Hi, I'm Susie Larson. Here's the podcast from Middays with Susie Larson. Enjoy the conversation.

Welcome to Middays, I must confess.

Every time I hear that song, I start bopping in the studio and I think, oh, I've got to get back on the air.

I'm Susie Larson, so honored to have this time with you.

In fact, I look forward to joining you every single day, hopefully to bring you conversations that inspire you in your

faith walk, deepen your understanding of God's word, and even heighten your awareness of his presence

in your life. My Life verse is Psalm 1169, and so I walk in the Lord's presence as I live here on earth.

Love that. Today is a unique day, first and foremost, because we have our first of what will be, Lord willing, a monthly guest will join us every month to answer your questions, but also we're opening the phone line.

So not only can you text, but you can call with your Bible questions.

I want to set up the topic here before I give him a proper introduction, but my husband and I were talking this weekend about this polarized culture in which we live.

And the Bible even says

in the latter days, the love of most will go cold. But you notice it. You look around, people are so

amped up. They're quick to attack. You know, people step up to run for office or to even try anything

great, and they're just absolutely shredded, and people are quick to believe the worst about them,

even though scripture says part of what

it means to live by love is to believe the best. You know, how do we navigate such a loveless culture

without it ruining our perspective? And how does God's word apply to us in this day in which we live?

And finally, what do I do with the passages of scripture that are not only hard to understand,

but I find it difficult to

defend. Well, as I said, I'm thrilled to share with you. My guest today, Dr. Jeremiah Johnson,

he needs no introduction. I'm going to give him a proper introduction, a quick announcement. First,

we are giving away two copies of the Spurgeon Study Bible every week during the month of February. Bibles are expensive. A Spurgeon study Bible? Come on now, that's just

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