Podcasts about Baptists

It's Tuesday, March 17th, A.D. 2026. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Kevin Swanson and Timothy Reed Cuba is on verge of collapse Cuba, a communist country in the Western Hemisphere, is on the verge of collapse. Oil shipments to the island nation stopped three months ago and the nation's electric grid gave out over the weekend. Plus, the country's Gross Domestic Product, the total monetary value of all goods and services produced within a country's borders, slipped another 5% last year.  According to the United Nation's Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, communist Cuba has the worst GDP/capita in Latin America — barely reaching $1,000 per year. The worst economies in Latin America are communist Venezuela, communist Nicaragua, communist Cuba, and Haiti.  Cuba is ripest nation for spiritual revival Despite the economic doom and gloom, Cuba appears to be the ripest for spiritual revival of any nation in the world today.   The Baptists have reported a 40-fold increase in the number of churches since 1990.  One estimate puts the total number of Cuban believers at two million. That's about 20% of the population -- higher than membership in the communist party for the country. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus promised that “He would build His church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” 47% of Americans oppose the U.S.-Iranian war Americans continue to have mixed opinions about the Iran conflict. New polling averages, from Real Clear Politics, found that 44% of Americans support the war, while 47% oppose the fight.  Similarly, a Quinnipiac poll found that only 40% of Americans favor the war, with 53% in opposition. A whopping 74% of Americans are opposed to sending ground troops into the war, something the Trump administration has not ruled out.  Court allows naked men in women's spa The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has let stand a lower court ruling requiring a private spa, intended for women, to allow naked men to frequent the premises. The Washington State spa owners insisted this policy would be contrary to their Christian beliefs.  Thus far, at least five judges have filed dissents on the decision. 19% of employees at U.S. companies are foreign workers American corporations are hiring foreign workers like never before, recent numbers indicate 19.2% of their employees are foreign workers, up from 12% twenty years ago.  Another 10% of the U.S. workforce is also provided for by digital offshoring by organizations like Upwork. That makes almost a third of the U.S. workforce now provided for by foreigners. Pastor: If you're a Christian, don't live in sin with someone Megachurch pastor Josh Howerton of LakePointe Church in Dallas, Texas, challenged Christian couples to stop living in sin. HOWERTON: “The Bible is going to say things about marriage, sexuality and divorce that are very controversial to the world. My response to that is: ‘To who?' Because what the world says about marriage is controversial to Heaven. I would rather Heaven be pleased and the world say we're controversial than be applauded by the world and controversial before Heaven.” Pastor Howerton concluded his sermon with this challenge. HOWERTON: “You're living with somebody that's not your spouse. You're sleeping with somebody that's not your spouse. Or you've actually already started a family and had kids with somebody that's not your spouse. “And you, right now, are coming under the loving conviction of the Holy Spirit that you need to honor God, bend your knee to Jesus, put a ring on it, and enter into a covenant with a person that you're already acting like you're in a covenant with. “What I want you to know is we want to help you do that, because we got a little thing at Lakepoint. We say, ‘The only time we look down on people is to give them a hand up.' “So, here's what we want to do. We got a whole team of pastors. We are ready to have a mass wedding ceremony. I'm 100% serious. We got people. We're gonna walk with you, counsel you, help you, and then we're gonna get you married. We're gonna throw a big party. “And guess what? Your church family is not going to be doing. These people aren't going to be judging you. They're going to be cheering you on as you step forward into obedience to Jesus Christ.” Remarkably, following the sermon, 52 couples came forward and were married at the church a couple of weeks later. Isaiah 1:18 says, “Come now, and let us reason together, says the LORD. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.'” Tennessee bill to abolish abortion died in committee A bill before the Tennessee State legislature that would have fully banned abortion was killed in the legislature's Health Subcommittee last week, reports the Nashville Banner. The bill would have criminalized abortion and given equal protection to the unborn under the law. However, the measure was actively opposed by both pro-abortion and pro-life groups, who argued the law was too strict.  Bradley Pierce, president of the Foundation to Abolish Abortion, stated, “I don't think it's merciful to tell women that they're allowed to murder their children. To those who say that having a blanket exemption for women is merciful, do you apply that to any other area of law?”  Similar bills have been introduced, both in Democratic and Republican states, and thus far, none have passed.  Proverbs 24:11 admonishes us to “Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.” Christian apologist shares Christ on popular podcast Apologist Wes Huff clearly explained the Gospel of Jesus Christ to entrepreneur Steven Bartlett on Bartlett's “Diary of a CEO” podcast — among the top podcasts in the world. In fact, 3 million people listen per episode. BARTLETT: “If I sin in my life, do I go to hell?” HUFF:  “Here's the thing: everybody is going to hell. Everybody. The Bible is very clear. All good people go to Heaven, but Jesus said, ‘No one is good but God alone.' So, if all good people go to Heaven, and no one is good but God alone, only God is in Heaven.” BARTLETT: “Mmm.” HUFF:  “So, Christianity says you're not going to be able to do, feel or think good enough. Compared to God, you're always going to fall short. Be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect, is what Scripture says. That's an impossible standard. “The message of the Bible, the reason why it's called the Gospel, the Good News, is because of the bad news. The bad news is you're dead in your sins and trespasses and you can't save yourself. Jesus, as the second Person of the Trinity, steps off of His throne in eternity, comes into humanity, and He pays the penalty of the sin that you deserve.” Romans 3:23 gives us the bad news. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” And Romans 5:8 gives us the Good News. "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Oscars awarded to foul-mouthed, immoral R-rated movies And finally, the 98th Academy Award ceremonies awarded more R-rated movies with top prizes again this year. One Battle After Another, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn, took the Best Picture award — a film celebrating revolution, killing ICE agents, and murdering pro-life legislators.  It played with moral ambiguity and satire, while encouraging revolutionary activity in society. Sadly, the film, which features the most obscene word 135 times and the Lord's name used in vain 20 times, garnered six Oscars. Another R-rated movie, Sinners, collected four more Oscars. The film glorified demonism, African animism, murderers, adulterers, and hoodoo witches, while condemning Christianity for its alleged legalism and white oppression. Sinners features the Lord's name taken in vain 11 times. I John 2:15-17 says, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father, but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” Close And that's The Worldview on this Tuesday, March 17th, in the year of our Lord 2026. Follow us on X or subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com.  Plus, you can get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

In lesson 1 we covered the early church during the years of 30-90 AD. In this lesson we are going to see what the church believes and how things progressed from 90-476 AD. We will see that what we believe as Baptists is what they believed back then, and we will see that there have all been attacks on Bible Doctrine.

