The movie squad featuring my good friends Sterling Harer, Andrea Maikke, and Jonathan Bartsch return to Wrestling. This time we talk Christmas movies from Elf to It’s a Wonderful Life to the Grinch, and of course we engage in the age long debate, Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? Along the way we wrestle with Gospel themes in various Christmas movies, and we discuss Marxist themes of Elf.   Resources: About “Workism”: The Religion of Workism Is Making Americans Miserable - The Atlantic The “Uncanny Valley” as seen in Polar Express: The uncanny valley of Robert Zemeckis film 'Polar Express' (faroutmagazine.co.uk) The Uncanny Valley: The Original Essay by Masahiro Mori - IEEE Spectrum For more from the Movie Squad: Episode 41- Summer 2023 Movie Critique Roundtable ft. Sterling Harer, Andrea Maikke and Jonathan Bartsch - Wrestling | Podcast on Spotify

In Part 2 of my riveting conversation with Mitch Elliott, hear about how his conviction to fulfill the Great Commission led him to become one of the world’s top Donkey Kong players. Along the way we wrestle with how to handle unfriendly responses to the Gospel and how to effectively use social media to evangelize among other things. To conclude, I share the role video games played in me coming to Christ.   Watch the documentary King of Kong: Fistful of quarters for free on YouTube: The King of Kong : Fistful of Quarters (Full Movie) - YouTube Star Tribune Article Featuring Mitch: 25-cent time machines at Rusty Quarters (startribune.com) Mitch’s DK manual, available for free: Copy of DK Manual Live Google Doc - Google Docs

Joining me for this episode of Wrestling is former professional football player Mitchell Elliot. Hear Mitchell describe his journey from a Division III player to nearly playing for the Minnesota Vikings to his time playing arena football. Along the way, we wrestle with the risks of playing football and the lengths some go to to make it big. Check me out on FB: Facebook

Returning to Wrestling for this episode is Pastor Emeritus and author Mark Swarbrick, who was featured back in episodes 10 and 11. In this episode, Pastor Mark talks about his latest book a novel, Beyond Redemption: Love and Longing in the Old West, which you can get following the link once it is released. Hear Pastor Mark discuss the basic premise of the book, which revolves around the infamous Wham Paymaster Robbery, what inspired him to write the novel, the novel writing process, and the appeal of the Western genre. Along the way we wrestle with the reliability of Scripture and the checkered history of the Mormon church among other things. Be sure to check out the links in the description to read all about the historical events we discussed and also check out Pastor Mark’s prior appearance on Wrestling.  Hear more from Pastor Mark: Episode 10- Mark Swarbrick- Pt.1 - Wrestling | Podcast on Spotify Episode 11- Mark Swarbrick Pt. 2 - Wrestling | Podcast on Spotify   Historical events discussed: Wham Paymaster Robbery: Wham Paymaster Robbery Near Pima, Arizona – Legends of America September Dawn Wikipedia: September Dawn - Wikipedia Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Mountain Meadows Massacre | American Experience | Official Site | PBS Mountain Meadows Massacre (churchofjesuschrist.org) Joseph Smith’s Death: Death of Joseph Smith: How and where he died - Church News (thechurchnews.com) Who Killed Joseph Smith? (churchofjesuschrist.org)

Joining me for this episode of Wrestling are my friends Sterling Harer, Andrea Maikke, and Jonathan Bartsch. Join us as we break down all the hit movies this summer such as Oppenheimer, Barbie. Along the way we wrestle with the themes of the movies such as the ethics of the nuclear bomb and feminism, why some movies performed better at the box office than others, and what makes a movie worth seeing at the theater. Also, hear Sterling share his movie idea! Needless to say, this episode is full of spoilers for pretty much every movie that has come out this summer. Go Like my FB Page! To hear more from Sterling: Episode 6- Sterling Harer - Wrestling | Podcast on Spotify Episode 18- Sterling Harer and Ollie Erholtz Return! Russia/Ukraine Roundtable Discussion - Wrestling | Podcast on Spotify Episode 31- Breakdown of 2022 elections ft. Sterling Harer and John Ratliff - Wrestling | Podcast on Spotify My other movie discussions: Episode 17- Saved by Spider Man: The Theology of No Way Home - Wrestling | Podcast on Spotify Episode 25- Bonus Episode: Theology of Thor: Love and Thunder - Wrestling | Podcast on Spotify

Joining me for this episode of Wrestling is Jeremiah Powell. Hear Jeremiah describe his various evangelism ventures everywhere from hippy camps to a Satan worship conference, and the preparation that went into these ventures. Along the way, we wrestle with effective evangelism methods, the nature of Satan, evil, and hell, and we briefly discuss Mike Lindell among other things.   Street Level Ministry: Street Level Ministry – Sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ

Joining me for this episode of Wrestling is college classmate Faith Pyne. Hear Faith describe her upcoming mission journey to Nicaragua and everything that has led her there. Along the way, we wrestle with how to have a missionary mindset, whether at home or abroad and I give a teaser to a future episode. My FB Page: (1) Wrestling w/ Isaac Scanlon | Facebook To support Faith: Give to the Alliance (cmalliance.org) If this link takes you to the home page, click "Give to a worker you love" and enter Faith's name. You can also reach out to Faith and ask for updates from her at [email protected]

Joining me for this episode of Wrestling is my friend and former college classmate Tommy Volk. Hear Tommy and I describe our respective career paths, and Tommy’s political journey from libertarian to anarchist, and we end by discussing the pros and cons of Bitcoin. Along the way we wrestle with the role of government, how an anarchical society might function, Tommy’s response to Romans 13, and much more. The books Tommy mentioned: https://freedomain.com/product/everyday-anarchy/ https://freedomain.com/product/practical-anarchy/   The bitcoin theft story:   https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/08/the-ballad-of-razzlekhan-and-dutch-bitcoins-bonnie-and-clyde   Stories about banking scandals I mentioned:   Wells Fargo to pay $97 mln for sanctions compliance failures | Reuters   HSBC to pay $1.9 billion U.S. fine in money-laundering case | Reuters Money-laundering ring pushed $4billion through HSBC — The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (en-GB) (thebureauinvestigates.com)

Joining me for this episode of Wrestling is my friend and protégé (of sorts) Jonathan Rodriguez. Hear Jonathan describe his various hobbies and his thoughts on his upcoming high school graduation. Along the way, we wrestle with mental health and stress management among other things. And, we talk plenty of sports.   Check me out on Facebook: Wrestling w/ Isaac Scanlon | Facebook   Some vids on the new MLB rules for 2023:   Max Scherzer Messing With Hitter's Timing Using Pitch Clock - YouTube   New Max Scherzer Pitch Clock "Rule" Outlaws Pitcher Coming Set Before Batter is Ready - Penalty Ball - YouTube   How MLB Teams Can Get Around The New Shift Rules - YouTube

Joining me for this episode of Wrestling is former college classmate Maxx Pankow. Hear Maxx describe growing up in the church only to walk away from the faith, then having a near death experience and shortly thereafter returning to the faith. Along the way, we wrestle with questions such as what is heaven like? What is hell like? And how can a loving God send people to eternal hell? You will not want to miss this important discussion.  Check me out on FB: Wrestling w/ Isaac Scanlon | Facebook Helpful resources: What Hell is REALLY like - Paul Washer - YouTube The Importance of Hell — Timothy Keller John Piper - God is the gospel - YouTube Annihilationism | Theopedia