Why the Church Must Reject Government’s Crumbs (Ep. 233)

Why is the American church so desperate to receive a handout from the government? Why are Christians so willing to approve of men with no testimony of faith and to follow after them, seeking their approval in return? Is it because of a lack of understanding or a lack of faith?

For the purposes of understanding, it is true that God created the church and state to accomplish different roles. The church is the people of God, made to know Him and to understand His Word. The church’s power is in its intimate knowledge of God, both that the church communes with God and that it speaks God’s words to the world. The state was created to serve God in a different way: to punish evil and reward good. The state wields the sword, and in many ways it is dependent on the church to teach it right from wrong and how to properly discern evil.

But in terms of faith, the church is never to look to the state for protection or power. The church knows God and receives its blessings directly from His hand. The church should never look to the government to do its work or to be its provider. In doing so, it ceases to trust in God and becomes dependent on the government, and in that dependence, it finds itself no longer capable of speaking the truth for fear of loss.

Timecodes
00:00:00 Church and State
00:08:19 Government Handouts
00:17:28 God’s Provision
00:24:00 Kings Nursing Fathers
00:30:30 Taking the Church’s Work
00:34:15 True Influence on the State
00:37:50 Spiritual Harlotry
00:43:05 President Trump a Christian?
00:45:12 Paula White
00:51:21 White House Faith Office
00:58:44 Faith Office Goals

Production of Reformation Baptist Church of Youngsville, NC
Permanent Hosts – Dan Horn, Charles Churchill and Joshua Horn
Technical Director – Timothy Kaiser
Theme Music – Gabriel Hudelson

Why the Church Must Reject Government’s Crumbs (Ep. 233 Audio)

Why is the American church so desperate to receive a handout from the government? Why are Christians so willing to approve of men with no testimony of faith and to follow after them, seeking their approval in return? Is it because of a lack of understanding or a lack of faith?

For the purposes of understanding, it is true that God created the church and state to accomplish different roles. The church is the people of God, made to know Him and to understand His Word. The church’s power is in its intimate knowledge of God, both that the church communes with God and that it speaks God’s words to the world. The state was created to serve God in a different way: to punish evil and reward good. The state wields the sword, and in many ways it is dependent on the church to teach it right from wrong and how to properly discern evil.

But in terms of faith, the church is never to look to the state for protection or power. The church knows God and receives its blessings directly from His hand. The church should never look to the government to do its work or to be its provider. In doing so, it ceases to trust in God and becomes dependent on the government, and in that dependence, it finds itself no longer capable of speaking the truth for fear of loss.

Production of Reformation Baptist Church of Youngsville, NC
Permanent Hosts – Dan Horn, Charles Churchill and Joshua Horn
Technical Director – Timothy Kaiser
Theme Music – Gabriel Hudelson

Emotional Manipulation: How Leaders Exploit Our Fears and Desires (Ep. 232)

Whether it is politicians saying that we can deport illegal immigrants because you are separating children from their parents or the bill needs to pass because it is the biggest spending cut ever, politicians lead primarily with stirring up emotions. The church isn’t much different as music and stories are used to create an atmosphere so the people first respond emotionally rather than with reason. It is then easy to get them to agree with the reasoning when they are emotionally invested already. So here’s the question: How should emotion be used in leadership?

Timecodes
00:00 Intro
06:05 Emotions can bring blind followers
28:06 Christians should be reasonable people
44:03 Leaders whose first appeal is emotion should not be followed
55:11 Church as an Example
01:12:48 How you use emotion in your home

Production of Reformation Baptist Church of Youngsville, NC
Permanent Hosts – Dan Horn, Charles Churchill and Joshua Horn
Technical Director – Timothy Kaiser
Theme Music – Gabriel Hudelson

Emotional Manipulation: How Leaders Exploit Our Fears and Desires (Ep. 232 Audio)

Whether it is politicians saying that we can deport illegal immigrants because you are separating children from their parents or the bill needs to pass because it is the biggest spending cut ever, politicians lead primarily with stirring up emotions. The church isn’t much different as music and stories are used to create an atmosphere so the people first respond emotionally rather than with reason. It is then easy to get them to agree with the reasoning when they are emotionally invested already. So here’s the question: How should emotion be used in leadership?

