The Laymens Lounge

“Humanity is no aimless mass of people which only serves the purpose of giving birth to the elect. On the contrary, the world now, as well as in the beginning, is the theater for the mighty works of God, and humanity remains a creation of His hand, which, apart from salvation, completes under this present dispensation, here on earth, a mighty process, and in its historical development is to glorify the name of Almighty God.” --- Abraham Kuyper

“Abraham Kuyper loved Calvinism. We might even characterize his passion for Calvinism as unusual; most Calvinists today try to appear as nonthreatening, beer drinking, bearded hipsters. Kuyper was none of those things. [It was a] passion for Calvinism as “a true world and life system.” --- Robert Joustra

Abraham Kuyper, the Dutch Neo-Calvinist theologian, pastor, and politician, was well-known for having declared that there is "not a square inch" of human existence over which Jesus Christ is not its sovereign Lord.

This principle is perhaps best reflected in Kuyper's writings on Calvinism originally delivered as the Stone Lectures in 1898 at Princeton Theological Seminary. These lectures reflecting on the role of the Christian faith in a variety of social spheres—including religion, politics, science, and art—have become a touchstone for contemporary Reformed theology.

How might the lectures continue to inform the church's calling in a secular age? In this book, Jessica Joustra and Robert Joustra bring together theologians, historians, scientists, and others to revisit Kuyper's original lectures and to critically consider both his ongoing importance and his complex legacy for today.

Join us as we sit down with Jessica and Robert and discuss their own stories and why they are drawn to Kuyper - we discuss what neo-Calvinists, since Kuyper’s lectures, have said, done, and are poised to do. Reformed, always reforming indeed. Petrification is not an option. Pro Rege!

Means, Ends & Expectations of Personal Devotion

What should my “quiet time” consist of? What should be taking place – increased knowledge? felt experience? And, either way, what are the appointed means? Are “quiet times” even a biblical concept? What did the people of God do before the printing press? Join us as we sit down with Jonathan Gibson, author of “Be Thou My Vision: A Liturgy for Daily Worship” (Crossway), and discuss the most illusive facts of the enshrined “quiet time.”

Satiated with Kuyper as Mystics or the with Kuyper as Cerebral Theologians and Worldviewers? 

Join us we sit down with Steven Garber and identify and discuss the core longings of the human heart – especially those of the Christian. We ask questions like “how can Christian’s experience God?” - “Is Abraham Kuyper’s mysticism unachievable?” - “What values is there in merely reading about God and Theology?” - “What should the Christian life consist of?” – and more…

The Rise, Demise, and Global Resurgence of Abraham Kuyper

Listen in as we sit down with the treasurer of the heritage of neo-Calvinism himself: Dr. George Harinck. In this episode we survey the spread and implications Abraham Kuyper and Herman Bavinck thoughts and teachings. 

This interview is kicking off a series that will run the next few months at TheLaymensLounge.com called "The State of Neo-Calvinism." Come back each week to read about the state and influence of neo-Calvinisim in nations ranging from Mexico and the Philippines to Wales and Egypt.

Naming the presence of God in our midst

“God with us.” God with us? “YHWH with us” (But isn’t that the first person of the Trinity?)? Jesus left, but he leaves the Spirit? And that’s better how? Join us as we sit down with Myk Habets to nuance the points of contact, the roles of, and the relations of the Trinity in our life as well as praying in a Trinitarian way.

Gettin’ stoked on metaphor, allusion, & foreshadowing

Chad Bird is in the business of turning on lights. If you crack open one of his books, or listen to his podcasts, don’t’ be surprised if one of his hands comes out of the book and flips the switch on your Old Testament understanding. Most of us see the Old Testament like a pepper-sprayed collection of curiosities and divinely bizzarro truth and most of my life has been riding shotgun with the Ethiopian Eunuch saying with him “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And then your boy Chad the “Phillip” Bird drops a few podcast episodes and pens a couple books in my chariot, and just like that, I’m looking around screaming “where’s the water?!!!!” cause it’s all starting to make sense and I’m stoked cause I see Jesus on every page.

