In early October, soldiers from Hamas invaded Israel. They killed babies in their beds, kidnapped wives and grandmothers, and in general, attacked without any moral constraints on their behavior, deliberately and intentionally attacking non-combatants. Over 1300 people were killed and hundreds were taken hostage. Naturally, Israel is responding and firing upon Gaza. The media almost always reports on this story the same way, saying that Israel has a clear right to respond, but that since the Hamas soldiers hide in civilian housing, the Israelites are killing children. And while it is true that Israel’s counterattacks do result in the death of women and children, the question is, how should they respond when their enemies hide behind women and children. What should a nation that is trying to be moral do when enemy combatants use children as shields?

In this episode, we discuss the challenge of responding righteously when your enemy has no regard for the innocent. In particular, we talk about the often-overlooked fact that Hamas is the elected government of Gaza, and has strong support from Palestinians living there and in the West Bank. When you consider that Hamas is very open about both their hatred for Israel and their tactics of attacking from positions where they are surrounded by civilians, who should we hold to blame for the children that are killed? Does that not fall on the parents who chose Hamas? This is worth pointing out, because Christians often try to play games when it comes to difficult moral situations. We like to absolve certain parties of guilt, and in doing so, we shift the blame to someone else. And God is never ok with this. He says in Numbers 14 that while he is abundant in mercy, forgiving the iniquity and transgression, he by no means clears the guilty.
And we as Christians should remember this. When we choose evil in our land, God will bring judgment upon us, and it will not just affect us, it will affect our families. If we do not wage war against evil, not with flesh and blood, but with the sword of the spirit, against principalities and powers, then in that day, when when God hands us over to evil men and our children lay dead and dying, we must not weep and say, “Why has this injustice come upon us?!?” We chose it. And God is doing exactly what he promised. Please join us as we discuss this vital topic.

Past episodes:
Is the Israel-Gaza War Just?
https://theconqueringtruth.com/2021/05/is-the-israel-gaza-war-just-ep-21/
Is Israel Still God’s Chosen People? https://theconqueringtruth.com/2021/07/is-israel-still-gods-chosen-people-ep-27/

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

Would you be surprised to know that over 460 years ago, a group of missionaries left Geneva for Brazil to preach the gospel? Or that by 1562, missionary efforts based out of Geneva and other similarly minded cities had planted over 2000 churches in France?

In this episode, we consider how God’s work in the lives of the men and women of the Reformation resulted in missionaries being sent out to the entire world. And while this early mission movement had similarities with what we think of as modern missions, there were also some key distinctives that the modern American church seems to have forgotten.

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 live in a culture where people almost throw temper tantrums when they don’t get their way. Where adults want to go back and live with their parents and be taken care of by them. Where people think that others should compensate for their incompetence. But Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:11 that when he became a man he put away childish things. So, what is childishness, and how should we think about it?

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 Deuteronomy 21:18-21, God’s law says that the parents of rebellious children are to take them to the rulers of the city and they are to be stoned. How can a loving God command such a thing?

In this episode, we deal with a passage that is often used by critics to demonstrate that Christianity is evil or at the very least that the God of the Old Testament was cruel and unloving. But as the Apostle Paul says in I Timothy, “But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully”, and in Galatians 3, “Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.” And so knowing that the law is good, it is also good for Christians to understand and to be able to explain how God demonstrates his goodness and constrains the sin of men through his commandments. Please join us as we discuss the goodness of God’s law.

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