In our recent conversation about the recent Pew Religious Landscape Study, we missed an interesting data point: the decline of the Roman Catholic church. In this episode, we interact with a WORLD Opinion piece that explores the data and proposes some explanations for the downward trend. We discuss Catholic/Protestant apologetics; why high-profile "celebrity conversions" don't tell the whole story; and why discipling and catechizing our kids is vital to the growth and health of Christianity.(0:00) Introductions (1:19) Something We Missed from the Pew Religious Landscape Study (13:38) What the Decline of Catholicism Means for Culture At Large (16:14) Opportunities for Charitable Conversations Among Protestants and Catholics (24:17) The Importance of Discipling and Catechizing Our ChildrenArticle:&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="c-link" href="https://wng.org/opinions/mass-exodus-1743031983">https://wng.org/opinions/mass-exodus-1743031983</a>Research Study:&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="c-link" href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/02/26/decline-of-christianity-in-the-us-has-slowed-may-have-leveled-off/">https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/02/26/decline-of-christianity-in-the-us-has-slowed-may-have-leveled-off/</a>

<description>&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;In our recent conversation about the recent Pew Religious Landscape Study, we missed an interesting data point: the decline of the Roman Catholic church. In this episode, we interact with a WORLD Opinion piece that explores the data and proposes some explanations for the downward trend. We discuss Catholic/Protestant apologetics; why high-profile "celebrity conversions" don't tell the whole story; and why discipling and catechizing our kids is vital to the growth and health of Christianity.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;(0:00) Introductions&lt;br&gt;(1:19) Something We Missed from the Pew Religious Landscape Study&lt;br&gt;(13:38) What the Decline of Catholicism Means for Culture At Large&lt;br&gt;(16:14) Opportunities for Charitable Conversations Among Protestants and Catholics&lt;br&gt;(24:17) The Importance of Discipling and Catechizing Our Children&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Article:&amp;nbsp;&lt;a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="c-link" href="https://wng.org/opinions/mass-exodus-1743031983"&gt;https://wng.org/opinions/mass-exodus-1743031983&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Research Study:&amp;nbsp;&lt;a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="c-link" href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/02/26/decline-of-christianity-in-the-us-has-slowed-may-have-leveled-off/"&gt;https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/02/26/decline-of-christianity-in-the-us-has-slowed-may-have-leveled-off/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

The Pew Religious Landscape Study shows that Catholicism in America is in steep decline.

Episode 518: Catholicism in Decline

In 2021, Mark Zuckerberg changed his company's name from Facebook to Meta. It signaled his decision to go "all in" on virtual reality and everything it promised. (We talked about it in&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://cdomaha.com/wed-convo/2021/11/24/episode-366-meta-church?rq=Meta">Episode 366: Meta Church</a>.) But less than four years later, the meta-hype is collapsing, with every major VR company reporting losses and pulling back products. In this episode, we discuss what we can learn from the meteoric rise and decline of virtual reality... and how this tale can make us wiser in our approach to technology.(0:00) Introductions and a Quick Trip into the Archives (2:56) Virtual Reality Gets a Reality Check (8:22) Humans Actually Like Embodied-ness (17:28) Knowing How Technology Shapes UsArticle:&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://wng.org/articles/a-dose-of-reality-1738632435">https://wng.org/articles/a-dose-of-reality-1738632435</a>

<description>&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;In 2021, Mark Zuckerberg changed his company's name from Facebook to Meta. It signaled his decision to go "all in" on virtual reality and everything it promised. (We talked about it in&amp;nbsp;&lt;a target="_blank" href="https://cdomaha.com/wed-convo/2021/11/24/episode-366-meta-church?rq=Meta"&gt;Episode 366: Meta Church&lt;/a&gt;.) But less than four years later, the meta-hype is collapsing, with every major VR company reporting losses and pulling back products. In this episode, we discuss what we can learn from the meteoric rise and decline of virtual reality... and how this tale can make us wiser in our approach to technology.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="" data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;(0:00) Introductions and a Quick Trip into the Archives&lt;br&gt;(2:56) Virtual Reality Gets a Reality Check&lt;br&gt;(8:22) Humans Actually Like Embodied-ness&lt;br&gt;(17:28) Knowing How Technology Shapes Us&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="" data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Article:&amp;nbsp;&lt;a target="_blank" href="https://wng.org/articles/a-dose-of-reality-1738632435"&gt;https://wng.org/articles/a-dose-of-reality-1738632435&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Virtual reality was supposed to be a BOOM... but it's been a bust

Episode 517: The Decline of the Metaverse

Modern people spend lots of time, energy, and money on their bodies - whether it be through diet and supplements or working out and exercise. Some become so focused on exercise and nutrition that they idolize their bodies while others are prone to neglect their physical bodies. In this episode, we respond to a listener-submitted question about the role of physical fitness in the life of the Christian. How does the fact that we're going to die (Psalm 90:10) inform a Christian approach to fitness? How can we avoid idolizing or neglecting our physical health? Listen in as we discuss the wisdom Scripture provides in this area.(0:00) Introductions and Talking Physical Fitness (5:50) Grounding the Conversation in Scripture (9:23) What Role Does Physical Fitness Play in the Life of a Christian? (19:08) How Do I Know I’m Glorifying God with My Body? (27:06) Stewarding All of Our Resources Well

