Urban Puritano

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On today's episode of Urban Puritano, we scratch the surface on the Reformation and why it can't stop and won't stop!

Reformation Day 2023 or World War 3

On today's episode, Pastor Brandon Myers of Christ the King Reformed Baptist Church joins me for a chilled out conversation along the banks of the Tiber River. 

What are some areas of appreciation and even possible alignment with Romanists in common cause for the common good? What hath Papists to do with "separated brethren"? Well, our conversation covers four broad areas of possible cooperation with our Roman Catholic friends. 

Join me with your preferred cigar and adult beverage on the banks of the Tiber as we scratch the surface on culture, common ground, and co-belligerency with our Roman Catholic friends. 

Let's be real. Family worship is a little known subject among evangelicals. 

It is more known and practiced among Dutch Reformed denominations. Anecdotally speaking, I've known and worked closely with Presbyterians in my life, and although it's a known subject, it isn't practiced as much as you may think. Same goes for Reformed Baptists. But overall, this situation is changing as more resources are produced. Family worship is having a renaissance of sorts.

Welcome to Urban Puritano. On today's episode, we scratch the surface on a valuable resource for family worship, the Family Worship Bible Guide, published by Reformation Heritage Books. Gird your loins and stay tuned. 

#LayingTheFoundation

#TransformYourHome

Disputes among Christians on social media are funny...until they aren't. When things heat up, it's either someone's intelligence, integrity, or orthodoxy being questioned. When things calm down, we are told to keep discussions focused on doctrines, not dudes.

The same thing can be seen in the discussions of the needlessly frustrating topic of Biblicism. What is Biblicism and why does it matter? I bet you're wondering what side I'm on.

Recent developments on the history and use of the term have me thinking: does original use preclude others from co=opting it for their purposes? Is a pejorative sense of Biblicism the only one? Who decides?

Perhaps our theological betters are to be followed with an implicit faith and lesser creatures should just go along as many pastors and podcasters have done.

Hey, thanks for listening to my podcast! As always, gird your loins as we scratch the surface of Biblicism!

Dont forget to check out urbanpuritano.com for more content. 

Welcome, once again, to Urban Puritano!

On today's episode, we scratch the surface on a classic allegory of the Christian life according to good ol' fashioned classical Calvinism: The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan.

Charles Spurgeon once said of Bunyan, "...his very soul was saturated with Scripture...he cannot give us his Pilgrim's Progress...without continually making us feel and say, 'Why, this man is a living Bible!' Prick him anywhere--his blood is Bibline, the very essence of the Bible flows from him."

The edition I'll be working with is the Young Reader's Christian Library published by Barbour Publishing. It's a small, illustrated abridgement that I probably picked up at Half Price Books some time ago. I supplemented the reading with an assist from The Pictorial Pilgrim's Progress from Moody Publishers for the ending scene.

Gird your loins and stay tuned for an educational, edifying, and encouraging episode that can serve as a springboard for you to explore other unabridged editions of this important and delightful book of unadulterated Calvinism.

We live in a world that offers competing forms of Revelations and Traditions. In the Church, one or the other or perhaps a combination of the two are set forth as a Rule of Faith.

But what type of Revelation or Tradition is offered in the Bible? Is the Bible a sufficient Rule of Faith or is it inherently in need of a parallel source of material that constitutes, in perpetuity, an equal Rule of Faith distinct from Holy Writ?

Whether it's the Rich man being told that the writings of Moses were sufficient to testify to his brothers to avoid eternal, conscious torment or the Bereans being commended for verifying Paul's preaching and teaching by searching the Scriptures for themselves, the Bible must be consulted to decide the issue of what constitutes the Rule of Faith, doesn't it?

This episode is brought to you by Psalm 119!

You, too, can be a Master of Sacred Scripture! The Scripture of the Old and New Testament is unique theological literature. The inspired Word of God is Special Revelation. From God to us through His messengers throughout time, space, and redemptive history. As such, it is understandable via ordinary methods of learning appropriate to its nature. After all, its nature is to communicate. Therefore, don't despair!
You, too, can grasp the communicative intent of God's Word. 

The question is, "How?"

Some say a Literal Grammatico-Historical method will do the trick. Others argue for a Redemptive-Historical method. Still, others opt for various other methods. What are some basic, Biblically informed presuppositions that affect the nitty-gritty work of "opening the Scriptures"? What should be the confessional Calvinist's interpretive control beliefs for the concrete work of drawing out a true sense of Scripture?

