The Laymens Lounge

Paul says we must walk by the Spirit - did Jesus walk by the Spirit? When we walk by the Spirit are we functioning like Christ? Was Jesus Obedient to the Father Through the Spirit? Dr. Leopoldo Sanchez articulates Jesus' life in the Spirit and what this means for us who desire to live like Jesus.

Join us as we pick the brain of Old Testament scholar Jeffrey Niehaus on Genesis 3:1-3 (and more):

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

In this episode we discuss:

- What was the nature and location of the garden in Eden?

- Why did God want to plant a garden in the first place?

- What’s the deal these trees that God has placed in the garden?

- Why would God have even put a tree in there for them specifically to not eat?

- Why the punishment of death if they ate the fruit?

- Who, and what is this, “serpent” thing, and how did it get in God’s good creation?

- In what ways would their eyes have been opened?

- What’s so bad about “Being like God knowing good and evil”? And what would that look like?

- At what point did Eve actually sin?

-Did Eve add to God’s prohibition by saying “neither shall you touch it”?

Its been said that for fish that living under water, with all they’ve ever known as underwater living, and all the other fish around them also only knowing underwater living, that these fish might incorrectly assume that water is all there is.

It causes us to ask: Are modern 2020 Evangelical Christians like these fish? Are we swimming in muddled waters of a distinctly North American Christianity that is detached and has little or no continuity with what Christianity has looked like the last 2000 years? Are the nuts and bolts, and the emphasis of, modern evangelical Christianity actually distinctly American (and not in a good way like baseball and apple pie)? Is there a better, more Christ-centered and historical, way that we have forgotten (or are yet to encounter)?

Join us as we sit down with Dr. R. Scott Clark as we discuss these things and more as they are derived, and diagnosed, from his eye opening book “Recovering the Reformed Confession: Our Theology, Piety, and Practice” (P&R Publishing)

And, don’t let us loose sight of our past and grab a copy of Crossway’s “ESV Bible with Creeds and Confessions” (see here) that features:

The Chosen, a TV series about the life of Jesus, has had nearly 56 million views. Join us as we sit down with The Chosen Associate Producer Justen Overlander as we ask what the show is all about and why 56 million people (and counting) have watched it.

Learn more here 

Follow The Chosen on Facebook here

Follow Justen Overlander on Facebook here 

Watch a preview here

Watch episode 1 here 

"An Orthodox Life in a Changing World" indeed.

Dr. James Eglinton joins us to discuss the life of Herman Bavinck in connection with his forthcoming "Bavinck: A Critical Biography" (Baker Academic).

Dutch Calvinist theologian and polymath Herman Bavinck, a significant voice in the development of Protestant theology, remains relevant many years after his death. His four-volume "Reformed Dogmatics" is one of the most important theological works of the twentieth century.

James Eglinton is widely considered to be at the forefront of contemporary interest in Bavinck's life and thought. After spending considerable time in the Netherlands researching Bavinck, Eglinton brings to light a wealth of new insights and previously unpublished documents to offer a definitive biography of this renowned Reformed thinker.

The book follows the course of Bavinck's life in a period of dramatic social change, identifying him as an orthodox Calvinist challenged with finding his feet in late modern culture. Based on extensive archival research, this critical biography presents numerous significant and previously ignored or unknown aspects of Bavinck's person and life story.

Join us as we discuss subjects ranging from the Bavinck folk-history that resulted in the so called “two Bavinck's hypothesis”, his unrequited love, and his single preached sermon - all the way to the ever important question of “If Bavinck was your uncle, and he came the family Christmas party, what sort of vibe would you expect from Uncle Herman?”

For more on Dr. James Eglinton visit:

For more on the book visit:

Be sure to follow www.TheLaymensLounge.com Instagram and/or Facebook page where one person will have a chance to win, in partnership with the good people at Baker Academic, a Bavinck book bundle, that will include copies of: 

"There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” - Abraham Kuyper

What hath Jesus to do with fashion? What hath Paris to do with Jerusalem?Well, if every square inch of this world belongs to the Lord, then much!

Listen in as we interview Dr. Robert Covolo (PhD, Free University Amsterdam/Fuller Seminary) on the place of fashion in Christianity. Dr. Covolo has just blessed Christians across the globe, and centuries (yes, we just said that), by releasing his groundbreaking "Fashion Theology" (Baylor University Press, 2020), the importance of this book simply can't be overstated as a glaring hole has finally been filled.

Topics like fashion might not be the preferred subject of the old guard crammed in the ivory towers, but for the normal Christians of the world, each in their own vocations and spheres, a topic like fashion is of the utmost importance. Christians are concerned, and often utterly lost, as to the intersection of King Jesus and this wonderful/horrible thing called fashion (as well as with the minivan, date night, the new Taylor Swift album, white teeth, backyard BBQs, eczema, data-entry, isolation, restless hearts, etc.) - in “Fashion Theology” Dr Covolo has scratched a massive Theological and practical itch.

Dr. Covolo has done the Christian Church a great favor, as well as set a precedent, in vigorously researching and covering what is one of many, often-overlooked, subjects that plays no small significance in our lived everyday normal lives. We need our scholars to, like Covolo does in "Fashion Theology", take every prevailing idea, every dominant cultural artifact, and every core human longing of our day captive - bringing them to be seen in the light of the Gospel.

