What Do Rogan, Shapiro, and Peterson have in Common?

Welcome back to coffee with a Calvinist. This program is dedicated to helping you better understand the Word of God and the doctrines of grace. The Bible tells us do your best to present yourself to God as one approved a Worker who is no need to be ashamed rightly handling the word of truth.

Get your Bible and coffee ready and prepare to study along. Here's your host with today's lesson pastor Keith Foskey.

And.

Pop Culture Day and the Question of Masculine Voices

Welcome back to coffee with a Calvinist. My name is Keith Foskey and I am a Calvinist today is September 15th 2020 and if you're following along in our daily Bible reading today You're going to be reading from 1st Peter chapter 2 if you'd like a copy of our daily Bible reading Which is taking you one chapter a day through the New Testament.

You can find that at our website SGFC Jack's org that is the website for Sovereign Grace Family Church of Jacksonville where I am the pastor and I want to Personally also invite you if you are in the Jacksonville area would like to come and worship with us this coming Lord's Day.

We would love to have you we have Sunday school at 9 30 a .m. And we have worship at 10 30 a .m. Or if you'd like to join us for a midweek service, we have Bible study on Wednesday nights at 6 30 p .m.

If you have any questions, please feel free to go to the website Send us a message and you can learn more about us there. Well today's Tuesday and that means it's pop culture day. We're going to be talking about a pop culture subject and I want to begin today's program With a question and the question goes like this What do Joe Rogan?

Ben Shapiro and Jordan Peterson all have in common. What do Joe Rogan. Ben Shapiro and Jordan Peterson all have in common? Now right away you may not know who those people are but I imagine that many of you probably do if you've never heard of them Joe Rogan is Has the number one podcast in the world?

At least I think last time I checked it was the the most listened to podcast in the world. He is also a television star. He's also big with mixed martial arts. He is a black belt in taekwondo and jiu-jitsu and he has a lot of experience in the martial arts and he has a lot of notoriety there and so a lot of people know him through either his podcast or through his Television and movies.

He was the host of Fear Factor. He was also on a television show called News Radio. So many people know who Joe Rogan is and then Ben Shapiro, of course is Not a television star not in the same way, but Ben Shapiro is a political commentator.

He is Very famous especially among conservatives for being very quick-witted and Having a lot of very good answers to very difficult questions and Ben Shapiro is According to his page on Wikipedia. He is an American conservative political commentator media host and Attorney at age 17.

He became the youngest Nationally syndicated columnist in the United States. So many of you have probably heard of Ben Shapiro. And the last one that I mentioned is Jordan Peterson now Jordan Peterson.

Of these three may be one that you maybe haven't heard of but Jordan Peterson is a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto and he He has received a lot of attention Over the last few years because of his cultural and political views.

He has made some very outspoken statements that have been not very well received by the left particularly and he is Quite popular with people on the right conservatives, even though he himself Would probably not identify himself as a conservative he because of what he says often agreeing with conservative positions often gets a lot of Conservatives liking what he says and I did last year I read his book 12 rules for life and on a future program of coffee with a Calvinist.

I do plan on giving a review of what I thought of the book. But that's not the subject of today the question of today. These are three men of wildly different Thoughts and and and and wildly different backgrounds.

You have a martial arts podcaster. You have a Political commentator and attorney and you have a psychologist and Professor in these three men, but yet I would say they have something in common and this was pointed out to me I want to give credit where this is due.

I read in a Post someone posted about the the connection between men like these it mentioned these men. It mentioned some other men and it really got my attention said what is the what is the thing that all of these have?

In common and the thing that all of these men seem to have in common is that they are very popular with young Men, they are very popular with young men. Joe Rogan Ben Shapiro Jordan Peterson seemed to be getting a lot of attention from young men and not only young men.

But young.

Christian men men who identify themselves as Christian are often fans of Shapiro they're fans of Peterson and some of them even though Rogan is a Devout atheist he believes that there is no God and no reason for God.

Even though I would say as a presupposition list I would say he he knows God exists. He's just he is Suppressing that truth and unrighteousness because that's what Romans 1 tells us. It says all men know God exists.

No one is no one has an excuse to deny the existence of God but someone like Joe Rogan would would identify himself at least as an Atheist and I've heard him say that on several occasions that he doesn't believe.

At least he he says he doesn't believe in the existence of God. So so we have different positions here. Shapiro is a Jewish man. He wears a yarmulke a very pronounced Jewish person he he's not afraid to to express his faith and Peterson.

In his book, he talks about a lot about the Bible, but he certainly is not a conservative Christian. So here's three men. No, none of these men are conservative Christians. And yet they I I have noticed they have the ear of a lot of conservative a lot of Christians.

And the and the question is why why why these men and why are they so popular? Why are they popular with men and what can that teach us as Believers and what can that teach us particularly as Christian men if you're a Christian man listening to this I want you to think about what I'm about to say because I think it's very important.

I think the reason why Joe Rogan Ben Shapiro and Jordan Peterson are so popular among young men and even conservative Christian men is because these men are.

A.

