The Afterword: A Conversation on Books, Reading, and the Church

Tune in for a very special episode of The Afterword! We sat down for a live special book launch event celebrating the release of Westminster Seminary Press' new title, Faith in the Time of Plague with Westminster faculty and co-editors, Dr. Stephen Coleman and Dr. Todd Rester. Our episode includes a Q&A segment at the end. Learn more about the book Faith in the Time of Plague. Watch the interview on The Afterword site. 

In Episode 14 of the Afterword, CCEF's Mike Emlet joins Jonny Gibson for a conversation about hobbies, biblical counseling, science, vaccines, psychiatric diagnoses, identity and Mike's latest book Saints, Sufferers & Sinners.

Our guest today is Jonty Rhodes. who is the head pastor of Christ Church, a congregation of the International Presbyterian Church in Leeds, England. Jonty has spent the last ten years planting churches in the UK and is the author of the newly released Man of Sorrows, King of Glory.This is really our favorite kind of book, which takes a foundational but perhaps neglected aspect of our Reformed faith and applies it to our lives today in a way that is fresh, devotional, and understandable. Nancy Guthrie says this about it, “Man of Sorrows, King of Glory is rich without being dense, theological without being stuffy, and corrective without being combative.” Right now, you can pick up a copy on our website –wtsbooks.com–for half price until July 8th. 

To kick off our second season of the Afterword, Jonny is joined by Gavin Peacock— a former professional soccer player in the English Premier League and current pastor and author. During his 18-year professional soccer career, Gavin played in over 600 games, including an FA Cup final with Chelsea, and scored 135 goals along the way. He played alongside some of the all-time greats at some of the biggest clubs, including QPR, Gillingham, AFC Bournemouth, Newcastle, Chelsea, and Charlton.Part 2 will focus on Gavin's ministry and family life, discussing lessons he's learned as a Christian athlete, father, husband, and now pastor and author. If you have very little interest in soccer or sports, we'd encourage you to give it a listen even if you're tempted to skip this one! We think you'll find Gavin to be a great storyteller filled with many practical insights relevant to any Christian on topics like parenting, pastoring, evangelism, balancing work and ministry, etc.  And above all, Gavin is very clear on the Gospel.You can learn more about and order Gavin's book, A Greater Glory: From Pitch to Pulpit, here. 

To kick off our second season of The Afterword, Jonny is joined by Gavin Peacock— a former professional soccer player in the English Premier League and current pastor and author. During his 18-year professional soccer career, Gavin played in over 600 games, including an FA Cup final with Chelsea, and scored 135 goals along the way. He played alongside some of the all-time greats at some of the biggest clubs, including QPR, Gillingham, AFC Bournemouth, Newcastle, Chelsea, and Charlton.Part 1 will focus on Gavin's playing career, and get a bit more into the “weeds” with some of the technical aspects of the game. If you have very little interest in soccer or sports, we'd encourage you to give it a listen even if you're tempted to skip this one! We think you'll find Gavin to be a great storyteller filled with many practical insights relevant to any Christian on topics like parenting, pastoring, evangelism, balancing work and ministry, etc. And above all, Gavin is very clear on the Gospel.Visit our website to order Gavin's new book, A Greater Glory: From Pitch to Pulpit. 

In Episode 10 of the Afterword, our host Jonny Gibson talks with special guest Kevin DeYoung. Kevin has 3 books coming out in the next year or so, and as you might expect from him, they cover an incredibly diverse range of topics. The first one, “Men and Women in the Church” is essentially his “complementarianism 101 for a new generation.”  It releases in April, but you can pre-order it today on our website for 50% off.  His second book is a 400-page storybook bible illustrated by Don Clark (who he teamed up with on The Biggest Story) which is due in the fall. And the third book is an edition of two treatises on Justification and Regeneration by one of the founders of American Presbyterianism, John Witherspoon, that Kevin is introducing for our very own Westminster Seminary Press.

For our ninth episode, we are excited to welcome Dr. Peter J. Williams.Peter J. Williams (PhD, University of Cambridge) is the principal of Tyndale House and the consulting editor and coordinator of this project. He is also chair of the International Greek New Testament Project, which is producing the largest scholarly edition ever attempted of a single book of the New Testament, namely the Editio Critica Maior of John's Gospel. He is the author of Early Syriac Translation Technique and the Textual Criticism of the Greek Gospels. He is also the author of the book Can We Trust the Gospels? which is available to purchase at wtsbooks.comMusic by Poor Bishop Hooper. Used with permission. 