The very reverent (or irreverent) Rob Schenck is joining Erin in this very special episode! Reverend Rob shares his transformative journey from a prominent evangelical leader involved in Christian nationalism to a voice advocating for faith-based reconciliation and social justice. Discover how his experiences, theological reflections, and personal crises led to profound changes in his understanding of faith, politics, and love. You'll hear about Dietrich Bonhoeffer's influence, our mutual affection for Abigail Disney, and practical answers to your questions about Christian nationalism!MENTIONSReverend Rob Schenck: Costly Grace (Rob's Book) | Confessions of a (Former) Christian Nationalist | A Dissenting Evangelical Voice on Patreon | Patheos | Facebook The Armor of Light: Watch here Abigail Disney: Learn more hereWhat's the deal with all the Baptists? Learn about the differences hereThe Myth of American Chosenness: Listen to the podcast episode here The Faith Adjacent Seminary: Support us on Patreon. I've Got Questions by Erin Moon: Order Here | Guided Journal Subscribe to our Newsletter: The Dish from Faith AdjacentFaith Adjacent Merch: Shop HereShop our Amazon Link: amazon.com/shop/faithadjacentFollow Faith Adjacent on Socials: Instagram See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's Monday, March 9th, A.D. 2026. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com. I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Adam McManus Russian forces destroyed 450 Ukrainian Baptist churches According to a report published earlier this year by Mission Eurasia, a parachurch ministry dedicated to equipping churches in and around Ukraine, Russian forces have damaged or destroyed at least 737 religious buildings since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. Of the 737 buildings affected, about 450 were Baptist churches. Baptists, while the largest Evangelical population in Ukraine, represent only 1 percent to 2 percent of the overall population, revealing that Russian forces are deliberately targeting Baptists in their violent campaign across Ukraine. In 1 John 3:13, Jesus said, “Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.” Hegseth says US has ‘iron-clad will' in Iran war War Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters on Thursday the United States will continue its attacks on Iran for as long as necessary, saying “We are in it to win it!”, reports NewsNation. Listen. HEGSETH: “Iran is hoping that we cannot sustain this, which is a really bad miscalculation. There's no shortage of American will here. “We remember and honor our fallen those six that we will soon Welcome at Dover, who gave everything for their country in this mission. We remember them, but we remember them by rededicating ourselves even more fervently to this mission. “Our commitment to our mission objectives only increases as our advantages continue to increase. We've got no shortage of munitions. Our stockpiles of defensive and offensive weapons allow us to sustain this campaign as long as we need to.” Secretary Hegseth contrasted the focused mission in Iran with other previously politically correct wars. HEGSETH: “The dumb, politically correct wars of the past were the opposite of what we're doing here. They had vague objectives with restrictive, minimalist rules of engagement. No more. Our authorities, through the President and myself, are maxed out. Our will is iron clad. We are built for this fight, and we are in it to win it.” Rep. Donalds holds Governor Walz accountable for Somali fraud On March 4th, Republican Congressman Byron Donalds of Florida asked Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz some tough questions about allegations of fraud tied to the Somali community in Minnesota during a House Oversight Committee hearing, reports ZeroHedge.com. DONALDS: “Was your office notified of these fraud allegations?” WALZ: “Not me.” DONALDS: “Specifically, we have it under sworn testimony in the Oversight Committee that your former chief of staff was notified directly by these various commissioners about the fraud in Minnesota.” WALZ: “Could be correct.” DONALDS: “So, are you saying that your chief of staff didn't notify you?” WALZ: “I'm saying I don't recall whether he did at that time or not, but we took action. So, I'm assuming, when we put our budgets together, based on that, we put a package together for that legislative session.” DONALDS: “Let's talk about budgets, Governor Walz. Feeding Our Future went from $307,000 in 2018 to $199 million in 2021. Are you aware of this increase in budgetary costs from Feeding Our Future?” WALZ: “Not specifically, but I know it increased during the pandemic.” DONALDS: “The Housing Stabilization Services went from $27 million in 2021 to $105 million in 2024. Are you aware of this increase, Governor Walz?” WALZ: “Not specifically, but I know it increased.” DONALDS: “Autism Centers went from $24 million in 2019 to $342 million in 2024. Are you aware of that?” WALZ: “Not specifically again. But yes, we know the budget increased.” DONALDS: “Integrated Community Supports went from $4.6 million in 2021 to $170 million in 2024. Are you aware of that?” WALZ: “Again, not specifically on the numbers, but it's the budget.” DONALDS: “Governor Walz, you have to submit a budget to your legislature every single year, like every governor has to do. If you're not aware of these increases, what was your office doing?” WALZ: “Everyone is balanced. My budget is about $72 billion. It involves 23 agencies.” DONALDS: “Florida's budget is $115 billion, sir. But what were you doing if you're seeing program increases like this amid allegations of fraud in your state?” Shockingly, $9 billion of taxpayer money was stolen in Minnesota which had been intended for marginalized communities. Planned Parenthood offers Botox injections to supplement abortion income There's a new wrinkle in Planned Parenthood's ever-changing post-Dobbs business plan: The abortion giant has begun offering Botox treatments as a much-needed additional source of income, reports LifeSiteNews.com. Planned Parenthood is in desperate need of new revenue streams after President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill blocked it from receiving federal Medicaid reimbursements.    As a result, Planned Parenthood Mar Monte — the group's largest affiliate spanning Northern California and Nevada — has been forced to scramble to plug an estimated $100 million revenue gap, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.   What is unsaid in the Wall Street Journal puff piece is that Planned Parenthood in Northern California and Nevada needs to generate money in new ways in order to subsidize aborting preborn children. Missouri's Personhood bill protects babies from conception Speaking of abortion, Missouri Republican State Senator Mike Moon introduced a resolution which would recognize the personhood of each child in the womb. The bill defines the term "person," under the Missouri state constitution, as including every human being with a unique DNA code regardless of age, including every in utero human child at every stage of biological development from the moment of conception until birth.  Whether you live in Missouri or not, call State Senator Moon's office at 573-751-1480 to thank him for sponsoring the Personhood resolution. Legendary pop star Neil Sedaka died And finally, Neil Sedaka, the Juilliard-trained pop music icon who sold millions of records worldwide and wrote or co-wrote over 1,000 songs, died on February 27th at the age of 86.  According to Parade, Neil Sedaka's most popular songs include chart-toppers like  "Oh! Carol," a 1959 song about his high school sweetheart, Carole King, who is 84 today. “Darling, there will never be another. Cause I love you so. Don't ever leave me. Say you'll never go. I will love you, for my sweetheart No matter what you do. Oh Carol, so in love with you.” “Breakin' Up is Hard to Do” “Comma-comma down, Dooby-doo, down-down Breakin' up is hard to do. Don't take your love away from me. Don't you leave my heart in misery. If you go, then I'll be blue Cause breakin' up is hard to do.” and "Laughter in the Rain." “Strolling along country roads with my baby It starts to rain, it begins to pour. Without an umbrella, we're soaked to the skin. I feel a shiver run up my spine. I feel the warmth of her hand in mine. “Ooh, I hear laughter in the rain, Walking hand in hand with the one I love. Ooh, how I love the rainy days And the happy way I feel inside” In the days following Sedaka's death, streams of his songs jumped by at least 500 percent. For example, there were 514,000 streams of “Laughter in the Rain.” In his 1982 autobiography, Laughter in the Rain, Sedaka remembered himself as “a Jewish mama's boy” – a resounding understatement that did not reflect how completely Eleanor dominated his life until his mid-20s, reports The Guardian. During his first wave of success, between 1958 and 1963, he handed over five-figure royalty checks, which she cashed and kept, allowing him a $1,000 monthly stipend. Later, when Sedaka discovered that his mother, who had appointed herself his manager, had spent most of his money, he fired her and she attempted suicide. Neil married his wife, Leba, in 1962 with whom he had a son and daughter.  The fact that their marriage lasted six decades is rare in the entertainment industry. Matthew 19:6 says, “Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.” During the pandemic, Sedaka played 150 mini-concerts on his Facebook page from his home. Close And that's The Worldview on this Monday, March 9th, in the year of our Lord 2026. Follow us on X or subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com.  Plus, you can get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

In tracing the emergence of religious liberty in America, Joseph Dawson concluded, If the researchers of the world were to be asked who was most responsible for the American guarantee for religious liberty, their prompt reply would be, James Madison.'" However, Dawson continued, "If James Madison might answer, he would as quickly reply, John Leland and the Baptists.'"

Vance Perkey joins the show to discuss history of Missionary Baptist and the relevance of that distinction today.If you enjoy the episode, be sure to check us out at Facebook, Youtube and Instagram at TruthRevival37385

“If you disestablish Christianity, then Christian leaders need to make Christianity a consumer product. They need to give the American people something they want.” — Matthew Avery SuttonOver the years, Keen On has done many shows on the relationship between the United States and organized religion. Daniel Williams argued that smart people still believe in God. Jim Wallis warned that a false white gospel is threatening America. But we've never quite done a show on Christianity as “the thing in itself”—the force that made America what it is, for better and for worse. That's what this conversation is about.Historian Matthew Avery Sutton's new book, Chosen Land: How Christianity Made America and Americans Remade Christianity, is a sweeping argument that Christianity is not just part of the American story—it is the American story. The founders created a godless Constitution not out of principle but pragmatism: they couldn't pick a winning denomination. The unintended consequence was to open the floodgates. Powerful Protestant groups seized even more power, building an unofficial establishment that shaped everything from westward expansion to the Civil War to the rise of the religious right.Sutton's most provocative insight is that disestablishment turned Christianity into a consumer product. Forced to compete for adherents against entertainment, sports, and media, American churches became entrepreneurial, technologically savvy, and relentlessly current—reinventing themselves every generation. That's what sets American Christianity apart from the rest of the Western world. It also helps explain Trump: a president who uses Christianity in a “crass, overt, and hypocritical” way, but who is doing something that generations before him built the infrastructure to enable. Whether this is Christianity's last gasp or the prelude to another great revival, Sutton says, nobody knows. But the air we breathe in America is Christian air, and this book explains how it got that way. Five Takeaways•       The Godless Constitution Backfired: The founders couldn't pick a winning denomination, so they disestablished religion. It was pragmatic, not ideological. But this opened the floodgates. The Christians who already had the most power—Methodists, Baptists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians—seized even more, creating an unofficial Protestant establishment that determined who was in and who was out.•       Christianity Became a Consumer Product: Disestablishment forced churches to compete for adherents. They had to be aggressive, entrepreneurial, current—competing with entertainment, sports, and media. They became masters of new technologies and communication, reinventing Christianity every generation. That's what sets American Christianity apart from the rest of the world: an unintended consequence of the First Amendment.•       The Civil War Was Christians Killing Christians: Presbyterians killing Presbyterians, Methodists killing Methodists. It exposed the fragility of the effort to build a Christian utopia when you can't settle the question of slavery. The Confederates actually wrote God and Jesus Christ into their constitution—they believed the Union had gone off the rails because its Constitution was too godless.•       The Liberationists Are the Heroes: Indigenous preachers who saw Jesus as liberator, Black Christians, gay rights activists in the 1960s and 1970s, Barack Obama. There have always been alternative visions of Christianity in America. Sutton's heroes are those who see Jesus as a radical figure who wants to overturn hierarchies and bring equality.•       This May Be Christianity's Last Gasp—Or Not: Just under two-thirds of Americans now identify as Christian—a historic low. Trump's hypocrisy is driving young people away. In anointing Trump as their savior, the religious right may have hammered the final nail into their coffin. But every time scholars predict secularization, America has a revival. Nobody knows what's next. About the GuestMatthew Avery Sutton is the Claudius O. and Mary Johnson Distinguished Professor and chair of the Department of History at Washington State University. He is the author of Chosen Land: How Christianity Made America and Americans Remade Christianity as well as American Apocalypse and Double Crossed, and a recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship.ReferencesPrevious Keen On episodes mentioned:•       Daniel Williams on why smart people still believe in God•       Jim Wallis on the false white gospel and faith and justice•       Margaret Atwood on The Handmaid's TaleAbout Keen On AmericaNobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen. In Keen On America, Andrew brings his pointed Transatlantic wit to making sense of the United States—hosting daily interviews about the history and future of this now venerable Republic. With nearly 2,800 episodes since the show launched on TechCrunch in 2010, Keen On America is the most prolific intellectual interview show in the history of podcasting.WebsiteSubstackYouTubeApple PodcastsSpotify Chapters:(00:00) - Introduction: Christianity as "the thing in itself" (02:11) - Is this really a surprise? (04:05) - Which Christianity? Questions of power (06:36) - The founders and the godless Constitution (08:55) - Was it a coup? (11:15) - Jacksonian democracy and revivalism (12:56) - Colonizing the West and Native Americans (16:03) - What does evangelical actually mean? (17:31) - The Civil War as a religious war (21:05) - Max Weber and Christianity as consumer product (28:02) - Margaret Atwood and The Handmaid's Tale (30:17) - Peter Thiel and the Antichrist (36:31) - Is this Christianity's last gasp?

