatry” – Part 2 By Dr. Jeffery J Ventrella “SEL [social-emotional learning] is more than a process, a methodology, a curriculum – it is a way of life.”[1] “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”[2] Culture today is awash with surveys. Polls are taken about “how people feel” about this or…
“Antidotes to Idolatry” – Part 1
Pagan Poisons and Gospel Vaccinations: The Creation Creed By Dr. Jeffery J Ventrella “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth”[1] Man’s heart is “a perpetual forge of idols.”[2] “Nature is my god.”[3] Worship is an inescapable category. Mankind, as a religious creature, cannot not worship. The TruthXchange hermeneutic explains how this truth functions…
Lies that Paralyze: Weaponizing Pleasant Words
Lies that Live- Part 10 By Dr. Jeffery J Ventrella “[O]ne must be wary of indifference masquerading as humility.”[1] “One does not abolish slavery by doing nothing more than helping individual slaves.”[2] “Hell is nothing more than the truth known too late.[3]” “Never defeat an opponent when an opponent can be counted upon to defeat…
Gnostic Cultural Liturgies: The Press for Pagan Conformity
“Lies that Live” – Part 9 By Dr. Jeffery J Ventrella “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind”[1] And, when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles to, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be…
Oneist Economic Lies: Yes, Even Taylor Swift Helps Us Understand Economics
By Dr. Jeffery J Ventrella “Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest?”[1] This year’s TruthXchange Symposium, Every Square Inch,[2] seeks to take Christ’s Lordship “to the streets” where we actually live – engaging real people with the real Gospel. As C.S. Lewis noted,…
Idols of History: Is Older or Newer Better?
“Lies that Live” – Part 7 By Dr. Jeffery J Ventrella “Now all the Athenians and the foreigners . . . would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.”[1] Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.[2] The consequences of the…
Director’s Dicta: Christ Plus? Tribalism and the Hyphenated Christian Life
Lies that Live: Part 6 By Dr. Jeffery J Ventrella “I follow Paul, I follow Apollos, I follow Cephas, I follow Christ”[1] Unless you are wearing steel-toed shoes, this Dicta may cause your feet to hurt a bit. We all have our preferences, including Christian ones. That’s fine and reflects the diversity of God’s Kingdom. However, when…
Director’s Dicta: Wither the State: Savior, Suspect, or Servant???
“Lies that Live” – Part 5 By Dr. Jeffery J Ventrella “We have no king but Caesar”[1] “Especially those of Caesar’s household”[2] “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s”[3] God the Creator is a God of purpose, design, and order. His Creation is structured and ordered[4] and He requires the collective conduct of those worshipping Him…
Director’s Dicta: Embryos, IVF, and Means/Ends Confusion
“Lies that Live” – Part 4 By Dr. Jeffery J Ventrella “As you did it to one of the least of these”[1] A recent state Supreme Court ruling has generated outcry, praise, and confusion. The Alabama high court adjudicated whether its wrongful death statute applied to frozen human embryos.[2] In other words could the parents of those…
Director’s Dicta: I AM a Body; I HAVE a Body; or am I EMBODIED?