For our eighth episode, we are excited to welcome David Mathis.In this episode, Jonny talks with David Mathis about why they love Christmas and about David's new advent devotional, The Christmas We Didn't Expect. David serves as executive editor at desiringGod.org, pastor at Cities Church, and adjunct professor at Bethlehem College and Seminary.For more information about the book and to order copies, visit https://www.wtsbooks.com/advent

For our seventh episode, we are joining Westminster Theological Seminary in celebrating their annual Preaching Conference. We are excited to welcome Mark Dever. Mark is the senior pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in DC, and the president of 9Marks Ministry. He holds an M.Div. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, a Th.M. from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in Ecclesiastical History from Cambridge University. He is a teacher and author of numerous books, including Preach: Theology Meets Practice.

For our sixth episode, we are honored to welcome Nancy Guthrie as our guest. Nancy is a speaker, Bible teacher, and acclaimed author of numerous books. She is a regular contributor to The Gospel Coalition and hosts their podcast, Help Me Teach the Bible. Nancy is passionate about women studying theology and the Bible and will be sharing more about her most recent book God Does His Best Work with Empty.

For our fifth episode, we are elated to welcome two of our favorite CCEF faculty members, Darby Strickland and Ed Welch. Darby Strickland is a Christian counselor who has an M. Div from Westminster Theological Seminary and specializes in issues that surround domestic abuse. Her newest book, Is It Abuse?, is being released on September 16th. She is a blogger and speaker, and frequently publishes articles and booklets for CCEF.Ed Welch is a counselor and faculty member at CCEF. He has a Ph.D. in counseling and a M. Div degree from Biblical Theological Seminary. Ed has been counseling for over thirty years and has written many books and articles on biblical counseling, including the very popular, When People Are Big and God Is Small, and Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave.

For our fourth episode, we are delighted to welcome Melissa Kruger as our guest. Melissa is the Director of Women's Initiatives for The Gospel Coalition and is also a blogger, speaker, and author of numerous titles. Her newest children's book, Wherever You Go, I Want You To Know, reminds children that their greatest aspiration in life should be to love and follow Jesus.

For our third episode, we are excited to welcome Mark Vroegop and Trillia Newbell as our guests. Mark is the Lead Pastor of College Park Church in Indianapolis and is the author of Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament, which was named the 2020 ECPA Book of the Year. Most recently, he has published Weep with Me: How Lament Opens a Door for Racial Reconciliation. Trillia has published several books, including the children's book God's Very Good Idea: A True Story About God's Delightfully Different Family. She is a sought after speaker, and her articles are often featured in outlets such as Christianity Today and the Gospel Coalition. She is currently is the Director of Community Outreach for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission for the Southern Baptist Convention.

For our second episode, we are delighted to welcome David Murray as our guest. David is a pastor who has published over a dozen books, including Meeting with Jesus: A Daily Bible Reading Plan for Kids. He is also a Professor of Old Testament and Practical Theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. We are looking forward to hearing how raising five children with his wife Shona has influenced and inspired his writing.-----------------------In this series our good friend, the author, parent, theologian, and Westminster Professor Jonathan Gibson, will be talking with some of the Bookstore's favorite authors. We hope you'll join us in learning more about why books are so important to the life and health of the church. We also hope to learn more about the lives of those authors we admire - what inspires them, what books on their shelves are worn from many years of reading, and what they do when writer's block hits.

For our inaugural episode, we're thrilled to have Dane Ortlund as our guest. Dane is the VP of Bible Publishing at Crossway, and the author of the wonderful new release, Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers. If you only read one book from 2020, make it this one–it's that good.-----------------------In this series our good friend, the author, parent, theologian, and Westminster Professor Jonathan Gibson, will be talking with some of the Bookstore's favorite authors. We hope you'll join us in learning more about why books are so important to the life and health of the church. We also hope to learn more about the lives of those authors we admire - what inspires them, what books on their shelves are worn from many years of reading, and what they do when writer's block hits.