URC Learning: Sinners & Saints

God commands that certain elements be part of a worship service. God commands that these certain elements in a worship service be done in a certain way. God also commands that we conduct ourselves with a certain decorum when it comes to participation in this kind of worship. http://media.urclearning.org/audio/SS-Ten_Commandments_16.mp3

Now that we understand what elements God wants in a worship service, we need to think about when He wants us to do each of them. A good Reformed liturgy gives careful thought to the order of the elements in a worship service. http://media.urclearning.org/audio/SS-Ten_Commandments_15.mp3

If the second commandment teaches the regulative principle, we have to then ask: “What exactly does the Bible say we should do in New Covenant worship”? Without a New Testament book of Leviticus, are we left in the dark? http://media.urclearning.org/audio/SS-Ten_Commandments_14.mp3

Behind and implied by the second commandment is this “regulative principle of worship,” which is taught all throughout the Holy Scriptures. Listen to see how and where. http://media.urclearning.org/audio/SS-Ten_Commandments_13.mp3

Though the “regulative principle of worship” may be an odd or unfamiliar phrase, we hope you’ll come to undertsand and accept it as a good label for the second commandment’s authoritative import regarding worship. http://media.urclearning.org/audio/SS-Ten_Commandments_12.mp3

The Jesus statues and crucifixes of the Roman Catholics, and the Jesus pictures in children’s Bibles of the Evangelicals, are a testimony to our thinking we are wiser than God. We are trying to re-make Jesus in our own image in gross violation of the second commandment. http://media.urclearning.org/audio/SS-Ten_Commandments_11.mp3

The first commandment forbids worship of any false god, and now the second commandment forbids any false worship of the true God. This distinction lays the foundation for the practical application of the second commandment in our lives. http://media.urclearning.org/audio/SS-Ten_Commandments_10.mp3

At last, the commandments. God requires in the first commandment not only that He be exclusively acknowledged, but also that we give all of our very selves to Him alone. http://media.urclearning.org/audio/SS-Ten_Commandments_9.mp3

So what was engraved on each of the two tablets that God gave to Moses? How they answered that question in Sunday School might have distracted you from some important ways to understand and apply the ten commandments properly. http://media.urclearning.org/audio/SS-Ten_Commandments_8.mp3

So how should you thank God for saving your body and soul? The right way is to obey His holy laws. The wrong way is to exert yourself in obedience to easier substitutes. As we come closer to the Ten Commandments themselves, be prepared, in light of the gospel, to obey them no matter how […]

The second “table” of the Ten Commandments is an objective standard for civil order and righteousness. Its principles are reflected among every people group, even among those who deny that the Ten Commandments are from God. Any society in gross violation of the second table is inevitably a cesspool of immorality. http://media.urclearning.org/audio/SS-Ten_Commandments_6.mp3

Last time we talked about the law thrashing unbelievers and driving them to see their need for Jesus Christ. This time we talk about how the law ought to do the same thing for Christians. http://media.urclearning.org/audio/SS-Ten_Commandments_5.mp3

The first way to apply the Ten Commandments to your life is to let them show you, one by one, how you have failed to keep them. This uncomfortable exercise is necessary for you to see your need for Jesus Christ and appreciate the magnitude of what He has done. http://media.urclearning.org/audio/SS-Ten_Commandments_4.mp3

New Covenant Christians must understand the Ten Commandments and apply them to their lives. Concerning both internal and external purity, the Ten Commandments encompass all areas of life, and command the opposite of what they forbid. http://media.urclearning.org/audio/SS-Ten_Commandments_3.mp3

Knowing which commands God wants you to follow is not as easy as just flipping open the Bible and doing the first thing you read. God always gives His commands (laws) to people in the context of different covenants. If you get this, you’ll be ready to apply any of His laws in the Bible […]

The Ten Commandments are big news. Someone is always complaining they are being ignored or abused. Churches fight over whether they even matter today. But you can’t begin to understand and apply the Ten Commandments unless you know and believe the law/gospel contrast. http://media.urclearning.org/audio/SS-Ten_Commandments_1.mp3

Well, folks, this is the swan song to this series and our review of this book. Frankly, we’re tired of reading it. In this final show, we discuss how offensive it is that Arminians are dissatisfied with God’s loving disposition, even to the reprobate. http://media.urclearning.org/audio/SS_Bad_Reasons_8.mp3

