The Ezra Institute Podcast for Cultural Reformation

What does it really mean to defend the Christian faith? Pastor Nate Wright, Dr. Michael Thiessen, and Dr. Joe Boot challenge the popular notion that apologetics is about winning arguments or piling up evidence for God's existence. Drawing from 1 Peter 3:15, they make the case that faithful apologetics begins with Christ set apart as Lord — and flows outward as bold proclamation, not intellectual competition.

The team explores how the collapse of a shared Christian worldview has transformed the apologetic landscape, why pragmatism has gutted the church's witness, and why true evangelism means confronting the idols of the age with humility, confidence, and total dependence on the Holy Spirit.

In this episode of the Podcast for Cultural Reformation, Nate Wright, Joe Boot, and Michael Thiessen continue their discussion on God’s law by exploring theonomy, its place in church history, and its fulfillment in Christ. They unpack the relationship between law and love, explain why biblical justice requires restitution and proportionality, and challenge modern misunderstandings that pit grace against God’s law.

The episode closes by showing that Jesus did not abolish the law, but fulfilled it perfectly, bore its penalty for His people, and calls His church to live in faithful obedience to all He has commanded.

This week, Pastor Nate Wright is joined by Dr. Joe Boot and Dr. Michael Thiessen to help Christians think Christianly about the escalating conflict involving Iran, Israel, and the United States.

Rather than reacting to headlines or repeating past debates about foreign wars, the conversation examines the issue through a Christian worldview—drawing on Scripture, sphere sovereignty, and the insights of Abraham Kuyper. What is the biblical basis for international law? Do nations have a right to defend themselves? And how should Christians think about war, treaties, and global conflict in a fallen world?

The goal of this episode is simple: to help believers move beyond political talking points and think Christianly about international conflict, justice, and the responsibilities of nations under God’s law.

Is God’s law merely moral advice—or the creational structure that holds all things together?

Pastor Nate Wright is joined by Dr. Joe Boot and Dr. Michael Thiessen to continue their Think Christianly series with “Think Christianly About Law (Part 1): The Meaning of Law, Natural Law, and Politics.” They argue that every “law word” of God orders creation, that all law is fundamentally religious (never neutral), and that removing God inevitably divinizes the state and fuels statism. They also challenge the appeal to “natural law” as common ground, calling Christians to recover the courage to speak God’s Word publicly—because from Him, through Him, and to Him are all things.

In this episode of the podcast for cultural reformation, Nate Wright and Dr. Michael Thiessen continue the Think Christianly series by examining the relationship between the Church, the Kingdom of God, and the mission of God’s people.

Is the Church’s mission merely personal piety, church growth, political activism, or evangelism alone? Drawing from Dr. Joe Boot’s Think Christianly, they argue that the kingdom of God is the comprehensive rule and reign of Christ over every sphere of life—not something confined to Sunday worship or outsourced to the state. When that vision is reduced, Christians drift into either “churchianity” or a politicized view of the kingdom.

The episode unpacks worship beyond Sunday, the distinction between the Church as institute and organism, sphere sovereignty, the central (but not exhaustive) role of evangelism, and the danger of sacred/secular dualism. Ultimately, the gospel calls believers into a world-encompassing mission: all of life lived under the lordship of King Jesus.