A Place Where God Will Live Ephesians 2:11-22 by William Klock In today's Old Testament lesson we hear King Solomon praying at the dedication of the temple.  The temple was finally completed and Solomon gathered the elders of Israel at the tabernacle, where they offered sacrifices too many to number.  Then with the priests leading them with the ark of the covenant, they processed up the mountain to the temple.  When they'd placed it in the holy of holies, the presence of the Lord, the shekinah, the cloud of his glory descended to fill the temple as it once had the tabernacle.  And Solomon prayed.  He prayed for the new temple and he prayed for his people.  He prayed that they would be faithful.  And then, our lesson today, he prayed for the foreigners, for the gentiles who might come to the Lord's temple having heard of his great name, his mighty hand, and his outstretched arm—that coming to the temple, they would know his glory.  Solomon's kingdom was, however imperfectly, a fulfilment of the Lord's promise to Abraham to make Israel a light to the nations.  And the nations came to Israel and to Solomon, because they saw and because they heard of the Lord's reputation.  Not only had he blessed his people, but in him they saw a god unlike their own.  And so they came, and they saw for themselves the goodness of the Lord, the God of Israel.  And Solomon knew, too, that they would come to the temple that he'd built.  So he prayed that when these foreigners came and prayed, that the Lord would answer them, that he would make himself known to them, so that “all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel.”  Again, this wasn't some one-off prayer that Solomon came up with.  Solomon's prayer is rooted in the promises of God and in the story of his people.  Solomon knew that the world is not as it should be; Solomon knew the Lord's promises to set it to rights; and Solomon knew that God had given an integral role to his people to bring the fulfilment of those promises.  And Solomon great desire was for his people to be faithful to that calling, to that vocation—faithful to be a temple people. Now, this imagery and idea of the temple wasn't new with Israel; it goes all the way back to the beginning of the story.  The garden was God's first temple.  And the man and woman he created—he created them—us—to bear his image.  That means to be his representatives in the temple, to serve him, and steward his goodness to the rest of creation.  We rejected that vocation and the story ever since has been about God restoring his temple and his people.  Two weeks ago, when we looked at Ephesians 2:1-10, we saw how Jesus—the one in whom God and humanity have come together—represents God's work to restore his temple, but we also saw there that, as Paul stresses so much, what is true of Jesus is also true of those who are in him.  One day his people will be raised to be like him—heaven and earth people—but in the meantime, God has filled his church—filled us—with his Spirit as a foretaste and a down payment of that hope.  Brothers and Sisters, that means that we, purified by the blood of Jesus and filled with God's Spirit, we're now the temple—not a temple of bricks and mortar, but a temple of people filled with God's presence. Just as Solomon prayed that the nations would know the glorious reputation of the God of Israel through his people and come to meet him at his temple, our prayer, our desire, our commitment ought to be that the world will know God's glorious reputation through us and come to meet him here.  What God promised to Adam and Eve, to Abraham, to Moses, to the people through the Prophets is now reality in us.  The promise isn't completely fulfilled.  One day the knowledge of the glory of God will fill the earth.  On that day the new creation that began when Jesus rose from the dead will come to full fruit.  Creation and us with it will be made fully new.  God will wipe every last remaining bit of evil from the world and sin and death will be no more.  But, Brothers and Sisters, here's the really important thing here: The church—you and I and everyone else who is in Jesus the Messiah—we are God's vehicle to get the world to that point.  The church is God's means of making his glory known until it fills the earth.  And that ought to get us reflecting on how faithful we are to our mission.  When the world looks at the Church, when it looks at Christians, does what we say and do and live declare the glory of God: his great name, his mighty hand, and his outstretched arm?  (To put it as Solomon did.)  Does what we say and do and live give the world a desire to come to the church to meet God?  Do we at least make the world constructively curious?  If not, we need to reflect on our priorities and on what we're doing. And this is true of everyone who is in Jesus the Messiah, but Paul, writing to the Ephesians who were mostly gentile believers, wants to stress to them just how significant it is that through Jesus and the Spirit they have been made a part of this temple people.  Brothers and Sisters, this is something that we don't spend enough time talking about and reflecting on.  For Paul, the unification of Jews and gentiles in the Messiah was at the heart of the gospel.  It was the proof that God was fulfilling his promises.  This church, made up of Jews and gentiles, men and women, rich and poor, slave and free, all together, unified, one body was a testimony to the glory of God.  In fact, for Paul, it was the testimony of the gospel's power. And I don't think it's even on the radar for many of us today, because we've become so used to and even so complacent about divisions within the church.  Anglicans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Lutherans, Mennonites, Romans, and Eastern Orthodox—and those are just some older divisions amongst us before we got really split-happy in the last century or two.  And it's not just theology and polity.  I suspect Paul might have at least a little sympathy for those sorts of divisions, especially over serious, gospel-compromising theological matters.  But Paul would be furious to see how we divide over things like language and ethnicity.  The English are here and the Germans are at that Lutheran church and the Swedes at that other Lutheran church and the Italians and Spanish and Filipinos are at the Roman church and the Greeks at the Greek Orthodox, the Russians at the Russian Orthodox, the Ukrainians at the Ukrainian Orthodox, the Syrians at the Syrian Orthodox.  The Dutch are in their Reformed church and the Scots are in their Reformed church.  And there's a church just for Chinese-speakers and another for Afrikaans and so on and on.  And you've got Messianic Jews forming their own synagogues.  And Paul would be shouting at us and asking, “Haven't you read a single thing I've written to you?  Your divisions are undermining the very gospel you claim to preach!” Paul did not want this to happen in the Ephesian churches, but even more than that, he wanted the people in those churches, especially he wanted them to appreciate just what God had done for them in Jesus and the Spirit, because if we understand what God has done to make us one, we'll hopefully be far less likely to let it be undone.  So, Paul writes in Ephesians 2:11-12 and reminds them of what they used to be: “Therefore, remember this: In human terms—that is, in your ‘flesh'—you are ‘gentiles'.  You are the people whom the so-called circumcision refer to as the so-called uncircumcision—circumcision, of course, being something done by human hands to human flesh.  Well, once upon a time you were separated from the Messiah.  You were alienated from the community of Israel.  You were foreigners to the covenants of promise.  There you were in the world, with no hope and no God.” You were gentiles.  Of course, Gentiles didn't think of themselves that way.  They were just regular people; it was the Jews who were weird.  But the fact that Paul can say this to them, “You were gentiles” means that they've now been brought into the family of Israel.  And just in case they might have forgotten the significance of that, he describes them as having been outsiders with this string of descriptors that work up to a crescendo of alienation. First, they were separated from the Messiah—from the rightful King.  The Messiah was some weird thing the Jews were into.  What would Greeks or Romans—who were oh, so superior—want to have to do with him?  And even if they did, the Messiah wasn't part of their story.  Then second, Paul says that they were alienated from the community—the commonwealth as the King James puts it—of Israel.  They were foreigners.  Israel was not their nation and Israel's God was not their God.  Even if they did see something attractive in Israel and went to the temple in Jerusalem—think of Solomon's prayer for the foreign visitors who would come—there was a wall between the court of the gentiles and the court of the women.  In Paul's day there was an inscription on that wall warning that foreigners passed it on pain of death.  Gentiles could look from a distance, but they were cut off from the living God.  And third, they were foreigners to the covenants of promise.  Most of them had never heard of Abraham or Moses, but if they had, that simply wasn't their story and it certainly wasn't their family.  They didn't belong there.  Whatever promises the God of Israel had made, those promises were not for the gentiles.  And Paul then sums it all up and says: You were in the world without God and without hope. I think Paul intends a bit of irony there.  When he says they were without God he uses a word that essentially means they were atheists.  And “atheist” is exactly what the gentiles called Jews and the first Christians.  Because Jews and Christians worshipped only one God and one God might as well have been no god to them with their vast pantheons.  And Jews and Christians refused to take part in the pagan worship and festivals that ran all through gentile life and society.  And so Paul flips it around.  “No, it was you gentiles, separated from the Messiah, alienated from Israel, foreigners to the covenant promises—it was you who were the atheists.  You were the ones without God.  And because of that you had no hope.  And if being called atheists didn't make an impact, I have to think this would have.  Because it's not that the Greeks and Romans didn't understand the idea of hope; it's that they had no reason, no grounds to live with hope.  No one in their world believed in progress the way people do today.  That idea is rooted in our biblical heritage.  They thought things just went round and round in cycles—forever stuck.  And while their philosophers might talk about life after death, it was all very vague and not hopeful at all.  Hesiod imprisoned hope in the bottom of Pandora's box, lost forever.  Aristotle and others wrote about hope as fickle and treacherous—a foolish thing to trust in.  Things could go wrong just as easily as they could go right.  Hope just wasn't a big deal for the Greeks.  But in stark contrast, hope was at the centre of the whole Jewish and early Christian worldview.  As I said last time, no one in the pagan world would have ever dreamed that the gods loved them or even really cared about them, so why would anyone in the pagan world have reason to hope?  So Paul sums it all up: Without God and without hope, the gentiles were alone and lost in the world.  Paul reminds them just how bleak things were for them before they were captured by the gospel.  I think it's a good thing for us to reflect on this ourselves and if we did, I think we would have a greater appreciation for what God has done for us and for what he has made his church. So after painting this bleak and pitiful picture of where these people were before Jesus, Paul cuts through the hopelessness and despair.  Like he did with that great, “But God!” in verse 3, now in verse 13 he practically shouts out, “But now!” “But now, in Messiah Jesus, you who used to be far away have been brough near by the Messiah's blood.  He is our peace, you see.  He has made the two to be one.  He has pulled down the barrier, the dividing wall, that turns us into enemies of each other.  He has done this in his flesh, by abolishing the law with its commands and instructions.” Paul wrote about the Messiah's blood back in Chapter 1.  Jesus' blood is the means through which God has accomplished redemption and forgiveness.  This was the great, once-and-for-all-time sacrifice that the Old Testament sacrificial system was pointing to all along.  In the Old Testament, sacrificial blood was like a disinfectant.  It cleansed the tabernacle and later the temple; and it cleansed the people of Israel so that the holy God could come to his people and dwell with them.  Pagan sacrifices were all about killing valuable animals to placate the gods.  In Israel, the sacrifices were all about the blood—a symbol of God-given life—and that blood was shed to wash away the stain of sin and death so that God could come and dwell and fellowship with his people.  Brothers and Sisters, the blood of Jesus, shed at the cross, has fully accomplished once and for all and for everyone what the Old Testament sacrifices did partially and temporarily.  And in doing that, God has abolished the law. You see, the law was the thing that set Israel apart from the rest of the world and Paul saw that wall in the court of the gentiles as symbolic of it.  The law, like that wall, kept the gentiles out of God's people, out of his covenant, and out of his promises.  The law marked out the gentiles as idolaters and as unclean—unworthy of God's presence.  But Jesus' blood has washed us clean—Jew and gentile alike—making both the law and the wall that kept the gentiles out irrelevant.  In Jesus, God had brought these Greek believers into the family—fully and no longer aliens and foreigners.  And why?  Paul goes on in the second half of verse 15: “The point of doing all this was to create, in him, one new humanity out of the two, so making peace.  God was reconciling  both of us to himself in a single body, through the cross, by killing the enmity in him.” Do you remember the first thing the risen Jesus said to his disciples when he entered that locked-up house where they were hiding after he'd been crucified?  It was “Peace”.  Shalom.  Peace is what the world looks like set to rights.  And so it makes perfect sense that “Peace” would be the first thing Jesus would say to his disciples after rising from death and inaugurating God's new creation.  He'd just begun the work of setting the world to rights.  And for Paul, this new humanity—Jews and gentiles, once divided by the law, but now brought together—this new humanity, the church, is the first sign of God's peace breaking out into the world.  The church is the sign of the new age.  As I've said before, we are God's working model of his new creation.  Jesus has killed the enmity that was once between us and he has reconciled both to God and, through that, to each other.  Jesus' blood as washed us clean and Paul stresses regularly to his fellow Jews, this means there's no longer any reason to consider gentile believers in Jesus to be unclean.  We gentiles, with hearts renewed by the Holy Spirit, have turned away from our idols to serve the living God and by the blood of Jesus he has washed us clean.  And if there's any doubt, Paul would point to the fact that the same Spirit has come to fill the gentile believers who first filled the Jewish believers.  So he goes on in verse 17: “So the [he Messiah] came and proclaimed peace, to you who were far off and to those who were near.  Through him we both have access to the Father in one Spirit.”  Again, it's all the fulfilment of God's promises.  In Isaiah 57 God had promised that he would heal the broken and humble in spirit and give peace: peace for those far off and peace for those who are near.  He's now done that in Jesus and the unity of the church—these people who were once separated, these people who once hated each other—their unity in the Messiah as one people is the proof, the testimony, the witness of God's faithfulness and the power of the gospel. And Paul, again, wants to drive this home.  Look at verses 19 to 22: “So then [—this is the result—] you are no longer foreigners and aliens.  No, you are fellow citizens with God's holy people.  You are members of God's household.  You are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Messiah Jesus himself as the cornerstone.  In him the whole building is fitted together, and grows into a holy temple in the Lord.  You, too, are being built up together, in him, into a place where God will live by the Spirit.” The point of all this is that through Jesus and the Spirit, the living God has welcomed us into this amazing story.  We've been adopted into a family that was not ours.  We were poor, dirty refugees without hope, but God has washed us clean in the blood of Jesus, he has made us welcome members of his family, and most importantly, he has come to dwell with us.  He has filled us—aliens, foreigners, strangers, gentiles—with his Spirit—the presence that he had promised to his own people and in doing that he has made us holy.  And just just because.  God has a purpose for us.  He always has. And this is where Paul stops hinting at things with temple language and imagery and comes out and says it: God has done this in order to establish a new temple.  For centuries the Jews had been waiting for God's presence to return to the temple, not that unlike the way so many Jews today go to the Western Wall and pray for a new temple and God's return.  Brother and Sisters, Paul's stressing that God has, in fact, returned, that he has built a new temple, and that he now dwells with his people.  But not in a stone building on the mountain above Jerusalem.  He has built is new temple and returned to live with his people through Jesus and the Spirit. And, again, that means that we—the church—are God's ongoing means of fulfilling his promises to set creation to rights.  God's presence with us is the sign that one day his presence will fill all of creation.  We are the temple, the working model of new creation.  As we proclaim the gospel, we proclaim the glories of God to the world.  As we live the gospel, we put on display the glories of God to the world.  And our unity in Jesus and the Spirit—something we've often forgotten—is one of the most important ways we ought to be living out the gospel.  Just as there was one temple in Israel, there is only one church.  By our divisions and schism and arguments, by our elevating language and race and nation over the gospel, we've often obscured this reality, but Brothers and Sisters, there is but one church and the unity of that one church across our natural divisions of language and race—and class, and status, and every other way the world divides and separates us—that unity is meant to be a witness.  A witness to the power of the gospel.  A witness to the power of Jesus and the cleansing power of his blood.  A witness to the Holy Spirit who indwells every believer.  And most of all, witness to the faithfulness of God, who has been true to his promises.  And through that, our unity becomes a witness to a bleak and hopeless world of God's coming new creation—not just of the world set to rights, but of humanity set to rights within it: one people, renewed and purified, in fellowship forever with the living God. Let's pray: Gracious Father, you have purified us by the blood of your Son and filled us with your Spirit to make us your temple.  Pour out your grace that we might be faithful stewards of the gifts you have given us.  Teach us to guard the unity of your church, so that the nations will see in us a witness to your mighty hand, your outstretched arm, and your great name.  And when they draw near, hear their prayers, we ask, that they might know your great name as we have, through your Son and through your Spirit.  Amen.