“Moses-centrality holds true for the apostles... Study Romans, Galatians, Peter’s epistles, Hebrews, James, or Revelation and ask yourself, ‘Why do these authors quote or allude to the Torah much more frequently than they do the words of Jesus? Because no gospels had yet been written?’ No, that can hardly be the reason. Even if Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were not yet written, the teachings and sayings of Jesus would have been circulating orally. Then why does Moses get more apostolic press than Christ’s own words?”

Join us as we sit down with Chad Bird, co-host of “40 Minutes in the OT” and author of “The Christ Key: Unlocking the Centrality of Christ in the Old Testament” (1517 Publications), as he shows us “What the Gospels will shout from the rooftops has already been whispered from the foundation of the Torah.” Yet “the majority of Christians prefer to meander down the well-worn paths of the smaller NT garden than to venture among the weird and wild prophetic fauna of the Tanak,” but once you get a lay of the land with a guide like Chad Bird, you’ll be equipped to head off on your own down the road to Emmaus.

Genealogy, “14 Generations,” the "Son of David," the “Christ," the Exile

We had the privilege of sitting down with Dr. Tom Schreiner to discuss the first chapter of Matthew – asking how best to make sense of it all and have our calloused hearts hear the story afresh. Join us as we take a Christmas stroll through advent portions of Matthew with the sweetheart of sweethearts the good Dr. Tom Schreiner.

Everybody loves Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” (well, at least the movies), but who was this man? Was he best friends with Hudson Taylor and annoyed with Charles Spurgeon? Was he an ideal husband or a bit of a playboy? Did he leave his children to their own devices, or did he pen an entire book solely for their edification and growth in Christ? Listen in as we are joined with Charles Dickens go-to scholar, and author of "God and Charles Dickens: Recovering the Christian Voice of a Classic Author,” Dr. Gary L. Colledge and discuss all things Dickens.

A Hospitable Bed Interview on Spiritual Formation with Jim Houston

“I came here to die.” Speaking from Hospice that is what Christian pillar James Houston, who is 99 years old, told me on our chat today – yet he is still writing and still offering wisdom to weary souls (read his "Letters From A Hospital Bed: Reflections From a 99 Year Old" here) and offers a lifetime of insight in these 45 minutes. In this interview with Dr. Houston, I had the great honor to glean wisdom on everything from spiritual health and cultivation (“We need to ask God to allow us to dream about Him each night.” “We need to remove obstacles that keep us from a love-affair with God… Let God be the last thing you think about each night, not the news or a book or a movie…”) to Trinitarian theology of participation, and to the Evangelical over-emphasis on “Systematic Theology” (As opposed to, what he suggests, a healthy “Child Theology”). His book, “Memoirs of a Joyous Exile and a Worldly Christian” is a short chronicle of his life that reads like a constellation of relationships and formation (Jim was family friends with James Torrance and the Torrance family, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones was a conversation partner, he was colleagues with J.I. Packer, he was in a small group with C.S Lewis, a co-author with Bruce Waltke, neighbors with JRR Tolkien, had his orthodoxy checked by Francis Schaeffer and his friend John Stott, is related, by marriage, to Jim and Elizabeth Elliot, and then the list goes on and on with other paths crossing of Carl F.H. Henry, F.F. Bruce, Malcom Muggeridge, Charles Colson, Os Guinness, Leon Morris, etc.). I’m grateful to Dr. Houston and his daughter Claire who helped this interview.

Questions about what we have assumed

A few weeks ago, I happened upon a 2-part article series by Michael Cooper called “Ephesiology and the Critique of Church Planting Movements” and “Is Church Planting a Biblical Mandate?” and so, I’m not a deconstructionist, but I do appreciate a good questioning of what has been assumed. Listen in as we sit down with Dr. Cooper and discuss Paul’s model of making disciples, and all the rage that is “the church planting movement.”