Throughout the mythologies of the ancient world, a consistent pattern emerges; seemingly benevolent gods descend from on high bringing sacred knowledge to humanity and frequently, that knowledge ends up in humanity's ruin. The technology boom of the last century is unrivaled in the common understanding of history, but is it too much too soon, especially when the products of that knowledge end up in the hands of our children? Is it too much even for ourselves?

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The first formal schools started the Americas were begun with the goal of developing children into a people who could be self-governed and continue building for the future in the new world. The modern education system is a far cry from producing pupils anywhere close to that goal. Knowledge has grown exponentially, but what about wisdom? That is the question we are asking in this episode.

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In his scathing Satire XII, French poet Nicolas Boileau Despréaux wrote the now famous lines,
"When Luther and Calvin, steeped in your lore,
And self-proclaimed reformers of the Church,
Came to free the priesthood from the vow of celibacy,
And—decrying the austerity of the holiest vows—
Restored liberty to monks weary of the yoke.
Then, rejecting all visible authority,
Each man deemed himself an infallible judge of the faith;
And, without the sanction of the Roman clergy,
Every Protestant became a pope, with a Bible in hand."

In this episode, we ask the question, "Was he right?"
How do resist the hyper fragmentation which has become common among the protestant Church? How and when should we ever divide from Church leadership?

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There have been countless fallen leaders, breaks in the walls, wolves among sheep, but we're the ones who have let them in. This season, we are focusing our sights on recovering the lost gift of Biblical discernment.

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Wrapping up season 1 of Ascend The Trenches, Jerrod and Ilorra tie all of the threads of the previous episodes together as they reveal a truth Christians of the past knew well but one that many of us today would rather ignore: suffering is not optional. We are easily persuaded to believe the lies that suffering is avoidable and that suffering is not good for us, but God's Word gives us a very different perspective. How does God use suffering in the life of the believer, in the Christian marriage, and in our parenting? How can we learn to suffer well? That's what this episode is all about!

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In this episode, Jerrod and Ilorra discuss how the seeds of communist thought have dug down deep into the heart of our culture and infected our perceptions, even within the Church.

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In this episode, Jerrod and Ilorra take on one of the most debated topics in modern, Christian parenting: spanking. In the past few decades, the pendulum of cultural and Church opinion on the subject has swung back, forth and back again, but as followers of Christ it is our responsibility not to be tossed to and fro by the ever changing opinions of man, but anchored deeply in the unchanging word of God.

Today, we launch into part 1 on the mantle of parenting. We'll be taking head on some of the biggest lies the enemy has deceived our culture with regarding this sacred ministry, and countering them with clear, biblical truth.

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