Production of Reformation Baptist Church of Youngsville, NC
Permanent Hosts – Dan Horn, Charles Churchill and Joshua Horn
Technical Director – Timothy Kaiser
Theme Music – Gabriel Hudelson

James Dobson: Was the Church Following a Psychologist? (Ep. 231)

In 1977 when James Dobson started Focus on the Family, American families were in a great deal of turmoil. Dobson, a Christian psychologist who grew up in the Holiness movement started Focus on the Family to try to help resolve some of the confusion and to strengthen the home. And while he was successful in many ways, the American church began to look to him as more than just a psychologist with much better advice than the world and looked to him as an Evangelical leader. This shift was in many ways not beneficial for either Dobson or the church.

In this episode, we want to look at Dr. James Dobson’s life and overall influence on the American family and the church. One of the main issues we want to focus on is what happens when the church follows someone whose primary focus is on something other than proclaiming and teaching the Word of God. To do that, it’s crucial to understand that every Christian is not called to lead the church. Every Christian who ministers is not required to focus on teaching the church how to understand the Word of God and equipping the saints for the work of the ministry. But the men who lead the church must have as their primary focus how to cause God’s word to shine forth and to transform the hearts and minds of those they are ministering to. And it is as much the duty of the church to follow the right men as it is the duty of the leaders to have the right focus. This is one of the main reasons that Dr. Dobson’s ministry is a bit of a mixed bag. He fought fiercely against the most visible cultural attacks and pressures that were assaulting American homes such as abortion and the sexual revolution, and he championed a return to Biblically mandated corporal punishment. For all of these positions, he was viciously attacked. But at the same time, he was and continued to be first and foremost a Christian psychologist. His fundamental view of man and sin was shaped by psychological principles and while he looked to align those principles with scripture, that alignment limited the extent to which scripture could be the primary focus.

It’s important for the church to examine how it is being led. It’s important to look back and see how past decisions caused significant impacts, not so we can praise or condemn James Dobson. If his faith was in Christ, then he has and will continue to receive His eternal reward from the hand of the one who is the author and finisher of the faith of all who believe, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Timecodes
00:00:00 James Dobson
00:07:16 Dobson’s Haters
00:10:54 Psychologist or Pastor
00:34:06 Entire Sanctification
00:36:13 Self Esteem
00:44:48 Media
00:53:42 Culture War
01:00:03 His Mentor

Production of Reformation Baptist Church of Youngsville, NC
Permanent Hosts – Dan Horn, Charles Churchill and Joshua Horn
Technical Director – Timothy Kaiser
Theme Music – Gabriel Hudelson

James Dobson: Was the Church Following a Psychologist? (Ep. 231 Audio)

In 1977 when James Dobson started Focus on the Family, American families were in a great deal of turmoil. Dobson, a Christian psychologist who grew up in the Holiness movement started Focus on the Family to try to help resolve some of the confusion and to strengthen the home. And while he was successful in many ways, the American church began to look to him as more than just a psychologist with much better advice than the world and looked to him as an Evangelical leader. This shift was in many ways not beneficial for either Dobson or the church.

In this episode, we want to look at Dr. James Dobson’s life and overall influence on the American family and the church. One of the main issues we want to focus on is what happens when the church follows someone whose primary focus is on something other than proclaiming and teaching the Word of God. To do that, it’s crucial to understand that every Christian is not called to lead the church. Every Christian who ministers is not required to focus on teaching the church how to understand the Word of God and equipping the saints for the work of the ministry. But the men who lead the church must have as their primary focus how to cause God’s word to shine forth and to transform the hearts and minds of those they are ministering to. And it is as much the duty of the church to follow the right men as it is the duty of the leaders to have the right focus. This is one of the main reasons that Dr. Dobson’s ministry is a bit of a mixed bag. He fought fiercely against the most visible cultural attacks and pressures that were assaulting American homes such as abortion and the sexual revolution, and he championed a return to Biblically mandated corporal punishment. For all of these positions, he was viciously attacked. But at the same time, he was and continued to be first and foremost a Christian psychologist. His fundamental view of man and sin was shaped by psychological principles and while he looked to align those principles with scripture, that alignment limited the extent to which scripture could be the primary focus.

