Podcasts about John Bunyan

Episode 171: The Story of John Bunyan (a special episode for Ezra Scholtz) Don't forget to follow along at angelaodell.com! 

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. We're talking with Andrew Hopper, Lead Pastor of Mercy Hill Church in North Carolina. Planted in 2012 with just 30 people, Mercy Hill has grown into a multi-campus, fast-growing church known for its gospel clarity and sending culture. In this conversation, Andrew shares why adoption and foster care have become central expressions of Mercy Hill's mission—and how those practices flow directly out of the gospel. He also unpacks the heart behind his book, Chosen: Building Your Family the Way God Builds His. Is your church unsure how to engage big social needs without drifting from the gospel? Are you looking for a way to mobilize people beyond church walls while keeping discipleship front and center? Andrew offers a clear framework for doing both. Doing good as a sign of the kingdom. // Andrew addresses a common tension churches feel between community engagement and disciple-making. Mercy Hill refuses to treat these as competing priorities. Acts of service—whether foster care, adoption, or family restoration—are not the kingdom itself but signposts pointing to it. Meeting tangible needs creates openings for gospel conversations. These ministries don't replace evangelism; they amplify it by demonstrating the heart of God in visible ways. A church’s collective heartbeat. // Mercy Hill's deep involvement in adoption, foster care, and family restoration didn't start as a top-down strategy but emerged organically from the gifts and passions within the church. Many leaders and members have adopted children themselves, shaping the church's collective heartbeat. Rather than attempting to address every social issue, Mercy Hill chose to focus deeply on a few—believing churches are most effective when they lean into the specific good works God has prepared for them. This focus has mobilized hundreds of families and created a powerful witness in their community. Rope-holding and shared responsibility. // Not everyone is called to adopt or foster, but everyone can hold the rope. Drawing from the William Carey analogy, Mercy Hill equips members to support families on the front lines through prayer, childcare, meals, financial help, and presence. Over time, they've learned that rope-holding works best when built on existing relationships rather than formal assignments. The goal is to ensure no family fights alone in what Andrew describes as intense spiritual warfare. Big vision with baby steps. // Mercy Hill isn't afraid to cast a bold vision—whether for global missions, adoption, or church planting—but they pair that vision with accessible next steps. Prayer nights, giving opportunities, short-term service, and relational support allow people to grow into greater obedience over time. High challenge without guilt creates healthy discipleship. Why Andrew wrote Chosen. // Andrew wrote Chosen: Building Your Family the Way God Builds His not to promote a program, but to give churches a theological foundation for engaging adoption and foster care. The book weaves together Andrew's family story, Mercy Hill's journey, and a deeply gospel-centered motivation rooted in Scripture. Designed to be used individually or in groups, Chosen includes discussion questions and practical guidance for churches or small groups wanting to explore this calling in community. Andrew's prayer is that the book would catalyze thousands of Christian families to participate meaningfully in caring for vulnerable children and families. Gospel-driven motivation. // Underneath everything is Andrew's conviction that gospel motivation outlasts guilt. Behavior rooted in grace goes further than behavior driven by pressure. Adopted people adopt people. Chosen people choose people. That theological clarity fuels Mercy Hill's sending culture, their community impact, and their ongoing growth. To explore Andrew's resources on adoption, foster care, and grab his book, Chosen, visit andrewphopper.com/chosen or follow him on Instagram @andrewphopper. You can learn more about Mercy Hill Church at mercyhillchurch.com. Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I'm grateful for that. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they're extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live! Thank You to This Episode’s Sponsor: Portable Church Your church is doing really well right now, and your leadership team is looking for solutions to keep momentum going! It could be time to start a new location. Maybe you have hesitated in the past few years, but you know it's time to step out in faith again and launch that next location. Portable Church has assembled a bundle of resources to help you leverage your growing momentum into a new location by sending a part of your congregation back to their neighborhood on Mission. This bundle of resources will give you a step-by-step plan to launch that new or next location, and a 5 minute readiness tool that will help you know your church is ready to do it! Click here to watch the free webinar “Launch a New Location in 150 Days or Less” and grab the bundle of resources for your church! Episode Transcript Rich Birch — Hey friends, welcome to the unSeminary podcast. We have got a multi-time guest on, and you know what that means. That means that I really respect, deeply admire, and want you to listen up, and today is no exception. Excited to have Andrew Hopper with us. He is the lead pastor of a church that they should be following, that you should be following. He’s a lead pastor of Mercy Hill Church with five locations, if I’m counting correctly, in North Carolina, and is repeatedly one of the fastest growing churches in the country. I love this church on many levels. They’re centered on the gospel and have a radical commitment to sending people to the nations. They have a desire to make disciples and multiply churches. Andrew, welcome to the show. So glad you’re here.Andrew Hopper — Man, I’m so pumped to be here. Love the podcast. Really appreciate it, man.Rich Birch — Yeah, I’m honored that you would come back. For folks that that don’t know Mercy Hill, give me a bit of a kind of an update. Tell us a little bit about the church.Andrew Hopper — Yeah.Rich Birch — Maybe update us from last time you were on.Andrew Hopper — Yeah, man. So just real quick, planted in 2012. We had 30 people, all you know kind of young professional age, and man, just really believe that God could do something incredible ah through, you know just through our our open hands, and he did.Andrew Hopper — And so it’s been 13 years. It’s crazy. We’ve been sort of pushing the same boulder up the same mountain for 13 years, just flywheel kind of concept and keep pushing. And ah the Lord has done an incredible thing, like you said, five campuses. And man, just moved into a new home and hub. That was from last time we had a chance. That’s been really great. Andrew Hopper — We were in a rented location for a long time as our main like broadcast campus. We’re a video-based multi-site. And so um it’s ah it was a three or four-year journey to raise the money and build this new facility. But we’re in, and the Lord has really blessed that with tons of new people, highest baptisms, sent ones, first time guest numbers, all everything that we’ve done. This has been a, you know, we’ve gone been on a ride – praise God for that. It’s it’s, um, it’s for his sake and his renown, but this year has been unlike the others. So it’s been…Rich Birch — Yeah, you were saying beforehand, it’s like 30 or something like 30 some percent year over year growth. That’s insane to keep up with.Andrew Hopper — It is man. And the, and the giving does not, uh, you know, the giving doesn’t happen.Rich Birch — Reflect that yet.Andrew Hopper — So it’s, it’s like, we’re trying to do ministry on a budget of a church that’s 3000, but a church that’s running 4,500. And it’s like, how do you do that effectively without killing everybody?Rich Birch — Nice.Andrew Hopper — All your staff, I mean, so, but we’re, we’re learning, man, we’re figuring it out. It’s fun. We got, we just planted our sixth church. So that’s apart from the campuses. This is first time, Rich, we’ve planted a church in our own city.Rich Birch — Oh, nice. That’s cool.Andrew Hopper — It’s been really, a really cool dynamic and it’s been fun. He’s doing great. Man, it was a college student that we met when he was 19 years old at North Carolina AT&T 10 years later. He’s an elder here. He’s done a lot of different things. And man, he goes and plants a new church in Greensboro about five minutes from one of our campuses and they’re doing great.Rich Birch — Wow. Yeah, that’s so good. Well, the thing, there’s lots I love about Mercy Hill, but one of the things that I’ve loved about your church from the you know the chance we’ve had to journey a little bit over the years about it is you just have real clarity around the mission, this idea of making disciples, multiplying churches. It’s like that has been rock solid from the beginning. When you think about we want churches to have discipleship at its core, this idea of a church that actually grows people up in their relationship with Christ. What matters most at the foundation? How are you keeping that so foundational to you know what’s happening at Mercy Hill?Andrew Hopper — Yeah, I think um I think that we always sort of bought into kind of what we see in Acts 2 as a little bit of a flywheel. We call it gather, group, give, go. A lot of churches have something like that.Andrew Hopper — The the difference, I think, at Mercy Hill a little bit than what I see ah in in in a lot of churches that we help mentor and coach is that 2020 hit and everybody was like, man, what is a church? What is discipleship? What are we going to do now? And and people were kind of… And I do think it was and it wasn’t, you know, it wasn’t just me. I mean, our, you know, our executive pastor Bobby, he was really integral in this. We sort of really doubled down on no, I kind of think the church is going to come back. Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — And I kind of think what we were doing is sort of what our church is set up to do. It kind of a brand thing. We are sort of a big box sending brand. And that, you know, for us, when we look at Acts 2, we’re like, dude, the gathering, there’s no more there’s no more important hour for discipleship and evangelism. And I know there’s a lot of things written against that. And people are kind of almost like downplaying it. Andrew Hopper — We’re just like, man, we just don’t believe it. We believe people need to be in a group. You know, we they need generosity is lead step in discipleship, give. And we got to teach people that there’s a mission bigger than themselves. And if we do that, it’s going to funnel more people into the gathering. Andrew Hopper — So I think fundamentally what I would say, we need to get, you know, we could talk about our value, you know we can talk about values to gospel and [inaudible] identity, but I think landing on you know, it’s very hard now to, to not get a word salad book form or thing. When you ask somebody, how are you making disciples? It can just be like…Rich Birch — Right. Very vacuous. Who knows what that means? Yeah.Andrew Hopper — For us, it’s just been a very clear, simple process.