The Lavish Grace of Christmas! Pastor and Author J. Steven Wilkins discusses the misguided thinking that Christians should not give lavish gifts at Christmas. Our talk centers around a recent movement called the Advent Conspiracy. Pastor Wilkins reminds us of what Christ has done for us at Christmas and how we are to respond in kind. a

* Recorded a few years ago  (back)

Recorded a few years ago

I first met Jack Phelps in Conroe, TX, in 2008. I sat next to him on several occasions in those two days. We were at different stages of life back then, but two callings took place on one of the days. Jack was elected to become the Presiding Minister for the CREC, where he served two faithful terms (six years), and I was called to become the pastor of Providence Church in Pensacola, FL. He was already an experienced pastor then, and I was a young seminary grad filled with aspirations and dreams about pastoral ministry.

Our paths have crossed several times since then, but last week, I enjoyed sharing beautiful conversations with him in his town of Palmer, AK. The conversations were so delightful that even though all I had was an android phone, I decided to interview him on various issues under the themes of politics and religion. Jack is a Kuyperian, who—like Abraham Kuyper—dedicated his life to the political and ecclesiastical spheres.

Five decades of pastoral work interspersed with years of labor under high-ranking political officials in Alaska. It was an honor to spend time with this dear brother. Our two-hour interview is part of the “Notable Kuyperian” interview series. You can check out my other interview with Rev. Mickey Schneider.

In this conversation, we covered:

Christian Nationalism

Sarah Palin

Pastoral Ministry and Hardships

And many other topics.

The Lord’s Day carries remarkable continuity with the Sabbath. Consider it this way: the Sabbath was a creation ordinance to indicate the rest God had when he completed his labors. When God made man and woman, he said it was very good. So he brought to life new flesh, bearing his image.

When the Lord’s Day, or the first day of the week, comes to life in the New Covenant, it also carries the promise of rest. There, God raised Jesus from the dead promising rest for all humanity. The new humanity will find rest in the true Sabbath.

The Sabbath indicated God’s rest when he made the first man. The Lord’s Day indicates God’s rest in raising the true Man. “The Sabbath is made for man not man for the Sabbath” is God’s way of saying, “We are united to the true man when we gather to worship him.”

That bit of theologizing may seem fine and dandy in the manual, but what about the nature of the Lord’s Day? How do we assume that the Sabbath has been transformed into the Lord’s Day? What about Jewish festivals? What role does the condemnation of “delight” in Isaiah 58 play in modern discussions of the Lord’s Day?

Our guest is Stuart Bryan:

Stuart Bryan and his wife, Paige, have seven children, four homegrown and three adopted internationally, as well as seven grandchildren. Stuart earned his B.A. in Religion from Whitworth College and his M.A. in Theological and Historical Studies from Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida. Stuart has been the pastor of Trinity Church in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, since 2007. Before moving to Coeur d’Alene, he taught at The Oaks, a Classical Christian school in Spokane, Washington. He has written several articles for the Veritas Press Omnibus curriculum and is the author of The Taste of Sabbath: How to Delight in God’s Rest. He’s also been known to enjoy a fine glass of port or a pint of porter and to cheer on the Zags.

Purchase The Taste of Sabbath

Our evangelical churches stress the importance of discipleship. It is good and necessary. But discipleship is often discussed in the context of intellectual learning; a fact-finding mission. However, there is more to discipleship than facts. Discipleship in the Bible is also the cultivation of bodily postures and biblical manners. The Bible trains us to move and live and to have our being in God. Any model of discipleship that does not include learning to kneel, raise hands, eat, sing, show affection, speak gently, receive, give, sit, stand, etc. is missing the mark. We need to school our imagination by seeing discipleship as more than biblical data but biblical living.

Our guest on this episode is Chase Davis. He is the lead pastor of the Well Church in Denver, Colorado. He is the author of Trinitarian Formation: A Theology of Discipleship.