<description>&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Modern people spend lots of time, energy, and money on their bodies - whether it be through diet and supplements or working out and exercise. Some become so focused on exercise and nutrition that they idolize their bodies while others are prone to neglect their physical bodies. In this episode, we respond to a listener-submitted question about the role of physical fitness in the life of the Christian. How does the fact that we're going to die (Psalm 90:10) inform a Christian approach to fitness? How can we avoid idolizing or neglecting our physical health? Listen in as we discuss the wisdom Scripture provides in this area.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;(0:00) Introductions and Talking Physical Fitness&lt;br&gt;(5:50) Grounding the Conversation in Scripture&lt;br&gt;(9:23) What Role Does Physical Fitness Play in the Life of a Christian?&lt;br&gt;(19:08) How Do I Know I’m Glorifying God with My Body?&lt;br&gt;(27:06) Stewarding All of Our Resources Well&lt;/p&gt;</description>

How should Christians think about physical fitness?

Episode 516: Physical Fitness

Much has been said and written about the decline of Christianity in America, including on this podcast. But is something changing? A new Pew Research Center study shows that the decline of Christianity has tapered off over the past few years. In this episode, we dig into the statistics and analyze the opportunities they present for Christians to be on mission.(0:00) Introductions (1:05) The Data Shows…De-Churching Is Leveling Off (7:50) Some of Our Favorite Research Study Nuggets (12:13) How to Make Sense of This as Church Leaders (24:10) The ONE Thing We Want You to Take with YouArticle:&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="c-link" href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/02/26/decline-of-christianity-in-the-us-has-slowed-may-have-leveled-off/">https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/02/26/decline-of-christianity-in-the-us-has-slowed-may-have-leveled-off/</a>

<description>&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Much has been said and written about the decline of Christianity in America, including on this podcast. But is something changing? A new Pew Research Center study shows that the decline of Christianity has tapered off over the past few years. In this episode, we dig into the statistics and analyze the opportunities they present for Christians to be on mission.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;(0:00) Introductions&lt;br&gt;(1:05) The Data Shows…De-Churching Is Leveling Off&lt;br&gt;(7:50) Some of Our Favorite Research Study Nuggets&lt;br&gt;(12:13) How to Make Sense of This as Church Leaders&lt;br&gt;(24:10) The ONE Thing We Want You to Take with You&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Article:&amp;nbsp;&lt;a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="c-link" href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/02/26/decline-of-christianity-in-the-us-has-slowed-may-have-leveled-off/"&gt;https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/02/26/decline-of-christianity-in-the-us-has-slowed-may-have-leveled-off/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

A new study shows a halt in the decline of Christianity in America

Episode 515: The Decline of the Decline of Christianity

On January 10th of this year, book lovers lined up to purchase the newest release in the Empyrean series by Rebecca Yarros.&nbsp; These books are part of a genre known as romantic fantasy, or "romantasy" - and its popularity is exploding. But how should Christian women relate to romantasy literature? Recently, a church member reached out to us with some unease about how nonchalantly her Christian friends were imbibing the explicit sexual imagery in these novels. So we invited her to come on the podcast and talk about it! In this episode, Adrienne joins us to discuss the rise of romantasy, the ways that it can steer us away from a godly view of sex and intimacy, and how Christians can better commend what is good, true and beautiful.(0:00) Introductions: Guess Who’s Baaaaaack?? (2:15) The Rise of Romantasy and What Makes it Problematic (11:27) Two Main Romantasy Markets (15:50) Why Escapism is a Powerful Temptation (19:29) What Does it Mean to Engage Culture? (32:38) How to Commend Good ArtArticle:&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="c-link" href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/christians-need-know-romantasy/">https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/christians-need-know-romantasy/</a>

<description>&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;On January 10th of this year, book lovers lined up to purchase the newest release in the Empyrean series by Rebecca Yarros.&amp;nbsp; These books are part of a genre known as romantic fantasy, or "romantasy" - and its popularity is exploding. But how should Christian women relate to romantasy literature? Recently, a church member reached out to us with some unease about how nonchalantly her Christian friends were imbibing the explicit sexual imagery in these novels. So we invited her to come on the podcast and talk about it! In this episode, Adrienne joins us to discuss the rise of romantasy, the ways that it can steer us away from a godly view of sex and intimacy, and how Christians can better commend what is good, true and beautiful.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;(0:00) Introductions: Guess Who’s Baaaaaack??&lt;br&gt;(2:15) The Rise of Romantasy and What Makes it Problematic&lt;br&gt;(11:27) Two Main Romantasy Markets&lt;br&gt;(15:50) Why Escapism is a Powerful Temptation&lt;br&gt;(19:29) What Does it Mean to Engage Culture?&lt;br&gt;(32:38) How to Commend Good Art&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Article:&amp;nbsp;&lt;a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="c-link" href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/christians-need-know-romantasy/"&gt;https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/christians-need-know-romantasy/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

The rise of "romantasy" literature and how Christians can approach it with wisdom

Episode 514: Christians Reading Romantasy?

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