Memory Verse: “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ” (Colossians 2:16, 17, NKJV). INTRO: Let's begin our Bible lesson discussion this week on the Good Word program about what “completeness” in Christ means. Often, Bible Sabbath-keepers are confronted by well-meaning Sunday keepers with the idea that seventh-day Sabbath worship of Jesus Christ is perpetuating Jewish ceremonial practices. Would you agree or disagree? How can Bible Sabbath keepers, like Adventists and Seventh-day Baptists, ...

Many people just assume that all Baptists are cessationists and deny that the gifts of the Spirit as described in 1 Corinthians 12 are no longer available. Is this true? As a Baptist pastor, I share what Baptists actually believe about the gifts of the Spirit. The answer might surprise you.Please visit me at https://www.stephenjbedard.com and consider supporting me at http://www.patreon.com/hopesreasonFollow me at http://www.x.com/sjbedard and http://www.facebook.com/hopesreason and http://www.instagram.com/sjbedard Visit my online store at https://www.stephenjbedard.com/store/

In this special "SBC Weekly Roundup" edition of the CBL Podcast, William Wolfe and Jon Whitehead unpack breaking news within the Southern Baptist Convention, including the Executive Committee's new $186M Cooperative Program budget and ongoing financial strain on the EC. They discuss the disfellowshipping of two churches over female pastors and broader concerns about egalitarianism. A major focus is the McRaney v. NAMB case and the Supreme Court's denial of review, which Whitehead argues reshapes Baptist polity and weakens ordinary Baptists' civil recourse against defamation. The future of the SBC hangs in the balance as we countdown to the SBC Annual Meeting in Orlando.   Follow CBL's "SBC Weekly RoundUp" to stay informed on: SBC Presidential Race Entity Controversies (ERLC, Executive Committee, seminaries, and more) The future of the Cooperative Program How your church can prepare to engage faithfully and effectively at the SBC Annual Meeting   Timestamps: 00:00 - 02:37 – Introduction & Preview of SBC Weekly Roundup 02:37 - 05:00 – Executive Committee Budget Cuts & continuing financial strain 05:00 - 06:02 – Two SBC churches disfellowshipped, egalitarianism, and the Law Amendment gap 06:02 - 09:35 – McRaney v. NAMB: Overview of the case, SCOTUS denial, and NAMB's public spin 09:35 - 15:00 – Initial Takeaways from the EC Meeting: “Everything Is Awesome” deception 15:00 - 24:42 – Lifeway CP Survey vs. Financial Reality 24:42 - 36:52 – Disturbing Twist: Vance Pitman's NAMB contract as ‘National Mobilizer' 36:52 - 40:00 – Have We Lost Our Baptist Polity? Today vs. Historic SBC Church Planting Rates 40:00 - 1:20:00 – Church autonomy, civil justice, and courts treating Baptists like Catholics 1:20:00 - 1:25:00 – Orlando or Bust: Why This SBC Meeting Is Pivotal   ––––––   Follow Center for Baptist Leadership across Social Media: X / Twitter – https://twitter.com/BaptistLeaders Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/people/Center-For-Baptist-Leadership/61556762144277/ Rumble – https://rumble.com/c/c-6157089 YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@CenterforBaptistLeadership Website – https://centerforbaptistleadership.org/   To book William for media appearances or speaking engagements, please contact him at media@centerfor­baptistleadership.org.   Follow Us on Twitter: William Wolfe - https://twitter.com/William_E_Wolfe Richard Henry - https://twitter.com/RThenry83   Renew the SBC from within and defend the SBC from those who seek its destruction, donate today: https://centerforbaptistleadership.org/donate/   The Center for Baptist Leadership Podcast is powered by American Reformer, recorded remotely in the United States by William Wolfe, and edited by Jared Cummings.   Subscribe to the Center for Baptist Leadership Podcast: Distribute our RSS Feed – https://centerforbaptistleadership.podbean.com/ Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/center-for-baptist-leadership/id1743074575 Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/0npXohTYKWYmWLsHkalF9t Amazon Music // Audible – https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ababbdd-6c6b-4ab9-b21a-eed951e1e67b BoomPlay – https://www.boomplaymusic.com/podcasts/96624 CastboxFM – https://castbox.fm/channel/id6132313 CastroFM – https://castro.fm/podcast/67110759-1bb9-4fd9-abcb-34113d42e945 CurioCaster – https://curiocaster.com/podcast/pi6894445 Fountain – https://fountain.fm/show/IURohE0rZPJr5h81wxbX Goodpods – https://goodpods.com/podcasts/center-for-baptist-leadership-565673 iHeartRadio – https://iheart.com/podcast/170321203 iVoox – https://www.ivoox.com/en/podcast-center-for-baptist-leadership_sq_f12419733_1.html Listen Notes – https://lnns.co/2Br0hw7p5R4 MoonFM – https://moon.fm/itunes/1743074575 PlayerFM – https://player.fm/series/3570081 PocketCasts – https://play.pocketcasts.com/podcasts/ddd92230-e3ff-013c-e7de-02cacb2c6223 PodcastAddict – https://podcastaddict.com/podcast/center-for-baptist-leadership/5090794 Podchaser – https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-center-for-baptist-leaders-5696654 PodcastRepublic – https://www.podcastrepublic.net/podcast/1743074575 TrueFans – https://truefans.fm/center-for-baptist-leadership YouTube Podcasts – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFMvfuzJKMICA7wi3CXvQxdNtA_lqDFV

"Coxe's death and the coming of toleration didn't immediately end the Particular Baptist differences over the scope of religious liberty. A letter by William Kiffen from September 1688 and a document from the General Assembly of 1689 shows that there was divided opinion over the Repeal campaign for several years. And yet there was at bottom, a fundamental agreement about liberty of conscience as evidenced by the 1689 Confession." - Ron MillerFor more information, visit CBTSeminary.org