It’s important for the church to examine how it is being led. It’s important to look back and see how past decisions caused significant impacts, not so we can praise or condemn James Dobson. If his faith was in Christ, then he has and will continue to receive His eternal reward from the hand of the one who is the author and finisher of the faith of all who believe, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Production of Reformation Baptist Church of Youngsville, NC
Permanent Hosts – Dan Horn, Charles Churchill and Joshua Horn
Technical Director – Timothy Kaiser
Theme Music – Gabriel Hudelson

Rebaptism: Should You Ever Be “Baptized Again”? (Ep. 230)

Rebaptism has been a discussion since before the Reformation where the Anabaptists openly rejected the Roman Catholic baptism and said that because they worshipped a false god, a Catholic who professed faith had to be baptized “again” – though the Anabaptists would say they were being baptized for the first time. Since then, especially with easy-believism – raise your hand, pray a prayer and you’re saved – many people who made such “professions of faith” earlier in their life have realized that they had no idea who God was when they were baptized as they were complete slaves to sin and continued to walk in that path. The Bible is very clear that there is one baptism, so should people in such a situation be baptized?

In this episode, we want to look at what is commonly referred to as “rebaptism.” While the Anabaptists were a heretical group with no real direct connection to modern Reformed Baptists, it doesn’t mean that their position on a particular topic was wrong. One of the things that gets overlooked with baptism is that while Baptism is more than just an outward sign of an individual’s inward faith, God still says that faith is required to please Him and that without faith, pleasing Him is impossible. When you consider a Catholic baptism, where is there any faith present? The same can be said for many evangelical services. The other thing that comes up quite frequently is the idea that baptism requires some sort of ability to determine if the person is “really saved”, with many jokes being made about “regeneration goggles”. We agree completely that it is impossible to tell if someone is truly regenerate. But what is so often overlooked is that Scripture does tell us how to identify a lack of faith. Those who walk in the flesh, who are slaves to sin, should not be thought of as brothers. The church should make it a practice to recognize known counterfeits. The church should not tell people that God has entered into a covenant with them when they have every reason to believe that is not true. False conversions and false baptisms are real, and “regeneration goggles” are not required. At the same time, no one should be baptized because of how they feel. A testimony is not a feeling, and God desires to be worshipped in spirit and in truth. Baptism should always be a serious event, and not performed lightly. Please join us as we discuss this important but controversial topic.

Thumbnail image by Stephanie Jones on Flickr under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
slagheap on Flickr under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Timecodes
00:00:00 One Baptism
00:09:25 The Meaning of Baptism
00:24:48 Rejecting Other Churches
00:27:44 Calvin on Baptists
00:42:44 Regeneration Goggles
00:56:28 Efficacy of Baptism
01:00:00 Does Baptism Save?
01:02:46 When to Rebaptize

Production of Reformation Baptist Church of Youngsville, NC
Permanent Hosts – Dan Horn, Charles Churchill and Joshua Horn
Technical Director – Timothy Kaiser
Theme Music – Gabriel Hudelson

Rebaptism: Should You Ever Be “Baptized Again”? (Ep. 23- Audio)

Rebaptism has been a discussion since before the Reformation where the Anabaptists openly rejected the Roman Catholic baptism and said that because they worshipped a false god, a Catholic who professed faith had to be baptized “again” – though the Anabaptists would say they were being baptized for the first time. Since then, especially with easy-believism – raise your hand, pray a prayer and you’re saved – many people who made such “professions of faith” earlier in their life have realized that they had no idea who God was when they were baptized as they were complete slaves to sin and continued to walk in that path. The Bible is very clear that there is one baptism, so should people in such a situation be baptized?