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — Like, man, we believe if someone is in the gathering, if they’re in relationship, if they’re being pushed on generosity, and if they’re living for a mission bigger than themselves, that’s a current of maturity that will move them. They just get in the stream, they’ll move.Rich Birch — Yes. Yeah. Yeah. It’s so good.Andrew Hopper — that’s kind of So you know for us, I think that’s as, you know we’ve we’ve tried to simplify things there.Rich Birch — Yeah. And, and your last episode, I’ve pointed a ton of people to it, uh, to really, and we really unpack a lot of what you talked about there in more detail.Andrew Hopper — Right. Yeah.Rich Birch — You’re going to want to go back and, uh, and listen to that. You’ve reached as a church, you’ve reached a lot of people who don’t grow up in church that it’s like, there’s a lot of people who are there. You know, we used to say we ain’t your mama’s church, but mama didn’t go to church, you know? So, you know, and it’s been a long time that people were there. What challenges have you seen, you know, helping move people from curiosity into real ongoing discipleship? So like, I think there are, we’re seeing a swell of attendance across the country. People are like, oh, I’m kind of interested in this, but we got to move them from just, oh, this is something interesting to like, oh, I’m actually want to grow my relationship with Jesus.Andrew Hopper — Yeah, I mean, and it’s it’s funny too, Rich, you probably have a better bird’s eye view of this than I do. But I feel like churches that have been faithfully growing for like the last 10 years, they’re not really doing a lot different now. Or even though there’s this big swell happening, what I do think is that some churches have sort of decided like, oh, clarity does matter.Rich Birch — Yes. Yeah, that’s true.Andrew Hopper — And don’t try to be friends with the culture. We’re going to speak in and be prophetic. And, you know, even even to the you know Proverbs 25:26 says, you know, there’s there there’s no there’s no benefit in a muddied spring. You know, it’s like you got to be sort of you got to figure out if we’re going to be clear.Andrew Hopper — So, I you know, for me, I think like and you’re right, we do reach most of the people that we reach that are in the camp that you’re talking about our college age. We reach a lot of people, though, ah that are, you know, they’re they’re coming back to the faith because they’re a southerner.Rich Birch — Sure.Andrew Hopper — You know, they they kind of they kind of were, you know, they they did have some church in their background. They’re coming back. Their kids are not only born, but they’re realizing they’re sinners and they don’t have answers. They’re trying to figure that out.Rich Birch — Right. Right.Andrew Hopper — They’re coming back to church.Andrew Hopper — And, you know, I think the biggest thing that moves people from like interest into a decision point is just being very clear on this is what the gospel is. This is the life it compels you to. Are you going to be in or out?Andrew Hopper — One of the things we say at Mercy Hill a lot is like, man, if you’re if you’re just intrigued, you know, if you’re interested, you’re not going to stay at Mercy Hill because we’re never going to let you, you’re going to get pushed every week. And it’s like, man, people are not really in or like that. I’m not going to do that. You know, they’re just like, no I’m not going to sit here and get like pushed every single week on something I don’t really… And the flip side is when people say, all right, you know what? Stake in the ground. I’m in.Rich Birch — Yeah, we’re doing this, yep.Andrew Hopper — I wanna look like this, I want to build my life on this. It’s like, well, now, you know, it’s it’s man, I’m hopefully, you know, putting tools in the belt every single week to live that life.Rich Birch — Yeah. Yeah, it’s good. I do think there was a time where people wandered into our churches where I don’t think that happens as much anymore. I think people, when they arrive, they come with questions, with live active questions that they’re trying to wrestle with, kind of regardless of where they’re they’re at in their journey.Andrew Hopper — Yeah.Rich Birch — And they’re what you to your point around, you know, there’s no benefit in a muddy stream. People aren’t looking for anything that sounds like, well, what do you think? Because the reason why they’re there is because they’re asking questions. And so, you know, they’re they’re looking for clarity, like I think you’re saying. Rich Birch — Well one of the things I love about your church is there’s a high commitment to, you’re you’re you’re tearing down what I think is a false dichotomy. Sometimes I think when churches come to this idea of outreach or making a difference in their community, there’s this there can be this gap or false dichotomy between doing good in our communities and making disciples. Like we gave that up at some point. We were like, you can’t, you know, we can’t do both of those things for some reason. Why, why did we do that? Why did we, as churches say, we can’t both make a difference in our communities and also make disciples?Andrew Hopper — Yeah, I think it’s, I actually have a lot of sympathy for the fundamentalist leaning. I know it sounds a little bit weird. Rich Birch — No, that’s fine.Andrew Hopper — Churches that led from the, you know, from the good do good in your city kind of thing. I don’t think they’re right, but I do have sympathy for that because I understand how quickly that sort of, you know, is so hijacked by liberal, by theological liberalism to where it’s finally man we’re digging wells and wherever but we’re not talking about who the true source of living water is. Like we don’t want to be offensive we just want to do good without speaking the whole you know you know live your life as a Christian only use words if necessary, whatever, you know. And and I so I understand why people kind of fled and have fled that.Andrew Hopper — Like, you know, I’ve even had our church before when I when I talk about adoption or we we have a ministry, and a ministry called No More Spectators. We’re like moving people towards community ministry. And we had people kind of going on like, oh, my gosh, this seems like a sign of like churches start going this way and then they lose the gospel.Andrew Hopper — And I’m like, well, the reason you’re kind of feeling like that is because a lot of churches have done that. You know, you’re not [inaudible] like that just out of nowhere. Now, of course, I think it’s a little bit immature and we’ve got to push through. The way we talk about it, Rich, is, man, we want to do good in our community as signs of the kingdom coming.Andrew Hopper — They are not building the kingdom. You know, if we go repaint a house or house a homeless person, one day that person would parted with that house, whether they, you know, get messed up and leave or whether they do great and then would die one day, you know.Andrew Hopper — Or, if we have, ah you know, if we go and, and you know, we’re going to, for example, we have ah ah a family in our church that they need a ramp built because, man, the the brother is struggling with MS and he’s, they’re they’re fighting it like Christians do. We’re going to go do that. You know, we’re going to go build that ramp. That ramp’s going to rot and die one, you know, rot and rot away one day. And, you know, whether it’s 100 years from now or whatever.Andrew Hopper — Like it’s not literally the kingdom. But when the outside world sees us engage and, you know, our church will talk about this primarily when we think about community ministry, we think about it in terms of adoption, foster care and families count, which I can talk to you about. I think it’s bringing a sign of the kingdom that is to the community around us to say, hey, this is not the gospel. But it sure points to the gospel. Rich Birch — Right, right.Andrew Hopper — You know, it’s a pretty good signpost of like, yeah, there’s a kingdom coming where kids aren’t separated from their parents, you know. And and so that’s kind of the way that we think about, it’s not, you know, it’s not the kingdom. It’s a sign of the kingdom that is coming.Rich Birch — Yeah, let’s let’s dive in. So adoptions, foster care, families count. These are not small issues. Like you started with like putting a ramp on, painting somebody – those are like, okay, I can organize my head around that. And then we jump to what I think are obviously significant. How, it can be easy, I think, for church leaders it can be easy where, you know, we got a lot of fish to fry in our own backyard. When you see big problems like that, help us unpack that. Why do you as a lead pastor, why are you passionate about these issues? Why are these the things that you’ve chosen?Andrew Hopper — I think it’s, man, I think it’s great. I mean if you can’t if you don’t mind I’ll go back and give you a little bit of context. I’m a context [inaudible]… Rich Birch — Yeah, absolutely. Let’s do it. Yeah. Andrew Hopper — …number one so I always want to frame it in where we’ve been. But the short answer to the question is I think that every church because it is made up of individual believers that have individual gift matrix, you know they’re they’re gifted the church is gifted in a unique way because the people which are the church are gifted in a unique way, right? Andrew Hopper — And so to me, you know, slapping, you know, a top down every single church has to to manifest signs of the kingdom in X way, which, for for example, I’m not to pick on it, but like, you know, the whole diversity church kind of movement. I love you know, if that’s your brand, that’s awesome. That’s great. Go, go bring signs of the kingdom in that area. But you know what people do is they take their thing and then slap it on every single church. You know, this is the sign of the kingdom that you have to manifest.Andrew Hopper — I don’t think that. It takes every kind of church to reach a city because there’s all you know, there’s every kind of people in the city. Right? For us, though, and I think for a lot of churches that that maybe are are made up a little bit like we are, I think there is a lot of meat on the bone for adoption, foster care, families count ministry. And I think churches could be greatly helped by latching on to maybe, you know, something in particular, maybe this, maybe this specifically. How we got there, Rich, was we had we had, you know, huge movement in our church in 2019. I was very convicted.Andrew Hopper — Some of the exponential stuff was coming out, you know, mobilizing people outside the walls of the church. And I really was, man, I was just really affected by that. And I don’t want the dichotomy, you know, I don’t want, well, you your people serve in the church and not outside the church. It’s like, no, most people serve outside the church. If you watch them, they are serving inside the church as well. It’s it’s like a it’s like, man, you know, just just because serving inside the church is not the finish line, don’t demonize it because it is a starting place.Rich Birch — That’s good.Andrew Hopper — So it’s like, I don’t like that kind of whole thing. But but it did affect me to say, OK, what are we doing to push to the outside? So we we we did a thing. You would have loved this, man. But it except for the fact that it didn’t really work that good. OK, it was awesome.Andrew Hopper — It was, we still have the domain name – nomorespectators.com – I had the tagline: Jesus didn’t die to create spectators. He died to create servants, not spectators, workers, not watchers. We, man, you could go to nomorespectators.com and, you know, it was like, it was like a funnel for all of these community ministry opportunities in our city. So it was, you know, people from the housing, you know, authority type stuff would post things. And it was, it was all this kind of, it had a bunch of stuff in it. Andrew Hopper — In the end of the day, great idea. It was a little too complex. Our people latched on to the foster care, pregnancy network, you know, ended up being families count, Guardian ad Litem and adoption. So our guy that was over all that at the time our sending director, which is hard for me to have a good idea that ends up dying hard, okay that’s just tough for me.Rich Birch — You had a great sticky statement and everything. Come on.Andrew Hopper — I’m the king of sunken cost bias. Okay. Like, I’m like, dude. And so finally around 2020, he came to me and he said, bro, I know this is hard for you. Cause it was like a two year initiative. He’s like, this is hard. He said, No More Spectators needs to just turn into Chosen. And it needs to be like, you had this idea for 30 different things. It just, this needs to be our niche, man. You know, we we don’t do a lot of these other things, but we do this really well.Andrew Hopper — And it was hard for me. Ultimately, it was great wisdom by them, not me. And we started going down that road. And partly, I think it’s because, Rich, is heart is near to my heart. I have an adopted daughter. A lot of our staff have adopted kids. We just have a guy right now. Our associate director of first impressions at the Rich campus is in Texas right now, you know, bringing their daughter home.Andrew Hopper — I mean, so it’s just, and so it’s sort of started to morph into, and the the the big thing I’ll say, and I, you know, I’ve been talking a lot here, but the big thing I’ll say is, if you think about the way I just ah described all that, it doesn’t start with the need in the community. It starts with the gift matrix of the church. The poor we will always have with us. Like there there is no there’s no scenario until Jesus comes back that there’s no kids that need to be adopted, you know.Rich Birch — Right, right.Andrew Hopper — And it’s just the reality of it. And so there’s always going to be need in the community. It’s more about, okay, what are the Ephesians 2:10 works that your church, because the church is made up of people who are individually called, what are the you know what are those works that God has set out for your church? Rich Birch — That’s good.Andrew Hopper — And, you know, so for us, we just felt like, dude, this is a a heartbeat thing. Our people got more, they get more fired up. The greatest thing I’ve ever been able to mobilize our people for prayer for is go to the abortion clinic and pray. I mean, a thousand people on their face in the pavement. It’s like, it just strikes a chord with our church and who we are. So we wanna run after that.Rich Birch — Yeah. Well, I love that. And we’re going to dig out a bunch of this, but let’s think about it first from a perspective of somebody who’s maybe attended your church. They just started. They’re they’re relatively new, you know. The idea of something as weighty as adoption or foster care, that’s a big ask. And you know when you yeah how do I experience that as someone who’s just new? What are some ways that I could get plugged in? What does that look like? That, that, cause I, I’m hard, it’s hard to imagine that I go from zero to, to, you know, adoption, you know, how do I end up or