TGC Podcast

Gavin Ortlund—writer and pastor at First Baptist Church of Ojai (California)—ponders the question, why do we feel a sense of transcendence when we listen to beautiful music? Where does that feeling come from? What's the best explanation for it? Ortlund compares the naturalistic and theistic answers to these questions, ultimately concluding that music is not a distraction from reality but a window into reality—and that the theistic framework gives a much more satisfying explanation for why it moves us emotionally.

For more videos like this, subscribe to Gavin Ortlund’s YouTube Channel.

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Jeremy Treat, pastor at Reality LA in Los Angeles, observes how our longing for God does not disappear in a secular society. It just reappears in different forms: sports, politics, sexuality, and more. Treat describes how secular people today seek power, purity, and peace—traditionally sought in religion—in things like witchcraft, wellness, and mindfulness apps. Yet our deepest longings, Treat says, will not be found in any spiritual system or clean diet, but in a person: Jesus Christ.

Check out The Pour Over Podcast — politically neutral news for people who want the facts without the spin, and with a brief biblical perspective

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Michael Horton explains why there is no such thing, in the new covenant, as a “Christian nation” apart from the worldwide body of Christ. “The problem with Christian nationalism is not that some Christians are taking a biblical idea too seriously,” says Horton, professor of systematic theology and apologetics at Westminster Seminary California, “but that they are confusing America with Israel under the old covenant. From a biblical perspective, it’s actually heretical. It confuses the law with the gospel.”

Check out The Pour Over Podcast — politically neutral news for people who want the facts without the spin, and with a brief biblical perspective

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Irwyn Ince—pastor and author of The Beautiful Community: Unity, Diversity, and the Church at Its Best—explains why beauty compels us to pursue justice. The harmony and goodness of beauty reflect God’s creation as it was meant to be. Redeemed by Christ’s death and resurrection, his followers should pursue justice because it foreshadows the coming perfection of beauty in the new creation.

Check out Irwyn Ince’s book, The Beautiful Community (InterVarsity Press, 2020).

Check out The Pour Over Podcast — politically neutral news for people who want the facts without the spin, and with a brief biblical perspective

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Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra—co-author (with Collin Hansen) of the new book Gospelbound: Living with Resolute Hope in an Anxious Age—discusses some of the reasons anxiety is on the rise. She explains how Christians can find peace in two seemingly contradictory ways: by thinking big, and by thinking small.

Check out The Pour Over Podcast — politically neutral news for people who want the facts without the spin, and with a brief biblical perspective

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Pastor and apologist, Sam Allberry, addresses the reasons Christian pastors have become less trustworthy in society, and how they might become trusted again. Pastors need to appreciate why trust has been lost, Allberry says, and they should prioritize compassion, honesty, pointing people to Jesus, and striving to become more like Jesus themselves. The more like Jesus pastors are, the more trustworthy they'll become.

Check out The Pour Over Podcast — politically neutral news for people who want the facts without the spin, and with a brief biblical perspective

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Justin Giboney—co-founder and president of the AND Campaign—addresses the self-serving lies conservative and progressives tell themselves about issues like justice, identity politics, and critical race theory. 

Many of us would prefer to be lied to rather than confronted with a truth that complicates our preferred narrative. Yet if we are going to address the race issue faithfully, Giboney argues, “We must not only confront the lies that offend us, but also the lies that serve us.”

Check out The Pour Over Podcast — politically neutral news for people who want the facts without the spin, and with a brief biblical perspective

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At TGC Chicago's 2022 Regional Conference, Colin Smith moderates a panel discussion with Kevin DeYoung, H. B. Charles, and Juan Sánchez on on ways to enhance your prayer life.

Kevin DeYoung defines prayer as, “a lifting of conversation in our hearts Godward.” They consider different practical ways to deepen personal prayer—like prayer cards, walking while praying, praying as a family, using devotionals, and the use of Scripture in prayer.

H. B. Charles emphasizes the importance of motivation for prayer over technique and outlines three reasons why we should pray: 1) obedience, 2) effectiveness, and 3) dependence on God.

The group also addresses the need to increase corporate prayer in church services, suggesting various resources like books, websites, and articles for further reading on enriching prayer and devotion. Ultimately, prayer offers us an opportunity to encounter God intimately and transform our own hearts as we commune with him. 

Check out The Pour Over Podcast — politically neutral news for people who want the facts without the spin, and with a brief biblical perspective

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In his message at TGCW22, Michael Kruger addresses the issue of doubt in Christianity, both in individual spiritual lives and within the larger culture.

Kruger critiques two ineffective approaches to doubt: doubting shaming and intellectual superficiality. He argues that doubt should be approached with the compassion of God, and not seen as a virtue or as something to be shamed. Kruger also highlights various causes of doubt, including unanswered questions, suffering, church corruption, and unrepentant sin. He offers advice on how to battle doubts in one's faith by seeking help from fellow believers, studying theology and biblical truths, and recognizing the importance of creating a safe space for doubt within the church community. Ultimately, Kruger calls on the Christian community to provide more compassion towards individuals facing doubts while providing them with a secure space to navigate their faith questions.

Check out The Pour Over Podcast — politically neutral news for people who want the facts without the spin, and with a brief biblical perspective

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In his message from TGC Chicago's 2022 Regional Conference, Colin Smith teaches us how to pray the Lord’s prayer through five specific categories, drawing from Luke 11 when Jesus’s disciples actually requested that Jesus teach them topray, not how to pray. 

Smith highlights five things on which to focus while praying:

1. God’s name should be honored in prayer. We ought to pray that God would raise up people who know him in the midst of a world that despises him.
2. As we pray that God’s kingdom comes, we should ask that our lives be more fully submitted to Christ and that Jesus would defeat his enemies on earth.
3. Pray for others whose needs are greater than our own—this stirs up Christlike compassion in our hearts as we fully depend on God at every step of his provision.
4. Pray for forgiveness, not because we haven’t already been forgiven, but to restore fellowship with God. As Christians, we should want to walk as closely as possible with God.
5. Pray to be watchful and prayerful so as to not be overwhelmed by temptation. 

As we more fully know the love of the Father, we will desire to earnestly seek him in prayer.

Check out The Pour Over Podcast — politically neutral news for people who want the facts without the spin, and with a brief biblical perspective

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