Today's episode is a chilled out conversation from Bryant Rueda's Cross-Eyed Podcast from 2022 where we scratch the surface of such matters. Get busy reading the Word or get busy dying! 

Hope it is stimulating and a blessing to you! Suggested resources for further study:

The Reformation and the Right Reading of Scripture by Iain Provan

A Basic Guide to Interpreting the Bible: Playing by the Rules by Robert Stein

Hermeneutics as Apprenticeship: How the Bible Shapes Our Interpretive Habits and Practices by David I Starling

Biblical Hermeneutics: Five Views (Spectrum Multiview Book Series) by Stanley Porter(Editor), Beth Stovell (Editor)

Engaging the Old Testament: How to Read Biblical Narrative, Poetry, and Prophecy Well by Dominick S. Hernández

Opening Scripture  by Patrick Fairbairn

All Roads Lead to the Text: Eight Methods of Inquiry into the Bible by Dean B. Deppe

A Biblical-Theological Introduction to the Old Testament: The Gospel Promised by Miles V. Van Pelt

A Biblical-Theological Introduction to the New Testament: The Gospel Realized by Michael J. Kruger

As always, keep it locked on urbanpuritano.com and check out https://youtu.be/VZB4o1zHODM for the original podcast from which today's episode was chopped and screwed! 

Thanks to Bryant "John Donne" Rueda!

Once upon a time, a budding, young Calvinist preacher heard a guest preacher preach a sermon on a robust Text of Scripture. He was excited as he anticipated a rich, spiritual banquet on Acts 8:26-35 which consists of the hybrid textuality of a dialogue between Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch concerning a Messianic prophecy in Isaiah. 

Alas, the budding young Calvinist (and the rest in the congregation, whether they recognized it or not) were instead treated to a sub-Christian sermon on that Lord's Day. Why, you may ask? Because all in attendance were exhorted to "Be in order to do."

What about God? What about the Gospel?

As you consider this passage of Scripture, keep in mind:

Both Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch were sinners. According to their fallen nature, separated from God and each other. But God's grace  overcomes man's sin. God promised that He would extend His grace towards undeserving sinners just like them regardless of their status or history. Moreover, God provided His Only Begotten One as glorious fulfillment of that promise of grace and redemption. Why? Because God and God alone saves sinners!

This is precisely the Good News we all need. Salvation is centered on Christ alone, not in any way supplemented by us. As a Puritan once said, "To supplement Christ is to supplant Christ."

Therefore, people like Philip, the Ethiopian eunuch, and YOU can receive salvation because it has been accomplished by God in Christ as foretold in the Old Testament and gloriously fulfilled in the New Testament. 

Today's episode will scratch the surface on a relatively easy entryway into a Christ centered reading and preaching of Scripture by attempting to kill multiple birds with an Ethiopian stone. Gird your loins!

The Bible records the long, post-fall struggle between believers and the tyranny of sin. Oftentimes that tyranny takes the form of hostile governing authorities. Even theocratic Israel under human kings would have a propensity towards injustice. Remember what God told the prophet Samuel?

So, how is the Christian to relate to Caesar when Caesar is schizophrenically equal parts secular and pagan? What principles can we find in the Bible? Does one size fit all? Despite the bluster often found in online echo chambers, the rubber has to meet the road in actual circumstances--not the over realized eschatology of the vivid theo-brosical  imagination. But whatever the circumstances, God has spoken unequivocally in His Word.

What saith the Lord?

Are we to embrace the imperial suck as Daniel did under Nebuchadnezzar? Was the Apostle Paul wrong to actively avail himself of his rights as a Roman citizen? What can American Christians do as the culture crumbles all around them while governing authorities cheerlead on the sidelines?

Gird your loins for a fiery, but mostly peaceful episode on Political Biblicism!

Today, we scratch the surface on what made the Puritans so special. Was it their politics, their agenda to purify the worship of the church, or their theology? The Puritans are often the whipping boys for Romanists and secularists alike. But, too often, the Puritans are thrown under the bus even by their own spiritual heirs. 

What made the Puritans so special, in my humble estimation, was their preaching in both content and style. Stay tuned as we scratch the surface on the elements of Puritan Preaching and offer a brief sermon, originally preached in Spanish, patterned after Puritan homiletical method. Gird your loins and stay tuned as we follow the method to their madness! Theory and Practice unite! Urban Puritano! Living unto God! Jesus is King!

(No wiccans were harmed in the production of this episode. Just a few trees).