In this podcast Dr. Covolo speaks to the often default judgement that fashion is bad, only bad, and just a gateway sin to lust, opulence, and false identites. While these realities are sometimes a reality, there is yet a place – a God given and God honoring place, for fashion and our daily dress in the “theater of God’s glory”.

Semper reformanda indeed - thank you brother Covolo.

WE'RE GIVING AWAY A COPY OF "FASHION THEOLOGY"!!!! To enter:

Dr. Jack Deere is a healer. By the power of the Spirit, and for the glory of the living and active God, he has healed many. He isn't insane, isn't a faker, doesnt want your money, he's not on TV and doesn't wear a purple suit... He's been a pastor for decades, speaks Greek/Hebrew/Aramaic/German, taught Seminary for a decade, and probably knows all your arguments against the fact that the gifts of the Spirit are still for today better than you (because he knows the Bible and doesn't dismiss teachings from the Word because weirdos and fakers often twist and distort it for their gain). Join us for part 1 of our 2 conversations with Jack Deere and listen while we discuss common objections to the miraculous gifts, his own disdain for the gifts in his younger years as a seminary professor, how he became convinced of the gifts from reading his Bible (rather than from what he did or didn't see), how he was used by God to heal a young blind woman, share some prophetic utterances,  speak on the friendship with God, and more.

"When my good friend Dr. Jack Deere asked me in 1992 to read and critique the manuscript of his book, Surprised by the Power of the Spirit (Zondervan, 1993), I was at first honored and later overwhelmed by its persuasive and, in my opinion, irrefutable argumentation." -Sam Storms

"Jack Deere offers mature insights learned from Scripture, from enduring testing, and from a wider range of experience with spiritual gifts than most others, and we have much to learn from him" - Craig Keener

Some of Jack's Books:

Why I Am Still Surprised by the Power of the Spirit: Discovering How God Speaks and Heals Today

Even in Our Darkness: A Story of Beauty in a Broken Life

The Beginner's Guide to the Gift of Prophecy

“Why do we focus on our motivations for [repenting]? Why do we keep asking ourselves ‘Am I heartily sorry? Do I sincerely repent? Or am I only going through the motions?’ Behind the veil of our confused emotions and self-scrutinizing, the age-old internal battle continues. Our sinful nature is on a crusade, and its target conquest is confession.” Chad Bird penned those words, but I think we all fall to that same lame and un-biblical idea that we are saved, and "kept saved", not just by faith, but "saving faith" or "sincere faith" or some other qualifier to "faith in Jesus". But the reality is, the good news is, that we're saved by faith alone. Faith! Alone! Thats it. Boom. Bam. Amen! Join us as we sit with Chad Bird, and listen in while he shares his own story and insights. Chad is a brother who says what we are all thinking but nobody wants to say. Normal struggles for normal Christians.  What's crazier is that Chad reminds us that he's not the first to say these shocking and seemingly "un-pious" questions: he reminds us, for example, of Psalm 13 where the Psalmist prays back to God (the very things that God gave Him to pray) (and they seem scandalous and irreverent, but again, they are the language of languish given to man from God to pray back to God!): "How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?  How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?". 

Read Chad Bird's "Night Driving: Notes from a Prodigal Soul"

Subscribe to Chad's genuis podcast "40 Minutes in the Old Testament"

Fins articles, resources, and other goods at Chad Bird's website hosted at 1517

As we make our way through Genesis 1–3, we will glean three interrelated points: (1) God creates the heavens and the earth to be his cosmic sanctuary, where he sovereignly rules and dwells. All creation is designed to house the glory of God. (2) God creates Adam and Eve as kings to rule on his behalf and as priests to serve and mediate his glory. Humanity is created to remain wholly dependent on God and represent him faithfully on the earth. (3) In an attempt to be independent of God, the original couple succumbs to the serpent’s temptation. But, despite the fall, God promises to overcome evil and establish a perfect dwelling place for his glory and kingdom. Join us as we discuss with The Rev. Dr. Gregory Beale his book “The Story Retold: A Biblical - Theological Introduction to the New Testament” and what the implications are of our priesthood in the cosmic sanctuary and our everyday lives. Be sure to visit www.TheLaymensLounge.com 

200 years ago the first Christian missionaries arrived in the Kingdom of Hawaii. There remains a great heritage and legacy of faith in the islands (as well as, sadly, no small residual pain from deplorable acts). There's a great need for the kānaka ʻōiwi to return to the ancient faith. Dr. Chris Bruno and his ohana, along with others faithful saints, are resolved to proclaim the compelling truth of the grand story of God in the islands and across the Pacific. He hopes Christians will see from our "Biblical Theological" Bible readings, how all cultures and peoples of God's good earth find their own stories woven into this great single story captured in the 66 books of the Bible. Join us as Dr. Bruno points us to what a faithful reading of the Old Testament, and the rest of the Bible, looks like and results in - one that is not just a mere nugget of inspirational truth gleaned here and there, but a cohesive understanding that results in a right view of reality and truly connects us to the creation and culture, Aloha ʻĀina (that pronounced "it is good"), the people of Isreal, Hawaii and all sons and daughters of Adam in that lush garden, and how everything joyously climaxes in Jesus Christ.

Visit www.TheLaymensLounge.com

Visit www.ChrisBruno.net