Lies that Live– Part 3 By Dr. Jeffery J Ventrella A woman trapped in a man’s body??!! “Life ain’t easy for a boy named “Sue”![1] In Part 2 of this series, I noted that the song My Way poses the right question: What is a man? Psalm 8 likewise poses this nearly identical question, but with an important twist:…
Director’s Dicta: “Lies that Live” – Part 2
The Sexual Super Self By Dr. Jeffery J Ventrella [Cue the orchestra]: What is a man? What has he got? If not himself, then he is naught. To say the things he truly feels, and not the words of one who kneels. The record shows, I took the blows . . . and did it…
Director’s Dicta: “Lies that Live” – Part 1
Abortion Distortion By Dr. Jeffery J Ventrella “Live not by lies” – so cautioned Soviet dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn. This admonition, however is often easier said than done. Why? Because the lies we believe and act upon are rarely packaged in stark overt terms such as: “Shakespeare wrote the Declaration of Independence.” Rather, they are often…
Director’s Dicta: February 2024, week 2
“Free Speech” and the TruthXchange Hermeneutic We live in a culture of communicative clutter and confusion, as the 24/7 news cycle illustrates. And, we live in a state of affairs in which every act is deemed to be a political act.[1] Sadly, this is true of both Left and Right – everyone seeks political power – something…
Director’s Dicta: January 2024, week 5/February, Week 1
“Did God Say??!!” The Hermeneutic of Suspicion versus the TxC Hermeneutic By Dr. Jeffery J. Ventrella The term “worldview” populates a lot of evangelical conversations and there exist many fine ministries that engage the culture apologetically at various levels. Hardly any of them, however, pull back the veil of confusion at the foundational level like…
Director’s Dicta: January 2024, Week 4
“Eat the Meat, Spit out the Bones”??!! Christianity, Critical Theory, and the TxC Hermeneutic Part 2 By Jeffery J Ventrella Part 1 demonstrated that Critical Theory is not simply one innocent offering in the worldview smorgasbord. Instead, Critical Theory offers a surreptitiously poisonous dish. Critical Theory stands antithetically against biblical Christianity at every level, including foundational matters: Reality, Norms,…
Director’s Dicta: January 2024, week 4
“Eat the Meat, Spit out the Bones”??!! Christianity, Critical Theory, and the TxC Hermeneutic By Jeffery J Ventrella While Critical Theory (aka Cultural Marxism) has been present in America for decades, particularly in academia, 2023 saw this ideology again pop on the public’s radar. Two events triggered this awareness. First, a divided Supreme Court rightly rejected discriminatory admission…
Director’s Dicta: January 2024, week 3
The NFL, Gender Ideology, and the TxC Hermeneutic: Getting to the Gist Suppose you walk into a room and discover it’s flooded by water. Unless you are willing to turn off the tap and repair the broken pipe, simply wiping up the water will do no long term good. To do long term good, one must understand…
Director’s Dicta: January 2024, Week 2
What’s Up with the Irenaeus Institute??!! Every good fire benefits from an accelerant, a catalyst that sparks a better, more effective fire. TxC’s Irenaeus Institute serves as the ministry’s content-generating and training hub. As such, the Institute comprises TxC’s accelerant for impacting Church & Culture for Christ. What does this mean and how will it be accomplished? The…
Director’s Dicta: January 2024, week 1
Why Irenaeus??!! TxC enters 2024 with great energy, demonstrated success, and a bold plan of action for TxC 2.0. Part of our excitement stems from the anticipated formal launching of the Irenaeus Institute. Dr. Jones conceived of this Institute years ago and only now can we – with your help – bring it into reality. The Irenaeus…
Thank God for a Worldly Savior
By Dr. Jeffery Ventrella December is “do month!” If you’re a student, you must do your term papers and do your exams. Post Thanksgiving, we dothings to get ready for Christmas: do Christmas cards, doshopping, do meal planning, do parties, do decorating, do the tree, do the family photo, do the end of the year giving, do the Christmas lights, do Christmas – and “Sparkle season”- concerts! Do, do, DO!! Yet, the reason for Christmas – the Christian Faith – stands in…
Dr. Peter Jones: The Hope of Ultimate Meaning
“The Hope of Ultimate Meaning” is a lecture delivered by Dr. Peter Jones at the TruthXchange symposium “The Hope of Ultimate Meaning: Knowing the God of Creation and Redemption.”
Dr. Jeffery Ventrella: Law and the Public Square
“Law and the Public Square” is a lecture delivered by Dr. Jeffery Ventrella at the TruthXchange symposium “The Hope of Ultimate Meaning: Knowing the God of Creation and Redemption.”
Joshua Gielow: Humanity is Two: Beginning and Ending with a Wedding
“Humanity is Two: Beginning and Ending with a Wedding” is a lecture delivered by Joshua Gielow at the TruthXchange symposium “The Hope of Ultimate Meaning: Knowing the God of Creation and Redemption.”