In the wake of John MacArthur’s death, how do we avoid falling into the trap of hero worship or idolatry? How can we examine his life so we keep the good things he taught and avoid carrying forward his mistakes?

Few American pastors have had a longer or more impactful ministry than John MacArthur. From his focus on sequential expository preaching to his emphasis of Lordship salvation, to his late-in-life transition from Arminian to Reformed soteriology, John MacArthur helped reform the American church in significant ways. But like any man, Pastor MacArthur was not perfect and made decisions and had practices that we should not emulate.

In this episode, we discuss John MacArthur’s life and attempt to unpack the aspects that should be emulated and those that should be discarded. We believe that this is a God-honoring practice that helps keep us from idolatry and worship of man. Please join us as we discuss this important 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

What does it mean to edify one another? We know that the word means to “build up”, but how should we think about that task as brothers and sisters in Christ? In this episode, as we continue to look at the duties of Christians, we come to edifying one another and supporting the ministry of the church, both of which are central to being Christians, both of which are often greatly misunderstood. Please join us as we discuss this oft-neglected topic.

Link to first video in series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u5lvDuSDlI

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

What does it mean to be a Christian? Not what you believe or how you become one. But what happens after that? What does the Christian life look like? What are the duties that we have to one another? How do we live and labor as a part of the body of Christ? In this episode, using our church’s covenant as a framework, we walk through the many different duties that make up the Christian life. Love for God, love for our spiritual brothers and sisters, love for our families, love for our neighbors, love for the world. It’s so easy to overlook many of these and yet we believe that each is a part of the Christian life. Please join us as we discuss this important 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

Was the American War of Independence an unrighteous act of rebellion against God-appointed authority or a legitimate effort at seeking peace that generally followed Biblical principles?
What conclusion should we come to if we look at the American Revolution through the lens of a passage like Romans 13?

In this episode, we try to do exactly that. Romans 13 is often used as the go-to passage for understanding submitting to authority, but often it is discussed very shallowly if not completely incorrectly. Early on in the discussion, we note that this passage does not say to submit yourself to the higher power (singular), but to the higher powers. And in every circumstance, there is always more than one authority that God has appointed. This is undeniably true of the American Revolution.

In many ways, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and the entire American Revolution serve as an ideal case study for this type of discussion. One reason for this is because, at least for those of us in the US, it is our own history and is not so far in the past that the details have been lost to time. Another reason is that fallen man has a natural desire to be rebellious, and even in Christian circles, American independence is often associated with rebellion and this association is often used to justify rebellion.

But it’s also worth pointing out that no effort of man is without sin. Some people go so far as to whitewash the actions of the founders, casting them in a light that makes them appear to be without fault. This is also not true.

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

What makes a rich country rich or a poor country rich? What causes them to stay that way? Often, when people think of countries that are wealthy versus those that are poor, they discuss factors like natural resources, but that isn’t really the case. If you look at North America vs. South America, there were more resources in South America, but yet North America is far wealthier than South America. Doctrine really matters and the North America continent was far more Protestant than the South American continent and it has real and substantial long term effects. So how does that work itself out in the world and what are the ways that righteousness exalts a nation?

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

People used to have their children walk long distances to school and would assume that they would be safe. Now there are cases where that has been treated as child abuse. Children are afraid to ride a bike without a helmet, but with less bike riding, there are more bike head injuries. We are a society that is filled with fear

In this episode, we want to look at risk from a Reformed perspective. We start with the fear of death, which scripture teaches is central to the lives of the unsaved. As it says in Hebrews 2:14-15 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

From fear of death, we look at the damage that has been done to the family: to men’s abdication of responsibility and leadership and to the rise of feminism and women-led households and communities. We have talked in other episode about how men and women prioritize safety differently, but in this episode we look at how this difference plays out when the home and therefore society becomes fundamentally disordered.

Lastly we also talk about the ways that changes in technology, the news industry, and government also impact our view of risk and fear. These issues matter greatly and affect how we live our lives, how we train our children, and even how we promote and preach the gospel. Please join is as we discuss the subject of risk.

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

Mother Teresa is considered one of the great humanitarians of the 20th century and is revered as a saint by the Roman Catholic church. But she did not really help many of the people that she talked about helping. The help she gave was very different from the way it was described by her and others and she often taught doctrine contrary to Roman Catholic teaching. But in the end, according to the Roman Catholic church, she is a shining example of what it means to be Catholic. And they have no problem with her unorthodox doctrine, her false help and false promotion, or taking the millions that she funneled into the coffers of the Roman Catholic church.

If you listen to our podcast often, this should come as no surprise to you. Roman Catholicism is a false religion that leads many to hell. According to the Westminster and Second London Baptist Confession, the Pope is that Antichrist. It should come as no surprise that the “saints” of this false church are false as well. And this is very relevant to us today, as many conservative Christians follow and listen to Catholics like Matt Walsh and Candace Owens or JD Vance. We should remember that Roman Catholicism ultimately leads to death and darkness and separation from 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

A little over a month ago, Dan Horn had a debate with Pastor Rich Lusk about Paedobaptism and the place of children in the church. After the debate was posted on YouTube (see link below), there were a number of comments that seemed worth responding to. A couple of the comments are from credobaptists, but most are from paedobaptists whose viewpoints seem to diverge from orthodox Presbyterian views and lean more toward Federal Vision.

Dan Horn vs. Rich Lusk on Children in the Church:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4rcocRXATE

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

One of the biggest disagreements between Baptists and Presbyterians is related to baptism, it’s administration and what it means within the church. And these differences in practice are tied directly to differences in how God’s Covenant and the covenants that He has made with men are understood.

One primary difference that we want to concentrate on is that the Baptist view has more of an upward focus, looking at how each of God’s covenants with man reveals or discovers the Eternal Covenant of Grace whereas the Presbyterian view is more downward focused with their description being that the Covenant of Grace has different administrations in the time of the law and the time of the gospel.

Because of these different focuses, Baptists and Presbyterians see the effect of continuity and discontinuity very differently, with Baptists looking for those details to be expressed in physical vs spiritual typologies expressed as the earthly covenants with man reveal the heavenly Covenant of Grace (for example: circumcision of the flesh being fulfilled through circumcision of the heart, physical offspring pointing to spiritual offspring, physical households pointing to spiritual households, etc). Alternately, Presbyterians look for continuity and discontinuity within the earthly covenants. (physical households continuing, circumcision becoming baptism, etc).

Most of the differences in this episode are found in Chapter 7 of both the Westminter and the Second London Baptist confessions of faith. In the Westminster, this chapter is titled, “Of God’s Covenant with Man” and in the SLBC it is titled, “Of God’s Covenant”

Note: While we are focusing on real differences that we believe affect the church and doctrine in real ways, we are also grateful for the many areas of agreement that exist within the larger body of Christ. We also believe that it is through wrestling with God’s word and doctrine with the guidance of the Holy Spirit that greater unity will come.

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

Sharing the gospel is central to the Great Commission. But doing so on a day-to-day basis is more complicated than we often want to admit. It’s definitely more complex than just memorizing the Romans Road or learning a three-step approach for door-to-door witnessing.
So in this episode, we want to ask two different questions about sharing the gospel: first, we want to ask why don’t we do it, and second, how should we change the way we think about sharing the gospel?

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