Media: Telos Center Youtube Channel and Subscription
About
Telos Center’s Media context is now providing the new Youtube channel for Telos Center for anyone to subscribe to updates of new videos.
Education: The United States of America State of the Union Address 2020 [LIVE VIDEO]
About
The below Youtube videos are the live feeds on today, February 4th, 2020, featuring the president of the United States, Donald J. Trump, giving the State of the Union Address 9pm EST.
C-SPAN
ABC NEWS
NBC NEWS
CBS NEWS
Church: How to Reach Any Generation with the Gospel? [VIDEO]
About
It’s a great question to ask at any time, “How to reach any generation with the gospel?” But the answer is equally if not more important for Christian churches (people) and pastors. The answer leads in various directions, and we will either be going God’s direction or not. There’s a lot of resources to answer and clarify to ensure we are going in the right direction, as this one video below of Francis Chan in August 2019 — highlighting again the critical importance to God and his word as the central answer. Instead of looking beyond God and his word, rather, we narrowly dig deep which then (in God’s design) affects the wide world.
By this, Francis Chan provides the profoundly simple, historical, and biblical way to reach any generation with the gospel while also challenging the consistent and ever-changing tactics seemingly “needed” in each generation. Every generation has its issues and challenges, and the temptation becomes following culture issues vs. sound, long-lasting command exemplified in Jesus and the Bible’s New Testament. Chan also provides examples of difficulties in life and ministry, mentioning some friends and personal issues, that show the shortness of life and the importance of God’s word for every generation. Either we become burdened or learn from God and the past to address the current culture the right way — with Jesus.
There’s a few lines in particular that we have consistently shared that Chan highlights:
Just be so careful you can get caught up in just the way things are done right now well everyone does this so we're gonna do it and and you're old you don't know how to reach this generation and that that's the way we all thought even back then like you know like like this is the way we're gonna get the people in and we're gonna get this celebrity to talk and we're gonna get this person because he has so many followers and he's gonna speak and that's really gonna grab people as hard if we get someone famous or we get someone brilliant at this this is this and let's do Church this way because this will grab more people and get more people here and and we just didn't we didn't I didn't take the time to really look deeply in the word and not be tainted by the world and go how did Jesus do it what did he care about what was most important to him and to speak directly to people …
Why didn’t I say something? … Why didn’t you shoot them straight?
Read through the Book of Jeremiah man where he's just saying they're going in everywhere literally everyone hates me [Jeremiah] yet even the church we value people by the number of followers … he could have very easily been loved if he wasn't truthful …
We affirm that God loves the world and that God does want ‘numbers’ of people, however, he wants them by his way. What is his way? It is himself.
Hence why “Telos Center is a training resources to train people in truth and love” and “Telos Church(es) are people inspired by truth and love to make life, disciples, and churches all about Jesus.” God’s plan was and is for people to trust in Jesus with the entirety of their life, which then connects them to God the Father and that’s where God the Spirit is at work in the world and hearts. He is the ultimate truth and love to learn.
If we use earthly examples of this, like in a wedding ceremony context, then we don’t see a man coming to the wedding ceremony altar to marry a dress, makeup, flowers, the bridesmaids, her family, pretty hair, communication skills, etc. We witness a groom entering the wedding altar to lovingly and truthfully marry his bride — the woman, person, her, she, etc. because of who she is and not what she has or comes with. Therefore, the people of the world are to look upon God for who he is as well as what he wants and commands all of us to believe and do. Therefore, we “shoot people straight” with God’s word because he inspires us in truth and love.
Video
Education: Justice Clarence Thomas Shares About His Background, Life, and Career [VIDEO]
About
Clarence Thomas was appointed as a justice on the United States Supreme Court in 1991 and is interviewed at the Harvard Law School in 2013, which includes a short question and answer time at the end for students. The interview is unique as it shares a vast amount of details in far ranging topics of Justice Thomas’ life (past and present). The “Created Equal” documentary by Justice Thomas releases in 2020:
After a brief introduction, the documentary proceeds chronologically, combining Justice Thomas’ first person account with a rich array of historical archive material, period and original music, personal photos, and evocative recreations. Unscripted and without narration, the documentary takes the viewer through this complex and often painful life, dealing with race, faith, power, jurisprudence, and personal resilience.
Justice Clarence Thomas’ interview is helpful to reveal history of his life but also the development of America in various ways. He grew up poor and in a relational “cocoon” as he describes that ensured he did not grow up responding to societal evils likewise (i.e. evil). He was not excused but rather trained up and fought for what was right, especially as he pressed into education. Throughout all the obstacles in his life, he pressed on in a direction with an unknown future and faithful to the days tasks and jobs. A lot can be gleaned from his life and the relational “cocoon,” especially his grandfather.
