Americans celebrate many different milestones in our lives from birthdays and anniversaries to graduations, career milestones, and other significant accomplishments. And while God commands his people to feast and celebrate his goodness, it is easy for these events to become nothing more than excuses to have a good time and gather with friends.

In this episode, we discuss the nature of our commemorations and celebrations. We look at how God desires his children to be thoughtful people who acknowledge his great kindness and providence towards them and who within the framework of his sovereignty, make plans and consider their lives and their service to him. It’s so easy to live busy lives without thought, and God has given us means and events to encourage us to set our minds upon him. This is not something that comes naturally to anyone but is achieved through obedience and effort. Please join us as we discuss this important topic.

Rituals and Habits Episode https://theconqueringtruth.com/2022/05/rituals-and-habits-the-ways-we-worship-god-through-small-things-ep-70/

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

Church leaders and the culture they create profoundly impact the people in their church, to the point where it is almost impossible for people to separate themselves from that influence. Like fish and the water they swim in, it is easy for church members to not think about how they live and breathe the culture of their church. And while this influence is good and useful when the church is not hiding sin and allowing it to grow, when sin abounds that influence causes the sin to spread throughout the entire church.

Matt Chandler’s Village Church joined the Acts 29 network in 2004, and he spent years working with Mark Driscoll before replacing him as its leader. After becoming president, many of the problems under Driscoll persisted within the organization. On August 28, 2022, Matt Chandler announced that he had had an inappropriate online relationship with a woman and that the church leadership after hiring a law firm to review his use of social media, had recommended that he take an indefinite leave of absence from preaching and teaching. In early December of the same year, he was reinstated.

In this episode, we discuss how sin in leadership affects the church as a whole. We talk about how open sin that is not directly addressed and dealt with causes the church to become hardened to its presence. We also talk about how properly dealing with sin causes righteous fear of God to abound and for people to turn away from their sins. Using the public events surrounding Matt Chandler’s removal, we discuss how dealing with sin in the wrong way not only fails to curb the actual sin, but causes greater harm to the church body by sowing misunderstanding and confusion.

There are multiple things that we address in this episode. We talk about some of Matt Chandler’s history with the Acts 29 ministry, his time with Acts 29 before Mark Driscoll was removed and


Note: We recorded this episode in September right after Matt Chandler was removed as an elder. We have also used some of the footage from a recent Village Church Advent service where Matt Chandler spoke about his removal and reinstatement.

Removal Statement: https://www.thevillagechurch.net/page/3412?ContentChannelItemId=7062
Reinstatement Service: https://www.thevillagechurch.net/resources/sermons/the-advent-of-peace-1


#SufficiencyOfScripture
#TCT2022

Listen to the audio version here: https://theconqueringtruth.com/2022/12/sin-in-church-leadership-what-we-can-learn-from-matt-chandlers-scandal-ep-99-audio/
Timecodes
00:00 The Situation
19:53 Acts 29
26:40 How Sin Spreads
32:40 Bringing Shame on Christ to Reveal Sin?
40:53 Glorying in Forgiveness
44:04 Dealing with Elder’s Sin
46:12 Ignoring Sin

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

Church leaders and the culture they create profoundly impact the people in their church, to the point where it is almost impossible for people to separate themselves from that influence. Like fish and the water they swim in, it is easy for church members to not think about how they live and breathe the culture of their church. And while this influence is good and useful when the church is not hiding sin and allowing it to grow, when sin abounds that influence causes the sin to spread throughout the entire church.

Matt Chandler’s Village Church joined the Acts 29 network in 2004, and he spent years working with Mark Driscoll before replacing him as its leader. After becoming president, many of the problems under Driscoll persisted within the organization. On August 28, 2022, Matt Chandler announced that he had had an inappropriate online relationship with a woman and that the church leadership after hiring a law firm to review his use of social media, had recommended that he take an indefinite leave of absence from preaching and teaching. In early December of the same year, he was reinstated.

In this episode, we discuss how sin in leadership affects the church as a whole. We talk about how open sin that is not directly addressed and dealt with causes the church to become hardened to its presence. We also talk about how properly dealing with sin causes righteous fear of God to abound and for people to turn away from their sins. Using the public events surrounding Matt Chandler’s removal, we discuss how dealing with sin in the wrong way not only fails to curb the actual sin, but causes greater harm to the church body by sowing misunderstanding and confusion.

There are multiple things that we address in this episode. We talk about some of Matt Chandler’s history with the Acts 29 ministry, his time with Acts 29 before Mark Driscoll was removed and


Note: We recorded this episode in September right after Matt Chandler was removed as an elder. We have also used some of the footage from a recent Village Church Advent service where Matt Chandler spoke about his removal and reinstatement.

Removal Statement: https://www.thevillagechurch.net/page/3412?ContentChannelItemId=7062
Reinstatement Service: https://www.thevillagechurch.net/resources/sermons/the-advent-of-peace-1


#SufficiencyOfScripture
#TCT2022

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

We tackle a hot topic from the past few years – cancel culture. What does the Bible say about it, and how should Christians respond?