Church buildings don't just house Christians—they are built to facilitate so much more—each building quietly tells a story about what your church values. Long before a word is preached, the space itself establishes the way in which people will engage—how people understand authority, worship, and the mission. For each denomination, and each tradition the building guides believers to better understand their theology in different ways. From persecuted Anabaptists meeting in homes and fields, to simple Baptist meetinghouses in the New World, to revival-era preaching spaces, suburban church complexes, and today's eclectic mix of megachurches, old buildings and minimalist spaces—by examining what Baptists have built—we ask a foundational question for today: what do our meeting spaces say about what we believe, prioritize and whether our buildings still serve the mission they were meant to support?In today's episode of the Postscript, I'm joined by Dr. David Bains, professor at Howard College of Arts and Sciences at Samford University. Dr. Bains teaches courses that examine the interaction between theology, culture and religious life. His research has appeared in over a dozen books and journals. Today we hope that Dr. Bains will help us better understand the correlation between the historic Baptist mission and the buildings in which they met.For more information, please follow the link to read the notes for Ep. 260Visit https://magiccityreligion.org/spaces-for-worship/varieties/classic-auditorium/combination/ to see a recent project of Dr. Bains.Visit http://lfbi.org/learnmore 

Missionary Evangelist Robert Breaker talks about the importance of preaching FAITH IN THE BLOOD, like it says in Romans 3:25, and how he was taught this at Bible Institute, and how many today don't preach it anymore, and some even preach against it. He gives proof that he was taught this and that others used to preach it as well. In fact, it's been preached for 2000 years. And, it's been the main Baptist doctrine taught until many Baptists changed in the 1800s. But, Charles Hadden Spurgeon did not change, and chose to stand on the message of faith in the atoning work of Christ. Bro. Breaker explains "The Down Grade Controversy" and how Spurgeon separated himself from the Baptist Union of his day which changed from preaching the atonement to preaching something else. Robert talks also about how he left a church because he too saw them changing the message of FAITH IN THE BLOOD to something else.

Join Todd Unzicker and Andrew Hopper as they discuss the theological connection between believers' spiritual adoption in Christ and the call to care for the orphan. Discover how your church can grow from “guilt-driven” ministry to become a community of “rope holders” for the vulnerable and the families caring for them. In this episode, Todd Unzicker sits down with Andrew Hopper, pastor of Mercy Hill Church, to discuss his new book, Chosen: Building Your Family the Way God Builds His. Hopper shares his personal journey as an adoptive father and explains why adoption should never be a “litmus test” for the faith, but rather a response to the gospel. They explore the theological framework of being “chosen” by God and how that reality should naturally overflow into a church's mission to care for vulnerable children. Listen as they offer practical encouragement and unpack different ways local church members and N.C. Baptists can act as “rope holders” – the vital support system of believers who sustain adoptive and foster families. Whether through financial generosity, providing childcare or offering relational support, Hopper and Unzicker emphasize that every member of the local church has a role to play. By partnering with initiatives like Every Child, churches of all sizes can move toward a sustainable, mission-focused vision where children in North Carolina have a gospel-centered home.

Ridgewood Church is a Baptist church. We are proud and happy about that fact. But where did Baptists come from and what was important to Baptists in the past? Join Dr. Dallas Vandiver, a member of Ridgewood, and pastor Aaron as they cover a little Baptist history.

In this mini-series, Jason and Duffey discuss the issue of Christian denominations. Why are there so many of them? Are denominations biblically appropriate? Shouldn't the church be unified and not divided? They tackle these question and more here. In the coming episodes, Jasona nd Duffey will consider what distinguishes other common denominations from our own Baptist convictions. 

Share a commentA door splinters in Rangoon and chains bite into a young missionary's ankles, but the story starts years earlier with a valedictorian who traded faith for fashionable doubt—and then spent a sleepless night listening to a dying friend through a thin wall. That shock sent Adoniram Judson home, back to Christ, and forward into a calling that would test every conviction he held. We walk through the unlikely steps: a proposal that reads like a martyr's oath, a voyage that turns a Congregationalist couple into Baptists mid-sea, and a decade of language work without a teacher, dictionary, or church. Seven years for one convert. Twelve years for eighteen. Meanwhile, a printing press hums, pages multiply, and a New Testament in Burmese takes shape with careful, stubborn fidelity.Then the empire shifts. War erupts between England and Burma, suspicion falls, and Judson is dragged to prison as a supposed spy. We sit with Anne's grit as she bargains for scraps, delivers a baby, and begs milk from village mothers while her husband hangs nightly by the ankles. Release comes suddenly, but the cost is devastating: Anne's death, their daughter's passing, and news of his father's funeral push Judson into a dark season of silence and surrender. He gives away honors, moves into the jungle, and digs a grave beside a hut to face his own mortality. Out of that deep winter, the seed does its hidden work. The translation stands. The church survives. The scars become a map for anyone who wonders whether slow, faithful obedience still matters in a world that rewards speed and spectacle.We share this story to challenge how we measure impact and to honor the quiet craft of translation, cross-cultural ministry, and perseverance under persecution. If you've wrestled with doubt, chased purpose across false starts, or questioned whether costly conviction is worth it, Judson's path offers a bracing, hopeful answer. Subscribe for more history-grounded faith stories, share with a friend who needs courage, and leave a review telling us: what fruit would you endure for?Stephen's latest book, Legacies of Light, Volume 2, is our gift for your special donation to our ministry. Follow this link for information or to donate:https://www.wisdomonline.org/mp/legaciesSupport the showStephen's latest book, The Disciples Prayer, is available now. https://www.wisdomonline.org/store/view/the-disciples-prayer-hardback

Share a commentA door splinters in Rangoon and chains bite into a young missionary's ankles, but the story starts years earlier with a valedictorian who traded faith for fashionable doubt—and then spent a sleepless night listening to a dying friend through a thin wall. That shock sent Adoniram Judson home, back to Christ, and forward into a calling that would test every conviction he held. We walk through the unlikely steps: a proposal that reads like a martyr's oath, a voyage that turns a Congregationalist couple into Baptists mid-sea, and a decade of language work without a teacher, dictionary, or church. Seven years for one convert. Twelve years for eighteen. Meanwhile, a printing press hums, pages multiply, and a New Testament in Burmese takes shape with careful, stubborn fidelity.Then the empire shifts. War erupts between England and Burma, suspicion falls, and Judson is dragged to prison as a supposed spy. We sit with Anne's grit as she bargains for scraps, delivers a baby, and begs milk from village mothers while her husband hangs nightly by the ankles. Release comes suddenly, but the cost is devastating: Anne's death, their daughter's passing, and news of his father's funeral push Judson into a dark season of silence and surrender. He gives away honors, moves into the jungle, and digs a grave beside a hut to face his own mortality. Out of that deep winter, the seed does its hidden work. The translation stands. The church survives. The scars become a map for anyone who wonders whether slow, faithful obedience still matters in a world that rewards speed and spectacle.We share this story to challenge how we measure impact and to honor the quiet craft of translation, cross-cultural ministry, and perseverance under persecution. If you've wrestled with doubt, chased purpose across false starts, or questioned whether costly conviction is worth it, Judson's path offers a bracing, hopeful answer. Subscribe for more history-grounded faith stories, share with a friend who needs courage, and leave a review telling us: what fruit would you endure for?Stephen's latest book, Legacies of Light, Volume 2, is our gift for your special donation to our ministry. Follow this link for information or to donate:https://www.wisdomonline.org/mp/legaciesSupport the showStephen's latest book, The Disciples Prayer, is available now. https://www.wisdomonline.org/store/view/the-disciples-prayer-hardback

In this episode of the Pastoral Thoughts Podcast, Pastor Jack is joined by Dr. Chuck Harding of Mission To America for a timely and thoughtful conversation. Together, they explore the often-overlooked influence of Baptists in the founding of America—particularly their convictions regarding religious liberty, local church autonomy, and freedom of conscience.The discussion then turns to present-day realities, addressing the turmoil unfolding in Minnesota and what it reveals about the spiritual, cultural, and moral challenges facing our nation. From historical foundations to contemporary unrest, this episode calls listeners to think biblically, remember our heritage, and respond faithfully in uncertain times.

Who is in charge in Protestantism? Catholics often argue that Protestantism fails because it lacks a single visible authority like the Pope. In this video, Christian Barrett responds to that claim and explains how Protestants understand church authority, Scripture, councils, and tradition by answering a recent objection made by  ⁨@CameronRiecker⁩  Christian walks through infant baptism, denominational differences, Sola Scriptura, differences in Roman Catholicism, and the reasons for disagreements in both Protestantism and Roman Catholicism.If you've ever wondered who decides doctrine in Protestant Christianity, how Protestants answer doctrinal disputes, or what authority looks like without a Pope, this video is for you.Topics covered:– Protestant vs Catholic authority– Who is in charge in Protestantism– Sola Scriptura and Tradition– Church councils and Acts 15– Infant Baptism– Ministerial vs Magesterial Authority of the Church00:00 – Who Is in Charge in Protestantism?00:10 – Protestant vs Catholic Authority Explained03:44 – Responding to Cameron Rieker on Church Authority07:24 – The Roman Catholic Argument Against Protestantism (Summary)09:48 – Does Infant Baptism Save?12:47 – Does Church Authority Come From Tradition?14:55 – Baptists vs Lutherans: Protestant Differences18:01 – Acts 15 and the Council of Jerusalem Explained21:01 – The Role of Christian Councils22:50 – Sola Scriptura and Tradition27:00 – Disagreements in Roman Catholicism29:25 – Ministerial Authority of the ChurchFair Use Disclaimer:This video may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. All clips used are protected by the Fair Use Doctrine within Title 17 of the United States Code. This doctrine safeguards the use of copyrighted material for transformative purposes, such as commentary, criticism, review and news reporting. Under Title 17 U.S.C. § 512(f), any person who makes a false, bad faith, or misleading copyright claim or uses a copyright takedown to infringe on free speech, criticism, or commentary can be held liable for damages to the content creator.Hosseinzadeh v. Klein, 276 F.Supp.3d 34 (S.D.N.Y. 2017); Equals Three, LLC v. Jukin Media, Inc., 139 F. Supp. 3d 1094 (C.D. Cal. 2015).#Protestantism #ChurchAuthority #SolaScriptura #ChristianTheology #CatholicVsProtestant #BibleTeaching

