Here it is: our very last episode of Transforming Culture for Season 3. It's been a ride for us this year trying to navigate all the ups and downs of production issues, so thanks for staying with us through it all! This week, we've invited a special guest, Kristopher Kinsinger to join us to talk about religious freedom, and why it matters. As we were recording this in the summer of 2024, there were lots of questions about elections, politics and how it would affect us all. Some of those questions have been answered (US elections...) but some remain - as we release this in March of 2025, there are lots of questions about Canadian politics. So - religious freedom and what we can do about protecting it are just as important as always. Enjoy this conversation!

NOTE: As you would hear on any good legal podcast, and as we joke about a couple of times during the podcast, Kris has asked me to remind all of our listeners that the views expressed in this podcast are his own, and they don't constitute legal advice - if you need some legal support, there are some great avenues for that outside of this podcast!

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Speaker Bio:
Kristopher Kinsinger is an Ontario lawyer. He received his Juris Doctor from Osgoode Hall Law School in 2019, before completing his articles of clerkship with a national law firm in Waterloo, Ontario. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 2020, and received his Master of Laws from McGill University in 2021. Between 2021 and 2024, he served full-time as the national director of the Runnymede Society, a major Canadian legal organization. Kristopher’s writing regularly appears in periodicals such as The Supreme Court Law Review, Constitutional Forum, the National Post, and The Hub. He served two terms between 2017 and 2023 on the board of directors of Christian Legal Fellowship, Canada’s national association of Christian lawyers and law students. He currently serves as the chair of the Canadian Bar Association’s Constitutional and Human Rights Section and as a member and deacon of Hespeler Baptist Church in Cambridge, Ontario. In his free time, Kristopher can be found reading, writing, drinking coffee, listening to vinyl, or mapping out his next backcountry camping trip.

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Resources:
Liberty for All: Defending Everyone’s Religious Freedom in a Pluralistic Age by Andrew. T. Walker
Political Church: The Local Assembly as Embassy of Christ’s Rule by Jonathan Leeman
Political Visions and Illusions by David Koyzis

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Show Credits:
Transforming Culture is a production of Muskoka Bible Centre.
Producer: Luke LaRocque
Editing, Sound Design and Mixing: Abishek Varghese
Audio and Technical Support: The Summer 2024 A/V team
Theme Song: “Citizens” by Jon Guerra
Graphic Design: Christina te-Bokkel Hotz

Welcome back to Transforming Culture - a podcast about asking hard questions about we can engage with and transform the world around us as we work to keep faithfulness in our Christian lives. I'm excited that we get to speak with Phillip Marshall this week, who was at MBC in the summer of 2024 for the very first time! Phillip is an intelligent, thoughtful speaker and many people benefitted from him as you will too - enjoy!
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Speaker Bio:
Phillip Marshall is an Associate Professor in Biblical Languages at Houston Christian University. His teaching focus (and passion) is Classical Biblical Hebrew and Hellenistic Greek. His areas of specialization are the Septuagint, early Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible, textual criticism, Hebrew and Greek grammar, linguistics, and biblical exegesis. He is also a pastor at Founders Baptist Church in Spring, TX, where he mentors future pastors, coordinates adult Bible education, counsels, and preaches/teaches God's Word. Phillip is married to Cheryl Marshall (co-author of When Words Matter Most, Crossway 2021), and they have 3 grown children and one daughter-in-law.

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Resources:
Marry Wisely, Marry Well (Ernie Baker)
When Sinners Say I Do (Dave Harvey)
Strengthening Your Marriage (Wayne Mack)
The Exemplary Husband (Stewart Scott)
The Excellent Wife (Martha Peace)

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Show Credits:
Transforming Culture is a production of Muskoka Bible Centre.
Producer: Luke LaRocque
Editing, Sound Design and Mixing: Abishek Varghese
Audio and Technical Support: The Summer 2024 A/V team
Theme Song: “Citizens” by Jon Guerra
Graphic Design: Christina te-Bokkel Hotz

Welcome to episode 6, season 3 of Transforming Culture. This week, I'm excited to welcome Norm Millar, who was our Bible Teacher at MBC in week 8 of the summer. (Reminder: we had some technical glitches after the summer and so the season order of our podcast doesn't line up with our weekly summer order...)

After our Bible Teachers are picked each year, I reach out to them with a request for their Transforming Culture topic. There's usually a bit of back and forth, talking about what is the right topic, all that. With Norm, it was an immediate answer of "here's my topic", and I loved it, because it's not something that any of our teachers has gotten close to before, and it generates a lot of good conversation, as you'll hear as you listen. Our hope with all our Transforming Culture sessions is that we are helping people to grow in their faith and learn about cultural topics that are perhaps not on their radar, and so I was so glad that Norm put his hand up, and stretched himself outside his comfort zone. I have to confess that I don't think about things like the financial incentives of pharmaceutical companies, so having Norm bring this all up was a good topic for me to engage with!

