Most churches in America have at least some form of church membership. But here’s the question we want to ask and it’s a little bit loaded: Do you take church membership as seriously as you should? The obvious, easy answer is, “No”, but it’s worth actually thinking about. How well do you understand why church membership exists? What is its purpose? What does Jesus Christ desire to accomplish by it? And from the answers to those questions: How should we change the way we think about it and practice it so that we please our Lord and Savior?

In this episode we want to deal with the shape and substance of church membership. Why is it biblical when we don’t explicitly see it in the early church? And why do the Reformed generally insist on associating it with a covenant? From there we want to talk about what the church does in the world, how it is the light and salt of the earth as well as Christ’s body and how church membership both allows and accentuates those aspects of the church, but also how without it, it hinders the ministry of the church.

Church membership may seems like a small thing, but in many ways, it is like the skeletal system of the church, with the people being parts of muscles and organs, and the bones, ligaments and tendons joining them together so that real work can be done and so that protection is offered to the many delicate members of the body. Without church membership, the body becomes this shapeless thing, full of the same potential but unable to move or to achieve its purposes. There’s more to of it course, and God uses more than just the analogy of a body. He also compares the church to a building, to a sheep fold, to a legislative body, to a city, and to other things as well. But in each of these examples, membership is a key part of that arrangement, and it is more than just belonging. Membership lets us know our place in God’s world, and that is a very important thing all by itself. It’s a shame to the church that we think so little of it. Please join us as we discuss this very important topic.

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

If you’ve lived in the US for long, you’ve probably had members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses come to your door at some point. How much do you know about them and what they believe? And what does their continued existence tell us about the world and the church today?

Similar to the Mormons in that they are a cult formed in the wake of the Second Great Awakening, the Jehovah’s Witnesses started in 1870. Today, they are mostly known for their door-to-door witnessing and their booklets and other publications distributed by the “Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania”, the parent organization of most Jehovah’s Witness denominational ministries.

In this episode, we want to talk about Jehovah’s Witnesses, what they believe, and why they have continued to have some measure of success in the world. Joining us for this episode is Je’quan Underwood, a member of our church who has spent a fair bit of time talking to and witnessing to Jehovah’s Witnesses. Similar to Mormons, it’s easy to dismiss their claims as crazy, but the simple truth is that false religions exist because people are seeking to live in the world and to deal with their own sin and the sin of others without accepting the truth about Jesus Christ, Godhood, and the way of salvation. And while there are specific things that are useful to point out if you talk to a Jehovah’s Witness, there is no magic phrase or piece of information that you can give them to cause them to turn away from their false religion. The issue is spiritual, not intellectual. But at the same time, it’s useful to understand what they say they believe as false religions in each age of the church push against specific doctrines that offend the mind and heart of man. Please join us as we discuss this topic. .

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

In 2021, John MacArthur preached a message to his church addressing how to think about Christianity’s decline in America. It starts out like this: “Hey, we tried. We honestly did. I think you did. I think I did. I mean I took interviews, I responded to questions I think we tried to have an influence on our nation last year.” He goes on to talk about how the world isn’t interested in Christianity and then he says this: “We don’t win down here. We lose. You ready for that? Oh, you thought because you were a postmillennialist, you thought we’re just going to go waltzing into the kingdom because you took over the world. No, we lose here. Get it? They killed Jesus, they killed all the apostles, we’re all going to be persecuted. If any man come after me’, let him what, ‘deny himself’. Garbage of prosperity gospel. No, we don’t win down here. Are you ready for that? Just to clear the air – I love this clarity – we don’t win. We lose on this battlefield, but we win on the big one – the eternal one. “

His response is a good example of why we’ve been doing more episodes about eschatology lately and why we think it matters. Because those verses he quotes and references about persecution and denying ourselves are true, but they make absolutely no sense in the way he is using them. As much as we appreciate John MacArthur’s ministry, his teaching is really wrong on this. Even if you hold to dispensational theology, you shouldn’t think about those verses in that way. Denying yourself is not at odds with succeeding, some of the most successful people by any standard have been faithful Christians. Yes, it means you can’t pursue carnal things, but surely that’s not something a Christian would object to. And this isn’t something that’s only true in the New Covenant. Even in the Old Testament, Daniel was persecuted for his faith, he took up his cross and looked toward Jesus and he had a huge impact on the world around him. So did Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Obadiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jesus all the apostles and countless others throughout history.

So in this episode, we want to really push on this issue. How should we think about the church’s success? How should we think about persecution and denying ourself? Are they at odds with one another? And along the way, should we expect the gospel to have an impact on the world around us? These are important questions. Please join us as we consider them.

Link to John MacArthur clip: https://youtube.com/shorts/5fr6lGeDRsQ?si=AZkuhoq–KLuN2_w
Link to full John MacArthur message:
https://youtu.be/N8revRpzF9Q?si=OwRgq55OMHuczn7S

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