Unworthy rebels, redeemed by the King of Kings and made servants fit for His use.
Rich and Chris spend New Year’s Eve discussing various issues in the last year to include Christian Nationalism, pragmatism, LGBTQ+ compromise in the church, Amy Grant, Rick Warren, and more. They also discuss what they hope to see and do in the year to come.
Show Links:
This week, Chris and Rich continue their discussion of the roles of men and women in the church, the qualifications of a pastor, and the history of Ephesus where Timothy was preaching when Paul wrote his epistle.
Show Links:
Pliny H. N. v. 29, as quoted in “Ephesus,” The Latin Library
John W. Cowart. “Ephesus: A Wonder of the World.”
http://legalhistorysources.com/ChurchHistory220/LectureOne/MagnaMater.htm
https://www.gotquestions.org/braided-hair.html
https://biblearchaeologyreport.com/2019/08/17/three-things-in-ephesus-timothy-likely-saw/
https://www.worldhistory.org/ephesos/
https://www.monergism.com/topics/gender-issues/women-office-bearers
https://www.gotquestions.org/mystery-religions.html
This week, in response to a post by Dr. Beth Allison Barr on Twitter, Chris and Rich discuss what the Bible instructs concerning the roles of women and men in the church. Does Scripture speak specifically to these roles and what about examples of godly women in history as shown in Scripture?
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Professing Christians who support homosexual agendas often claim Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of inhospitality or rape. This week, Chris and Rich discuss this claim and what the Bible declares on the subject.
Show Links:
AiG – Sodom and Gomorrah: What Was the Primary Sin?
Got Questions – What Does the Bible Say About Gay Marriage?
Got Question – What is Sexual Immorality?
With the backdrop of the US Senate’s vote on the “Respect for Marriage” act, Chris and Rich discuss that marriage is God’s institution, not the world’s. Only He can determine what is a marriage and Christians ought not to be trapped into accepting a worldly definition.
Show Links:
STTK Article – It’s Not About Pluralism, It’s About Worldviews
It’s Rewind Time. Join Andrew Rappaport of Striving for Eternity and Chris when they discussed how Christians need to consider what is the source of their authority when they engage in conservative politics. Are the end goals of political activism more important than God’s Word and what compromises do we make when we ally ourselves with secular conservatives?
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What was the primary false gospel which Paul fought against and so many sought his death over? Rich and Chris discuss one verse from the Word of God which declares a truth contrary to what the world loves and embraces.
Show Links:
Got Questions: Why is salvation by works the predominantly held viewpoint?
Got Questions: How can salvation be not of works when faith is required?
MLJ Sermon: By Grace Through Faith
J.C. Ryle: Only One Way of Salvation
This week, Chris and Rich discuss the question, “If God is real then why do bad things happen?” Many people ask this question loaded with presuppositions, chief among them the idea that we deserve something good from God. Christians should be prepared to respond to those presuppositions biblically.
Show Links:
STTK Article: If God is Real, Why is Your Life So Hard?
Voddie Baucham Video: If God is So Powerful and So Good, Why Do Bad Things Happen?
John MacArthur: Why Does God Allow So Much Suffering?
As Reformation Day nears, take time to listen to this episode from earlier this year when Chris and Rich discussed how professing evangelicals who engage in deconstructionism see themselves as practicing the principles of The Reformation. Is this comparison warranted or should Christians be on guard against destructive false teachings?
Show Links:
STTK Article – Deconstruction is Not Reformation
Just Thinking Episode #117 – Evangelical Deconstructionism
Got Questions – What is Deconstruction?
Recently, someone I know was asked “if God is real, why is your life so terrible?” Sadly, this is an all too common question that is loaded with presuppositions. It assumes that for God to be real, life cannot be difficult. It assumes that I should never have to deal with difficulty. It assumes that I am such a good person that I deserve for life to go well. It assumes God owes me a good life. And it assumes God can only be real if He does everything possible to make my life easier.
As Voddie Baucham once said, this is the wrong question. I don’t get to ask a question like this loaded with all the wrong presuppositions and then conclude God cannot be real because He did not meet my standard. Rather, I must look at the question from God’s perspective.
Who decides whether my life should be one of ease or difficulty? Who decides what constitutes my being a good person? Who decides on the basis of the “good person criteria” what I deserve? Who decides what I am owed? And who decides but God if intervening in a time of tribulation will really be best for me?
The truth is, the answer to these questions is that God is the one who decides these things, not me. God is the sole standard of what is right and good. He is morally perfect and righteous. It is against Him that one can determine if they are a good person. And for the record, not a single one of us is good. We are all morally bankrupt and evil when compared against the righteous and holy God.
Knowing that we fail to come even a micrometer close to God’s goodness, knowing that He is a perfect and righteous Judge, how can we possibly think we deserve even the slightest good thing from Him? Determining God’s existence on whether or not my life is difficult is like a criminal deciding Courts cannot be real and have no authority over him because he had a hard life.
We are God’s creation and have rebelled against Him. The fact that we continue to breathe air despite the multitude of sins we commit against Him daily rather than being struck immediately to Hell testifies of His patience and longsuffering. What God owes us is His judgment. Not reward and ease, but His wrath, immediate and without relenting. Yet, God patiently allows us life in this world until the day we must all stand before Him. He does so because God desires that all men everywhere repent and come to faith in Christ.
In other words, God gives us time. Time to see Him for who He is and to recognize ourselves as the sinners we are. Time to turn from our sin and turn to Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. God graciously gives us time.
Will all men turn to Christ? No. Yet, even in this God is gracious because He sends forth His gospel message through His people. Then, God kindly brings to faith and repentance all those whom He will save, because apart from this work, none would turn to Him.
What about those who do not? They will never be able to say they do not deserve His wrath. Creation and conscience testify to the truth of God’s existence and the reality of their sin. They know He is real and will hold them accountable. And they have His Word readily available to find the truth. They will be judged, condemned eternally to Hell and there is no defense. And, in this, God too is glorified.
Therefore, when we see life is difficult, when trials are painful, we are reminded that sin is at work in the world and that judgment is one day coming. God does not owe us a life of ease, rather, these trials testify that we deserve far much worse.
Yet, He has given us time. Time to admit we have sinned against Him, to turn from that sin, and to turn to Christ for eternal life. Trials then show us that this life is but a vapor, a time we must endure, be faithful, and serve. Then we will spend eternity with the One whom we had once rebelled against yet, in His kind mercy, He adopted us as His children.
God owes us nothing but His wrath, we do not deserve His kindness. But, God is merciful and will use even the most difficult of lives to demonstrate His goodness.
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