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Speaker Bio:
Norm Millar is the Senior Pastor at Redemption Bible Chapel London. Before going into ministry, Norm had an 18-year career in computer software design and project management. Norm obtained his MDiv, in 1992, from The Master’s Seminary in Los Angeles. In 2000, he planted, with 30 others, SouthWest Community church in London, which is now Redemption Bible Chapel. Redemption is grateful to be a member church in the church planting organization called The Great Commission Collective (GCC) which has many churches in Canada, the USA, and around the globe. Norm graduated in May 2017 with his DMin from Southern Seminary. He has been married to Cindy for 45 years, and they have five children and 19 grandchildren.

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Recommended Resources:
Saving Normal by Allen Frances

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Show Credits:
Transforming Culture is a production of Muskoka Bible Centre.
Producer: Luke LaRocque
Editing, Sound Design and Mixing: Abishek Varghese
Audio and Technical Support: The Summer 2024 A/V team
Theme Song: “Citizens” by Jon Guerra
Graphic Design: Christina te-Bokkel Hotz

We're in the home stretch of Transforming Culture for this season... more than halfway there! This week, we're thrilled to have a session with Shai Linne (yes, that Shai Linne!) as he talks about thinking biblically through social issues. We asked Shai to perform a concert at MBC last summer, and also slid in the opportunity to speak at our Transforming Culture session that week - we were thrilled when he said yes. Shai's life experience and ministry meant that he was very qualified to teach us, and it was such a thrill to have him share his perspective on social issues and how to engage faithfully as believers.

Production Note: As you'll hear in the Q&A, we recorded this session in July, with the intention to release in November, but are actually releasing it now in February. Thankfully, the Gospel is never-changing, but some of our political discussion (both American and Canadian!) have a lot of new context since we hit "record" back in the summer. Bear that in mind as you listen to this episode.

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Speaker Bio:
Shai is an author and recording artist who has released numerous acclaimed Christian hip-hop albums, including The Atonement, The Attributes of God and Jesus Kids. After completing a pastoral internship at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington D.C., Shai co-founded Risen Christ Fellowship, an inner-city church in his hometown of Philadelphia, PA. Shai has been featured in or written articles for numerous Christian outlets, including Christianity Today, World Magazine, 9 Marks and The Gospel Coalition. Shai is the author of The New Reformation: Finding Hope in the Fight for Ethnic Unity, which was published in May 2021. Previously, he wrote God Made Me and You and co-authored It Was Good: Making Music to the Glory of God. Shai lives in Portland, OR with his wife Blair and their three children.

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Show Credits:
Transforming Culture is a production of Muskoka Bible Centre.
Producer: Luke LaRocque
Editing, Sound Design and Mixing: Abishek Varghese
Audio and Technical Support: The Summer 2024 A/V team
Theme Song: “Citizens” by Jon Guerra
Graphic Design: Christina te-Bokkel Hotz

Welcome back to our fourth episode of this season of Transforming Culture - we're glad you're here! This is our first time with a returning guest, and we couldn't be more pleased that it's Stephen Bray, from Mile One Mission. Steve is a generous, gentle but oh-so-funny guy, and uses his disarming personality to draw you into beautiful conversations. This week, we're talking about Friendship and the Church, which is not a topic I would have thought was on the list for this year, but as you can hear, Steve knocked it out of the park. Enjoy!

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Speaker Bio:
Steve Bray attended both Pillsbury Baptist Bible College and Kingston Baptist Bible College for his undergraduate studies and Calvary Baptist Seminary for his (MDiv). He has been in pastoral ministry for over 20 years serving in both Fellowship and Canadian Baptist churches Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and currently as Lead Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. Steve started TGC Atlantic Canada and is a founding member of the TGC Canada Council. Steve is also the Executive Director of Mile One Mission dedicated to planting churches and seeing Newfoundlanders raised up to reach Canada’s most easterly province. Their goal and vision is to see 10 Churches planted by 2030. Steve is the blessed husband of Debbie, his childhood sweetheart and proud father of 3 beautiful children and six adorable grandchildren.

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Recommended Resources:
The Gospel Comes With a Housekey (Rosaria Butterfield)

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Show Credits:
Transforming Culture is a production of Muskoka Bible Centre.
Producer: Luke LaRocque
Editing, Sound Design and Mixing: Abishek Varghese
Audio and Technical Support: The Summer 2024 A/V team
Theme Song: “Citizens” by Jon Guerra
Graphic Design: Christina te-Bokkel Hotz

Welcome to our third episode this season of Transforming Culture! I'm very excited to be hearing from and talking to Adam Brown, a professor who serves in Abu Dhabi in the UAE. Adam served as a pastor in Ontario before moving to the Middle East, and brings a great sense of humour but also seriousness to his session about serving as a missionary internationally. Growing up in Canada, I heard a LOT about the 10/40 Window, so it was great to hear from personal experience what it's been like for someone serving internationally in this part of the world. Adam brings a personal touch to this episode, sharing lots of stories about his experience.