Everyone is in trouble. Everyone is guilty. Everyone needs to hear what can be done about the mess we are in. We are trying to convince you that you need to hear us out about the basic questions of life. http://media.urclearning.org/audio/SS_3Questions.mp3

(26:54) Part two of our response to the philosophical analysis section seeks to apply the famous Genesis 50 text to Walls’ range of options for understanding the nature of human freedom and God’s control. Our conclusion, again, is that the biblical data cannot support anything but the idea that God ordains and directs the free […]

(33:20) Otherwise helpful, descriptive philosophical categories regarding the nature of human freedom must not become the ultimate boundaries of how we may systematize and confess the Bible’s teaching about the extent of God’s control and its relationship to human responsibility.

(13:42) That election is “in Christ” does not in any way overthrow the idea that the Father’s election of His people is sovereign, personal, fixed, definite, and individual.

(16:13) So John chapter six is about Christ’s unity with the Father. Yes, but that does not set aside His clear statements regarding the way in which the Father and the Son save their elect people. The Father drags His previously unwilling people straight to His Son, Who never loses them.

(18:49) If you were wondering how an educated Arminian would read Romans chapter nine in a way contrary to how we have, here’s your answer (at least the first part of it). The authors make spotty references to this or that phrase in this or that verse and essentially ignore the immediate context of Paul’s […]

(28:50) Everyone agrees that the words “predestination” and “election” are in the Bible.  Everyone also agrees that Romans 9-11 is a central passage in understanding what those words mean.  Here, we work verse-by-verse through Romans 9:1-24, in order to show that the straightforward reading of this text indisputably teaches what we today call “Calvinism.”

(37:48) We present a new series discussing the Calvinism/Arminianism debate by reviewing the new book titled “Why I Am Not A Calvinist.” Today, we alert the discerning reader to some less than helpful analyses and introductions to the topic by the book’s authors.

(20:47) Note: This show’s content was re-edited and replaces the original posted in July 2006. One sacred cow of many church growth gurus, including those of the “Presbyterian” or “Reformed” ilk, is the idea that every member of the church should be involved in “ministry.” Ministry, however, is committed by Christ in His Word only […]

(38:31) Dawkins’ worldview lacks foundation for his outlandish claim that instructing children in the Christian faith is worse than sexually molesting them. His telling extreme stories of religious abuse is a cheap tactic to try and give credibility to this obviously ridiculous claim, and to hide its sinister implications.

Dawkins’ critique of typical God-proofs simply avoids the main one: the transcendental argument for the existence of God. Last time, we introduced this argument as an answer to the “ultimate Boeing 747 gambit”; this week, we present the transcendental argument to bolster the other more traditional proofs which Dawkins attempts to refute.

(24:56) Note: This show’s content was re-edited and replaces the original. Dawkins’ central argument against God’s existence–the “ultimate Boeing 747 gambit”–fails for at least two reasons. First, the gambit needs Darwinian evolution by natural selection to be true in spite of its glaring logical and factual flaws. Second, the gambit’s conclusions cannot account for the […]

As if his simplistic attack against the Scripture’s moral fabric wasn’t enough, Dawkins marches forward to assault the Bible’s factual credibility. But evidence, common sense, and the modern scholarly consensus (even of the Bible’s detractors) are major obstacles to the credibility of his argument.

Unable to plug the gaping hole left by his inability to account for absolute standards of morality, Dawkins resorts in chapter seven to try and discredit the Bible as that plug. Of course, he again proceeds to critique something without any foundation for objectivity; also, he analyzes the Scripture in such a simplistic manner that […]

The title of Dawkins’ sixth chapter, “The Roots of Morality: Why Are We Good?,” betrays his inability as an atheist to account for the absolute standards of morality which he so readily embraces and applies throughout the book and his own life. His speculations about humanity’s moral consensus are merely descriptive, and when he finally […]

In part one, we urged people to see the necessity of actually believing that the Christian religious claims are true. This time, we affirm Dawkins’ assertion that most religion, even much of what is said and done in the name of Christ, is untrue, and superstitious, and devised and promoted for selfish, bad reasons. Professing […]

Here we begin an eight-part series discussing this best-selling book by acknowledging that professing Christians are much to blame for the kinds of critiques Dawkins levies against theism. If we forsake orthodoxy, or if we keep it but trivialize it; if we say we believe something that we don’t think is true, or if we […]

Have you been pierced or inked? Are you artistic or are you simply defacing your body? Does God have anything to say about it? Lots of questions with some at least mildly interesting debate about the answers on this recut of a show on body piercing and tattoos.