Video
Education: Ruining A Nation -- A Retired Public School Teacher's Testimony [VIDEO]
About
The 2014 interview from the retire public school teacher (27 years) might be shocking to some as he reveals the awful conditions and behaviors of his American public school in New Jersey, but for decades (even including from the 1950’s), public schools throughout the United States have been filled with “chaos.” Some may deny the assessment based upon their public school experience being better than what has been described, however, a vast percentage genuinely will affirm “chaos” as typical or normal and now an exponential problem. There are Hollywood movies (e.g. Lean on Me) that depict bad schools, though some may think that those movies and schools are mere individual cases vs. a description of the whole.
One point in particular is the common misconception, assumption, and excuse for bad behavior of students and parents has been poverty or school choice (i.e. not being able to remove your child from a bad performing public school which can typically be in a ‘poor’ area). We certainly believe that it is an American and Biblical right for parents to choose how to train their children (including financial/taxes), but no matter the situation, this retired teacher rightly affirms that “poverty” (minute 10:40) is not the reason for disrespecting or other bad behavior.
But, the retired teacher provides a deeper and reverberating assessment (minute 12:30 and 13:03) that we are “ruining a nation!”
One can do a cursory study on American history to know that many have been poor and grew up with formed character under life pressures. The retired teacher reveals his own upbringing as “poor” and shows how that never led to anyone excusing him to act however he would want to. The video ultimately provides a helpful assessment from one of thousands of teachers and students to further understand that education or training of the next generation is critical for any nation.
More so, the importance of training children comes from God and his created natural, cyclical process to raise up children to trust him with their life and learn to live in real life according to how he wants.
Video
Life: Dr. Kathi Aultman's Conversion Story: From Abortion Provider to Pro-Life Advocate from Pro-Life Utah [VIDEO]
Here’s some quotes from the video:
I 'm Dr. Kathi Aultman.
00:03
I am a retired OBGYN, and I used to be an abortionist.
00:09
And I'd like to tell you the story of how I went from being someone who aborted babies
00:15
to someone who now tries to save babies.
00:19
After college I took a year off to make money to go to medical school.
00:25
During that time I met my future husband and I got pregnant.
00:29
And decided that abortion was the best option for me.
00:34
Later I regretted that decision, but at the time, I thought that was the best thing I
00:38
should do.
00:40
When I entered medical school, I truly believed that abortion was a woman's right to choose,
00:49
and I was very adamant about it.
00:51
I wanted to help women.
00:54
During my training, I learned how to do D&C; with suction abortions, and then I sought
01:07
out extra training to be able to do D&E; abortions, or dismemberment abortions.
01:22
After getting my medical license I was able to start moonlighting doing abortions at a
01:28
clinic in a nearby city.
01:30
I got pregnant during the last year of my residency, and during that time, I still continued
01:38
to do abortions.
01:40
And really didn't have any qualms about it.
01:43
I felt that my baby was wanted, their babies were not, I didn't see any problem with that.
01:50
What did change my mind, was when I went back to the clinic after delivering my baby.
01:58
I ran into three patients that changed my life.
02:02
With the first patient, I realized that I had done three of her previous abortions.
02:09
And when I objected, and didn't want to do it, staff told me that I didn't have that
02:14
right.
02:15
That it was her right to choose.
02:17
Even if she wanted to use abortion as her birth control.
02:20
She had the abortion, I talked to her there afterwards.
02:23
She still did not want to use birth control.
02:26
And wanted to use abortion as her backup.
02:28
The second patient came in with a friend.
02:31
And oftentimes the patients did want to see the tissue.
02:36
The friend asked her, "Do you want to see the tissue?"
02:39
And she snapped at her and said, "I don't want to see it, I just want to kill it."
02:45
And I wanted to say, "What did this baby ever do to you?"
02:49
The last patient had four children already, and she and her husband felt that they just
03:00
couldn't afford another child.
03:03
So, she cried throughout the whole time at the clinic.
03:08
It just broke my heart.
03:10
It was at that point that somehow, I made the baby/fetus connection.
03:18
And the fact that the baby was not wanted, was no longer enough for me to do the abortion.
03:25
I never did another abortion.
03:30
The only time I had any qualms other than that, was when I did my neonatal intensive
03:35
care unit rotation.
03:38
And I realized that some of the babies I was trying to save, were the same gestation as
03:45
babies that I had aborted.
03:47
The problem is, that I still believed that a women had the right to choose abortion.
03:53
I still believed in abortion.
03:56
And I still referred patients for an abortion.
04:00
As I began my practice though, I noticed that there were women who kept their unwanted pregnancies,
04:11
even very young girls, and they seemed to do fine.
04:16
And then I was seeing other women who had abortions, who were coming in with psychological
04:23
problems, and being extremely distressed.
