This week on the Straight Truth Podcast, we’ve compiled three previous episodes. These are episodes that address heated topics for both the Christian and the non-Christian. The topics of illegal immigration, racism, and politics all affect the Christian as we live out our lives in this world. A very important truth to remember, as we do this, is that the Christian is to have a proper worldview that is cultivated from the Word of God, not the world around us. Hence, we have a responsibility to be informed biblically about these issues, so that we will think, understand, react, and be motivated to respond and act biblically.

Firstly, we believe the Bible to be the revealed Word of God. It not only reveals who God is but also who we are. It declares that all of mankind has sinned and that we all fall short of the glory of God. Yet it also declares that God has provided a way for us to be made right with Him, through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. Consequently, the Bible teaches there are only two kinds of men living on this earth, either fallen still in their sins or redeemed and forgiven in Christ. Keeping this truth in mind as we approach these topics will be of great help.

Second, we know in this world there are many nations, not just one. However, no one nation is a race unto themselves. Nations are made up of differing ethnicities, not different races; this is a diversity of God’s making. There is only one race created by God and that’s the human race. We are all descendants from our first parents, Adam and Eve. God in His infinite wisdom and creative purposes planned for diversity among us for our good and His glory, not for us to create division, hierarchy, oppression, and strife.

Third, God is the creator and author of the governing bodies that rule over us. Any power they have is derived, delegated, and appointed by Him. He allows for these to make, enact, and enforce laws that are for the common good of the people living under their rule. Government serves the purposes of God for the restraining of evil and the promotion of good. Politics comes out of the activities associated with governing or ruling, based on individuals grouping themselves under a belief system or “worldview” that they believe, i.e. how things should be run or operated. Often we see wrong, corruption, and outright evil within governing bodies as they make and enforce laws. But, this does not mean that God sanctions or endorses these. Even those who rule over us are subject to the laws of God and will be judged accordingly.

Fourthly, as Christians, we must also remember that we are truly strangers and aliens in this world. This world is not our home. Christ’s kingdom is not of this world, and neither is ours, we are looking for a better country. Yet, we do and will live here until we pass away or Christ returns. Therefore we want to welcome, love and care for people – people that are not from our land, people that speak a different language, people that look different and have different skin color than ours, and even people that disagree with us. This is not to say that we are to embrace all that they stand for or propagate. We are to embrace the Word of God and stand firm on the truths that are given to us there.

Does this mean that there will be difficulties when it comes to living amongst those with whom we disagree? Absolutely! But as citizens of Christ’s kingdom, we cannot take the law into our own hands. We must obey Him and this includes the authorities God has placed over us. We are to be known for our submission to governing authorities, not as lawbreakers, but as those who respect the law. This will include laws they create regarding legal/illegal immigration and recognizing the government’s role in protecting our borders as they enforce the laws that exist. We are not to look down on others, hurt, harm or mistreat others intentionally.

We are not to elevate ourselves above others nor oppress anyone because of their differences. Racism divides, perpetrates ongoing animosity, and harms the witness and truth of the gospel. We are to be peaceable, kind, gentle, compassionate people who do good to and for others; sharing the gospel and being a good witness to it.

Will we see injustices perpetrated by the laws, rules, and regulations that are set forth by those that govern and rule over us, even by individuals against one another? Yes, we will, but our responses must still be based on a biblical worldview. We cannot deny nor diminish that we hurt, mistreat, and do great harm to one another. This is a result of man’s sinful nature attempting to elevate itself. It can only be when men are right with God that they can be right with each other.

We do not live in paradise, this is not heaven, and no nation, the United States nor any other will be God’s kingdom on earth. No nation, no government, no political party, no rallies, no marches, no lobbying, no advocacy, and no rules or laws will ever save us and rescue us from ourselves. There is only one person who will ever usher in a truly righteous society and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. We will not have a world in which righteousness dwells in perfection until He returns to this earth.

