When Empires Fall: Why Christians Should Welcome Decentralization

Spiritual drift is rarely dramatic—it's quiet, subtle, and often unnoticed until you've drifted "900 miles" from where you started. Kevin and the dads talk honestly about the warning signs: selfishness, prayerlessness, skipped family worship, and hearts more drawn to entertainment than to Christ. They walk through anchors and rhythms—daily Word, prayer, Lord's Day, honest confession—and share practical ways to shepherd sleepy, distracted families back to spiritual alertness and joy in Christ.

If America's centralized systems crack, is that only bad news? Kevin and Bill compare our moment to the collapse of Rome and the so-called "Dark Ages," when the gospel quietly discipled Europe for centuries. They explain how centralized power devalues the individual, feeds elitism, and makes it easier for principalities and powers to capture education, media, and law. Then they sketch a biblical alternative: family economies, local churches with real jurisdiction, and a nation of millions of obedient households instead of one towering state.

Is Social Security just neutral math, or a moral issue for Christians? Kevin Swanson and Josh Schwisow open Matthew 15, 1 Timothy 5, and the example of Jesus on the cross to show that God assigns elder care first to children, grandchildren, and the local church—not the state. They expose Social Security as an unsustainable Ponzi scheme propped up by birth implosion and political denial, and then cast a hopeful vision for families, diaconates, and congregations that tithe, give, and prepare to care for their own widows when the system cracks.

Why are 62% of Gen Z now favorable toward socialism and a third open to communism? Kevin Swanson and Danny Craig trace the pipeline: professors who are 9:1 Democrat, K–12 "nanny state" schooling, trillion-dollar welfare, and a faux "capitalism" that quietly rewards the ruling class and squeezes the poor and middle. Then they flip the script and outline how to raise children who fear God, reject statist dependence, embrace family economy, work hard, and overflow in generosity instead of entitlement.

Were the "Dark Ages" really dark—or were they the centuries when the gospel quietly transformed Europe? Dr. George Grant walks through monks, missionaries, market towns, and parish churches, showing how Christendom slowly replaced pagan slavery with a culture of worship, work, freedom, and learning. Kevin and George then ask what today's Christians can learn if we want to see that kind of patient, courageous culture-building again.

The dads confront the modern "gentle parenting" movement head-on, arguing that its rejection of authority, restraint, and negative consequences has produced fragile families and weakened churches. Looking at Eli, David, and their sons, they show why Scripture insists that love includes rebuke, chastening, confession, and consistency. They discuss how to discipline without anger, how to correct while maintaining relationship, how to set wise family rules, and why children thrive inside clear boundaries. A needed re-alignment of grace and truth for Christian fathers.

Is "Christian nationalism" just a scary label—or is it simply what happens when Christians take Christ's lordship over every area of life seriously? Kevin and Bill discuss the latest polling on Christian nationalism, expose the myth of "neutral" pluralism, and show why every law system rests on a god and a worldview. From Saudi Arabia to Samoa to Washington, D.C., they argue that nations either acknowledge the Triune God or drift into humanistic anarchy—and that declarations alone aren't enough without repentance, justice, and obedience to God's law.

Did the true Church disappear for 1,500 years until the Reformation—or has Christ always preserved His people? Kevin and Josh examine the meaning of "the catholic church" in the Apostles' Creed, the promise of Matthew 16:18, and the role of church history in understanding Christ's ongoing work.

More than half of Americans now believe alien life exists—and many Christians are quietly wondering if UFOs might fit somewhere in their theology. In this episode, Kevin and Bill tackle the UFO craze head-on: the math behind life "by chance," the implications of Christ dying once for all, and the way alien fascination so easily becomes a distraction from evangelism, discipleship, and the worship of the living God. Is this curiosity harmless…or a spiritual setup?

Voddie Baucham, the Founders movement, the SBC floor fights over critical race theory—Tom Ascol has been in the middle of it for decades. In this conversation, Kevin and Tom remember Voddie's courage and ministry, then turn to the deeper question: Why have so many leaders buckled when the culture pushed back?