Blog & News

Why did the first Pentecost lead to death while the last led to life? Most Christians celebrate Pentecost as the “birthday of the church,” but its roots go back much further—to the foot of Mount Sinai. In this episode of The Conquering Truth, we explore the profound biblical connection between the first giving of the Law in Exodus and the second giving of the Law through the Holy Spirit in Acts.
While the Law on tablets of stone was a “ministry of death” (2 Corinthians 3), the Law written on fleshly tables of the heart was a ministry unto life. We dive deep into Covenant Theology, the promise vs. fulfillment of the New Covenant, and why the feast of weeks was always pointing us toward the substance of Jesus Christ.

Thumbnail image by John Biody under CC BY 2.0

Timecodes
00:00 Pentecost
05:17 Giving of the Law
17:47 Promise vs Fulfillment
25:11 Sin vs Righteousness Abounding
48:29 Death to Life

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 is a dog a “best friend” but a pig is “breakfast”? As Western Christians, we often mistake our cultural taboos for biblical mandates. We recoil at the idea of eating horses or cats, yet we enjoy bacon and shellfish without a second thought—all while claiming our standards are rooted in Scripture. But is our “culinary morality” truly biblical, or just a product of our zip code? Even worse, our rules and taboos often oppress the poor by forcing them to live according to our standard of wealth and “morality”.

In this episode, we look at how the Old Testament ceremonial food laws intersect with New Covenant freedoms and practices. We move beyond the common misconception that those laws were about hygiene or health, exploring instead how they served as a “tutor,” using the animals as types or pictures to paint a vivid picture of holiness and the separation of God’s people.

Link to Mike Rowe TED Talk: https://youtu.be/IRVdiHu1VCc

Timecodes
00:00 Animal Cruelty
05:32 Cultural Superiority
09:28 Food Law Symbolism
20:07 Clean Meat Healthier?
31:29 Hypocrisy
41:03 Gratefulness
45:30 Haitians Eating Dogs
49:34 Oppression of Poor

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

The US constitution was designed to limit the power of the president regarding taxes and the use of the military. This limitation of power goes all the way back to the Magna Carta and has its foundations in biblical principles. So when the Supreme Court overturned president Trump’s tariffs and when he unilaterally decided to bomb Iran, president Trump was acting outside of the bounds of his constitutional authority.

And we should be clear, he is not the first president to do such a thing. The US has not declared war since WWII, but many soldiers and many body bags testify that we have been at war. Our constitution says that war must be declared by the Congress, (Art.1.8.11) but as a nation we now treat that as a relic of a bygone time. Our constitution also says that any bill raising revenue doesn’t just need to start in Congress, but specifically the House of Representatives (Art.1.7.1). Now the president does both of these things and so called conservatives rejoice in what he is doing, which is clearly illegal, but they say the legislative process is too hard which was the design of the system.

In this episode, we want to consider why the Constitution was structured as it was, how we should think about it as Christians, and what our responsibility is to the president, to the nation, to each other, and most importantly to our Lord Jesus Christ.

Thumbnail image by Avash Media under CC-BY 4.0

Timecodes
00:00:00 Constitution
00:09:23 Control of Money
00:15:59 Call to Repentance
00:29:58 Our Duty
00:41:10 Debating War
00:51:52 Abdicating Responsibility
01:10:20 Solutions
01:18:55 Oathbreaking

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

In Canada, there is a law called MAiD which stands for Medical Assistance in Dying which permits medical personnel to help with suicide. Their criteria are such that in 2024 5.1% of all deaths in Canada are caused by medical personnel legally murdering or assisting in the murder of their patients. In the Quebec province, it was at least 7.3% of all deaths. These are staggeringly high numbers and since it varies by province, there are probably significantly more factors in play than just the health of the patient. Why would a nation want to facilitate the death of its own people and what does God’s word say about such a practice?

Timecodes
00:00:00 Intro
00:03:23 God’s Purpose for the Government
00:21:19 MaiD Criteria
00:40:55 Canada’s Response
00:45:00 What the Bible says About Suffering
00:53:03 Criteria Volutary Request
00:58:57 Assisted Suicide Example from Scripture
01:10:55 The Duty of the Church to Stop the Oppression

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

If grace is the goodness of God, then it seems obvious that some goodness can be resisted while others can’t. Think about a baby being born. If the mother and father want to bring the baby out of the womb there’s nothing the baby can do to stop it. Or consider an unconscious man whose heart has stopped or is beating irregularly.. He will find it impossible to resist the emergency surgery or the doctor shocking his heart back into a normal rhythm. But other types of grace can be resisted. That same child years later can refuse to celebrate his birthday with his family and can sulk and pout even if his parents force him to come to the party. The man whose heart has been restarted can refuse to take his prescribed medicines or to exercise as he should. It is similar in the Christian life. Scripture talks about man resisting the grace of God. But it also talks about man being born again and the Spirit blowing where it will. It talks about God giving man a new heart and replacing the heart of stone with one of flesh. If an earthly parent can show irresistible grace to their child then it is hard to argue that the Father of Spirits cannot do the same.

For those who hate to think of God as God, as the One who sovereignly rules in heaven, irresistible grace or effectual calling is considered something immoral. But scripture says that it is about the glory of God. It is about God choosing to show compassion to those who He wants to show compassion. We are saved by grace and if you don’t want to receive grace from God, you should question if you are saved. So let’s start off with a question: Is there a biblical reason why we would want saving grace to be resistible?

Timecodes
00:00:00 Intro
00:08:04 Why Grace has to be Irresistible
00:12:29 Fallen Man Cannot Understand Good Gifts
00:21:25 Hate the Prerogative Belonging to God
00:26:14 This Grace is Given Throughout a Believers Life
00:34:24 It is God’s Work and God’s Purpose
00:38:59 Irresistible Grace from Scripture
00:43:41 Picture of Jonah
00:48:23 Example of Those that did not Receive Grace
00:52:51 Resisting the Holy Spirit

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