Voice for masculinity. In a world that is consumed with Feminine ideology and feminine thinking we have been taught and we have been conditioned to believe that masculinity is Wrong and that femininity is right.

We have been conditioned to to take everything that is Good about manhood and suppress it and everything that is good about womanhood and exalt it and appreciate it and so Men have been to the to the point of being pushed down.

I want to say it like this men have been degraded in regard to those things that are Masculine and good and powerful and positive and and the the exact opposite. So the so the pendulum certainly has shifted certainly within my lifetime.

And.

The I think the reason why men like Joe Rogan Ben Shapiro Jordan Peterson are so popular is because they they provide a Masculine voice. They are saying things that men want to say. But they are afraid to say because either they don't know how to articulate What they want to say and then they hear somebody like Jordan Peterson who articulates himself very well.

Or they hear somebody like Ben Shapiro who was just so quick and and they say wow I want to be like that. Or they hear somebody like Joe Rogan who may not be as articulate but certainly has.

Strength.

Joe Rogan is is a Beast of an individual he is he he has. Devin demonstrated his strength in his martial arts training. He's demonstrated his strength and and so many other areas and of course now he dominates the podcast market.

And so you have these men who are expressing and display displaying strength.

Either.

Intellectually or or simply verbally and and men see that and they gravitate towards that and they and and and they see it as something that's positive. And so these men become heroic in their sight and Again, this teaches us something.

This teaches us what men are looking for. Men are looking for heroes. Men are looking for men to look up to men of strength men of intellect men of knowledge and men who aren't afraid to be men. I Want you to for a moment if you are sitting next to your Bible and Hopefully many of you are I hope this is part of your your daily routine and maybe you're sitting down with your coffee.

That's coffee with a Calvinist. I'm expecting you got a cup of coffee in a Bible. I want you to turn in your Bible to 1st Corinthians chapter 16. In 1st Corinthians chapter 16 Paul is giving some admonitions to the church at Corinth.

This is finishing out the chapter and He says as he is finishing out the chapter in verse 13. So it's this is 1st Corinthians 16 verse 13. He says be watchful stand firm in the faith. Act like men.

Be.

Strong and and and that is. The the phrase act like men is is one word in the Greek and in it the translation is is from the root of man and it literally means to to to have the the attitude or the expressions of a man the the the behavior of a man and I've always thought this verse is Important because some other translations might translate this phrase be brave or be strong.

But.

Understand this at the root of the word that Paul uses the word here is Man, and that's the root and so in this is the concept even if it should be translated be brave the the the picture of Bravery is the picture of a man.

The idea of bravery is manhood. That's what men should be is they should be brave and we used to feel like that was okay to teach our young boys. But now we we have to teach them how to get in touch with their femininity we teach them how to get in touch with their emotions and we neglect to teach them how to be men and so this.

This is something I think young men yearn for and they're looking for voices in the world to Provide for them a a voice of manhood and so they gravitate toward what the world provides. Because they're not finding it often in the church and let and I want to say this I listen to a lot of preachers and I am really starting to pick up on The fact that so many of the voices in evangelicalism Though they are male voices they are feminine sounding voices they are voices that that are.

Everything is so emotive. Everything is so emotional. Everything is so dripping sweet with From the honeycomb and I think I think the thing is we have we have become an emasculated People and and among the men we have become emasculated and I'm really just in my heart seeing this as a as a as a failure.

We need to be a People we need to be men and speak like men and speak with strength. And in no way is this denigrating females and in no way is this demigrate denigrating the feminine but Men do not need to be Feminine they do not need to behave as Women and they don't need to talk as women.

They need to act like men. That's what the Bible says and that's what I'm encouraging today. So I want to in this program I want to provide for you a few thoughts of Some people that you might could listen to that I think are providing Voices of manhood in a time of Where there's a lot of there's a lot of feminine voices out there.

There's a lot of men who sound like they are not men they they sound like. They sound like Like they they are weak and they're not strong voices. And so and again, I'm not trying to insulting about not naming names today.

That's not what this is about. I'm not I'm not naming the names of the negatives. I'm gonna give you some positives to look toward and I'm gonna say you know what instead of spending our time and maybe you are a person who spends your time with Joe Rogan or Ben Shapiro and Jordan Peterson and maybe you find value in what they're saying.

And I'm not telling you don't do that. I even though I would say Joe Rogan does get off-color sometimes but And even Jordan Peterson as well and but my point is this these men are not Christian voices.

These men are conservative voices. There is a distinction to be made there because while they may be saying a lot of the same things that we say as believers. They are coming To this from an unbiblical worldview and all one need do is is is listen to them talk about Christianity and you immediately see where their worldview divide is.

I mean you listen Joe Rogan talk about Christianity. You'll know right away He's not a Christian you hear you read Jordan Peterson's book. You'll know right away. He's not a Christian. They don't claim to be so now I'm not Charging them with falsehood.

I'm just saying and you watch the interview with Ben Shapiro and John MacArthur. John MacArthur of course sharing the gospel of Ben Shapiro a Jew and Then of course later on Ben Shapiro goes on another program says he's not convinced and and so we understand these are not Christian voices.

So who can you listen to who can be those voices?

I.