Our problems can only be solved by the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Church is to teach and instruct God’s people with God’s Word, rightly equipping the saints. And we Christians must be clear on what we believe and why we believe it. The Word of God must guide our thinking, our understanding, our hearts, and motives for all these issues. We are to evangelize the lost and be “salt and light” in our cities and nations. Seeking to influence the watching and listening world for the kingdom of God.

These are the links to the full episodes featured on this compilation episode of the Straight Truth Podcast, “Illegal Immigration, Racism, and Christian Politics“:

A Christian Perspective on Illegal Immigration

The Real Solution to Racism

The Role of the Church in Politics

The Practice of Worship

Racial Prejudice & The Christian

The Beautiful Life & Civil Authority

The post Illegal Immigration, Racism, and Christian Politics appeared first on Straight Truth Podcast.

This week on the Straight Truth Podcast, we have a special compilation of three previous episodes. These episodes address important truth issues for the Christian who seeks to walk by faith, guided by the Scriptures and the Spirit, with prayer, and to live out their life for the will of God, to the glory of God. These three elements of the Christian life can only be rightly understood, first and foremost, by having a correct understanding of God’s sovereignty and His character. Secondly, we must have a right understanding of who He says we are. Where we learn these things is from the Word of God. It is here we gain answers to our questions and the wisdom to apply the principles from the truths that we find there.

New Testament believers have a responsibility to discover and know the will of God. But, what we’re to be searching for is His revealed will, not His secret will (Deut 29:29).  Too many times we want to discover the will of God for this situation or that, without having any real interest in His revealed Word. We will only find and discover God’s will through an intimate knowledge of His Word. As our knowledge of the Word of God increases, our faith increases, we gain discernment and we grow in maturity. This is because our minds are being informed, renewed and transformed by God’s Word. It is also in our time in God’s Word that we are exposed to His sovereignty. When we comprehend and accept this, our understanding of the importance of prayer will change.

As Christians we are commanded to pray, it’s not optional. Prayer is the will of God for the believer. Knowing God’s will and living it out by faith, in obedience, requires intentional prayer. Therefore we ought to come before the Lord armed with the knowledge of the Scriptures, knowing God as He’s revealed Himself there, bringing with us the experiential knowledge of God’s lovingkindness and faithfulness in our own lives.

For, nothing lies outside the reach of our prayers but that which does not accord with God’s will. By faith, then, we pray, dependent on our sovereign God, admitting and confessing our sins, our needs, our weaknesses, and brokenness, all while seeking to align our wills with His. This is prayer, done in humble, thankful, obedience, acting in faith to the will of God, as we cry out for God’s will to be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

As we listen carefully we can begin to understand the importance of these three aspects of the Christians life – God’s will, growing in faith and the importance of prayer. We see how each is intertwined with the Christian having a right understanding of the sovereignty of God, knowing His character and growing in the intimate knowledge of His Word. This knowledge will inform, motivate, fuel and drive our Christian life. It will grow our faith, expand our prayers and increasingly fill us with the desire for the will of God to be done, all to the glory of God alone.

These are the links to the full episodes featured on this compilation episode of the Straight Truth Podcast, “God’s Will, Faith and Prayer”:

How To Know The Will of the Lord

How Do I Increase My Faith?

If God is Sovereign, Why Pray?

To learn more about biblical and godly worship you can listen or watch the following sermons by Dr. Richard Caldwell:

As The Lord Wills

https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=5300418250

If The Lord Wills

https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=116131917392

Living For The Will of God

https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=71316115184

Growing in Faith

https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=8804175746

Increasing Faith

https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=250611338

Faith Tested By Fire

https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=729091915150

The Faith That Trusts God

https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=98182129301

Prayer, Gods Willingness & Our Reluctance

Click Here

Prayer Motivated By Sovereignty

Click Here

The Priority & Passion of Prayer

Click Here

Effective Prayer

Click Here

Confidence in Prayer

Click Here

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In this episode of the Straight Truth Podcast, Dr. Richard Caldwell turns the tables on our host, Dr. Josh Philpot and asks the questions. Dr. Caldwell tells us that Josh isn’t just the host of the Straight Truth Podcast, but that he is also the Pastor of Worship and Administration at Founders Baptist Church in Spring, Texas. Today you’ll also learn why that Dr. is at the front of his name.

