LIVING FAITH BIBLE INSTITUTE

“WWJD?” It's a virtuous aim for Christians to behave like Jesus Christ. Feeding and clothing the poor, caring for the orphan and widow are the command of Scripture, and a righteous pursuit of any disciple of Jesus Christ. But what about other social injustices like economic equality or racial equity? Is it the aim of the Christian to fight against child labor or unjust wars, or advocate for environmental protections or public education? If so, in what way and in what context?

What are the boundaries of Christian responsibility? Is our primary goal as Christians to pursue the establishment of a Christian ethic in our world? Or is it to preach the gospel in order to see souls saved? Today, provost of Living Faith Bible Institute, Brandon Briscoe, has invited Pastor Alan Shelby of Harvest Baptist Church, Dean of the Living Faith Bible Institute, to chat about the Social Gospel, a movement that has influenced the church for over 150 years now. 

Pastor Shelby expounds key Bible passages in the gospels pertaining to the aim of the Christian, showing from Christ’s own words how the social gospel has led the church away from a scripturally faithful approach to ministry and world missions.

There is no doubt about it, we are living in some strange times. In November of 2024, New Jersey citizens began reporting sightings of strange drone-like objects lingering over their neighborhoods, bodies of water and even over military bases. Since that time, the department of defense has received over 5,000 reports of unidentified aerial phenomenon (UAP). To make matters worse, government officials have been anything but transparent about what’s going on and have downplayed what appears to the American public like either a security threat or an alien invasion.

Many of the reports, even from the experts, are suggesting that the size of these UAP’s is much larger than common drones, with many reports suggesting they are the size of cars. Their peculiar movements are also inexplicable and not like common aircrafts. 

Social media and talking heads have had a field day with this of course, but on today’s show, we want to look at the history of this technology and then look for instances within scripture where we find examples of “UAP’s” and then try and draw some hypothesis about what we are seeing in our news cycle and in our skies.

Pastor Brandon Briscoe, the provost of Living Faith Bible Institute, has invited Brian Bustos on the show for today's conversation. Brian is an instructor at the Living Faith Bible Institute and also the Director of Experience Strategy at one of Fortune’s top 100 innovative companies, where he focuses heavily on emerging technologies like genAI.

Hello Students & Faculty,

We want to officially announce the opening of the LFBI Library this Saturday, January 25th. Join us for food and refreshments and lots of giveaways this Saturday from 10-1am in the upper level of the Meyer Building.

The new library has almost 2,000 volumes that range from theology and commentaries to parenting and philosophy. The library will be open every Saturday all semester from 10am to noon.

In the song "With God on Our Side," Bob Dylan famously criticized the American predilection to confidently claim that our personal and political endeavors are touched by God. "Oh, my name, it ain't nothin', my age, it means less. The country I come from is called the Midwest. I's taught and brought up there, the laws to abide. And that the land that I live in has God on its side."

Now, Dylan is no theologian, but he does highlight an interesting dilemma, and he causes us to ask some serious questions. What do we make of claims in politics and culture, that God favors a particular side or position? What makes these claims credible and what makes them dangerous? How does a Christian truly discern if God has providentially aligned himself with a man, movement, institution or a cause?

Today on The Postscript, we will be discussing this subject from the perspective of history -- what can be learned from observing historic instances in which people, Christians in particular, have made the claim that God was on their side?

To have this discussion, we have invited Dr. Thomas Kidd, Research Professor of Church History at Midwestern and the John and Sharon Yeats Endowed Chair of Baptist Studies. He has written numerous books on church history and Baptist history. 

Hello Students,

2024 was a great year for LFBI but now it's time for 2025! As the Spring Semester kicks off, we just want to remind you of a few important things. First, enrollment for courses remains open for all 16-week classes until Jan 25th at 11:59pm. If you or other people in your church desire to join us this semester, that will be the cut-off.

Second, make sure you start purchasing your reading requirements for the semester ASAP. Falling behind in reading is one of the easiest ways to sabotage yourself. Follow the links in your classroom environment to purchase or access your reading materials. Further, the LFBI Library will open on January 25th with an open house from 10am-1pm CST. The new library has 2,000 volumes and will be a resource to aid you in research and study. The library will be open every Saturday with free coffee and and a quiet environment for study

Lastly, just like other educational institutions, LFBI has been affected by an increased use of artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT. We want to make sure that we remind you briefly of our plagiarism and technology policy:

• ChatGPT or other AI softwares are not permitted in the development of any assignment. The use of or consultation with generative AI shall be treated as analogous to assistance from another person. Utilizing AI software to generate ideas and pass them off as one’s own will also be considered plagiarism and will be adjudicated as such by the board of formal review.

• Respect the rights of content creators and abide by copyright laws. Do not utilize or distribute copyrighted material without lawful permission or attribution, this is considered plagiarism. Students who plagiarize are subject to the academic misconduct policy and further decision of the board of formal review.

LFBI does utilize software that detects both plagiarism and AI usage with great accuracy. Protect your integrity and the integrity of the school by being honest in your studies this semester.

We are praying for you and your leadership development this year!

God Bless,

The LFBI Staff