04:26
I was also seeing complications of abortion.
04:31
And this didn't jive with the feminist rhetoric that I had so closely embraced.
04:38
So I began to be a little uncomfortable.
04:44
What finally changed me, was a very loving friend gave me an article.
04:51
Said, "Would you consider reading this?
04:53
I know what your position on abortion is, but could you just read this?"
04:57
It was an article that compared abortion to the Holocaust.
05:04
Suddenly I realized that I was no different from the German doctors who did horrible experiments
05:11
on people.
05:12
Or the Nazis who exterminated so many.
05:15
I suddenly understood why they could do what they did.
05:19
Because, I could do what I did.
05:21
I did not see the fetus as a human being.
05:25
Just like the Germans did not see the Jews as human beings.
05:30
When you don't see someone as human, you can do whatever you want to them, and not feel
05:34
bad about it.
05:36
That was the point where I became pro-life.
05:40
And after that, it took a lot of prayer, and a lot of counseling, for me to get past the
05:51
fact that I was basically a mass murderer.
05:54
And to get over the fact that I had aborted my own child, as well as so many others.
06:01
You know, I always love to meet people that I delivered.
06:07
But it's bittersweet, because I know there are so many that I will never meet, because
06:13
I aborted them.
06:16
The thing to remember, is that although we can't see who these little people are, they
06:24
ARE people.
06:25
They're still in the womb, but they are people.
06:30
And we don't know what they are going to be, or who they are going to become.
06:36
But we need to give them a chance.
Life: Botham Jean's Brother Forgives, Embraces Amber Guyger [VIDEO]
This new’s video is regarding the court case ending of Dallas, TX officer Amber Guyger accidentally shot Botham Jean in his own apartment thinking it was her apartment returning home from work. Botham Jean’s brother takes the stand testifying to forgiveness and turning to Jesus in what he desires for Amber Guyger. He asks to hug her, and with even the judge rightly tearful, she permits. What a genuine example of grace and mercy from the gospel.
Church: Who Do You Think You Are? By Joseph M. Stowell at Dallas Theological Seminary
Education: Has Science Buried God? by John Lennox [VIDEO]
About
Eric Metaxas interviews (mainly at minute 6 on the video) John Lennox at the Colson Center in Washingon D.C. in summary form regarding the topic question, “Has Science Buried God?” The interview might just be best for a helpful introduction to Lennox and to discover more of what he has authored and argued, especially in debates with high profile atheist (20th-21st century version) professors and scientists. Dr. Lennox provides a lot of helpful statements and introductory level direction in how to think and find more answers. Many of the statements are also challenging modern day assumptions, decades old under-toe current, and now seemingly tsunami wave of people’s ‘anti-belief’ in God. Below the video are quotes/statements written out from the interview for reference also.
Metaxas allow 3 questions from the audience at the end, which starts about 1 hour 5 minutes that addresses: 1) Mathematical proofs; 2) Abortion; and 3) What would Lennox say before God in heaven upon death?
From Socrates in the City youtube video (1 hour 19 minutes) description:
“Host Eric Metaxas and Oxford professor John Lennox explore the question, "Has science buried God?" -- discussing the fine-tuned universe, evolution, logic, history, and more! "It's like we're an old Vaudeville team" says Metaxas, who eggs the legendary Lennox into retelling his equally legendary roast chicken anecdote. The interview was hosted by the Colson Center and took place in Washington D.C., in May 2019.“
Video
Dr. Lennox provides statements like:
“There are a myth in our culture: 1) Science is the only way to truth. 2) The position is logically incoherent … That statement (science is the only way to truth) cannot be true since it does not come from science.”
“Science can bury atheism.“
“It was the belief in God that drove science.”
“They got the wrong concept of God.”
“The more he understood of how it worked, the more he admired the genius of the God [of the Bible] who did it that way.”
“There’s a mind behind what’s up there … not mindless, unguided processes.“
“Our faith increases [in God when learning the world and science].“
“Kids can understand but professors cannot. The scientific explanation tells you how it works. The personal explanation works also … the two explanations do not compete but compliments.”
“[The why question] is an important question.”
“Something came from something, not nothing.”
“Science can bury atheism.“
“We have been miseducated by atheists that there’s science there and there’s faith here.”
“Atheism followed to its logical conclusion destroys rationality.”
“The Bible is putting the finger on what is really profound.“
“The universe is word based … not that the universe came from nothing and created itself.”
“And God said … The idea of God speaking is such a powerful one. The Bible has been talking about it for a millennia.”
“Nobody can get rid of the idea of creation. So reject God and end up with a self-creating universal and that’s a contradiction in terms … leads to nonsense.“
“It is a mistake to think that only Christians are a people of faith.”
“Every school in our country is a faith school.”