We have the privilege of hearing Josh share about his young life as a Christian and how he loved music and was involved with his church growing up. He shares about going to college in pursuit of music, and while there being challenged as a Christian to know what he believed and why he believed it. As he grew in his understanding and love for the things of God, people around him continued to encourage him in his pursuit of music and more specifically worship ministry. This eventually lead to the choice to attend seminary and explore this path. During his time in seminary, he attended and served in a small church where the pastors there also encouraged him in these endeavors.  Josh says it was about this time when he really began to enjoy being a worship leader.

Dr. Caldwell tells us that Founders Baptist benefits greatly from Josh as he leads in worship, and it’s not related only to the music/song selections. Josh has a theological depth to his life and it shows in his ministry work and service to the body of Christ. Dr. Caldwell asks Josh to tell us a bit about how going to Christian schools, college and seminary have helped him in his ministry role.

Josh explains that there are great benefits and help that have come out of these choices. Seminary, in particular, helped shape his understanding deeper in doctrine, and how it relates to the planning out and preparation of worship in services and more. Josh gives us a couple of guiding principles that he lives by as he plans and prepares the worship segment that leads up to the peaching of God’s Word. He explains the importance of it all coinciding with the text that is going to be taught, and the ability to help people have the Word of God richly dwell within them.

Josh also elaborates a bit on Founders Church “Call to Worship” and the elements involved in that (prayer, reading of God’s word, music, and giving). He reminds us that it is God’s people gathered together for something very important and special; worship that glorifies God. As we do this, he says even the people that are chosen to lead in these elements of worship is important because these roles are shepherding and pastoral tasks. He also tells us that personal holiness in the life of a worship leader is absolutely crucial to do what they do well. One other important aspect of being a worship leader is working with the pastor to do these tasks. This all is an accompaniment to the most important part of the service – the declaration of the Word of God.

To learn more about biblical and godly worship you can listen or watch the following sermons by Dr. Richard Caldwell:

The Worship of the Church, Parts 1 thru 8

True Worship

Worship’s Public Response, Part 1

Characteristics of The Spirit Filled Life, Part 1

YouTube Sermon Links:

Worship’s Public Response, Part 1

Worship’s Public Response, Part 2

Praise for the Believer’s Spiritual Blessings, Part 1

Praise for the Believer’s Spiritual Blessings, Part 2

The post Godly and Biblical Worship appeared first on Straight Truth Podcast.

Does God love everyone indiscriminately? Does God love believers the same as He loves unbelievers? If Gods’ love is the same for everyone, why do some people end up in hell and others in heaven? Does God have a special love for those He calls His children?

In this episode of the Straight Truth Podcast Dr. Richard Caldwell and host, Dr. Josh Philpot discuss the love of God. The most recognized and probably the most quoted verse of the Bible is John 3:16 where it says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, shall not perish but have eternal life.” Pastor Richard says when this verse speaks of the “world”, he believes it refers to all of humanity, viewing all humanity as a whole. So the Bible does speak of God loving the world and it’s a common kind of love for all humanity.

But to answer the question of whether God loves lost humanity in the same way that He loves His people, Pastor Richard says the answer is no. He tells us that God has a love for His elect that is unique. He quotes the example from Romans 9 of Jacob and Essau showing that the love of God in election, for salvation, is different, it’s special and it’s demonstrated to God’s people alone.

So, says Dr. Caldwell, God doesn’t love indiscriminately. The love that God has for the whole world is not the same love that He has for His elect. Dr. Caldwell offers an example of Gods common kind of love from the Scriptures. Showing that when Christians are taught by God’s Word to love their enemies, God is set forth as the example (Matthew 5:43-48, Luke 6:27-36). God causes His sun to rise on both the evil and the good, He sends rain upon the earth for the just and the unjust, and He is kind to ungrateful and evil men. Dr. Caldwell comments that this very day God is revealing a common kind of grace, by showing kindness and goodness to people who curse His name. As Christians when we love our enemies we reflect this love of God.

