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For those who trust in Christ, who belong to the Father through faith in the Son and are sealed by the Spirit, we are promised many things. We’re promised access to inexplicable peace in spite of circumstances. We’re promised the inescapable presence of our God in spite of perceived loneliness. And we’re promised the incomprehensible power of God, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead now living in us. These are incredible gifts from God.

But we’re also promised hardship, trials, persecution, and opposition. Speaking to his apostles, the Lord Jesus said, “in this world you will have tribulation.” and “if the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.”

Yet, that hatred, if we encounter it, is not to stop believers from being faithful to what we’re called to do. In the face of opposition of varying degrees of intensity, we’re still to make disciples, to evangelize the lost, to protect the truth and contend for the faith.

The question I want to explore today is, how do we fight with grace and humility without sacrificing conviction and boldness? How do we engage with other people—some believers, some unbelievers; some strangers, some family members—without being unnecessarily combative and without being unhelpfully meek?

To help us answer some of these questions, I’m excited to welcome to the podcast, Dr. Leighton Flowers. Dr. Flowers is the director of evangelism and apologetics for Texas Baptists. He’s also the creator and host of Soteriology101, which is an online ministry dedicated to challenging a particular theological understanding of Christian salvation. And so, whether it’s through evangelism, apologetics, or in-house polemics, Dr. Flowers has a lot of experience wading into controversy and engaging in disagreement, all well trying to remain pure and above reproach. And we want to pick his brain so that we can grow in that same way.

"When concerts and other special events are held in large auditoriums or arenas, “riggers” must work hundreds of feet above the floor hanging speakers and lights. Riggers will tell you they do not mind looking down a hundred feet to the floor. What they don’t like is working in buildings that have false ceilings made of acoustical tile hung just a few feet below the ceiling on rafters and beams. It gives them a false sense of security. They feel as though they are working just a few feet above a floor; but if they stepped onto the tile, they would crash through and fall to their death many feet below. They don’t like the deceptive look. It makes it easier to make a mistake.

"Satan works like that. He makes dangerous things look safe. He gives us a false sense of security. He makes it easier for us to make a mistake. Satan tries not to scare us to death, but rather to make us think we face little danger of a spiritual fall.

"The Epistle of Jude warns of the dangers of false teachers, whose end is destruction. We are to be alert for them, to strengthen ourselves against spiritual deception, and to be ready to help vulnerable believers. Christian friends must not be lulled into a false sense of security and take a disastrous spiritual fall" (Walls and Anders, I & II Peter, I, II & III John, Jude, vol. 11, HNTC (Nashville, TN: B&H, 1999), 260).

To help us better understand this often-overlooked epistle, we welcome  Dr. Herb Bateman. Dr. Bateman has taught at Grace Seminary, Moody Bible Institute, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is currently the founder of the Cyber Center for Biblical Studies and has published a number of articles and books including one called “Interpreting the General Letters” which includes a study of our topic of conversation today.

After a few weeks of topical podcasts, we'd be remiss if we didn't acknowledge our new sermon series! A few weeks ago at Oakridge we began studying Colossians during our time of corporate worship, and we haven't yet had a chance to discuss it on this medium. So this week on the podcast Andrew and Josiah discuss the first few weeks of Colossians sermons, including what led us to that book in the first place and what has been the biggest takeaway so far.

It's almost understandable that First and Second John often get overlooked. If you're moving through the Bible in order (as we have been), you've endured huge works like Acts and Romans and tricky works like James and First John and the end is now in sight. And what a finish line it is—the ever-daunting and ever-hopeful book of Revelation! So, again, it's easy to ignore the little notes that stand in the way. However, as we'll be reminded this week and next, to overlook them would be to do ourselves a great disservice.

To curate for us the significance of Second and Third John, Dr. Danny Akin joins us on the podcast. Dr. Akin currently serves as the president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. He’s a teacher, theologian, and very productive author whose works include a preaching commentary on the two little books in question today.

One of the reasons we started this podcast, and indeed what we most often talk about, is understanding God's word with clarity and depth. How do we study? What ought we do in response? But on this episode we want to talk about simply spending time in the scriptures, that is to say, meditating on the Bible. Reading it, being washed by it, thinking about it, and memorizing it. Andrew and Tim discuss what it means to meditate on the word, why it's important, and how we can actually do it.

The simplicity and brevity of the summary above may be misleading—1 John requires some careful study and consistently applied interpretive methodology. Thankfully, we have a capable helper with us today. Dr. Charlie Bing is the founder and president of GraceLife Ministries, a ministry dedicated to "sharing the gospel of grace with the unsaved and the grace of the gospel with the saved." He a pastor, teacher, conference speaker, theologian, evangelist, and author and we’re grateful to have him with us today.

There are many reasons why a person might pick up and read a Bible. Perhaps curiosity or availability. Perhaps out of frustration or anger. Perhaps out of confusion. Perhaps to actually learn. This week on the podcast, Josiah and Andrew consider the various motivations for approaching God's word, and how we as believers can be better prepared to help others on their journey, and how we ourselves can be more engaged with the scriptures.

"This epistle may be titled 'The Believer’s Conflict in the Latter Days.' The apostle opened and closed 2 Peter with the theme of victory. But within the epistle he focused primarily on how to live when surrounded by the problems and perplexities of the end time. After painting a landscape (in 2:1–3:10) replete with false teachers, fallen angels, flagrant immorality, and flaccid scoffers, Peter charged his readers 'to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming' (3:11–12). Faithful living in difficult times—that is the lesson Peter would have believers learn through this dynamic letter" (Kenneth O. Gangel, “2 Peter,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary, 859).

Dr. Fred Chay returns to the series to help us grapple with this lesser-known letter. Dr. Chay is the founder of Grace Line Ministry, professor of theology and dean of the doctoral studies program at Grace School of Theology, and managing editor of Grace Theology Press.

When we talk about God, there are endless directions our conversations can go. Oftentimes, these discussions end up addressing something to do with God's character, or the attributes that make him who he is. Yet in spite of this, for many of us, it can be hard to actually define what is actually meant when we hear words like "holy" and "sovereign" that get used in church all the time. So to help us gain a better understanding of the God we worship, this week Tim and Andrew picked a number of attributes of God to discuss and biblically define with some of their favourite examples from scripture. 

Chuck Swindoll, with his trademark wit and clarity, introduces his study of Peter's first letter this way:

"I find it interesting that Peter, as a disciple of Christ, is clearly the most popular of the twelve ... yet Peter, as a writer of Scripture, is not nearly as well known.

"Too bad. His first letter offers wonderful hope to people who live in hurtful times. Without denying the reality of pain, he sets forth dynamic and trustworthy counsel that anyone—in any generation—would find reassuring.

"Few individuals lived in tougher times. Christians were hated, mistreated, and driven from their homes. Martyrdom commonly occurred. Madman Nero was the ruler of the known world, and we don't need a rehearsal of his evil, corrupt reign. Whatever the hour, Christ as Lord. He has everything under control. And the old fisherman-turned-apostle provides confident counsel for all to believe."

To lead us to a better understanding of this relatable and inspired text of Holy Writ we welcome Dr. Tim Miller. Dr. Miller currently serves as assistant professor of New Testament at Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary. He has two earned PhDs, the dissertation focus for latter was "Jesus in the First Epistle of Peter", so we’re in capable and learned hands today as we seek to better understand that very epistle.