Ron Johnson Discipleship Podcast

Episode 186 In the ancient world, the gods were everywhere. Wherever there were people, there were gods. While the names of the gods varied depending upon the culture and nation, behind those false d…

For most of us, the America we grew up in is utterly unrecognizable. In fact, it's not limited to America alone. It is as if a spell has been cast on Western Civilization itself and the transformatio…

In one of his letters written during his imprisonment by the Nazi's, Bonhoeffer wondered whether we needed a "religionless Christianity." Was he advocating a Christianity without Christ or sound doct…

I am joined today on this special Thanksgiving podcast by my lovely wife, Marion! We begin with the first Thanksgiving Proclamation issued by George Washington highlighting the undeniably Christian r…

Ohio voters adopted Issue 1, which creates a constitutional right to abortion. What's even more disturbing is that an estimated 20% of the voters were evangelicals, and 30% of evangelical voters vote…

The Church of Jesus Christ is called to be the conscience of the State. When the Church fails to speak for those who have no voice, we shirk our God-given responsibility, and everyone suffers from ou…

A common error among Christians today is to suppress the Truth in favor of demonstrating "love." We avoid the contentious and controversial issues of our day in the name of loving our neighbor. Howev…

There are many pastors today who argue that the Church should focus exclusively on evangelism. "What is more valuable than a soul?" they argue. It follows that speaking about anything that might offe…

Episode 177 What happened to the robust, passionate faith of Luther, a faith that was willing to die if necessary for truth? According to Bonhoeffer, it had dwindled to a faith of mere intellectual a…

Episode 176 Deitrich Bonhoeffer experienced first-hand the failure of the Church to address the evils of his day. He understood "Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. Not to speak is to speak. …

Episode 175 In response to Hitler's "cancelling" of Jewish people from full participation in German life, Deitrich Bonhoeffer helped to draft the Barmen Declaration. This document served to draw a c…

On January 31, 1933, Adolf Hitler came to power as chancellor of Germany. What followed was nothing short of a "fundamental transformation" of German culture. Hitler acted with lightning speed to bri…

On Reformation Sunday, November 6, 1932, Dietrich Bonhoffer stood in the pulpit of the leading church in all of Germany and delivered a prophetic call for the church to return to Jesus, her first lov…

In his book, Letter to the American Church, Eric Metaxes asks, "How is it that so many in the American Church of our time have shrunk back from public engagement, and quietly assented to the decidedl…

The pandemic exposed a great deal of ambiguity concerning the role of the Church. Many pastors and their congregations were confused over where to find their marching orders. Do we blindly comply wit…

Patriotism has fallen on hard times in America. Perhaps it's because we are more divided than ever over what it means to love our country. One side of the ideological camp focuses on all of the great…

How important is the character of our leaders if we hope to keep the fragile republic of ordered freedoms entrusted to us? Many today conveniently compartmentalize a leader's character from his/her c…