Dr. Philpot asks Dr. Caldwell as a preacher of the gospel would he then say to a gathered congregation, that, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life”. Dr. Caldwell says no, that he would not say it that way at all. To put it a different way he says that even in one on one evangelism, where you are sharing the gospel with someone, he would not take the Four Spiritual Laws route. The Christian is to declare to the lost person, who God is, who God has revealed us to be (sinners) and what God’s solution for our problem is, which is His Son, Christ Jesus. 

We are to invite them, plead with them and exhort them to be reconciled to God by trusting in Christ. Then, to the person who receives Christ and is converted, we can say God loves you and set His love on you from the foundation of the world. He set His love on you and this is why you came to love Him.

Dr. Caldwell says this is the story of love. Not that we loved God, but that God loved us. He sent His Son into this world to save a people for His name. For those who have come to know Christ, they can now recognize that it’s eternal love that explains their salvation. But, for the person who does not receive Christ and goes to the grave rejecting the gospel, we can still say that person was loved by God, but not as one of His elect.

You can click on the following links to listen or watch sermons by Dr. Richard Caldwell that will give you a deeper understanding of God’s love, and answer the question: Does God Love Everyone the Same?

The Love of God – Parts 1, 2, 3, & 4

The Blessings of God’s Love

A Reason for Love

The Faithfulness of God’s Word & God’s Love

The Logic of Love for Enemies

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Does the grace of God have limits? If so, is it our sins that limit His grace? Does God grant grace to pedophiles, to murderers? What if the devil repented, would God extend grace even there?

In this episode of the Straight Truth Podcast, Dr. Richard Caldwell and host Dr. Josh Philpot discuss the amazement, wonder, and greatness of God’s grace. Dr. Caldwell begins first by informing us that even if the devil repented he could not be saved, because Christs’ atonement was for fallen men.  He shares that this is one of the wonders of God’s grace that we read and learn about from the book of Hebrews. What Christ did for mankind, He did not do for angels.  While fallen angels are rational creatures and they have volitional capacity, God did not provide a way for the forgiveness of their sins in the fall.

Dr. Caldwell assures us that God’s grace is not limited by our sin. The only unforgivable sin spoken of in the New Testament is the blasphemy of the Spirit of God. Beyond this, there is nothing that God cannot forgive. There is grace for pedophiles, grace for mass murderers, and there is grace for the most heinous of sins we could name. In the book of Corinthians, the Apostle Paul lists some of these sins that the Corinthians themselves would have been known for, before being saved by the grace of God. 

We are by our very nature children deserving of wrath, so it’s not just what we’ve done in our sinning, but it’s who we are. The sins that we have committed are worthy of death. However, Dr. Caldwell says that no matter who it is that’s being saved, a so-called moral person who sits in church each week but doesn’t know Christ, or the murderer on death row, the grace of God is greater and that’s why anyone can be saved. But, wherever God saves a soul, granting repentance and the forgiveness of sin, there is a turning by the sinner from those sins to God and to a new life.

Dr. Philpot states that this is what’s so amazing and incredible about God’s grace because we have the great “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11 as a testimony to it. Here we can read about despicable people from the Old Testament who committed heinous sins. Elsewhere in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul himself is an example of someone who approved of murder, possibly even, in numerous cases. All these examples of God’s grace should offer us great hope. Our sins are not greater than the God who saved these.

Dr. Caldwell agrees, affirming that where sin abounded, the grace of God super abounded and that God in His grace is the only hope for any of us.

For a deeper understanding of God’s grace, understanding the forgiveness He offers in Christ, and the turning from a life of sin to a life lived by grace, you can listen to or watch these sermons by Dr. Richard Caldwell:

The Knowledge Grace Brings – Pt. 1

God’s Grace On Death Row

The Ugliness of Sin & The Beauty of Grace

The Teaching of Salvation – Pt. 1

The Riches of His Grace

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