Understanding “God substitutes”

On this podcast:

How to avoid splurging at the grocery store

Dr. Bill shared some news about new research which suggests that if you eat an apple before grocery shopping, you’re more likely to purchase healthy food, and less likely to splurge. Here’s the story from Today:

Researchers from the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab performed three experiments. In the first, they randomly provided an apple sample, a cookie sample, or no sample to 120 shoppers. Then they examined the participants’ purchases; those who ate an apple bought 28 percent more fruits and vegetables than those who ate a cookie and 25 percent more fruits and vegetables than those who had no sample…

You can read the entire story by clicking here.

The affect of alcohol in movies and TV on your teen

Parents, listen up.

If your kid is an avid connoisseur of movies and TV shows, they could be at risk (according to a new study). Health Day reports that boozing in movies and TV shows could enhance your child’s propensity to try drinking:

“Kids who are more likely to drink or are already drinking may seek out more films with drinking in them,” said Dr. Victor Strasburger, an emeritus professor of pediatrics at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine.

Yet, he added, a number of long-term studies conducted by a co-author of the current study “show that seeing episodes of drinking in the movies may be the leading cause of teenagers beginning to drink, or smoke if they see episodes of smoking.”

You can read the full post by clicking here.

Understanding atheism, secularism, and other “God substitutes”

Have you heard the phrase “don’t think, just believe”? It seems like the American church has been sold this simplistic way of thinking; check your brain at the church door and enjoy the program.

But there are many other worldviews with subscribers who actually think and put their worldviews to the test.

Esteemed author and columnist Nancy Pearcey says Christians should not only be believers, but thinkers also.

She’s written the new book , and joined Dr. Bill Maier Live! to talk more about it.

Highlight: be intentional with your kids

You can hear the entire program at the top of the post.

Nancy R. Pearcey, editor-at-large of The Pearcey Report, is scholar in residence and professor at Houston Baptist University. She is also a fellow at the Discovery Institute. Previously she was the Francis A. Schaeffer Scholar at the World Journalism Institute, where she taught a worldview course based on her book Total Truth, winner of the 2005 ECPA Gold Medallion Award for best book on Christianity and Society.