flying to Texas to, you know, pick up a kid. That’s a lot. Help me understand. How are you, cause I know you guys are so good at moving people along from kind of where they are to where you’re hoping to – what’s that look like? What’s the kind of, how do you bring people along in this?Andrew Hopper — Man, totally. I think you’re right. I think it’s a combination of big vision on one end and then baby steps on the other. But the big vision matters.Rich Birch — That’s good.Andrew Hopper — Like we don’t want to be scared of the big vision. So, you know, for example, our weekender process, which I know you talked about some, you know, that weekender process, you know, people literally for years, we would give them a passport application in the weekender process. Because we’re like you’re at this church you’re probably going to be overseas at some point on a mission trip. And so to me it’s like people are like dude that probably scares the crap out of people. And it’s like well, I mean we want to make sure they know what they’re getting into, you know. We’re not telling them they got to do that tomorrow… Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — …but that is the, and then and then there’s all these baby steps, right? Like hey come to you know, every February we do Sent weekend. Come to the prayer night. Like that’s a baby step. That’s not you getting on a plane to go to Nepal. But you know hey we’re doing this missions offering at the end of the year, like maybe get you know. So there’s all these I would say that our the way we think about Chosen ministry, which again: adoption, foster care, families count, and rope holding, which is a big part of this discussion… Rich Birch — Okay. Andrew Hopper —…is that way. It’s big vision on the front end so we’re never going to tell somebody, hey you know, I know you could never do this. Like I’ll never…I think people can do it and they should. Or or you know more Christians than are should. At the same time we’re also not guilting anybody. Like so I’m I you know the the first thing I’ll tell people is like, hey, you know we start talking about adoption. I always say always say, hey, we have not lined up a bunch of little kids in the lobby for you to take one home today, okay. And then I’ll tell them, that’s next week.Rich Birch — That’s great.Andrew Hopper — Okay, so yeah but and we we try hard to like put some levity in it. Man, we’re not everybody’s not going to do that. In fact, a minority, of a small minority is going to do it. But everyone can be involved and there are baby steps.Andrew Hopper — So we try to highlight giving, man. Like if you someone adopts from Mercy Hill, we pay 25% of their adoption. Okay.Rich Birch — Wow. Yep.Andrew Hopper — If they’re a member and they’re in a community group, they get 25%. All right, well, you know, we’re going to connect that. Like, man, you you are never going to adopt. You feel like that’s, but it’s like, well, I give $100 a month to the church. Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — Well, hey, what? You know, you’re you are you are supporting.Rich Birch — We’re making a difference.Andrew Hopper — We do parents night out, you know, for all of our foster and adoptive parents. We do it quarterly. It’s like, hey, those are opportunities to come and serve, man. You can serve the meal you can do. We do rope holding, which I know we’ll probably talk about. But but the the idea of rope holding is just like, man, I’m not going to do this, but I can be in the corner for somebody. They’re in my community group. I want to be their first call if they need a babysitter or they need, you know, a gift card, or whatever they need.Andrew Hopper — So I think, man, we try to do big vision. You know, we’re going we’re going to set a huge vision, you know, for 2030 for 2030. Actually, we just hit our vision for 2025, which is 200 adoptive or foster families. There’s a lot of ways people can be involved with it.Rich Birch — So good. There’s, I think thing I would encourage friends who are listening in, you really should be following Mercy Hill, Andrew, because I do think you’re a very unique communicator where you, and you just described it. And I think to you, it’s just like, that’s just what you do. But this idea of like, you’re calling people to a high bar, but you’re not leveraging shame, guilt. you know, it’s, and I think so many times our language can kind of lean in that direction. Or we can, if we really are trying to push people towards something, or we can just undersell the vision. You know We can be like, oh, it’s not that it’s not that big of a deal. You know It’s not for everybody. So I would encourage people to listen in.Rich Birch — Talk to me about rope holding. How is that, what’s that look like? Unpack what that looks like a little bit.Andrew Hopper — Yeah, so rope so the the the rope-holding analogy, which a lot of your listeners probably gonna already know this, but you know William Carey, Andrew Fuller, William Carey, father of modern missions, he’s he he he makes the statement, “I’ll dangle at the end of the rope in the pit, if you’ll hold the rope,” talking to Fuller. And Fuller held the rope for him. Like, you know, Carey the mission field, Fuller’s raising money, preaching sermons, organizing mission boards. So that’s kind of the picture. Right.Andrew Hopper — So we say, all right, not everybody is going to go down into the pit of foster care adoption, even even families count. I mean, these are these are massive spiritual warfare battlegrounds you know um which is one of the reasons why our church wants to be involved so much. I mean you if you want to talk about getting to the you can do all the rhetoric in the world, brother, you want to get to the very bottom of societal issues, you you be involved in somebody’s story that’s trying that’s trying to get their kids back from the foster care system. You’re trying to help them with that. I mean, every you could fatherlessness, poverty, drug abuse. I mean, everything you can think, you know.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — So this this is just spiritual war. So what we tell people is like, hey, man. If we got people that are mobilizing for for adoption and foster care, we better have people in their corne,r because the enemy is going to bring his war machine.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — And we see it all the time. I mean, you’re going to see, you know, a family steps in to adopt and you’re going to start seeing them, you know, there can be sickness. They can have marital problems. They can have financial things that come up. They can begin to believe lies, frustrations. I mean, There’s just so they can become, you know, their their heart can start getting hard toward the system. I mean, there’s so many things that come at them. And so what we say is we need people in their corner, right. Andrew Hopper — Now, it’s funny because like the way our church has operated was at first we said, all right, we’re going to we’re going to do, you know, the the community group is going hold the rope for the people. And and that that was fine. The problem is when we really kicked off this ministry, so many people got involved that it became overwhelming to the group. So we said we got to start this… Rich Birch — Right. Andrew Hopper — …rope holding ministry. The rope holder ministry is good. It’s like, what does a rope holder do? They kind of do whatever the person needs them to do. Rich Birch — Right. Andrew Hopper — So there are examples of the rope holding ministry going really well, where it’s like, hey, man, they’re they’re helping with ah child care with the other kids when they’re going to foster care appointments in court. And or, hey, we’re we’re helping you do some things around the house whenever you’re overseas doing your adoption, which is going to put you three weeks in country. You know, there are some good examples like that. Andrew Hopper — But the other thing that we’ve learned is, you know, foster care and adoption families that are that are walking through this, they’re going through a very trying time. And to just pair them with somebody they don’t know and say, hey, look, here’s your supporter, it can be a little bit like, oh, that’s awesome, and then they never reach out to them.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — They never reach out – the rope holder’s ready.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — But it’s just like, dude, I don’t I don’t know you. And this is a hard time.Rich Birch — Who are you? Yeah, yeah.Andrew Hopper — And so what we’re trying to figure out now as we reboot that rope holder idea is, you know, how how do you kind of integrate relationships they’ve already had? Almost like, hey, do you have this massive pool of people called rope holders? Or when an adoptive family comes up, you say to them, hey, who can we shoulder tap, rope holder for you.Rich Birch — That’s good.Andrew Hopper — And then we’ll train them.Rich Birch — Oh, that’s cool. Yeah.Andrew Hopper — But not have this pool, but say for you, we’ll put them in. So that’s kind of what we’re, so as part of our reboot for 2030, you know, that’s sort of what’s in our mind right now.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s cool.Andrew Hopper — We have a whole playbook for the way we’ve done it, which anybody, you know, if anybody wants any of those things, they can go to AndrewPHopper.com/chosen. And I can send you any of that stuff we have, but on the rope holder side, you know, just full transparency, we’re still, you know, kind of, of you know, and I’m sure it’ll always be that way that we make an improvement.Rich Birch — Yeah, always trying to make it better. Yeah. And I want to, yeah, at some point in this journey, you decided, hey, we’ve got to put this vision and framework into writing, like we and you actually ended up writing a book, and friends who are listening in, I want to encourage you to pick up a copy of this book. Listen, we’re almost half an hour in. I know you’re interested in this. This is the kind of thing you, Andrew’s a trusted leader. He’s, I’ve had a chance to take a peek at the book. This will be super helpful for you. But, but that’s a lot of effort to put this together into a book. What pushed you from just leading this ministry to ultimately saying, hey, I want to capture this into a resource that could help other people?Andrew Hopper — Well, you know, Rich, I never really saw myself as like a writer, just like a practitioner, man. Let’s just keep keep working on the thing and going.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — And truthfully, I got approached. Hey, would you have any interest in writing? You know, New Growth Press is the one that’s editing this book and putting it out. And it was funny, though, because the second I was asked, I was like, man, I know what we should do [inaudible] that should be what we should do. It’s it’s our it’s it’s my story’s family story with our special needs child that we’ve adopted. It’s our church’s journey. But more important than either of those two things, it’s a grounding in the gospel-centered motivation. Because I think that is what is so important. We don’t do guilt motivation. And you know, cute kids and sad, cute kids and and sad stories are good reasons, but they you need a great reason, because it’s hard. Rich Birch — That’s good. Yep.Andrew Hopper — You know, and the great reason is of course, adopted people adopt people. And so we delve way into the helplessness of our spiritual condition, how God adopted us and then how, you know, that provides a deep motivation for us to go and do the same for others.Rich Birch — Can you unpack that a little bit more? Because I think this is, ah to me, a core part of the book that I think is really helpful. Even if you’re maybe listening in, you’re thinking, okay, I’m not sure adoption or foster care is necessarily the thing, but you unpack this idea of gospel rather than guilt. And can you talk us through, you know, how, yeah, just talk us through that part, that concept a bit more. Just double click on that a little bit.Andrew Hopper — Yeah. So, you know, when we think about behaviors that flow from the Christian life, there’s really only two ways to think about it, right? Like one of them is we try to do things in order that God would approve of us, you know, that he would, you know, he would, ah he would, he would let us in his family, you know, those those types of things. And we, you know, this is for a lot of Baptistic world, which I am, this was kind of like, wow, this is really revolutionary, but that was 20 years ago – Keller and all that. You know, we just started understanding what more of a gospel center motivation. Andrew Hopper — Of course, the other way to think about Christian behaviors is you are part of the family because of what Christ has done for you. And the family has a culture. The family works a certain way. There’s fruit that will pop out in your life, not so that you can gain entrance into the vine. That’s not how it works. Like, ah you know, you don’t you don’t produce fruit to get in the vine. You produce fruit because you’re in the vine. Andrew Hopper — And so, you know, when we think about like like Titus 2, for example, we think about how the grace of God appears to all men, teaching us not just salvation, but teaching us to obey his commands. So there’s something about salvation that and is inherent to the gospel-centered motivation of of of going out, living the Christian life. You know, it’s it’s kind of the John Bunyan idea when they said, man, if you, you know, if you keep preaching this gospel message, people are going to do whatever they want to do. And he said, no, if I keep preaching this gospel message, people are going to do whatever God wants them to do. Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — You know, and so I think what we’ve done in this book is just say, hey, that that is true universally in our Christian life. Like if I’m not tithing and I’m stingy, I can do motivation in two ways. Number one, how dare you, you piece of trash that you never, you know why would you never give? Look what God, you know, blah blah blah, blah, blah, guilt, guilt, shame, shame. Right. Andrew Hopper — Of course, the other way to say is like, man, what kind of riches has God given you in the gospel? And what kind of inheritance do you now have as a son of the king? It’s like, all right, that’s powerful, you know, and it will it will take us places that guilt never can. Guilt will work for a while. You can put fire under somebody and it’ll move them. But if you put it in them, they’ll run through a wall, you know. Rich Birch — So true.Andrew Hopper — And so it’s like it’s like, hey, OK, so you could do it with all these different things. We’ve tried to take this book and do that with adoption to say, all right.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — We know James 1:27, we need to care for the fatherless and the orphan. We understand. I mean, dude, there ain’t, when you talk about metaphors, there’s two big ones, marriage and adoption, you know? And so if you want to do adoption well, we can do it from two motivations. One motivation is look how many kids need. That’s all and that’s all true. That moves my heart. You know, look, can you believe this story of this kid? And that’s fine.Andrew Hopper — Of course, you could do guilt, too. Like, how dare you, you know, have this nice, happy family and not go adopt a little poor orphan kid. You know, you could do guilt. All those things will be fine. They’ll put fire under you a little bit. But if you want to put the fire in someone that is going to carry them through the long haul of all this stuff, I think it’s better to start with: All right. There’s kids that need to be chosen. Were you chosen?Andrew Hopper — You know, so like one of the you know, one I’ll give you an example. We know of a family here in the tribe. They’ve got an awesome son that is 20-something years old, kids got Down syndrome, and they adopted him from Ecuador. And his story was one day a carpenter was working on this building and he heard cries coming out of a dump, like a trash heap. This child had just been born and been left you know with his deformities had just been left for the dumpster. Andrew Hopper — And they brought him to the orphanage. And next thing you know, you know about three or four years later, he got adopted by this family that we know. And that family’s father, he said, Eddie’s story is my story. I was pulled from a trash heap by a carpenter. And if you it’s like that is powerful. Rich Birch — Right. Yes.Andrew Hopper — You know, when you start thinking about, man, in my sin, I was one who had no part and parcel in the kingdom of God. I was headlong in rebellion. I had rejected. I was not a son. And God lavished his love upon me, that I would be called his child. And if if that has happened to me spiritually, how could I not want to do that? Or at least help those. you know I’m not saying that’s a call for everybody, but be involved in others that are doing that as well.Andrew Hopper — And so that’s what we say. Adopted people, adopt people, chosen people, choose people. And hey, I didn’t answer your last question. Rich Birch — That’s fine.Andrew Hopper — Okay. Your last question was, why did we write the book? Very simply, I think more people just need to think about what I just said. You know, and I think churches do. And I think that if, you know, a lot of churches have adoption-minded people and a little bit of of fuel in that fire might create some really cool ministry in that church. And this book lays really well for being like, man, make it a small group resource for eight weeks. You know, it’s got questions at the end of each chapter.Andrew Hopper — Like my my prayer is that this book would catalyze tens of thousands of Christian adoptions. Rich Birch — Wow. Andrew Hopper — And that’s why we wrote the book.Rich Birch — Yeah. It’s and I thought the same thing as I was looking through it, that this would be a great resource for a small group, a great resource as a staff training thing. Because again, I think there’s two things happening on two levels. From my perspective, there’s what you’re actually talking about – adoption, but then there’s how you talk about it. And I think even both of those, I think could be interesting as a as a staff team to kind of unpack and think about. How do we ensure that what we’re doing is so gospel-infused. That’s part of why i love you as a communicator. I think you do such a good job on that. It’s just fantastic. So I would strongly encourage people to pick it up.Rich Birch — Help me understand the connection. So Mercy Hill is known for, or at least from my perspective, known as a sending church. You know, the thing, one of the and I’ve told again, I told you this before, you’re the first church leader I’ve ever bumped into that has connected new here guests to number of missionaries sent. This like idea of like this funnel of how do we move people all the way along to that? I think that’s incredible. How does that kind of sending culture and adoption, how does that fit together? How does that help kind of fuel the flywheel of what’s happening at Mercy Hill?Andrew Hopper — Well, you you helped me think about this when you came and did our one day for our for our Breaking Barriers group, you know, for the pastoral trainings that we do. Because in your church growth book, you talk about how, ah you know, community ministry is used as an evangelism tool. I’m not, I’m probably butchering the way you talk about it.Rich Birch — Yep. Yep. Oh, that’s good. Yep. That’s great.Andrew Hopper — That was like a big light bulb for me because because we we definitely do that, but we have not leveraged the communications of that.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — And so, um you know, for us now, what we’re trying to really think about is how does our adoption of foster care ministry and rope holding and families count ministry, how does that create open? We call them open doors, right? Rich Birch — Yep.Andrew Hopper — Like, how does it create open doors, questions in the community, where people come in? And we’ve seen it. You know, so like when we’re talking about the sending culture, that pipeline starts when new people get interested in faith, they get interested in church.Andrew Hopper — And, you know, like, for example, we we had a guy, we just did a historic video. Man, he’s saved, baptized, serving now, ah or, you know, family, young family, prototypical Mercy Hill guy, like, man, just you know blue collar heart, white collar job, just that. I mean, just everything we talk about. Right. He’s our he’s kind of our guy. And the way he got connected was his boss had signed up to be a rope holder. And it just blew his mind. Like, why would a guy take limited time and go help these families? I mean, he of course, he thought it was a good thing. But it really intrigued them. Andrew Hopper — And so we’ve tried to we’re trying to leverage more of the communication side. It’s tricky. You don’t want to be like, hey, look at us you know in the community. At the same time, I’m like, man, this year, you know when we’re going to do a pretty significant upgrade to some of the there our foster care system has, there’s a house that has a backyard and the backyard is where families come to play with kids, play with their kids they’re trying to get back from the foster care.Rich Birch — Right. Yep.Andrew Hopper — And we’ve said like, you know what, man, if these parents are putting in, that needs to be like the best, the best backyard, and you know?Rich Birch — Right. Yeah, absolutely. 100%.Andrew Hopper — And so, you know, we’re, we’re going to do a significant investment in some, you know, whatever…Rich Birch — Play structures and yeah. Andrew Hopper — …like a, you know, whatever, like a pergola type thing. They’re going put a shed out there. All going to connect it, pavers, all that stuff is what we want to do. And, you know, we’re, we’re looking at that and I’m going like, yeah, I mean, I get it. Like you don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, but at the same time, that’s not for us. That’s for people that are interested to say like, why would a church do that? You know, like why do they care so much?Andrew Hopper — And it’s because, Hey, sign of the kingdom. We want to build families through adoption. We want to restore families through foster care and families count. This is part of that. So we’ve tried to we’ve tried to use it as a way. And I would really encourage church leaders to think about that. Like, hey, is your community ministry actually an evangelism strategy?Rich Birch — Right. Yeah, that’s good. Love that. And yeah, I would encourage you continue to encourage you to think through those things because I do think that there’s, we’ve seen that there’s huge opportunity for folks who don’t normally attend church. They’re interested the way I’ve said in other contexts is they see it as a good thing. We see it as a God thing. We’re not going to fight them over the semantics of it at the front end. Because like you say it’s it’s the kingdom puncturing through that grabs their attention and you’re like oh what what you know what’s going on there? It’s a first step – how do we encourage those people? Rich Birch — Like on that backyard project, I no doubt if you’re rallying a bunch of guys to go work there, I know that there are guys in your church who have friends who they could invite who don’t attend church who maybe would never walk in your church who’d say, hey, will you come and work for a Saturday for a couple hours and swing a hammer and help us do this thing? Let me explain what this is about.They absolutely would show up, right? 100% they’d show up and and they’ll get intrigued by that. And they’ll be like, oh, what’s going on there? That’s that’s fantastic. Rich Birch — Well, friends, unabashedly, I want you to pick up copies of, not just a copy, copies of this book. So where do we want to send people to pick up copies, that sort of thing?Andrew Hopper — Yeah, man, they can just go to andrewphopper.com/chosen. Rich Birch — Perfect. Yep.Andrew Hopper — The book’s out so they can pick up a copy. I mean, it’s also just like on Amazon or whatever, but that link will take you straight to New Growth Press.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — So, yeah, man, would love it. Would love to hear from anybody who’s using it well in a church context um to catalyze Christian adoption.Rich Birch — Love it. Anything else you want to share just as we close and how can people track, go to the website, other places we want to send them as we close up today.Andrew Hopper — Also on Instagram, we have a lot of stuff on Instagram, andrewphopper on Instagram. Yeah, the last thing I would say as a closing thought, Rich, is you know, the Christian adoption boom has sort of happened 20 years ago. People started talking about this a lot more. And now you can feel in some of the podcast world and all that, there’s a bit of a backlash, not not to don’t do it, but also like, hey, no one told us how hard this was going to be. Andrew Hopper — You’re dealing with traumatic situations, kids that have been brought, you know, I mean, it’s, it’s crazy. One thing I try to do in this book is I try to say, Hey, that’s not a good reason to take our ball and go home, you know.Rich Birch — That’s good.Andrew Hopper — Instead we just need to try to shoot as straight as we can. And I do that in this book, man. It is hard. It’s you’re on the front lines of spiritual war. I mean, it’s almost like, dude, the, the, the greatest transfer of faith from one generation to another happens in the home. We love it when adults get saved. I get that. But let’s be honest. Statistically, where does it normally happen? Right. Rich Birch — Yeah. Kids. Andrew Hopper — And so if you got a home that’s broken apart, that Christians are trying to put back together, what did we think Satan was going to do? You know, and so instead of taking our ball and going home, let’s just call it what it is, and then ask the Lord to steel our spine… Rich Birch — That’s good. Andrew Hopper — …and to move forward with the mission. So, yeah, man, I’d love for people to pick it up. And I appreciate the time to talk about it today.Rich Birch — Andrew, thanks so much. Appreciate you. Just want to honor you for the work you do. You’re a great leader. And I love how God’s using you and your church to make a difference. Thanks for being on the show today.Andrew Hopper — Thanks, brother.