Friends of the Rosary,Today, February 2, the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord.This celebration, which takes place forty days after the birth of Jesus, is also known as Candlemas Day, since the blessing and procession of candles are included in the Mass.Christ is the light of the nations, hence the blessing and procession of candles on this day.Jesus' presentation signifies God's entrance to His temple. Soon after the Baptists' birth, God made man enter His temple, presenting Himself to those who were truly seeking Him.Attached to “Candlemas Day”, we also celebrate the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life, founded by Pope St. John Paul II in 1997. That's because the consecrated men and women are to be the light in the world, imitating Jesus, the Light of the World.On this day, the Church expresses its gratitude to all in the community who dedicate themselves in a special way to prayer, and to those with a particular religious vocation to the contemplative life.In the figures of Simeon and Anna, Jesus' presentation in the temple reminds us that prayer and contemplation are well-spent time. Only those who pray and offer penance, like Simeon and Anna, are open to the breath of the Spirit.This feast of the Presentation has a strong Marian dimension:On one hand, Simeon's prophecy emphasizes Mary's sufferings. Pope John Paul II taught that, “Simeon's words seem like a second Annunciation to Mary.”In the previous Liturgical Calendar, it was called the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. indicating the renewal of her total offering to God for the accomplishment of His Divine Plan.On February 2nd, a secular tradition unfolds: Groundhog Day, well known to schoolchildren and adults alike. The fate of Spring hangs in the balance as a burrowing animal looks for its shadow.Ave Maria!Come, Holy Spirit, come!To Jesus through Mary!Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.Please give us the grace to respond with joy!+ Mikel Amigot w/ María Blanca | RosaryNetwork.com, New YorkEnhance your faith with the new Holy Rosary University app:Apple iOS | New! Android Google Play

In this episode I walk through my history of discovering reformed theology, with all the books and influences that guided it. We briefly discuss the history of the YRR movement and where it is today.Bob the Baptists channel mentioned in the episodewww.youtube.com/@BraveNewTube

A new MP3 sermon from Alpha and Omega Ministries is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Baptists for the Holy Roman Empire, the Variant at 1 Timothy 3:16 Subtitle: The Dividing Line 2026 Speaker: Dr. James White Broadcaster: Alpha and Omega Ministries Event: Podcast Date: 1/15/2026 Length: 67 min.

Wednesday evening service preaching from the pulpit of Woodland Baptist Church – Winston Salem, NC * Please feel free to visit our website at woodlandbaptistnow.com

As promised, I looked over the "Sacralism on Steroids" graphic put out by the "New Christian Right" putting Donald Trump as Constantine (seriously) and noted the simplistic history that always accompanies these kinds of movements. Then we looked at the variant at 1 Timothy 3:16 as it was addressed by my upcoming debate opponent, Dr. Dustin Smith, in a recent podcast. Today's program has a fair amount of graphical information so audio only folks might be missing out on some things.

Here is a great encore from July 22, 2025 Fr. Peter Armenio joins Patrick to Friendship with Christ How can we have friendship with God? (12:19) How do we understand some of the euphemism that saints use to describe their love for Christ? (18:25) Bob - I once went to confession and told the priest I was having trouble getting angry with God over disappointments. Angry about it and yelling at God. Fr. told me you probably think I'll get down on you for getting angry with God, but you know God and trust him enough that you can get angry with Him and you can handle that. I was really moved by that. Relationship with God is everything. (26:05) Break 1 Marsha - I'm a cradle Catholic. I've had a relationship with Jesus. The Baptists brought me into that relationship. They gave me a deeper dive into the intimacy with Christ. I hope they saw the beauty of the Catholic church. How does interior life help us from our relationship with Jesus? (40:40) Deedee - My relationship is one of a father and daughter. Trying to be friends with God is sacrilegious. Wouldn't there be a spiritual boundary of some sort? What does friendly speech sound like instead of prayer? (43:43) Break 2 (44:49) What can Mary Magdalene teach us about friendship with Christ?

Two former Baptists, now Catholic, share their journey into the Catholic faith via podcast...again! #baptist #catholic #conversion #podcast #convertingtocatholicism #christianity #bapticatholicisback

Message from Lic. Aaron Arnold on January 12, 2026

Dan discusses some theological considerations as we go into this new year.

In this episode, we are starting a new series examiningdifferences in beliefs from different churches and groups! We begin our assessment of churches/groups at home, with the Baptists.

From the game's early days, college football and a strain of muscular Christianity built a mutually reinforcing culture that taught lessons in America's dominant religious, gendered, and racial belief systems. Christians of many denominations embraced the game to shape and reshape their faith to meet the changing social demands of the twentieth century. Hunter M. Hampton analyzes the impact of football on Christian college campuses. Baptists and Latter-day Saints, Evangelicals and Roman Catholics sought spiritual and personal meaning on the gridiron. Fans watched the action to find God's lessons for them. Wins and losses expressed the divine will while the game's popularity offered a potent way to evangelize non-believers. Hampton also investigates the sport's place in providing a stage for fostering Christian manhood, male community, gender dominance, and on-the-field displays of heroic savagery that served a higher purpose. Provocative and engaging, The Gridiron Gospel looks at the All-American fusion of physical and spiritual muscle. The post The Gridiron Gospel: Faith and College Football in Twentieth-Century America 999.7 appeared first on The Cultural Hall Podcast.

What a year! In this special end-of-year episode, N.C. Baptist Executive Director-Treasurer Todd Unzicker takes you behind the scenes at the N.C. Baptist building, stopping by offices to celebrate how God moved through churches, ministries and partnerships in 2025. From disciple making to disaster response, this is a look at kingdom impact across North Carolina. In this special year-end video, Todd walks the halls and sits down with N.C. Baptist staff members to reflect on a year full of gospel momentum. Together, they celebrate disciple-making efforts, summer camps, church revitalization and planting, missions engagement and the inspiring work of Baptists on Mission following Hurricane Helene. You'll hear real stories, see familiar faces and get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of how God has been at work through faithful churches and generous partners. Look back at a year marked by mission, movement and ministry impact.  Some of this year's highlights include: 617 rebuilds completed by Baptists on Mission volunteers, bringing 617 families affected by Hurricane Helene back into their homes 62 N.C. Baptist churches ready to revitalize and replant 467 students responding to a call to ministry during summer camps Record attendance of about 1,500 at the Disciple-Making Conference  And more! Watch the video for the full 2025 recap and join us in celebrating all that God has done. N.C. Baptists are fueled by the local church, for the local church. Your faithful generosity makes an eternal impact for God's kingdom.

As part of our Across State Lines emphasis, New England Baptist partnered with the ERLC'S Psalm 139 Project to donate an ultrasound machine to Aspire Now Pregnancy Care Center in Vermont, a pro-choice state. On today's episode, you'll hear from Terry Dorsett, executive director of the Baptist Churches of New England, about the unique challenges facing New England Baptists, particularly when it comes to advocating for pre-born lives. He also discusses how cooperation with other state conventions like Tennessee and Alabama, fellow SBC entities, and local churches makes pro-life ministry possible in a region that is largely abortion permissive.New England Baptists face other ministry obstacles and opportunities as well, including family issues, pornography and gambling. Even with these challenges, there are encouraging signs of growth. According to Lifeway Research, New England is the only region in the SBC that has grown over the past five years. Terry has served in New England since 1994, first as a pastor, then a church planner, a director of missions, and finally a church planting catalyst before becoming the executive director of the Baptist Churches of New England in 2015. Now let's turn to Elizabeth Bristow's conversation with Terry Dorsett. Listen to more episodes of The ERLC Podcast at erlc.com/podcast.

In November 1896, Reverend Schemerhorn arrived in Wahpeton, leaving his pastorate in New Jersey. After correspondence with eastern contacts who praised his work, local leaders secured his services. He came highly recommended by well-known Baptists and was offered the pastorate of the local Baptist church. The congregation was pleased with him.