In this episode, we want to look at what is commonly referred to as “rebaptism.” While the Anabaptists were a heretical group with no real direct connection to modern Reformed Baptists, it doesn’t mean that their position on a particular topic was wrong. One of the things that gets overlooked with baptism is that while Baptism is more than just an outward sign of an individual’s inward faith, God still says that faith is required to please Him and that without faith, pleasing Him is impossible. When you consider a Catholic baptism, where is there any faith present? The same can be said for many evangelical services. The other thing that comes up quite frequently is the idea that baptism requires some sort of ability to determine if the person is “really saved”, with many jokes being made about “regeneration goggles”. We agree completely that it is impossible to tell if someone is truly regenerate. But what is so often overlooked is that Scripture does tell us how to identify a lack of faith. Those who walk in the flesh, who are slaves to sin, should not be thought of as brothers. The church should make it a practice to recognize known counterfeits. The church should not tell people that God has entered into a covenant with them when they have every reason to believe that is not true. False conversions and false baptisms are real, and “regeneration goggles” are not required. At the same time, no one should be baptized because of how they feel. A testimony is not a feeling, and God desires to be worshipped in spirit and in truth. Baptism should always be a serious event, and not performed lightly. Please join us as we discuss this important but controversial topic.

Production of Reformation Baptist Church of Youngsville, NC
Permanent Hosts – Dan Horn, Charles Churchill and Joshua Horn
Technical Director – Timothy Kaiser
Theme Music – Gabriel Hudelson

How Can Slaves of Righteousness Be Free? (Ep. 229)

In Hebrews, Jesus Christ is described as being different than all the sacrifices that preceded Him. All of them failed to take away sin. They could turn aside the wrath of God for a season, but they would never make the person who was offering it righteous. Then Christ came, and He was different. He actually took away sin. He actually took men who were slaves to sin and set them free. He ended sin’s power in their life and brought them to liberty.

In this episode, we want to look at what it means to be free in Christ. So many people claim that Christian liberty means that we can do what we want to do, but this is not how God’s Word describes it. Christian liberty is freedom to do what is right. It is the man who goes from being completely unable to choose righteousness to being able to glorify God in everything he does. One of the ideas that we want to discuss throughout the episode is how vast and broad the freedom that God gives to those who are His servants. Slavery to sin all leads to the same, solitary place, eternal death. But righteousness leads ever higher and deeper into the boundless glory of service to God.

Timecodes
00:00:00 Intro
00:03:54 Definition of Christian Liberty
00:12:07 Saved to walk in faith
00:16:06 Delivery from present evil age
00:18:46 Break bondage to the world
00:22:08 Not in bondage to Satan
00:24:38 Not in bondage to sin
00:31:10 Sin is progressively defeated
00:34:28 Free from the need for vengance
00:38:33 Freedom in trials
00:41:27 Free from fear of death
00:46:45 Death becomes a blessing
00:49:30 Free access to God
01:00:35 New covenant gives more freedom to obey

Production of Reformation Baptist Church of Youngsville, NC
Permanent Hosts – Dan Horn, Charles Churchill and Joshua Horn
Technical Director – Timothy Kaiser
Theme Music – Gabriel Hudelson

How Can Slaves of Righteousness Be Free? (Ep. 229 Audio)

In Hebrews, Jesus Christ is described as being different than all the sacrifices that preceded Him. All of them failed to take away sin. They could turn aside the wrath of God for a season, but they would never make the person who was offering it righteous. Then Christ came, and He was different. He actually took away sin. He actually took men who were slaves to sin and set them free. He ended sin’s power in their life and brought them to liberty.

In this episode, we want to look at what it means to be free in Christ. So many people claim that Christian liberty means that we can do what we want to do, but this is not how God’s Word describes it. Christian liberty is freedom to do what is right. It is the man who goes from being completely unable to choose righteousness to being able to glorify God in everything he does. One of the ideas that we want to discuss throughout the episode is how vast and broad the freedom that God gives to those who are His servants. Slavery to sin all leads to the same, solitary place, eternal death. But righteousness leads ever higher and deeper into the boundless glory of service to God.

Production of Reformation Baptist Church of Youngsville, NC
Permanent Hosts – Dan Horn, Charles Churchill and Joshua Horn
Technical Director – Timothy Kaiser
Theme Music – Gabriel Hudelson