The Conquering Truth

When you hear the word “Evolution” it is usually meant as a stand-in for Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, specifically the idea that all life on earth arose from natural processes beginning with “some warm little pond with all sort of ammonia and phosphoric salts,—light, heat, electricity present, that a protein compound was chemically formed”. As we discuss in the episode, Darwin was by no means the first to propose such an idea, as his grandfather had written something very similar many years before. But what was needed for evolution to flourish was not the idea, but a community in the world, ready and willing to embrace it.

When you think of the Christian life, do you immediately think of warfare? It’s all throughout scripture. So much of the Old Testament was about battles and soldiers, and armies waging war. And in the New Testament, we’re told that while the warfare continues, it’s a spiritual battle that we are to be fighting. But so often, we want to pretend that the spiritual battle shouldn’t disturb our comfort. We are tempted to prize unity over truth, to desire to compromise so no one gets offended instead of understanding that the way is narrow to eternal life. But even more than that, very often, churches and the Christians that fill them, have very little love for their neighbor, because they would rather have pleasantries than salvation. The other metaphor that gets used a great deal in scripture is of sheep and shepherds. And sheep are not something you think of as mighty. They get hurt easily. They got lost. They have to be looked after. But we’ve taken our favorite parts of these two very different metaphors and instead of being warriors who fight for the righteousness of God, and humble shepherds and sheep who care for those who are hurting and wounded, we stand around polishing our armor while the battle is being lost, and laughing and playing in the sun while wolves are ravaging the flock.

In this episode, we want to issue a wake-up call. If we could, we would reach through the screen and grab you by the shoulders and shake you, as we shouted, “Stop playing church! There are men and women in your midst who are suffering!”. This is for pastors and laymen, for men and women, for the old and the young. For everyone who claims the name of Christ, WAKE UP! As the Apostle Paul commands in Romans 13: “The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light,” and similarly in Ephesians, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

This wasn’t an easy episode to record in some ways. Each of us on the panel can look back at grave mistakes we’ve made in the past. At times when we should have spoken but didn’t, when we should have pushed on an issue but instead just gave slight healing. Repentance from a lack of care almost always requires action on our part. These are not light things. The church in America is in dire straits and those who love God must turn from our apathy. Please join us as we discuss these important topics.

In this episode, we look at some of the texts that are used to build dispensational eschatology, and see whether they are being used correctly.
Production of Reformation Baptist Church of Youngsville, NC
Hosts - Dan Horn, Jonathan Sides, Charles Churchill and Joshua Horn
Technical Director - Timothy Kaiser
Theme Music - Gabriel Hudelson

Antisemitism has been around for thousands of years. Starting with their conflicts with Rome and the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, the restrictions against holding public office in the Byzantine empire, the Catholic church’s view for hundreds of years that the Jewish people carried blood guilt and deserved punishment for killing Jesus Christ, the violent pogroms in Russia in the late 19th and 20th century, culminating in a worldwide attitude of Jewish hatred and indifference that led to the Holocaust and the Nazi’s systematic murder of millions of Jews. But even after the 1940’s racism against the Jewish people has been acceptable in America, with Nixon blaming the Jews for his problems (with even Billy Graham saying they had a stranglehold on America that had to be broken). And now, we are seeing a rise in worldwide antisemitism again regarding Israel’s response to the terrorist attacks by Hamas with many Western nations condemning Israel and in America, college students actively protesting against Israel in support of Hamas and Palestine.

Many people are only familiar with the idea of betrothal from the Bible (or certain kinds of romance novels). Today, in Western cultures, serious relationships begin with dating, followed by engagement, and then eventually, maybe marriage. But from a Christian perspective, betrothal is an extremely important aspect of marriage, to the point where it is central to the gospel itself.

What should we do when someone who calls themselves a Christian commits a crime against us? Take theft for example. Let’s say a brother comes to you and tells you that he had $1000 stolen from him by a deacon in the church or by the teenage son of the pastor, or just by another church member. Is it wrong for him to report it to the police? What about for domestic abuse? Child abuse? Sexual abuse? The sad truth is, these things happen. And whether it’s someone that you personally thought was a Christian or not, many people struggle with how to handle this situation according to scripture.

Many Christians believe the Bible teaches that everything in the world will get worse and worse and then Christ will suddenly rapture his church away before pouring out his judgment on Israel and his enemies. But In Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar’s dream lays out when, how, and why Christ’s kingdom would begin before going on to triumph over all of Christ’s enemies, and God’s explanation does not involve the failure of the church or its rapture away to heaven.

Christians recognize that Christ took the wrath of God upon Himself on the cross. But Christ’s suffering and death did not do away with God’s wrath toward the unrighteous. And God still pours out his wrath on the earth to deal with man’s sin when He so chooses. One of the titles of God that many Christians have forgotten is the Lord of Hosts, which literally means the Lord of Armies. The idea is that God is the one who rules over the world and so when nations go to war against one another, it is God who is sending judgment upon them. But in the United States at least, where we’ve lived for almost 200 years without having a war within our borders, much of the church has forgotten the great reality of God’s wrath.

We’re starting with a pretty straightforward question this episode: Why do different people read the Bible and come to different conclusions? Is it the people? Is it the Bible? Or is it how they read the Bible? The study of reading and interpreting the Bible is called hermeneutics, and while proper hermeneutical principles won’t keep you from making any mistakes, it’s helps keep you from making some of the most obvious and dangerous errors.

In all the recent discussions about transgender weddings, one thing that didn’t come up that much is that a wedding is very different from other types of events. At a wedding, a covenant is made between three parties, both the husband and wife making an oath to God and vows to one another, and with the guests participating as witnesses and taking upon themselves a responsibility to hold both the husband and wife to what they have committed. When we forget this, as even much of the church has, it causes us to treat weddings and marriage as little more than a party, focused on the happiness of the bride and groom. But when we understand this, we can see why God compares divorce to murder and why he holds not just the couple responsible, but also the community that allowed such sacred things to be treated as unholy.