100th episode!!!! Hello everyone and welcome back to Trudge Report. The whole crew is back in action this week as we are all home and settled in post New Year. After a quick around the horn and recap of our holiday and New Year travels and escapades we do some brief sports talk before getting into the main material of the show. We pay homage to Shawn's long time mentor in recovery of over 14 years who recently passed away and went to the Big Meeting in the sky. Next we pay tribute to 100 episodes of Trudge Report. Each of us take a turn talking about lasting memories and how we started. The recovery segment is all about fear. Irrational fear, self-centered fear, fear in early recovery as opposed to current day fear. How we deal with these fears and most importantly, how we turn it over to our Higher Powers and the steps we take to eliminate or lessen these fears.“The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and they that lack the beginning have neither middle or end.” - John Bunyan. Don't forget to like, share, rate, and download the podcast on all of your listening platforms. Check out and subscribe to our YouTube channel, @trudgrereportpod, for other content surrounding sports and trending topics. Trudge on good people. Contact the Guys:Instagram: @trudgereportpodFacebook: Trudge ReportTikTok: trudgereportpodYouTube: @trudgereportpod 

John Bunyan's famous allegory, “Pilgrim's Progress,” described the journey of the believer from the “slough of despond” to “the celestial city.” In less picturesque terms, Paul did the same for the Colossians. We, too, need to know how to get there from here. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/508/29?v=20251111

