Description

Christian beliefs do not remain strong through neglect. C. S. Lewis wrote that our beliefs must be fed—a warning that helps explain why some people do not argue their way out of Christianity so much as slowly drift away from it.

In this episode, Richard explores how God uses Scripture, worship, Christian community, service, and the repeated practices of the local church to keep truth alive in embodied people. He also examines the competing “feeds” shaping our attention, why online content cannot replace Christian community, how physical spaces support discipleship, and five practical rhythms for nourishing your faith.

A scene from Lewis’s The Silver Chair brings the episode together and illustrates how our environments, habits, and practices shape what feels believable to us.

ND Bible Conference

For more information and to register, go to bethelfree.com/ndbc

Description

Biblical illiteracy is usually treated like a knowledge problem: Christians don’t know enough Bible stories, doctrines, or verses. But what if the problem goes deeper than that?

In this episode, Richard looks at Ephesians 4:17–24 to show why Scripture is not merely giving us information, but renewing the way we see reality. When Christians are not formed by the truth of Christ, they are still being formed by something else.

This episode explores why an unrenewed mind cannot produce a faithful walk, why culture is always discipling us, and why learning Christ changes more than what we know.

This episode is sponsored by Logos Bible Software. Check out Logos through my affiliate link here:

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ND Bible Conference

For more information and to register, go to bethelfree.com/ndbc

In this episode of The Richard Eng Podcast, Richard explores one of the most important questions in Christian education and discipleship: if people know more, will they actually become more like Jesus? Scripture gives us a more nuanced answer than many assume. Information alone cannot produce transformation, but transformation requires information.

Drawing from James 2, Matthew 7, Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 2, Ephesians 4, and other key passages, Richard explains why biblical knowledge matters, why knowledge by itself is not enough, and why experience must always be grounded in truth. Along the way, he interacts with common misconceptions like “I don’t need theology, I just need Jesus,” “doctrine divides,” and the idea that powerful spiritual feelings are automatically evidence of truth.

ND Bible Conference

For more information and to register, go to bethelfree.com/ndbc

What is Christian education really for?

In this episode of The Richard Eng Podcast, Richard argues that education is never neutral. Every system of education is forming students according to some vision of what is true, what is good, what is beautiful, and what it means to be human. The question is not whether children will be shaped, but who will shape them — and toward what end.

Richard explores the difference between education and ideology, showing that true education helps students live according to reality, while ideology reduces reality to a preferred narrative. If Christianity is true, then Christian education is not indoctrination — it is formation in the world as it actually is.

North Dakota Bible Conference

bethelfree.com/ndbc

Why do so many Sunday School programs struggle? It is usually not because churches picked the wrong curriculum. It is because they started with curriculum before clarifying their vision for discipleship.

In this episode of The Richard Eng Podcast, Richard explains how to create a successful Sunday School program by starting with clear ministry goals, a systematic teaching plan, and a multi-year discipleship strategy for kids, students, and adults. Rather than chasing the “perfect curriculum,” churches need to ask what kind of Christians they are trying to form. A strong Sunday School ministry should teach Scripture and doctrine, help believers understand the times, equip parents and teachers, and connect biblical truth to real life.

Richard also discusses how churches can evaluate curriculum wisely, build a core-and-electives model for adult Sunday School, avoid nostalgia-driven ministry, train teachers, and lead curriculum changes without letting familiarity override faithfulness.

Sunday School didn’t disappear because Christians stopped needing formation. Over the last few decades, church rhythms have thinned, small groups have often replaced classes, and many believers have grown suspicious of knowledge itself—as if information and transformation are enemies. But Scripture never pits teaching against discipleship. We cannot obey what we do not know, and the church cannot form mature Christians without intentional biblical education.

In this episode of The Richard Eng Podcast, Richard explores why Sunday School declined and why the local church needs to recover its teaching ministry for a confused age. This is not about reviving a nostalgic program from the 1950s; it is about reclaiming a necessary function of the church: helping Christians think biblically, live faithfully, and apply the truth of God’s Word in real life, in real community, with real people.

More about the North Dakota Bible Conference: bethelfree.com/ndbc

Timestamps:

Opening: Sunday School’s Decline - 00:00

Three Shifts Behind the Decline - 02:17

Shift 1: Time Priorities - 02:55

Shift 2: Small Groups Over Classes - 06:29

Shift 3: Dismissing Knowledge - 10:59

Trivia Question - 15:35

North Dakota Bible Conference - 16:11

Why We Need Sunday School Again - 17:40

The Church Needs an Education Plan - 18:31

The Old Educational Pipeline Is Weakening - 24:20

The Church Is Being Secularized - 27:08

Application Without Knowledge Is Impossible - 30:45

Education Must Be Incarnational - 31:55

Trivia Answer and Conclusion - 37:02