61% of kids active in youth groups–that’s right, SIXTY-ONE PERCENT–are not found in church as adults. Questions like, “What is a better model for youth ministry, how can we improve it and make it more substantial?” or “What is a Reformed youth ministry model?” are trumped by the right question, “Where in the world did […]

How should we react to the fall of Ted Haggard? In this second show of two, we ask if a true Christian can struggle with sin, especially the sin of homosexuality. We also think about how the church should face the “homosexual issue” in our culture.

How should we react to the fall of Ted Haggard? In this first show of two, we look inside at our own hearts and outside at the evangelical cult complex to learn some sobering lessons. We also think about a wife’s obligations to an adulterous husband and a church’s obligations to an adulterous pastor.

Every thankful Christian should be in church this coming Thursday morning, right? The Bible calls every world culture to set aside a national Thanksgiving Day, right? Tape your ankles for the Turkey Bowl, lick your lips for the feast, and dive in to the Sinners & Saints chat about good ol’ Thanksgiving.

Have you caught on yet? Have you claimed your promises? The good news is that Christ saved you, but the really good news is that He wants you to be rich. So say some of the most visible leaders in the “Christian” church today.

The sales numbers don’t lie: “Got Jesus” coffee mugs, “Huggy-Jesus” teddy bears, and “O.C.” t-shirts (“only in Christ”) have become the preferred piety of many professing Christian people. Underlying this triviliazation of Christ and culture are life-denying, idolatrous beliefs that are just as much a threat to the Reformed churches as they are to the […]

Yes, politics again. This is part two of a very brief, whet-your-appetite-for-further-study series on how to begin answering political questions from the biblical, Reformed perspective. Here, we introduce our approach to defining government and addressing a Christian’s political responsibilities.

Yes, politics. This is part one of a very brief, whet-your-appetite-for-further-study series on how to begin answering political questions from the biblical, Reformed perspective. Here, we critique “theonomy” in order to lay the foundation for answering political questions from Scripture.

In an unexpected, un-planned Calvary Chapel series post-mortem, we take our cue from a recent Los Angeles Times article about Chuck Smith, Sr. and his son, Chuck Smith, Jr. The article solidified earlier critiques of the Chuck Smith/Calvary Chapel movement as market-driven and more concerned about reflecting happy cultural moods than the biblical faith.

Part three of three in a series evaluating the Chuck Smith/Calvary Chapel movement addresses the Calvary Chapel position on the Arminian/Calvinist debate. The Calvary Chapels are decidedly “Arminian,” but the historic Protestant church is “Calvinist.” These labels are important because they describe how different people understand the basic biblical answers to life’s most important questions.

Part two of three in a series evaluating the Chuck Smith/Calvary Chapel movement addresses Smith’s self-understanding as an authority like unto Old Testament Moses. Also, the Calvary Chapel “Statement of Faith” is analyzed.

Find out what all the controversy was about. Listen to the shows that made babies cry, women scream, and slick-speaking “pastors” with Hawaiian shirts, cargo shorts, and flip-flops run scared. Okay, not really, but at least we shook up the chicken coup a little bit. Part one of three in a series evaluating the Chuck […]

You probably have seen the recent Christianity Today cover story titled “Young, Restless, Reformed: Calvinism is Making a Comeback–and Shaking Up the Church.” It misdefines “Reformed,” “Calvinism,” and “church;” and it rehashes bad, old objections to Calvinism. Its chief value, however, is that it should cause you (if you happen to be one of these […]

Many people are uneasy with the charasmatic/pentecostal practice of tongue-speaking, but are also hesitant to condemn it as unbiblical and a scam. We are more sickened by that stuff than uneasy, and are NOT hesitant to say that whatever is going on in those circles, it is NOT the tongues and prophecy the Bible talks […]

Let’s face it–Christian churches seem to attract more than their share of people who lack basic social graces. We must give more effort to cultivate our social skills in obedience to Christ’s command “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

You’d be shocked to hear “Christians” say it, but given their ignorance of and apathy about the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, they may as well shout it from the rooftops.