Tom and Ryan reconnect to start a 4 week series of discussions on the Advent.  On the episode, the guys discuss why Christmas is such a big deal to many people and how Advent helps us shift our hopes and expectations to Jesus!  We will also cover the theme of the First Week of Advent on Hope or Expectation!  

Tune in!

On this episode, Tom is joined by Tyler Krug, a pastor and more importantly a friend for a conversation about “leadership” in the church.  What is leadership in the church?  What is leadership in the context of Pastoral or Elder Ministry?  

Tom and Tyler discuss why we need to be careful with how we use the word Leadership in the church and where we tend to go wrong with our expectations of pastors and elders.  

Tom and Ryan reconnect this week to discuss the growing conversations about the divide between confessionalism and pietism.   This conversation is not new but seems to be getting new traction in recent months.  The guys discuss why confessionalism is not anti-piety but guards itself against pietism because it can lead us away from true hope in the Gospel.  

On this episode, Tom has Part 1 of a 2 part conversation with Stephen Gambill.  Stephen is an OG in the Reformed Baptist circles of Nashville.  He planted Reformed Baptist Church of Nashville, TN in 1998 and he shares so much wisdom on how to remain faithful yet hopeful in ministry through difficult seasons of life.  You are going to enjoy this one!  

Does the church need modern Super Apostles?  If you ask some, the American Church’s greatest need is to recover and continue the Neo-Evangelical vision of Carl Henry and Billy Graham? Trevin Wax and the folks over at The Gospel Coaltion seem to take this position.   At the heart of this vision is the need rediscovery of modern day theological and cultural gatekeepers that follow in the footsteps of Henry and Graham.  What are the merits of this vision?  Does it work?  Will it rescue the conservative evangelicalism from it’s current divisions? 

Tom and Ryan breakdown Trevin’s recent article called “Why I’m Not Kissing Evangelicalism Goodbye” along side a response from R. Scott Clark over at the Heidelblog.  We hope our assessment is both helpful and fair.

If you have not heard, the organizers of the Together for the Gospel Conference have announced that April 2022 will mark the final installment of the beloved Conference.  Tom hops on to reflect on the impact this conference has had on his life and ministry and to grieve circumstances that contributed to the demise of T4G. 

If you have not read it yet, here is Colin Hanson’s reflection from the Gospel Coalition.  Worth a Read. 

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/t4g-final/

It seems that the word “reformed” is used by a lot of well meaning brothers and sisters as a way to describe their theological convictions.  Though we are happy to have more and more people investigate the Reformed faith, we must use the word appropriately.  To be Reformed is more than being a Calvinist.  All Reformed are Calvinists but not all Calvinists are reformed. This conversations seems to be even more important in light of the emergence of the growth of “New Calvinism” (Think Gospel Coalition, Acts 29 Network ,etc) and the rise of more fundamentalist Calvinist Baptists who say they are reformed when they probably are not in its truest sense.  

Tom and Ryan discuss the difference between being reformational and reformed.   This should be a good conversation!  Tune in!  
 

Tom and Ryan finally throw up another episode.  Today, we talk about the current evangelical landscape and how a confessional and reformed approach offers a more complete critique of the varying issues facing American religions.

Suggested Resources:
Recovering the Reformed Confession  - R. Scott Clark
Why was the Reformation Necessary? - Robert Godfrey

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On this episode, Tom goes solo to discuss whats behind the relaunch of the Ordinary Grace Podcast.  This podcast is not an attempt to build a platform or experiment in vanity.  Rather, it’s a space to work out theological ideas and their relevance to the current American evangelical landscape.  Tune in and join the conversation.

If you have thoughts or questions, you can contact Tom at [email protected]

On this episode, we dig into the extent of God's decree and how God's sovereign actions cannot be separated from his being and nature.