Thumbnail image by Alachua County

Listen to the audio version here: https://theconqueringtruth.com/2022/12/cancel-culture-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-ep-97-audio/
Timecodes
00:00:00 Is It New?
00:07:47 Biblical Standards for Speech
00:13:33 Boundaries on Free Speech
00:20:35 A Good Name
00:24:24 Duty to Cancel
00:30:40 Ruining Lives
00:53:40 Lack of Debate in the Church
00:58:40 Should the government control speech?
01:11:21 The Church is the Answer

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

We tackle a hot topic from the past few years – cancel culture. What does the Bible say about it, and how should Christians respond?

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

Is it fine for Christians to use recreational drugs? How does the Bible’s teaching on alcohol apply?

Thumbnail uses an image from “Free Images” on Flickr

Listen to the audio version here: https://theconqueringtruth.com/2022/11/drugs-and-alcohol-how-does-the-bible-regulate-their-use-ep-95-audio/
Timecodes
00:00:00 Alcohol vs Drugs
00:07:34 Recreational Use?
00:36:33 Sorcery
00:47:30 Warnings about Alcohol
00:56:31 Root of the Problem

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

Is it fine for Christians to use recreational drugs? How does the Bible’s teaching on alcohol apply?

Thumbnail uses an image from “Free Images” on Flickr

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

People leave their churches for all sorts of reasons. It’s partly because it’s easier to travel today. Depending on where you live in the world, there might be hundreds of churches within a one-hour drive from your home, and this has not been the case for much of history. But it’s clearly more than just ease of travel that has caused people to leave their churches so casually as it wouldn’t matter how many churches were nearby if members felt that they had a strong commitment to one another. So when should you leave a church, and is there a right and wrong way to do it? (We think the answer is “Yes!”)

In this episode, we walk through the issues and responsibilities associated with leaving your church. We start off by talking about the purpose of the local church, and the responsibility that we have to one another, and to the body as a whole. We discuss what it means to love one another and to bear one another’s sins and burdens and we look at specific scriptures that help us to put our church’s spiritual state into proper focus. We also talk about normal and exceptional reasons that cause people to leave a church and how easy it is to fabricate a “justifiable” reason to leave. The Christian life is not meant to be without difficulty and God has designed the church to be a place of growth, comfort, and primarily service to Him. When we think of the church incorrectly, it affects our ability to love one another and to serve God. Please join us as we discuss this very important topic.

#SufficiencyOfScripture
#TCT2022

Listen to the audio version here: https://theconqueringtruth.com/2022/11/when-and-why-to-leave-your-church-ep-96-audio/
Timecodes
00:00:00 View of the Church
00:19:08 Raising Concerns
00:27:07 Avoiding Discipline
00:29:24 Easy Reasons to Leave
00:34:43 Honesty About Reasons
00:38:31 Love the Church
00:50:21 Doctrinal Differences
01:01:06 Sin in the Church
01:10:29 Upholding Your Responsibilities
01:15:00 Guidance by the Spirit
01:22:32 Leaving to Find a Spouse
01:29:35 Final Thoughts

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

People leave their churches for all sorts of reasons. It’s partly because it’s easier to travel today. Depending on where you live in the world, there might be hundreds of churches within a one-hour drive from your home, and this has not been the case for much of history. But it’s clearly more than just ease of travel that has caused people to leave their churches so casually as it wouldn’t matter how many churches were nearby if members felt that they had a strong commitment to one another. So when should you leave a church, and is there a right and wrong way to do it? (We think the answer is “Yes!”)

In this episode, we walk through the issues and responsibilities associated with leaving your church. We start off by talking about the purpose of the local church, and the responsibility that we have to one another, and to the body as a whole. We discuss what it means to love one another and to bear one another’s sins and burdens and we look at specific scriptures that help us to put our church’s spiritual state into proper focus. We also talk about normal and exceptional reasons that cause people to leave a church and how easy it is to fabricate a “justifiable” reason to leave. The Christian life is not meant to be without difficulty and God has designed the church to be a place of growth, comfort, and primarily service to Him. When we think of the church incorrectly, it affects our ability to love one another and to serve God. Please join us as we discuss this very important topic.

#SufficiencyOfScripture
#TCT2022

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

What does it mean to love ignorance? We live in an age of unparalleled knowledge and communication, yet ignorance abounds. We have more books and schools than at any other point in human existence, but it seems that even in Christian circles we know far less than those who went before us. We grow up hearing phrases like “ignorance is bliss”, but is that true? As children, we wanted to know things that we were too young for, and then as adults, we wish that we could turn back time and become children again, forgetting some of the necessary things that we have learned. Can you abound in knowledge and still love ignorance? And if so, what role does correction and rebuke play in solving the problem of ignorance?

In this episode we talk about what shapes our view of knowledge and ignorance. We discuss the nature of knowledge and how God designed knowledge so that it is tied to responsibility. We talk about correction and rebuke as well and how difficult it can be to actually hear when we are wrong. While this episode is another entry in our “Christians Must Think” series, it is a topic that is important in its own right. Ignorance is not caused solely by a lack of data. It can be caused by our attitude toward duty. God has framed the world so that there is work for his people to do, and to do that work we must know things. When we stand before him, saying that we did not know will not excuse us.

#SufficiencyOfScripture
#TCT2022

Listen to the audio version here:
Timecodes
00:00:00 The Problem
00:12:06 Ignorance of Sin
00:18:17 All Brings Glory to God
00:26:18 What Does it Mean to Love Ignorance?
00:36:43 Love of Rebuke
00:55:53 Confirmation Bias
01:03:33 Fixing the Church

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