Live Free with Josh Howerton

What happens when suffering, politics, and moral confusion collide?

In this episode of LIVE FREE, Pastors Josh Howerton, Carlos Erazo, and Paul Cunningham tackle two of the most critical doctrines for modern Christians: God’s sovereignty and the role of conscience in a collapsing culture. Through Acts 23, Romans 8, Titus 1, and 1 Timothy 4, they unpack how believers can trust God’s control over suffering while developing the moral clarity necessary to stand firm in truth.

From free will, to abortion, civic engagement, suffering, and the dangers of a weak or seared conscience, this conversation offers a deeply biblical framework for navigating personal hardship and cultural chaos. Rather than retreating in fear or compromise, Christians are called to trust God’s providence, guard their conscience, and live courageously.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

How God’s sovereignty provides peace in suffering and uncertainty

What is compatibilism, free will, and open theism

The four types of conscience and why they matter spiritually

How culture distorts morality—and how Christians can resist it

Why suffering can become ministry in God’s hands

How biblical truth shapes both private faith and public responsibility

Trust God’s sovereignty. Guard your conscience. 

Stand firm. Think biblically. Live free.

💬 This week’s giveaway: Comment HAT

🧢 Want a Live Free hat of your own? Visit LiveFree.shop

📲 Looking to grow deeper in your faith? Check out the Lakepointe App to access our Discipleship Guide, daily Bible reading plan, and more. Text APP to 20411 to download

Did the Founding Fathers actually want Christianity out of government, or is that the biggest historical lie ever told? Pastor Josh Howerton sits down with Tim Barton of WallBuilders to go straight to the original documents: the Aiken Bible endorsed by Congress, Jefferson's original draft of the Declaration of Independence arguing against slavery, the prayer proclamations of John Hancock, and the letter that gave us the phrase "separation of church and state." What you were taught in school and what the primary sources actually say are two very different things.

This conversation doesn't just rewrite the narrative, it goes back to the original sources to recover what was always true. From the Marxist roots of revisionist history to the founding fathers' forgotten anti-slavery legacy, this episode will challenge everything you thought you knew about America's founding.

In this episode, you'll learn:

Why Congress endorsed and recommended the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States

What Thomas Jefferson's original draft of the Declaration actually says about slavery, and why it was removed

What "separation of church and state" really meant and where the phrase actually comes from

Why the founding fathers quoted the Bible more than any other source in their writings

How Marxist ideology deliberately rewrote American history, and why it matters for Christians today

Stand firm. Think biblically. Live free.

Check out Tim & David Barton’s Book The American Story: https://a.co/d/00SL8cDf

🧢 Want a Live Free hat of your own? Visit LiveFree.shop

📲 Looking to grow deeper in your faith? Check out the Lakepointe App to access our Discipleship Guide, daily Bible reading plan, and more. Text APP to 20411 to download

What does it actually look like to share your faith with someone like Jordan Peterson, and what do four assassination attempts on a sitting president reveal about the state of the American soul? Pastors Josh Howerton, Carlos Erazo, and Paul Cunningham sit down with Pastor David Nasser for one of the most wide-ranging conversations in Live Free. From Josh's eye-opening trip to Greece retracing Paul's footsteps in Acts, to the seven I AM statements of Jesus, to the difference between a presenting cause and a root disease, this episode moves from theology to culture to the street-level art of winning your one more.

David Nasser pulls back the curtain on what happened when Jordan Peterson came to Liberty University, then the team tackles Saturday night's assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents' Dinner and makes the case that political violence is not a political problem. It's a spiritual one.

In this episode, you'll learn:

Three categories of proof that Jesus claimed to be God: things he said, did, and knew that only God could

What happened when David Nasser hosted Jordan Peterson at Liberty University and why hospitality is evangelism

Why political violence is a presenting cause with a spiritual root disease, and what Christians need to understand

Practical, real-world strategies for moving your one more closer to Jesus in everyday conversations

Why the answer to what's broken in our nation is not political, and never has been

Stand firm. Think biblically. Live free.

💬 This week’s giveaway: Comment HAT

🧢 Want a Live Free hat of your own? Visit LiveFree.shop

📲 Looking to grow deeper in your faith? Check out the Lakepointe App to access our Discipleship Guide, daily Bible reading plan, and more. Text APP to 20411 to download

Do Catholics and Protestants actually worship the same Jesus? 

Pastors Carlos Erazo and Paul Cunningham sit down with apologist and author Dr. Frank Turek (I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist) to unpack one of the most personal and theologically charged conversations in Live Free history. Frank was there the day Charlie Kirk was assassinated, and he shares what happened, what Charlie believed, and how the conspiracy theories impact his legacy.

From there, the conversation digs into the real differences between Catholicism and Protestantism...not to divide, but to clarify what the Bible actually teaches about salvation, authority, and grace. In a season where Gen Z is converting to Catholicism and a new American pope has been elected, this episode gives you the biblical tools to think clearly, love well, and point people to Jesus.

In this episode, you'll learn:

What Frank Turek witnessed the day Charlie Kirk was shot, and what Charlie believed about Jesus

The key differences between Catholic and Protestant theology on salvation and authority

Why Sola Scriptura doesn't mean what most critics think it means

Whether Christians and Muslims worship the same God, and what the Bible says

How to have grace-filled conversations with Catholic family and friends about the gospel

Stand firm. Think biblically. Live free.

🔗 Resources: 

Roman Catholics and Evangelicals: Agreements and Differences by Norman Geisler & Ralph MacKenzie https://amazon.com/Roman-Catholics-Evangelicals-Agreements-Differences/dp/0801038758

I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist by Frank Turek & Norman Geisler https://amazon.com/Dont-Have-Enough-Faith-Atheist/dp/1433580756

Is the Pope Legit? Catholicism v. Protestantism Debate Ft. Michael Knowles | Charlie Kirk https://youtu.be/6Z-bBlI-1tg

💬 This week’s giveaway: Comment FREEDOM

🧢 Want a Live Free hat of your own? Visit LiveFree.shop

📲 Looking to grow deeper in your faith? Check out the Lakepointe App to access our Discipleship Guide, daily Bible reading plan, and more. Text APP to 20411 to download

In this episode of LIVE FREE, Pastors Carlos Erazo and Paul Cunningham tackle one of the most confusing questions Christians face today: What’s actually sin… and what’s just man-made rules? Walking through Matthew 23, they expose the danger of hypocrisy and legalism—then take it straight into real-life debates around alcohol, tattoos, and weed. Is it actually freedom… or are we just calling it that? This conversation will challenge how you think about obedience, influence, and what it really means to follow Jesus in today’s culture.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

The difference between biblical obedience and legalism

Why hypocrisy doesn’t just affect you—it impacts the next generation

What the Bible actually says about alcohol (and where the line is)

How to think through gray areas like tattoos and weed

A simple framework to know: Is this wise… or just allowed?

Stand firm. Think biblically. Live free.

💬 This week’s giveaway: Comment CHAT G-PAUL-C

🧢 Want a Live Free hat of your own? Visit LiveFree.shop

📲 Looking to grow deeper in your faith? Check out the Lakepointe App to access our Discipleship Guide, daily Bible reading plan, and more. Text APP to 20411 to download