John Bunyan's famous allegory, “Pilgrim's Progress,” described the journey of the believer from the “slough of despond” to “the celestial city.” In less picturesque terms, Paul did the same for the Colossians. We, too, need to know how to get there from here. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/508/29?v=20251111

John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress is widely regarded as one of the most significant works of Protestant literature. It's been translated into over 200 languages and was once only second to the Bible in popularity. Ed Stetzer talks with Andy Draycott about his book, Into the Pilgrimverse, that has transformed this 17th century classic into a modern-day journey delving into issues like biblical fidelity, missions, gender, race and sexuality in this spiritual classic on Ed Stetzer Live. Ed Stetzer Live is a listener supported program. To donate, click here. To learn more about Ed Stetzer, click here. To learn more about Ed Stetzer Live, click here.Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/edstetzerliveSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The latest part in our Pilgrim's Progress series.

The latest section of The Pilgrim's Progress.

The gospel of God is to be offered freely to all. Accordingly, all who hear the gospel have a warrant to believe it. As Samuel Rutherford wrote, 'reprobates have as fair a warrant to believe as the elect have.' This week we consider the offer of the gospel made freely by God, addressed to every sinner—indeed, addressed to you and to me.    Featured resources: – Iain H. Murray, 'The Free Offer of the Gospel,' Banner of Truth Magazine, Issue 11 (June 1958).  – Robert Murray M'Cheyne, excerpt from his sermon 'The Acceptable Year of the Lord' on Isaiah 61:1–3, found in Andrew Bonar, Memoir and Remains of Robert Murray M'Cheyne (1844, repr. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1966, 2024), pages 583–4.    Banner Resources on the Free Offer of the Gospel:  Andrew Fuller, 'The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation' in The Works of Andrew Fuller (clothbound, 1012 pages) Iain H. Murray, Spurgeon vs. Hyper-Calvinism: The Battle for Gospel Preaching (paperback, 168 pages) John Bunyan, The Jerusalem Sinner Saved (paperback, 144 pages) John Murray, The Free Offer of the Gospel (booklet, 32 pages)     Explore the work of the Banner of Truth: www.banneroftruth.org Subscribe to the Magazine (print/digital/both): www.banneroftruth.org/magazine Leave us your feedback or a testimony: www.speakpipe.com/magazinepodcast

The latest section of The Pilgrim's Progress.

The latest section of The Pilgrim' Progress by John Bunyan.

In this episode, we talk about allegory and cattle. Oh, and Pilgrim's Progress

The most famous "pilgrim" hymn is generally considered as "To Be a Pilgrim" (also known as "He Who Would Valiant Be" or "He Who Would True Valour See"). The lyrics were taken from John Bunyan's classic 1684 book, The Pilgrim's Progress. The poem describes the Christian life as a courageous journey, a pilgrimage against all odds and temptations. The Pilgrim's Progress books available at https://amzn.to/3XIvq18 History of Thanksgiving books at https://amzn.to/40Y2t4d Pilgrim books available at https://amzn.to/3RmFkTE Mayflower books available at https://amzn.to/3T02Ze0 Plymouth Colony books available at https://amzn.to/3sZsvFz ENJOY Ad-Free content, Bonus episodes, and Extra materials when joining our growing community on https://patreon.com/markvinet SUPPORT this channel by purchasing any product on Amazon using this FREE entry LINK https://amzn.to/3POlrUD (Amazon gives us credit at NO extra charge to you). Mark Vinet's video channel: https://youtube.com/c/TIMELINE_MarkVinet Mark's HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA podcast: www.parthenonpodcast.com/history-of-north-america Website: https://markvinet.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mark.vinet.9 X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/HistoricalJesu Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/denarynovels Mark's books: https://amzn.to/3k8qrGM Audio musical credits: He who would Valiant Be (To Be A Pilgrim) presented by TheHymnClub (lyric by John Bunyan) He Who Would Valiant Be performed here by the choir of Wallingford Parish Church with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Chet Valley Hymns and Songs); "The Pilgrim" by John Bunyan (read by Tom O'Bedlam) presented by SpokenVerse. Audio excerpts reproduced under the Fair Use (Fair Dealings) Legal Doctrine for purposes such as criticism, comment, teaching, education, scholarship, research and news reporting. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

During the special Thanksgiving holiday season, I will be presenting a series of episodes dealing with the cherished holiday itself, as well as it's origins, customs, traditions, and the original participants, the Pilgrims and Natives. History of Thanksgiving books at https://amzn.to/40Y2t4d The Pilgrim's Progress books available at https://amzn.to/3XIvq18 Pilgrim books available at https://amzn.to/3RmFkTE Mayflower books available at https://amzn.to/3T02Ze0 Plymouth Colony books available at https://amzn.to/3sZsvFz Puritans books available at https://amzn.to/3SorIa5 ENJOY Ad-Free content, Bonus episodes, and Extra materials when joining our growing community on https://patreon.com/markvinet SUPPORT this channel by purchasing any product on Amazon using this FREE entry LINK https://amzn.to/3POlrUD (Amazon gives us credit at NO extra charge to you). Mark Vinet's video channel: https://youtube.com/c/TIMELINE_MarkVinet Mark's HISTORICAL JESUS podcast at https://parthenonpodcast.com/historical-jesus Website: https://markvinet.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mark.vinet.9 Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkVinet_HNA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/denarynovels Mark's books: https://amzn.to/3k8qrGM Audio musical credits: He who would Valiant Be (To Be A Pilgrim) presented by TheHymnClub (lyric by John Bunyan) He Who Would Valiant Be performed here by the choir of Wallingford Parish Church with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Chet Valley Hymns and Songs); "The Pilgrim" by John Bunyan (read by Tom O'Bedlam) presented by SpokenVerse. Audio excerpts reproduced under the Fair Use (Fair Dealings) Legal Doctrine for purposes such as criticism, comment, teaching, education, scholarship, research and news reporting.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 20th of November, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.We go straight to the Gospel of Matthew 6:33. Jesus says: ”But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” What a beautiful scripture! Seek first the kingdom. First thing in the morning, that's the time, seek the face of the Lord. Get your directions for the day, and then you will have a pleasant, successful and peaceful day.John Bunyan was the man who wrote the fantastic book called “The Pilgrim's Progress”. They say it's maybe the most read book of all time, next to the Bible itself. A beautiful story. He spent most of his life in jail because of his stand for Jesus Christ. Now he says, and I quote, ”He who runs from God in the morning will scarcely find Him the rest of the day.” Basically, if you don't have a quiet time in the morning, you will never catch up right through the day. Come on, let's be honest. We need to change those principles now, and we need to put Jesus first every morning and then the rest of the day will go well. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, And His righteousness, And all these things shall beAdded unto you. Halleluh, Hallelujah. Halleluja, Halleluja,Halleluja, Halleluh, Halleluja.Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,Goodbye.

