That’ll Preach

Original Date: December 20, 2022

Much of the anxiety we experience in life stems from misplaced hope. Dr. Michael Allen helps re-establish the historic and biblical concept of "heavenly-mindedness" without neglecting love for neighbor. He also provides practical ways in which Christians can cultivate heavenly-mindedness in a culture that emphasizes the here and now.

Show Notes

"Grounded in Heaven: Re-centering Christian Hope and Life on God" by Michael Allen

What if the early church never picked a side in the baptism debate?

In this episode Tony Lane argues the earliest Christians practiced baptism in more than one way. We talk about how they understood the relationship between faith and baptism, whether a church can be dual practice today, and why church history is a stranger place than the tidy version we inherited.

Show Notes

Three Views on Baptism: https://a.co/d/02j3z6gn

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Original Episode Date: June 23, 2023

Dr. Michael Lynch of the Davenant Institute joins us to discuss the controversial topic of the atonement. Theologians throughout church history have debated over the nature and extent of Jesus's death on the cross. Did God unjustly punish an innocent man? Did Jesus's death make forgiveness of sins actual or merely possible? How do we understand theological words like "imputation" and "penal substitution?" Dr. Lynch helps us navigate these treacherous waters with precision and clarity by mining the depths of the Reformed tradition through the works of John Calvin, R.L. Dabney, John Davenant, John Owen, and others. 

Show Notes

Purchase Dr. Lynch's Davenant Institute Lecture Series

What did C. S. Lewis think about gender? The answer might surprise you. Lewis drew on Scripture and ancient tradition to ground his vision of reality as a gift bestowed by a benevolent Creator — and he expressed that vision through narrative. The Chronicles of Narnia and the Space Trilogy each portray the glory and nuance of male and female in ways that still resonate with readers today. In this episode, Joshua Herring joins us to talk about his book Sons of Adam, Daughters of Eve and how Lewis brings clarity to our present confusion over gender. We also get into where Lewis's vision cuts against feminist ideology and how he recovers the complementarity of men and women. You will not read his fiction the same way again.

Show Notes

Buy Josh Herring's book: https://a.co/d/08ZzSLRN

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In this episode I sit down with historian Dr. Michael Haykin to work through the strange, largely forgotten world of Baptist sacramentology. We start with the language itself — the way early Baptists could speak of Christ's real presence and of genuinely feeding on him at the Table, in terms that would make a lot of modern Baptists twitch. From there we ask how a tradition that once treated the Supper as central to congregational life ended up treating it as an occasional appendix to the sermon, and what was lost in the trade.

We also get into the fights. Should a Baptist church share the Lord's Supper with Christians who were baptized as infants — and what does your answer say about what you think baptism is? And the bigger question underneath all of it: can Baptists honestly claim a place in the Great Tradition while holding the line on believer's baptism, or does that commitment put us outside the room we keep asking to be let into?

If you've ever suspected that "just a symbol" isn't the whole Baptist story, this one is for you.

Show Notes

Buy Michael Haykin’s book: https://a.co/d/03C6Wg8b

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Therapeutic language now shapes how we see almost everything — including the church. Increasingly, congregations and their leaders are judged by standards of psychological wellness rather than biblical faithfulness. In this episode, Matthew Loftus joins us to talk about his book Resisting Therapy Culture: The Dangers of Pop Psychology and How the Church Can Respond. He argues that therapy and church do good but different work, and that confusing the two shortchanges both — churches should be places of healing and love, but their calling is to gather people to worship God, not to replace clinical care.

We talk about what a healthy church/therapy relationship looks like, why the roles shouldn't blur, and what it means for leaders to refocus on their actual mission.

Show Notes

Pre-order Resisting Therapy Culture: hhttps://a.co/d/06bcpwMi

Learn more about Matthew Loftus: https://matthewandmaggie.org/

What did Augustine and Aquinas actually believe about virginity — and what does it reveal about us?

In this episode, we explore the surprisingly rich theology of the Church Fathers on sex, celibacy, and the body. Their views can seem strange to modern ears, but that strangeness might be the point: it forces us to examine assumptions our culture takes for granted.

We also tackle one of the harder pastoral questions in the church today — can unwanted singleness ever be called a "gift"? And what role does a voluntary vow play in living out the kind of celibacy the Bible actually describes?

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What if the key to understanding the Bible is to read it like music? In this episode, we talk with Alastair Roberts about his book Echoes of Exodus, co-written with Andrew Wilson. He began this book as a 40-day Lenten reflection that grew into something much bigger. This episode provides a practical lens for reading Scripture by recognizing “echoes” — call-backs, allusions, and patterns — that link Exodus to the rest of the Bible's story of redemption. Exodus is the main theme that courses through the narrative of Scripture, connecting what may seem like isolated stories into an unfolding symphony of music. If you’ve ever felt lost reading the Old Testament and feel like the Bible doesn’t make sense, this conversation gives you the tools to start hearing it that way.

Show Notes

Get Alastair’s Book Echoes of Exodus: https://a.co/d/0cvo3WF8

Alastair’s Substack: https://argosy.substack.com/

Anxiety fills our social media and creeps into our lives. How do we cultivate a sound mind in the midst of the chaos and polarization? Rev. Ben Miller joins us with practical insights on cultivating a sound mind in a chaotic world.

Original Episode Published: December 13, 2022

Show Notes

Conversations in Crisis Series with Alastair Roberts and Ben Miller

Can demons hear your thoughts? A lot of Christians assume the answer is yes—but what if that assumption actually confuses what belongs to God alone?

In this episode, we dive into Thomas Aquinas’ fascinating argument that angels and demons cannot directly read the human mind or will. They can observe, infer, tempt, and influence—but they do not have direct access to your inner thoughts. Only God does.

We explore why this matters for spiritual warfare, human freedom, temptation, prayer, and the uniqueness of God himself. Along the way, Aquinas dismantles some common Christian assumptions and offers a surprisingly comforting vision of the human person: your mind is not an open spiritual battlefield.

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