Follow Chase on Twitter

Purchase his book.

When I was in the heights of ignorance somewhere in my glorious teens, a radio show emerged on my station on a snowy evening in Altoona, PA. “Renewing Your Mind” with R.C. Sproul dramatically shaped my theological pursuits. I wasn’t fully on board with the fanatic Pittsburg Steelers fan by the name of Robert Charles Sproul, but I knew he was on to something.

My joy was made complete during my seminary days in RTS/Orlando where we had the opportunity to attend St. Andrew Chapel for a short season and sit under his preaching and also his classes on the Westminster Confession on Wednesday nights. I had the pleasure of interacting with R.C. on many occasions, but the memory of watching that titan preach from his Lutheraneque pulpit is something I will never forget. When I came across a new biography of Sproul, who died in 2017, I had to contact the author. And it’s my delight to have Nate Pickowicz discuss his book: R.C. Sproul – Defender of the Reformed Faith.

In this episode, we discussed:

*the educational background that gave roots to the genius of R.C. Sproul

* major theological issues that shaped R.C. theological ministry

…and many other topics.

You can purchase Nate’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/R-C-Sproul-Def…

You can follow Nate on twitter: https://twitter.com/NatePickowicz

In our 100th episode, we spoke with the founder of the Center for Cultural Leadership, P. Andrew Sandlin. Sandlin is editor and contributor to a new work that challenges head-on the many failures of the evangelical church during the COVID season.

I truly believe that these essays will be a tremendous source of wisdom and insight in the days to come. I was honored to contribute a chapter to it and hope that you will order copies for your congregation and book studies. These essays can be studied individually, which will provoke a sturdy dose of conversations within the Church and the home.

In this episode, we cover some basic principles of preaching and teaching. Should there be a distinction between Bible Teaching and Catechetical instruction? If so, are there ways to communicate differently in certain scenarios?

This is an instructive episode for those who teach and preach in the Church.

Guest: Rev. Dr. Justin Holcomb

Video Editing by Matt Fuller

Book 1: God Made All of Me: https://www.amazon.com/God-Made-All-M… Book 2: God Made me in His Image: https://www.amazon.com/God-Made-His-I…

This is an issue I care deeply about in our oversexualized age. Children are being exposed earlier and earlier to sex through various technological means and they are exploring their sexuality through initiatory rituals as early as 13 years of age. While these exposures and practices deaden the soul and endanger the maturation of the mind, there is still a far deeper monster out there called sexual abuse. The recent Larry Nassar scandal is an indication that our society is attempting to grasp this issue but lacks the categories to deal with such barbarism. And while many of these events can be deeply politicized (Kavanaugh case), the Church must offer a proper response to this turmoil. We can say that the ministry of Jesus was a kingdom ministry to children. Our Lord desired their protection and even threatened with death those who would dare endanger or keep the children from being blessed by him.

In this episode, Pastor Uri Brito sits down with Dr. Justin Holcomb. The Holcombs have published two children’s books to help children understand their bodies. Indeed, it’s not just academicians that need to develop a theology of the body, but children as well. I encourage parents to seek these out and begin the conversation earlier with our little ones about their image-bearing status and the significance and uniqueness of the body God gave them.

Kuyperian contributor, Bill Smith, is the Senior Pastor of Cornerstone Reformed Church in Carbondale, IL. His recent article entitled, “The Liberty of Conscience” published at Kuyperian has drawn some attention and offers a fruitful summary of this important Reformational distinctive.

Dr. Glenn Sunshine is the author of “Slaying Leviathan: Limited Government and Resistance in the Christian Tradition.” We discuss the early church biblical rationale for limited government as well as converse briefly about what role the Old Testament plays in framing the argument. We jump into some historical cases in Calvin’s Geneva and Kuyperian sphere sovereignty. This fruitful conversation should entice you to get a copy of Dr. Sunshine’s excellent work.