A Sermon for the Third Sunday in Advent Isaiah 35:1-10, 1 Corinthians 4:1-5, St. Matthew 11:2-10 by William Klock Many years ago, as we were driving home from church on a Sunday morning, a very young Alexandra asked, “Dad, can Episcopalians cry?”  I thought, “What?  Of course we can. What makes you ask that?”  And she said something to the effect of, “The song said the Baptists cried”  “Ah!  ‘On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry…' and I found myself trying to figure out how to explain plurals and possessives and punctuation to a pre-schooler who couldn't read yet, and in the end I said something like—“No, the song is about John the Baptist, not Baptists, and he wasn't crying because he was sad, he was crying—like yelling out—to the crowds about how, in Jesus, God had come to save his people like he'd promised, so they'd better get ready by getting rid of their sins.” That hymn was written by Charles Coffin in 1736 for the Paris Breviary and was a hymn to be sung at Lauds—more or less what we call Morning Prayer—during Advent.  And it wonderfully blends the account of John the Baptist that we have in the Gospels with Isaiah's prophecies of the coming Messiah, his call to make straight the way of the Lord, and his promises of forgiveness and reconciliation, of healing and new creation.  Maybe it's because we reference the hymn by its first line, but somehow that first line—little Alexandra wasn't the only one—lots of people hear that first line and imagine poor John sobbing on the banks of the Jordan river, when what we're singing about is John, proclaiming with an urgent joy the coming of the Messiah and the fulfilment of Israel's hopes and longings. For thou art our salvation Lord, Our refuge and our great reward: Without thy grace we waste away Like flowers that wither and decay.   To heal the sick stretch out thine hand, And bid the fallen sinner stand; Shine forth, and let thy light restore Earth's own true loveliness once more.   It's certainly an appropriate image for this season of Advent as we prepare ourselves to celebrate the birth of Jesus and are reminded about the vocation he's given us to prepare ourselves and his creation for the day when he returns.  But I still wrestle with this passage and with today's Epistle from 1 Corinthians 11, every time the Third Sunday in Advent rolls around.  Last week's lessons are some of my favourites.  They remind us how important it is that we know and root ourselves in the story of God and his people.  But I always find today's lessons hard.  First we hear Paul rebuking the Corinthian Christians.  They'd rejected his authority and he writes them to say, “Hey, that's not the way I should be treated.  You need to regard me a servant of the Messiah and steward of God's mysteries.  Who are you to judge me?”  If we didn't know better we might think Paul's head was a little swollen.  And then in the Gospel we've got Jesus defending John the Baptist and his calling and ministry. And I know that the reason these lessons were appointed for the Third Sunday in Advent is because this is an ember week, one of those weeks that most people have forgotten about, that come around four times a year—the times when ordinations traditionally took place.  And so the lessons were chosen to remind us of the importance of those who serve as ministers in the church.  We prayed in the Collect, “Grant that the ministers and stewards of thy mysteries may so prepare and make ready your way by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, that at your second coming to judge the world we may be found an acceptable people in your sight.”  That's a good thing to pray.  I hope that you pray for me and that you pray for our bishops and for those who lead and teach in our church—and all the churches.  But I get kind of uncomfortable standing at the pulpit and suggesting that I—or any other clergyman, by he a presbyter or a bishop—can talk that way about my ministry the way Paul could speak about his apostolic ministry and authority.  That was a unique authority given to Paul and the other apostles and to no one since.  Our duty—both mine and yours—is simply to faithfully proclaim the faith given to us by those uniquely authoritative apostles.  Ditto for Jesus' defense of John the Baptist.  I hope with all my heart that if a crowd of people were doubting my faithfulness, that Jesus was come to my defense.  But I can't presume to talk as if Jesus' words in today's Gospel mean that you all should see and respect me as a modern-day John the Baptist.  Every year when this set of lessons comes around, I can' help but think of the words of our Declaration of Principles, where it says that “this church condemns and rejects the following erroneous and strange doctrines as contrary to God's word...” And the second of those erroneous and strange doctrines is “That Christian ministers are ‘priests' in another sense than that in which all believers are a ‘royal priesthood'.” Brother and Sisters, together we are the body of Jesus the Messiah.  Some of us are ears or eyes, some hands or feet, some hearts or brains.  I may have pastoral training and authority granted by the church to teach and to administer the sacraments, but that doesn't make me more important.  The church, to be the church, needs all of us.  And the really important thing that we really need—all of us—to do is not to treat our pastors or our bishops as if they carry Paul's apostolic authority.  What we need to do is to see ourselves—all of us—in the same place as the Corinthians and submit ourselves to that apostolic teaching handed down by Paul and Peter and John and the rest of the apostles. Because our witness depends on it.  God's kingdom depends on it.  We are the stewards of the good news and we're stewards of God's Spirit.  We are the stewards of his kingdom and his new creation.  And as Paul writes, “it's required of stewards that they be found trustworthy”.  When Paul writes “steward” he's describing the manager of a household or an estate.  Think of Joseph, Potiphar's steward, put in charge of everything he owned, responsible for how it was all managed, responsible for the profits and losses, responsible for making sure all of Potiphar's assets were put to good and efficient use and not wasted, squandered, or damaged.  That's what Paul saw himself as when it came to the mysteries of God.  And not some highfalutin executive, but as a humble slave, graciously chosen by God to steward the gospel. And because you and I have been entrusted with that same gospel—handed down by Paul and Peter and John and the other apostles—we've become stewards too.  Not with the apostolic authority that Paul had and the ability to announce “Thus saith the Lord.”  But still a people called to work in the Lord's household or in his vineyard, entrusted with his mysteries—with the gospel, with his grace, with his Spirit—and called, each of us in our own way, to steward the Lord's good things faithfully. When we look at First and Second Corinthians, the folks in that church weren't doing a very good job.  Picture them.  A small church—probably a few dozen people at most.  Most of the people in it were converts from paganism.  They used to worship false gods who represented things like sex, knowledge, money, war, power, government.  The Corinthians all had their favourite sins: lying, cheating, anger, pornography, drunkenness, drugs, adultery.  You name it, they'd done it—often as part of their worship.  But then this funny Jewish man showed up preaching a bizarre message about the God of Israel and his son, the Messiah—the anointed king—who had been crucified and then raised from death.  And this man, Paul, he'd been abused, beaten, stoned, left for dead so many times for the sake of this message, this “good news” he was so earnest about.  He was a little frightening to look at, because he literally bore the marks of this gospel, the marks of Jesus on his own body.  But this good news was unlike any news they'd ever heard before.  This God, this Jesus, was unlike any god they'd ever worshiped.  He brought love, mercy, grace, and hope into a world of darkness, greed, selfishness, and brutality.  In Paul they saw and in hearing the good news he announced, they met God's new world and they were won over.  They were baptised into this God who is Father, Son, and Spirit and the new creation begun by Jesus was born in them.  Paul stayed and he taught them and they grew in Jesus and the Spirit.  And they lived as a little pocket of God's new age right there in the midst of brutal, wicked, dark, pagan Corinth.  And then Paul moved on.  And they started to struggle.  The temptations of their old pagan ways came back—as so often happens.  The new life of Jesus and the Spirit—so thrilling at first—became hum-drum and they started seeking after new experiences and new excitements.  That resulted in factions in the church: this group became a fan of that preacher and that group became fans of this preacher.  In the name of Christian liberty they became tolerant of sin—even some that were unspeakable to the pagans.  And that led to further divisions.  They began to use the gifts the Spirit had given them, not to build up the church, but to build up themselves.  Their worship became chaotic and dishonouring to God.  And when Paul heard what was happening and wrote to them.  Think of Advent.  He wrote to them: “Hey, you're living like you're still part of the old evil age, subject to the old false gods and the principalities and powers that Jesus defeated at the cross.  You're supposed to be living as heralds of God's new creation!  You're supposed to be a church full of John the Baptists, crying out, announcing that the Lord is night!”  And they wrote back a nasty letter telling him they were done with him—they didn't want to hear his “correction” anymore.  They had grown beyond his teaching and they were doing well on their own, thank you very much! And I think we tend to read about the Corinthians think, “Wow, what horrible Christians!”  And yet, I don't know that the modern church is all that different.  It's full of quarrelling and divisions.  We're jealous of other pastor's or other church's successes.  We use the gifts God has given to benefit ourselves rather than the body.  We lack holiness.  We're worldly.  We lie, we cheat, we steal, and we exploit in our business.  Our families are often a mess.  Unrepentant divorce is rampant.  Sexual immorality, pornography, drugs and drunkenness, abortion are nearly as prevalent in the church as they are in the world.  Bishops and presbyters abuse and lie and plagiarise and get drunk and engage in sexual immorality.  We say we've given our allegiance to Jesus, but we sell ourselves out to the materialistic and consumeristic and individualistic and political spirits of the age.  We take our cues from advertising and become dissatisfied with what God has given us and where he's placed us.  We take our cues from politicians instead of the Bible.  We see evil in the world, we see injustice in the world and instead of speaking out or doing something about it, we look the other way and refuse to act. Our worship is too often chaotic and man-centred rather than God- and gospel-centred.  We preach self-help instead of sin and grace, the cross and new creation.  Brothers and Sisters, the church is supposed to be the advance guard of God's new creation.  It's supposed to be his temple, the place where God and man, where heaven and earth meet.  We've been entrusted with the mysteries of God.  But we're too much like the old creation.  Our allegiance is half-hearted.  We are unfaithful stewards, squandering the gifts of God.  The principalities and powers of the old age often rule and govern the church more than Jesus and the Spirit do.  I don't think it's any wonder that—to use the analogy of John's vision in Revelation—I don't think it's any great wonder that Jesus seems to be taking away our lampstand here in the post-Christian West. And I know there's little if anything you and I can do about the church on a large scale, but we've been entrusted with our little corner of the church and we can do something about that.  Advent reminds us that as Israel was to listen to men like John the Baptist and prepare for Jesus first coming, the church now needs to listen to the scriptures—to the prophets and apostles—and prepare for Jesus' return.  As Paul warned the Corinthians that they needed to heed his apostolic authority, he might as well be warning us, too.  Hear the apostles and hear the prophets—and don't just hear; do.  Hear the words of Isaiah we read today: “The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing.  The glory of the Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.  They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God.” Maybe that doesn't mean much to us today, but for people who lived in the desert, those were words of hope.  New creation was coming.  God has promised to come and set the world to rights.  To bring his people back to the garden to live in his presence.  And so Isaiah tells them, “Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.  Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not!  Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God.  He will come and save you.” Don't be discouraged.  Don't lose hope.  Don't forget his promises.  Don't forget to whom you belong.  Don't give up on your holy vocation.  Don't forget that you are stewards of the good things of God for the sake of the world.  What he has promised he will do.  He will not let you thirst in the desert forever.  “The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.  For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.  And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it.  It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.  No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there.  And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” John the Baptist saw that in Jesus God was beginning to fulfil this promise.  In fact, what John saw in Jesus—preaching good news, healing the sick, casting out demons—looked so much like the fulfilment of God's promises made through Isaiah and the other prophets, that he had confidence to announce to Israel that the kingdom was at hand. It gave him the confidence to preach, not just the joyful part of Isaiah's message, but to also declare the part about God's judgement coming and to call the people to repentance in preparation.  He was confident enough that he even called out King Herod's personal sins.  And that landed him in Herod's dungeon.  But when Jesus didn't break him out, he started to wonder.  I don't know that he really doubted the message, but it seems like he began to wonder and so he sent his disciples to Jesus to ask, “Are you the one or should we look for someone else?”  And Jesus reminded them of all the Messiah things he'd been doing.  The blind received their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, even the dead are raised, and the poor are hearing good news for the first time.  And in case the crowds were doubting, Jesus reminded them of the absolute certainty John had shown.  “What did you go out to the wilderness to see?” he asked them.  Not a reed flapping in the wind.  Not some fop dressed in fine clothes.  You can find that in Herod's palace.  No, you went out to see a prophet—to see a man who knows God's faithfulness and wasn't afraid to proclaim both the joy of salvation and the sternness of judgement.  You went out because he was calling you to repentance in preparation for God's coming.  Yes, you went out to hear the one of whom it was written: “Behold, I send my messenger…who will prepare the way before you.”  In other words, Jeus says to them, “You saw what God is doing through me and so you went out to meet John, to listen to his message, to be baptised in the Jordan, because you knew that you need to be prepared for God's coming. And, Brothers and Sisters, we need to hear the same thing.  We've seen the goodness of God, we've seen his faithfulness in Jesus.  We've know the joy of being forgiven our sins and restored to fellowship with God.  We've received his Spirit and have known the beginning of new creation.  We've experienced the fellowship of this redeemed community.  We should be as certain as John was that in Jesus God's salvation has come, that in Jesus new creation has begun.  And we should be as certain as John was of the need to make straight the way of the Lord, to shout to the world with joy and also with earnestness: Repent, because the kingdom of God is here.  But I think we've lost that—or at least a good bit of it.  The joy has faded and we've become complacent. And so Advent is a call to remember the faithfulness of God that we have known, to remember the joy and love and hope we once knew, and to renew our allegiance to King Jesus and to his kingdom…and then to repent in dust and ashes for our sins and failures and betrayals and to commit ourselves as the church, as his temple to truly be the place where heaven and earth meet, the place that confronts the kingdoms of men with the kingdom of God, that confronts the principalities and powers with the victory of the cross, to be the people who know the redemption of sins and who go out into the world to make straight the way of the Lord.  Brothers and Sisters, let Advent remind you of the joy of your salvation; let Advent remind you of the kingdom vocation you've been given; let Advent be a time recommitment as you lay aside everything else and once again give your full attention and your full allegiance and your full self to the coming King. Let's pray: O Lord Jesus, Messiah, who at your first coming sent your messenger to prepare your way before you: grant that we being faithful ministers and stewards of your mysteries, might so prepare and make ready your way by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, that at your second coming to judge the world we may be found an acceptable people in your sight; who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