Think the one that comes into my mind right away is A brother by the name of Paul Washer many of you know who Paul Washer is. Paul Washer is a pastor. He has a sermon that is called the shocking youth message and it's the message that Genuinely reached out and grabbed many people by the soul and just reminded them of the truth of the gospel and how many people have missed the truth of the gospel and.

So if you've never heard the shocking youth message by Paul Washer Go listen to it. It's worth your time. But the thing is some people might say well washers emotional and and he does get emotional. I mean, I've seen him weep in the pulpit.

I've seen him. I've seen him break down the pulpit. I'm not telling you that as a man, we would never weep. I'm not telling you as a man. We would never emote, but I am saying this if you listen to Paul Washer preach.

He preaches as a man. He preaches the the the gospel without fear. He is brave. He is a man of God and and so there is a there is the example that I think that I'm referring to when I say be a man, I think the Bible saying be a man's be brave and Be a be a masculine voice and I think if you're looking for a masculine Christian voice Paul Washer would be a good one another one my personal favorite theologian.

Dr. James White. A lot of people have trouble with dr. White on certain issues. I don't like everything he has to say. But let me tell you something. He's speaking a lot of truth and he is not afraid to speak that truth and he speaks it strongly and boldly.

He is a man. He is speaking as a man. He is an intellect. He I would say in every way which that Jordan Peterson is an intellect I would say James White is just as much an intellectual and if you're looking to not only have your your For someone to listen to but you're looking for to be intellectually stimulated you're not going to find much better than James White and and and beside him I would say also is Someone that I'm becoming increasingly familiar with and someone I'm listening to more and more and that is Doug Wilson.

Now again, a lot of people have issues with Doug. Doug had some problems years ago with questions about federal visionism and there were questions about his theology, but Doug is a solid dude in many ways and he has recently been doing some things with dr. White.

They have something called I think it's called the sweater vest Commentary or something where the two of them get together and talk about issues of the day. It's great stuff. And I Know that Doug does something called no quarter November where every November he spends several weeks giving podcasts on subjects that are unpopular But need to be spoken about and it's powerful stuff.

And so I would encourage you if you've never heard of Doug Wilson and to search him out and see what you think and again I'm not if you don't like these if you listen to him and say this isn't for me, that's fine I'm giving you my personal recommendations for for men that I find as godly men and and again These are all men who preach the gospel and and and they're in there are many others.

Obviously, I could take a step back and I could say look to somebody like John MacArthur. John MacArthur is a man. He has been preaching the gospel for for So many decades he is he is right now standing for truth out in California.

He is a man of God speaking bravely. So right there is is is an example. And again, I could go down the list Vodie Balcom if you love Somebody who just really knows how to hammer it down Vodie is is a is a brother who he is such a powerful preacher and and he's fun and enjoyable to listen to and He would be someone who I would say there's a man and if you're looking for a martial artist if you maybe if you like Me and you have a martial arts background and that appeals to you Vodie is a jujitsu man.

And he is he is a powerful man to listen to and and someone to look up to.

Local Examples, Church Life, and a Closing Exhortation

Our.

Young men need Godly men to look up to. Now now I want to bring this to a close by saying this I'm pointing to all these men outside. But I want to say something to you if you're a member of Sovereign Grace Family Church.

We have some really great men in our church that you can look up to. There are some really great men that are there who I would start with our with our elders and our deacons who love the church and who care for the church.

And if you're a young person young man coming into the church, I would encourage you to to Try to connect with these men. And and I'm and I know they want to connect with you because that's what we're there for men.

Teaching men iron sharpening iron. And and again if you're a lady listening today, I love you this is this is on my heart today is speaking to men and Just thinking this way if you are a young man and.

And and you're you're looking for someone to listen to. Because you need someone to help you find your voice in this world. And you're a believer. Those people on the outside that are not believers. They may have good things to say but look at believers look at people who share your worldview and.

And look for men who are poor preaching the gospel gospel men. And again, there's so many more I could mention.

I'm gonna I'm gonna.

Stop going down the list now and I'm going to begin to draw to a close and simply say I hope this this has been a topic that has interested you. I do plan. I was asked to review a book in the future. I think it's called the masculinity mandate.

I'm going to be looking at that book and Hopefully reading it as quickly as I can so that I'll be able to review it on the program. So this subject will come up again in the future but if you have a question that you'd like me to address on this subject, maybe a question of Men and women's roles in the church.

Men and women's roles in the home. Something that you'd like to for me to address from scripture. I would love to do that. So I hope this has been an encouragement to you. I hope all of these shows are an encouragement to you and I hope that it is a Blessing to you as much as it is for me to be able to produce these programs for you.

Thank you again for listening to coffee with a Calvinist. My name is Keith Foskey, and I have been your Calvinist. May God bless you.

Thank you for joining in for today's episode of coffee with a Calvinist. Keep in mind. We have a new lesson available every weekday morning at 6 30 a .m. On YouTube and Facebook. If you enjoyed this lesson, please take a moment to respond by hitting the like button leaving a comment and subscribing to the channel.

On behalf of pastor Foskey, thank you for listening. May God bless you.