“They don’t realize that their atheism is a belief system [don’t you believe in your atheistic beliefs].
“We are people who believe in Christ, and provide why we believe what we believe.“
“[Put Christianity and truth in the public space] We need a lot of courage to do that, otherwise we all will be silenced.“
“Evolution only addresses when there is life and not how life came about.”
“Our culture is faced of a raw choice between God and nothing.”
Topics (mentioned or addressed):
Literature
Theology
Languages
Classics
God
Word
Universe
Life
Creation
History
Science
Evolution
Atheism (20th/21st century version)
Galileo
Kepler
Christopher Hitchens
Richard Dawkins
Stephen Hawking
Carl Sagan
Peter Singer
Reductionism
Ontological Reductionists
DNA
Fine-tuning
Chance, necessity, and laws of nature
Abiogenesis
Philosophy
Physics
Mathematics
The Bible
Biblical Revelation
John’s Gospel
Living Word, Jesus
Isaac Newton
C.S. Lewis
Logic
Rationale
Gravity
Energy
Education
Schools
What to say at death and before the Lord Jesus Christ?
Life: "We Need to Value Truth" - John Cooper Interview with CBN News [VIDEO]
Thank you John Cooper for sharing your Facebook post posing and answering the question, “What is happening in Christianity?” The above interview is also helpful and inspiring as you advocate merely what is Christian — God, the gospel, his word, etc. John Cooper even shares how he’s involved in a church, listening to pastors, reading God’s word, etc. What an encouragement to hear, especially from a musician.
Life: Atheist, Skeptic, and Cynic turned Christian - The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel
About
Strobel provides great research and resources about Jesus and Christianity within this sermon in 2018. By providing and explaining the his background as well the background of Jesus, you are led as a ‘juror’ to make an informed decision. The point? Jesus. Trust him.
Telos
Even so, Lee’s sermon also helps explain “telos.”
At 33:10, Strobel captures that when God became his telos, his life changed. Prior to that point, his telos was godless. A genuine faith is not merely the believing and receiving, but believing and receiving the “who” and the “who” became his telos.
Sidenote
The term “atheist” throughout the Roman empire history during and after Jesus meant one who denied their “theists” (gods). So, Christians were known as atheists from the Roman perspective. Our current time and culture uses the term atheist in various ways, and how Lee is using the term is from his perspective in being “a”gainst all gods, especially the one of Christianity.
Life: The Inspirational Epicenter of Francine Rivers' Life and Authorship
What an incredibly helpful Christian and Christian author!
Listening to Francine Rivers as well as reading her books provides genuine and inspirational insight into how God works to bring people to trust him and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Francine retells her life story through this helpful Q and A, including growing up in a churchy household, rejecting anything religious while in college, going through abortion, college education, struggling marriage, and ultimately coming to learn of God and the gospel through relationships in their NorCal neighborhood and church community.
One can learn much through just this interview on when God affects the heart he then also aims and aligns their life. God then is the epicenter with ripple effects of others tasting of his goodness.
Per her recounting of the move back to Northern California from Southern California, I am thankful for God using a church community, two households, and one pesky eight year old boy wanting to help move in his new neighbors! God is good!
She mentions her first book after becoming a Christian, Redeeming Love, which is based on the Bible’s Old Testament book of Hosea — about God’s love for his spiritually adulteress people metaphored through sending a prophet (Hosea) to love a prostitute.
Education: Mathematical Challenges to Darwin’s Theory of Evolution with Berlinski, Meyer, and Gelernter Youtube Video by Hoover Institution
About
The below video by the Hoover Institution features a light-hearted but specificly detailed discussion about Darwin’s theory of evolution compared to recent scientific evidences about “functioning proteins.” Here’s the beginning of the Youtube video description:
“Based on new evidence and knowledge that functioning proteins are extremely rare, should Darwin’s theory of evolution be dismissed, dissected, developed or replaced with a theory of intelligent design? Has Darwinism really failed? Peter Robinson discusses it with David Berlinski, David Gelernter, and Stephen Meyer, who have raised doubts about Darwin’s theory in their two books and essay, respectively The Deniable Darwin, Darwin’s Doubt, and “Giving Up Darwin” (published in the Claremont Review of Books).“
Though the discussion does not end up agreeing and affirming that God is the one and only Creator to the world, the discussion does recognize the natural evidences of what God did create, regardless of people’s belief in Him or not. People may and can recognize truths and still end of not believing in Him. Christianity recognizes the connection between nature (creation) and the nature Creator.
We affirm God’s created order of instant, powerful creation through his spoken words narrated in Genesis 1 and 2 within 7 literal days and referenced throughout the remainder of the Bible as such. The math, physics, science, biology, history, geography, archaeology, philosophy, theology, biblicality, etc. add up or reveal God as existent and Creator.