In this special live recording from the N.C. Baptist Annual Meeting, episode host Aaron Wallace talks with Global Missions Coordinator Janet Packard and Pastor Neal Thornton about why caring for missionaries is part of the core identity of a Great Commission church. With more than 500 IMB missionaries from North Carolina alone, the opportunity to support them is vast and fruitful. This conversation explores what happens when churches take missionary care seriously. Janet Packard, N.C. Baptists' new global missions coordinator, highlights the value of starting with a missions assessment, a simple tool that helps churches identify how to build relationships with missionaries and engage strategically in the Great Commission.  Neal Thorton, church planter and pastor of Coram Deo Baptist Church in Raleigh, shares why caring for missionaries enriches the entire church, creating a culture of “one another” compassion and helping believers see their Bibles and communities through a missionary lens. The conversation points to practical first steps, from praying for missionaries to reading biographies to forming long-term friendships with those serving overseas. Listen in to hear how N.C. Baptist churches can link arms with the hundreds of missionaries from North Carolina who need ongoing care, prayer and partnership.

It's a bit late this episode but sooo worth it. Jonny Donahoe talks sleep (with a few diversions).You may know Jonny from his fantastic comedy band, Jonny and The Baptists or from his critically acclaimed play, Every Brilliant ThingFind more of his work at www.jonnydonahoe.co.ukThere's a longer version of this podcast and a LOAD of extras from previous series available at www.patreon.com/neurodivergentmomentspod This show can only exist because of our Patreon supporters so, if you can afford it, please do consider a monthly donation.If you've had a Neurodivergent moment you're happy to share with us then email neurodivergentmomentspod@gmail.comMusic by Savan De Paul check out their work on Bandcamp!Audio and Visual Production: Oliver Farrow Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cooperation is at the heart of being a Southern Baptist. And with over 46,000 churches across our country, state conventions are critical in mobilizing and supporting pastors and ministry leaders in each state. That's why at the ERLC, we seek to come alongside these state directors and the churches they serve. On today's episode, you'll hear from Thomas Hammond, executive director of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, as he shares with ERLC Interim President Dr. Gary Hollingsworth about how Georgia Baptists are equipping churches to reach their families, friends, and coworkers with the gospel all across the state. Out of the 11.5 million people who live in Georgia, roughly 7 million don't have a relationship with Jesus. That's why, as Thomas says, Georgia Baptists see pastors as heroes, churches as the priority, and their state as the mission field.He'll also talk about the encouraging growth they're seeing across Georgia—from baptisms and church attendance to giving in local churches.Prior to becoming the executive director of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, Thomas served as lead pastor of Alpharetta First Baptist Church. He is a graduate of Augusta State University in Augusta, Georgia as well as Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in Memphis, Tennessee. He is married to Kerri and they have two daughters. Listen to more episodes of The ERLC Podcast at erlc.com/podcast.

Today's speaker is Dr. Jeremy Westbrook, Executive Director-Treasurer of The State Convention of Baptists in Ohio. Dr. Westbrook encourages us to be generous with what we have been given, teaching that God expects it, He explains it, and He exalts it. His text is Malachi 3:6-12.

3/4. Price Discovery, Trade Policy, and Government Market Distortions — Terry Anderson (Editor) — Andersondiscusses Timothy Fitzgerald's analysis demonstrating that border carbon adjustment mechanisms frequently disguise protectionist trade policies, aligning with the "bootleggers and Baptists" theoretical model. Anderson stresses that authentic price discovery in financial markets is absolutely crucial for effective climate adaptation. However, government intervention, including subsidized insurance programs for flood and crop losses, systematically distorts accurate price signals, preventing consumers from developing effective behavioral and economic adaptations to genuine environmental risks. 1905

Dan looks at some parts of a recent episode from The Lone Bulwark.

ABOUT THE EPISODEA historical exploration showing that Baptists long affirmed religious liberty without requiring a separation of church and state, tracing the shift in the 20th century.Resources to Click“Liberty, Not Separation: The Historic Development of Baptist Perspectives on Church and State” – Marc Minter“Views of Individuals in Southern Baptist Congregations on Baptist Political Theology” – Lifeway Research“The Impotence of Secular Conservatism” – R. Albert Mohler Jr.Comparison Chart of the Baptist Faith and MessageTheme of the Month: Do the Reading: Selections in Political TheologyGive to Support the WorkBooks to ReadEcclesiology: A Study of the Churches – Edwin Charles DarganBaptist Political Theology – eds. Thomas Kidd, Paul Miller, & Andrew T. WalkerThomas Jefferson and the Wall of Separation Between Church and State – Daniel DreisbachAgreeing to Disagree: How the Establishment Clause Protects Religious Diversity and Freedom of Conscience – Nathan S. Chapman and Michael W. McConnellSeparation of Church and State – Philip HamburgerMore Than Just a Name: Preserving Our Baptist Identity – Stan NormanThe Axioms of Religion: A New Interpretation of the Baptist Faith – E.Y. MullinsThe Baptist Story: From English Sect to Global Movement – Anthony L. Chute, Nathan A. Finn, & Michael A.G. HaykinDemanding Liberty: An Untold Story of American Religious Liberty – Brandon J. O'BrienLet Men Be Free: Baptist Politics in the Early United States (1776-1835) – Obbie Tyler ToddBaptist Confessions, Covenants, and Catechisms – John A. Broadus, ed. Timothy GeorgeBaptist Theology: A Four-Century Study – James Leo GarrettBaptist Confessions of Faith – William L. LumpkinChristianity & Liberalism – J. Gresham MachenUneasy in Babylon: Southern Baptist Conservatives and American Culture – Barry Hankins

This episode shows how the church moved from state-controlled religion to voluntary, Scripture-governed communities—and how the Baptists, Congregationalists, Evangelical Free, and eventually Methodists emerged.--The PursueGOD Truth podcast is the “easy button” for making disciples – whether you're looking for resources to lead a family devotional, a small group at church, or a one-on-one mentoring relationship. Join us for new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Find resources to talk about these episodes at pursueGOD.org.Help others go "full circle" as a follower of Jesus through our 12-week Pursuit series.Click here to learn more about how to use these resources at home, with a small group, or in a one-on-one discipleship relationship.Got questions or want to leave a note? Email us at podcast@pursueGOD.org.Donate Now --How England's Reformation Took a Very Different PathWhile Luther and Calvin led theological reform on the continent, England's story began with politics.Henry VIII wanted a male heir, the Pope refused to annul his marriage, and the king broke from Rome.The Act of Supremacy (1534) created the Church of England—but it simply replaced the pope with a king. It wasn't a movement of revival; it was a power play.After Henry, England spun between Protestant and Catholic identities depending on the monarch. Edward VI pushed Protestant reforms, Mary I violently restored Catholicism, and Elizabeth I settled for a middle-way Anglicanism. The constant whiplash raised a crucial question:If kings can change doctrine overnight, where does true faith come from—crown or conscience?Puritans, Separatists, and the Search for a Church Governed by ScriptureTwo groups rose in response:Puritans — Anglicans who wanted deeper biblical reform.Separatists (Pilgrims) — Puritans who believed the system was beyond repair.King James I shut down most Puritan reforms (except authorizing the King James Bible). He made Anglican worship mandatory by law, and that pressure pushed both groups out of England.The Separatists, who fled first, would shape the future of the church in profound ways.The Birth of the Baptists and CongregationalistsThe Gainsborough Group escaped to Amsterdam and encountered the Anabaptists—believers who rejected state-run religion and emphasized personal faith. John Smyth and Thomas Helwys embraced these ideas and in 1609 founded the first Baptist church. They insisted:Faith must be personalBaptism belongs to believersLocal churches should govern themselvesGovernment must never control conscienceHelwys returned to England in 1612 and founded the first Baptist church on English soil, writing boldly to the king, “You have no power over the souls of your subjects.”Another group—the Scrooby Separatists—fled to Holland, then boarded the Mayflower and founded Plymouth Colony in 1620. Their self-governing church became the root of Congregationalism, shaping early American values of freedom, conscience, and community.Europe's Crisis and the Rise of PietismMeanwhile, Europe erupted into the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) over forced religion. Millions died. When the war finally ended, the dream of a unified Christendom...

Bob gives a friendly critique to Clint Russell and other antiwar podcasters for unwittingly conceding the framing of Ben Shapiro and James Lindsay, when it comes to the place of Nick Fuentes in their ranks.Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest:The YouTube version of this episode.Clint Russell's episode on Fuentes conquering TPUSA. Ben Shapiro on Tucker Carlson as the bad guy.Bobby Darin performance that rivals any German dictator.Bob's earlier episode responding to Fuentes' arguments.Help support the Bob Murphy Show.

Baptists are often dismissed as anti-creedal individualists or confused Anabaptists. Walter Strickland shows instead their rich protestant heritage and why their convictions are not merely sectarian. PARTNER WITH US - https://solamedia.org/partner/?sc=AS2502V When you become a partner today, you'll receive two remarkable books as our thanks: Rediscovering the Holy Spirit by Dr. Michael Horton and Praying with Jesus by Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We believe these books can guide you into a clearer understanding of the Spirit's work and a richer prayer life. FOLLOW US YouTube | Instagram | X/Twitter | Facebook | Newsletter WHO WE ARE Sola is home to White Horse Inn, Core Christianity, Modern Reformation, and Theo Global. Our mission is to serve today's global church by producing resources for reformation grounded in the historic Christian faith. Our vision is to see reformation in hearts, homes, and churches around the world. Learn more: https://solamedia.org/