NOTE: You'll notice during this podcast recording that we edited out a few parts of Adam's time with us - that's for no particular reason other than that he was referencing a PowerPoint slide deck and video while he shared a lot of family photos and updates - which doesn't translate well to the podcast medium. Adam did a great job of weaving personal stories into his talk, and we've done our best to keep things making sense, and as you'll hear at the end of the Q&A, you're always welcome to connect with Adam via email if you want more personal updates!

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Speaker Bio:
Adam serves as Vice President and Professor of Old Testament at Gulf Theological Seminary in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. With 16 years of pastoral experience, he currently teaches Bible and Ministry courses in the seminary to equip and empower church planters, pastors, and ministry leaders for the hard-to-reach regions in Arabia, the Middle East, and the 10-40 window. Adam is married to Angie and they have one daughter, Selah.

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Show Credits:
Transforming Culture is a production of Muskoka Bible Centre.
Producer: Luke LaRocque
Editing, Sound Design and Mixing: Abishek Varghese
Audio and Technical Support: The Summer 2024 A/V team
Theme Song: “Citizens” by Jon Guerra
Graphic Design: Christina te-Bokkel Hotz

Welcome back to Transforming Culture - new year, new podcast! We're excited to finally be rolling into Season 3 each week now that we've got our tech issues sorted out! This season will be a bit "out of order" compared to other years as we continue to play with little glitches, but we're just happy to have our content coming to you! This week we're hearing from Robbie Symons about the sin of lust, and as you'll hear in the episode, it's one of the most blunt, hard-hitting sessions we've had at Transforming Culture yet. I'd say "enjoy", but it doesn't quite describe what I mean...

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Speaker Bio:
Robbie Symons is the founding Pastor of Hope Bible Church Oakville. Hope began with a Bible Study of 18 people in 2003 and is now over 4000 people today. It has also been used to see the birth of several vibrant churches across Canada. Robbie’s radio ministry through Hope Bible Church called Live in the Light, can be heard daily throughout Southern Ontario, Western New York, and the Atlantic Provinces. He is also the author of Passion Cry and he serves in the role of On Air Bible Teacher at 100 Huntley St. in order to see a love for Jesus Christ spread across the nation. Robbie, his wife Gillian and their four children live in Burlington, Ontario.

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Recommended Resources:
The Death of Porn by Ray Ortlund
Finally Free by Heath Lambert
Manhood by Josh Hawley

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Show Credits:
Transforming Culture is a production of Muskoka Bible Centre.
Producer: Luke LaRocque
Editing, Sound Design and Mixing: Abishek Varghese
Audio and Technical Support: The Summer 2024 A/V team
Theme Song: “Citizens” by Jon Guerra
Graphic Design: Christina te-Bokkel Hotz

Welcome back to Transforming Culture - we're finally here with season 3! For those of you who have been patiently waiting for the release of this season because of technical delays - thank you! There were a couple of summer audio recordings that we couldn't recover, and so we've had to switch up the model a little bit for some of the work that we did (including this episode!). We're dropping a couple of episodes before the Christmas season, and then will be back in the New Year with the rest of the season too. You'll notice that the episodes might be a bit out of order from the summer recording schedule, but we're hoping to have them all here by the end of the season.

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Speaker Bio:
Bryndan Crawford Loritts is the son of Dr. Crawford and Karen Loritts. While being raised in Atlanta, he was introduced to and surrendered his life to Jesus Christ. Upon graduating high-school he attended and graduated from the Moody Bible Institute. He’s also a graduate of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School where he received his Masters Degree. He recently started his Doctoral Studies in Biblical Preaching at Moody Theological Seminary. He has served as a youth pastor in the inner city of Chicago as well as pastored two churches, one of which he planted in Nashville. He also served as Teaching and Care Pastor at Shadow Hills Church in Las Vegas Nevada. Recently the Lord called him to be the lead pastor of Woodside Bible Church, Pontiac Campus in Michigan. Bryndan is married to Lucretia and they have 3 daughters, Leilani, Bryana and Sinaiya.

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Show Credits:
Transforming Culture is a production of Muskoka Bible Centre.
Producer: Luke LaRocque
Editing, Sound Design and Mixing: Abishek Varghese
Audio and Technical Support: The Summer 2024 A/V team
Theme Song: “Citizens” by Jon Guerra
Graphic Design: Christina te-Bokkel Hotz