All Things New

In the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination, how do we process our emotions, responses, and reactions?

On September 10, 2025, conservative political activist and outspoken Christian Charlie Kirk was murdered during a campus event at Utah Valley University. Some people are feeling shock, anger, fear, grief, and lament; others are celebrating or mocking. How do we make sense of what we’re feeling? How do we respond to what others are saying? And what does this moment portend for American politics and the future of civic debate? In this episode, Bob engages these questions and offers some commentary and perspective.

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If you’ve listened to the radio lately, perhaps you’ve noticed that pop music is sounding a lot like worship music. Some of the year's most popular songs use biblical imagery, emotive builds, and vocal choirs—not unlike what you might hear in church. On this week’s episode, we discuss a recent article that traces this trend. We explore why music producers are mimicking worship music and what it suggests about our cultural moment.

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Over the past half-century, evangelical Christians have rediscovered spiritual formation. Richard Foster, Dallas Willard, John Ortberg, and more recently John Mark Comer have helped re-emphasize spiritual practices and the interior life. But why does so much popular writing and teaching on spiritual formation lean on Catholic sources – mystics and monks and Merton? Is there a distinctly Protestant stream of spiritual formation that we can rediscover? If so, what might it teach us? In this episode, we interact with a new book from Matthew Bingham, A Heart Aflame for God. Bingham asserts that there IS a deep Protestant tradition of spiritual formation, and one of its distinctives is the centrality of Scripture. In this episode, we discuss why we tend to minimize Scripture in spiritual formation, why the Puritans saw Scripture as central to spiritual formation, and how we can practically foreground the Scriptures in our spiritual practices.

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In credobaptist traditions, we baptize new Christians upon their profession of faith in Christ. But what happens when, a few years later, a new experience of God's grace makes me question my prior baptism? How can we separate our subjective experiences of God’s promises from the objective nature of those promises? In this episode, we respond to a listener question and discuss how the Reformation tradition understood baptism, what the animating force of baptism is, and the connections between baptism and discipleship.

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August 2025 marks Coram Deo Church’s 20th birthday. On this episode, we reflect further on God’s grace to Coram Deo over the past two decades. We talk about what we’re grateful for, what years were the most fun, what aspects of Coram Deo turned out differently than we expected, and why the "institutional" aspect of a church is crucial to city renewal.

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August 2025 marks Coram Deo Church’s 20th birthday. On this episode, we reflect on God's grace to Coram Deo over the past two decades. We discuss the circumstances of the church's founding, the ups and downs of starting and leading a church, and what’s changed in the cultural and ministry environment between 2005 and 2025.

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If it hasn't happened to you yet... wait for it. Sometime in your mid-30's, life starts to feel mundane. You find yourself asking: How did I get here? Do I like what I do? Do I still want this job? Despite all the cliches, "mid-life crisis" is real. The world urges you to try something new - a new job, a new hobby, maybe even a new spouse. But what if God has a different invitation—one that invites you to interrogate your restlessness? In this episode, we answer a listener question about how to persist at work. We discuss stewardship, settling, friendship, and the wisdom of knowing your portion (Ecclesiastes 9:9).

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John MacArthur, longtime pastor of Grace Community Church in California, passed away on July 14, 2025. MacArthur preached in the same pulpit for 56 years. His recorded sermons and syndicated radio and television programs brought the gospel to people all over the world, and his writings impacted many more. On this episode, we discuss MacArthur’s legacy, the impact of his ministry, where we disagree with him, and the gaps his death leaves behind.

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(0:00) Introductions: Patrick and Renee Got Us a Kringle!

(2:25) John MacArthur’s Obituary

(8:34) John’s Life and Ministry

(19:27) Where We Disagree with MacArthur (and Commend Him)

(25:38) Who Are the Next Generation of Stalwart Preachers?

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https://firstthings.com/a-straight-line-to-the-pulpit-the-legacy-of-john-macarthur/

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/us/john-macarthur-dead.html

Communion should be a regular practice for all Christians—but there is freedom in how often and in what ways the church practices this historic sacrament. In this 2018 episode, we discuss how and why our churches observe communion the way we do.

In this episode, we hear a Christian doctor’s perspective on non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT). He discusses the accuracy of the tests, explains what they are and aren't good for, and unpacks the challenges of practicing medicine as a Christian (especially in this specialty). We also ask our special guest Hannah what advice she would give to couples who are expecting children. Catch up on Part 1 of this conversation if you missed it.

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