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The Bible says a lot about debt and slavery and teaches that the two are tightly connected, going so far as to say “the borrower is a servant (slave) of the lender”. And as Christians, when we read God’s word, it is our duty to take God’s commands and instructions seriously. But if you asked the average Christian if slavery is bad and then examined the amount of debt they have, would you come away with the sense that their stated beliefs and actions were in alignment?

In this episode, we want to deal with what God’s word says about debt and slavery. In doing this, we discuss the purposes for which God created debt, how we should think about freedom vs bondage, and even how this is different for the individual Christian than for a local church body. We even want to push back on our view of slavery itself as Scripture uses slavery to demonstrate both positive and negative aspects of our physical and spiritual lives. This is important, because part of the Christian life is keeping our minds from being conformed to the world but allowing them to be transformed through the renewing that God’s word and spirit bring upon all who faithfully abide in Him.

Topics discussed:
What is debt? What is slavery?
Are mortgages good or bad?
Is it better to rent or be a homeowner?
How the United States has structured its laws and policies to favor debt
How God uses debt and slavery to accomplish his purposes.
Why not paying back debt is evil and is a sign of being unsaved
What debt and slavery shows us about man’s relationship to God (and sin)
How should we treat the poor?
How living beyond our means is a rejection of God’s sovereignty and being carnally minded and covetous
Why churches shouldn’t take out a loan to buy a building
What does it mean to be free to serve the Lord Jesus Christ?

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

Tim Keller spent his life arguing that through winsomeness we can get people to accept the gospel. If the world sees Christians as good and kind, then the world would see the goodness of God and come to faith. He argued that if we are kind and thoughtful, then people will want to hear the gospel from us. And here’s the thing: if all you are talking about is what the life and conduct of a Christian should look like, there are lots of situations where we would agree with him. But that’s exactly why we take issue with the position. As we say early in the episode, there is no “balance” between being offensive and being pleasant. Our obedience to Christ requires different things of us at different times, and we aren’t responsible for how the world responds to that obedience.

And while Tim Keller died in 2023, this issue is something that the church has always struggled with and will continue to as long as there is sin in the world. In fact, in the last few weeks of January, Alistair Begg has been in the news for an issue that is fundamentally the same. In an interview from September 2023, Begg recounted how he was asked by a grandmother if she should attend the wedding of her grandson whose partner was transgender. Begg’s repsonse was that as long as her grandson understands that her belief in Jesus makes it such that she can’t countenance in any affirming way the choices that he has made in life that she should attend the wedding and buy him a wedding gift. His response was rightly criticized by many other pastors and Christian leaders. But the result has been a number of questions and discussions about where we should draw the line and how Christians should apply the principles and requirements of Christianity and the gospel to many different situations.

In this episode, we try to frame the topic in way that allows us to think about the issue more clearly. “Balance” and “kindness” can often be misleading, because “balance” suggests that we should be trying to find some middle ground that can only be determined by looking at the world’s response to our life and not to God’s expectations of us. And “kindness” causes us to misdefine what the word truly means as all kind actions aren’t necessarily pleasant and agreeable (like waking someone up in the middle of the night to tell them that their house is on fire.). Please join us as we discuss this important topic.


Note: In this episode we misattribute a quote to Francis of Assisi, “Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.” While the quote is frequently used to make the point we reference in the article, we were wrong about who said 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

Our world is very confused about the roles of men and women and this is particularly true in the United States and even in our more conservative churches. And while there is a lot of complexity in this topic, there are some basic scriptural commands and decrees of God that help frame the issue.

In this episode we want to discuss how God created men and women to be different and how God is glorified through those differences. While both are created in God’s image and are equal in Christ, God made their roles to demonstrate the relationship between Christ and the church, to show the nature of the gospel, and to glorify his name and nature.
Men and woman are not the same and anyone who tries to pretend that they are is fighting against God. God says it in the beginning and again throughout scripture: “Man is not made from woman, but woman from man. Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man.” Scripture also declares plainly that man is the head of woman. These are true sayings and the fact that our society has labored so hard to make them offensive should confirm for us what Paul taught us: that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

The church of Jesus Christ must not be ashamed of the truth of God’s word. Our families, our churches, our communities, and our nations are suffering because we allow such awful lies to be spoken and celebrated while we fear to proclaim the truth. May the church repent and may God be glorified. 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

You can’t go anywhere around Christmas without hearing the familiar sound of a Salvation Army volunteer ringing their bell beside the familiar red kettle asking for donations. But how many people know that the Salvation Army is a false church that teaches a falses gospel based on works righteousness and who believe that men can become perfect and completely without sin in this life?

In this episode we examine the origins of the Salvation Army and what they still believe today. We also talk about the nature of charity itself and how we’ve gotten used to the idea that a word that means and act of love has been reduced to giving someone else money to do good in our stead. Jesus had a lot to say about love, and he tied it to his law, and to the power of His Holy Spirit. The Salvation Army rejects this, and American culture has followed suit in so many ways. The church of Jesus Christ should be the ones who truly understand how to perform acts of charity. Please join us as we consider this 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

Isaiah 9 famously proclaims how Christ came to establish and order his kingdom. In this episode we want to look at how extensive and expansive that order was and still is. In many ways the church has forgotten what the world was like before Christ came. Like fish who are so accustomed to being wet that they take water for granted, the church has lived within the kingdom of Jesus Christ from the moment of its birth. But do we understand it? And do we understand the work that our Lord has given us to do?

Please join us as we discuss this very orderly topic (in a less than orderly way).

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

Over the past seven years, there have been a lot of headlines to this effect: “No Christian can justify voting for Donald Trump!” But often enough, the people writing these articles don’t really know God themselves. And so it’s easy to write them off. But here’s the real question: Could they be right anyway?

For most of us, this isn’t just political theory. In the next year, we’re probably going to have a couple of opportunities to vote and Donald Trump seems very likely to be the front-runner. So in this episode, we thought it was worth taking the time to try and unpack Donald Trump and why he gets so much support from Christians. Are those who support him truly thinking biblically or are they being manipulated by political forces? We think it’s a topic worth serious consideration.

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

Limited atonement often seems like a simple doctrine. Christ died for the elect. The end. But it’s more complicated than that. Because Christ didn’t just come to save the elect. He also came to put away sin, destroy the work of the devil, and reconcile the fallen creation to the Father.

The other part about it that’s worth discussing is that even those who understand the doctrine, limit the atonement in practical ways when we act as if the blood of Christ has no real effect on the lives of those who believe. It’s so common today for Christians to be cynical and pessimistic about the world; to act as if the very world we live in has not already been blessed and changed by the death of Christ. And when we do this, we limit the atonement. Not by stated doctrine, but by practice and by our lack of faith.

The doctrine of limited atone is important. And while it’s not incredibly complex, it touches on many different aspects of Christianity. In this episode, we want to push on the modern view of the atonement, because while the atonement is limited, its scope and majesty are beyond measure. It is limited, but it is not small, and it is the means by which Christ accomplished everything. And even as Christ sits in authority at the right hand of the Father, its work is still ongoing and will continue until all his enemies have been defeated. Do we, his people, understand the atonement? Do we honor and praise him by doing the work he has appointed us, as we should?