Real spirituality begins the moment you do something for someone who can never repay you. In this solo episode, Raghunath and co-host Prana Priya take John Bunyan's famous line—"You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you"—and hold it up to the light of Bhakti Yoga. From music-industry schmoozing to Vrindavan's envy-free culture, from 12-step wisdom to deathbed courage, this conversation explores what happens when relationships shift from "What can I get?" to "How can I serve?" ******************************************************************** LOVE THE PODCAST? WE ARE COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AND WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN! Go to https://www.wisdomofthesages.com WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@WisdomoftheSages LISTEN ON ITUNES: https://podcasts/apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-of-the-sages/id1493055485 CONNECT ON FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/wisdomofthesages108 *********************************************************************

Real spirituality begins the moment you do something for someone who can never repay you. In this solo episode, Raghunath and co-host Prana Priya take John Bunyan's famous line—"You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you"—and hold it up to the light of Bhakti Yoga. From music-industry schmoozing to Vrindavan's envy-free culture, from 12-step wisdom to deathbed courage, this conversation explores what happens when relationships shift from "What can I get?" to "How can I serve?" ******************************************************************** LOVE THE PODCAST? WE ARE COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AND WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN! Go to https://www.wisdomofthesages.com WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@WisdomoftheSages LISTEN ON ITUNES: https://podcasts/apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-of-the-sages/id1493055485 CONNECT ON FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/wisdomofthesages108 *********************************************************************

In Episode 224 of Theology In Particular, Joe and Daniel speak with Dr. Jim Renihan about the life of Wiliam Kiffen, his literary output, and the controversy he had with John Bunyan about church communion.   Contact: For information about International Reformed Baptist Seminary, go to irbsseminary.org. For feedback, questions, or suggestions, email Joe Anady at tip@irbsseminary.org.

In this deeply personal conversation, I welcome back Will Spencer to discuss our shared journeys to Christianity and the spiritual revival currently unfolding. We begin by connecting over musician Nick Mulvey's recent testimony of faith, which moves us both to tears as we recognize kindred spirits joining the Kingdom of God. Will shares his journey from being what Carl Teichrib calls "Perennial Man" - traveling the world, exploring transformational festivals, and seeking through psychedelics - to finding true peace in scripture. We discuss the challenges of navigating relationships with those still in New Age circles, the importance of genuine repentance versus simple regret, and how Christianity offers complete freedom from the burdens that no amount of therapy or spiritual practice could lift. Will's story of concrete blocks at the bottom of his psyche that dissolved through sanctification beautifully illustrates the peace that surpasses understanding, available to all who come to faith.Will Spencer is an evangelist and adventurer who journeyed from Stanford University and the Dotcom Boom through 30 countries. He's explored spiritual traditions worldwide: from meditation in the Himalayas to ayahuasca retreats in the Amazon. The Lord found him at the Burning Man festival in Nevada. Now he hosts The Will Spencer Podcast and helps rescue men from destructive thinking and find their way to Christ. Follow him on X @renofmen, on YouTube @willspencerpod or via his Linktree.Will Spencer originally appeared on episode 181 of my podcast, From Ayahuasca to Christ: Will Spencer on Escaping the Serpent's Deception. That conversation was one of three (along with 182 and 184) that were censored on Spotify for several weeks due to inane AI copyright flagging issues detailed in episode 187. Fortunately, after extensive advocacy, those episodes have been re-released and are available on Spotify once again; they have remained consistently available on all other audio platforms and YouTube. At this time, I can only hope that the root cause of the issue has been addressed and Spotify will not wrongfully remove any more of my episodes. However, should any appear missing, you can find them on any other platform of your choice starting here. Nick Mulvey links mentioned:Testimony, "My Ancient Friend"Song, Fever to the FormAlbum about coming to the faith: Dark Harvest Part 1, Dark Harvest Part 2Books mentioned:Game of Gods by Carl TeichribPilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan[00:00:00] Start[00:01:06] Introduction To Guest Will Spencer[00:04:14] Stephanie's Public Declaration Of Faith[00:07:42] How Music Opened The Door To God[00:13:05] Leaving The New Age Behind[00:19:20] Finding Truth Through Scripture[00:25:48] Lessons From Ecclesiastes And Solomon[00:33:12] CS Lewis And The Reality Of Choice[00:42:07] Will's Baptism And Early Faith Journey[00:53:44] Recognizing God's Guidance Through Crisis[01:04:30] The Battle Between Ego And Surrender[01:16:18] From Therapy To Faith-Based Coaching[01:29:47] Spiritual Leadership And Masculine Purpose[01:41:55] Women, Compassion, And Biblical Strength[01:55:12] Peace Beyond Understanding And Closing ReflectionsROGD REPAIR Course + Community gives concerned parents instant access to over 120 lessons providing the psychological insights and communication tools you need to get through to your kid. Now featuring 24/7 personalized AI support implementing the tools with RepairBot! Use code SOMETHERAPIST2025 to take 50% off your first month.PODCOURSES: use code SOMETHERAPIST at LisaMustard.com/PodCoursesTALK TO ME: book a meeting.PRODUCTION: Looking for your own podcast producer? Visit PodsByNick.com and mention my podcast for 20% off your initial services.SUPPORT THE SHOW: subscribe, like, comment, & share or donate.Watch NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care. Use code SOMETHERAPIST to take 20% off your order.MUSIC: Thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude & permission.ALL OTHER LINKS HERE. To support this show, please leave a rating & review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe, like, comment & share via my YouTube channel. Or recommend this to a friend!Learn more about Do No Harm.Take $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover with code SOMETHERAPIST at EightSleep.com.Take 20% off all superfood beverages with code SOMETHERAPIST at Organifi.Check out my shop for book recommendations + wellness products.Show notes & transcript provided with the help of SwellAI.Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission.Watch NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (our medical ethics documentary, formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Stream the film or purchase a DVD. Use code SOMETHERAPIST to take 20% off your order. Follow us on X @2022affirmation or Instagram at @affirmationgeneration.Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my Locals community! Members get to ask questions I will respond to in exclusive, members-only livestreams, post questions for upcoming guests to answer, plu...

November 12, 1660. English nonconformist preacher John Bunyan is arrested. During the 12 years he spends in prison, he starts writing his famous book The Pilgrim's Progress.Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more.History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Every Christian's pilgrimage in this world will one day come to an end. Today, Derek Thomas describes Christian's arrival at the Celestial City in The Pilgrim's Progress and presents lessons we can draw from this happy ending. For your donation of any amount, receive The Pilgrim's Progress book by John Bunyan, together with Derek Thomas' video teaching series on DVD. You'll also get lifetime digital access to this 19-message series and its study guide: https://gift.renewingyourmind.org/4401/offer   Live outside the U.S. and Canada? Get the digital teaching series and study guide with your donation: https://www.renewingyourmind.org/global   Meet Today's Teacher:   Derek Thomas is a Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow and Chancellor's Professor of Systematic and Pastoral Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary.   Meet the Host:   Nathan W. Bingham is vice president of media for Ligonier Ministries, executive producer and host of Renewing Your Mind, and host of the Ask Ligonier podcast. Renewing Your Mind is a donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts

John Bunyan spent 12 years of his life imprisoned for preaching without a license. It was during this period of confinement that he penned one of the most influential works in English literature, “The Pilgrim's Progress.” Join John Bradshaw on location in England and learn how Bunyan influenced generations with his vivid storytelling and deep theological insights, and the relevance his allegorical masterpiece still has for us today.

John Bunyan spent 12 years of his life imprisoned for preaching without a license. It was during this period of confinement that he penned one of the most influential works in English literature, “The Pilgrim's Progress.” Join John Bradshaw on location in England and learn how Bunyan influenced generations with his vivid storytelling and deep theological insights, and the relevance his allegorical masterpiece still has for us today.

The Puritans called the Lord's Day "the market day of the soul," when God's people are strengthened and refreshed on their journey toward heaven. Today, Derek Thomas explores John Bunyan's illustration of the Delectable Mountains. For your donation of any amount, receive The Pilgrim's Progress book by John Bunyan, together with Derek Thomas' video teaching series on DVD. You'll also get lifetime digital access to this 19-message series and its study guide: https://gift.renewingyourmind.org/4401/offer   Live outside the U.S. and Canada? Get the digital teaching series and study guide with your donation: https://www.renewingyourmind.org/global   Meet Today's Teacher:   Derek Thomas is a Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow and Chancellor's Professor of Systematic and Pastoral Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary.   Meet the Host:   Nathan W. Bingham is vice president of media for Ligonier Ministries, executive producer and host of Renewing Your Mind, and host of the Ask Ligonier podcast. Renewing Your Mind is a donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts

God's people are not immune to doubt, discouragement, and depression. But even in these dreaded times, we have hope in Christ. Today, Derek Thomas explores one of the darkest yet most profound scenes in The Pilgrim's Progress. For your donation of any amount, receive The Pilgrim's Progress book by John Bunyan, together with Derek Thomas' video teaching series on DVD. You'll also get lifetime digital access to this 19-message series and its study guide: https://gift.renewingyourmind.org/4401/offer   Live outside the U.S. and Canada? Get the digital teaching series and study guide with your donation: https://www.renewingyourmind.org/global   Meet Today's Teacher:   Derek Thomas is a Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow and Chancellor's Professor of Systematic and Pastoral Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary.   Meet the Host:   Nathan W. Bingham is vice president of media for Ligonier Ministries, executive producer and host of Renewing Your Mind, and host of the Ask Ligonier podcast. Renewing Your Mind is a donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts

While some dangers in the Christian life are easy to spot, others are subtle and insidious. Today, Derek Thomas considers the seductive temptations of Vanity Fair in The Pilgrim's Progress. For your donation of any amount, receive The Pilgrim's Progress book by John Bunyan, together with Derek Thomas' video teaching series on DVD. You'll also get lifetime digital access to this 19-message series and its study guide: https://gift.renewingyourmind.org/4401/offer   Live outside the U.S. and Canada? Get the digital teaching series and study guide with your donation: https://www.renewingyourmind.org/global   Meet Today's Teacher:   Derek Thomas is a Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow and Chancellor's Professor of Systematic and Pastoral Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary.   Meet the Host:   Nathan W. Bingham is vice president of media for Ligonier Ministries, executive producer and host of Renewing Your Mind, and host of the Ask Ligonier podcast. Renewing Your Mind is a donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts

Show NotesScripture Referenced1 Corinthians 15:58 Galatians 6:7-10 James 5:10-11 Romans 5:3-4 1 Peter 2:20-21 2 Corinthians 1:6-7 Hebrews 10:36 James 1:2-4 Jeremiah 29:4-7Books ReferencedThe Dangerous Journey: The Story of Pilgrim's Progress https://www.amazon.com/Dangerous-Journey-Story-Pilgrims-Progress/dp/0802836194/ The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan https://www.amazon.com/Pilgrims-Progress-Modern-Day-easy-read-ebook/dp/B088DFC84N/ The Pilgrim's Progress - Original Unabridged, Audiobook read by Robert Whitfield. https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Pilgrims-Progress-Audiobook/B002UZN2Y4 (Reid's Recommendation)Link ReferencedSunflowers in Babylon by Joshua Luke Smith https://youtu.be/fsiB9uCMZ68

During difficult times, Christians can be vulnerable to temptation and doubt. Today, Derek Thomas brings encouragement from The Pilgrim's Progress, the classic book by John Bunyan: God will not desert His people. For your donation of any amount, receive The Pilgrim's Progress book by John Bunyan, together with Derek Thomas' video teaching series on DVD. You'll also get lifetime digital access to this 19-message series and its study guide: https://gift.renewingyourmind.org/4401/offer   Live outside the U.S. and Canada? Get the digital teaching series and study guide with your donation: https://www.renewingyourmind.org/global   Meet Today's Teacher:   Derek Thomas is a Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow and Chancellor's Professor of Systematic and Pastoral Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary.   Meet the Host:   Nathan W. Bingham is vice president of media for Ligonier Ministries, executive producer and host of Renewing Your Mind, and host of the Ask Ligonier podcast. Renewing Your Mind is a donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts

Send us a textGUEST: JAMIE BAMBRICK, Associate Pastor Hope Church, Craigavon, Northern IrelandFor nearly 1500 years, Britain has been a Christian nation—Roman Catholic for centuries and then Protestant since the Reformation in the 16th century. In fact, the nation has an official Christian church—the Church of England.Britain is known for some of the most impactful preachers, such as John Knox (Scotland), John Bunyan, Charles Spurgeon, William Booth (Salvation Army), and Martin Lloyd Jones. It would not be an overstatement to say that Britain was the seat of Protestant Christianity for several centuries.So it is hard to understand how a nation known for its Christianity is so willing to throw it all away. How is that happening? Over the last 20 years or so, Britain has welcomed millions of Muslims into their land to the point that the most common birth name in England is Muhammad. Nine major cities, including London, have Islamic mayors. Muslims openly call for jihad and Sharia Law on the streets of England and Muslim gangs have raped English girls for years while the government covered it up for fear of creating “Islamophobia.”Jamie Bambrick is a pastor and well-known YouTuber in Belfast, Northern Island, which is one of four nations that comprise the United Kingdom (England, Wales, and Scotland are the others). Jamie joins us to discuss the societal suicide that is taking place, particularly in England, and how Christians in America need to be aware and vigilant about what is taking place here. For example, New York City, the cultural and financial hub of our country, is set to elect a communist Muslim to be mayor. The same thing is taking place here in Minneapolis.Jamie will also report on how other liberties are being restricted through arrests for social media posts and praying outside abortion clinics to a nation ID card called BritCard, which will allow government to track and control your life and movement.From co-authors Mark Hopson and Jamie Bambrick, Set Free is for anyone searching for answers, wrestling with doubts or wondering if real change is possible. It's about breaking free from the lies we believe — about ourselves, about God and about what will make us happy. It's also about discovering the truth, purpose and hope we were made for.

When you buy something, it's a simple transaction—money goes out, and something tangible comes back in. But giving is different. Scripture tells us that when we give, we also receive—but not always in the way we expect. The return God promises isn't measured in bank balances or possessions. It's measured in freedom, joy, and purpose.Many people hear the phrase “give to receive” and imagine a divine transaction: give to God or others, and blessings—perhaps even financial—will return. But biblically, generosity is never a get-rich scheme. It's an invitation to live the kind of life God designed for us—a life marked by open hands and open hearts.God's Kingdom Is Not a Vending MachineSome interpret verses like Luke 6:38 (“Give, and it will be given to you”) as a spiritual formula: “If I give, God owes me something.” But this is a distortion of Jesus' teaching. God isn't running a cosmic vending machine where our dollars purchase His favor.Instead, He invites us to live differently—to find life not in what we keep but in what we release. If money itself were the ultimate reward, God would be reinforcing the very idol He seeks to break in our hearts. Jesus reminds us in Luke 12:15, “One's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” That truth echoes through every page of Scripture: generosity is not about loss—it's about liberation.What We Actually Receive When We GiveSo, if giving isn't transactional, what does Scripture say we receive in return? The Bible highlights three beautiful gifts that generosity brings.1. We Receive FreedomMoney has a unique power to capture our hearts. Jesus warned, “You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24). Every act of generosity is a declaration of allegiance: we are not owned by our wealth. Giving loosens money's grip and frees us to serve a greater Master.2. We Receive JoyIn Acts 20:35, Paul quotes Jesus saying, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” True joy doesn't come from what we accumulate—it comes from participating in God's generosity. John Bunyan put it this way: “You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.”3. We Receive PurposeWhen we give, we join God's mission in the world. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 9:11, “You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way.” The goal isn't self-enrichment—it's being a conduit of blessing. Generosity connects our story to God's story, reminding us that every resource we have is meant to reflect His generous heart.Giving Flows from GraceIf we're honest, our motives for giving can become mixed. We might give to feel good, earn approval, or to gain favor with God. But the gospel frees us from all of that. Ephesians 2:8–10 makes it clear: we're saved by grace, not by works. Our generosity is not a means of earning God's love—it's a response to already having it.Once we understand that truth, giving transforms from obligation into worship. We don't give to get something back. We give because we've already received everything in Christ.At the center of our faith stands Jesus—the One who gave everything. Paul captures it beautifully in 2 Corinthians 8:9:“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich.”Jesus didn't give to gain something for Himself. He gave because of love. Through His sacrifice, we received reconciliation with God and eternal life in His Kingdom—riches far beyond material wealth.When our giving mirrors His, our motivation becomes love, not return. And in that kind of giving, we experience the true riches of life in Christ.Living With Open HandsEven when generosity brings blessing, the return is never shallow or predictable. We don't give to multiply our possessions—we give to multiply love, freedom, and trust.Every act of giving draws us deeper into God's life—freeing us from greed, filling us with joy, anchoring us in purpose, and reminding us that He is our ultimate treasure.The world says, “Give so you can get.” The gospel says, “Give because you've already been given everything.”When we live with open hands, we discover that the richest life is the one fully surrendered to God.On Today's Program, Rob Answers Listener Questions:My wife had student loans before we got married, and the balance has now grown to about $65,000. I didn't realize how much debt she had until recently, and it's been hard to manage on our income—especially since her payments are currently set to $0 through an income-based repayment plan. How should we approach this situation, and what can we do to manage or reduce this debt given our financial limitations?I've been giving to my church using funds from my Required Minimum Distribution, even though I'm still working. Someone recently asked why I'm taking RMDs if I'm not yet required to. Do I have to take RMDs from my retirement plan while I'm still employed, or do the rules only apply to my IRA?I have both a Roth IRA and a brokerage account that I'd like to transfer to a new investment firm. The accounts have been open for more than five years. If I move my Roth IRA, does that five-year clock restart, or does the time I've already had it stay intact?I recently received an inheritance of about $200,000 after my father's passing. My mortgage balance is around $175,000. I don't have any other debt, but I do have five kids at different stages of life, including some in college, and I haven't saved much for retirement. Should I use the inheritance to pay off the mortgage and invest the remaining amount, or keep the mortgage and invest the entire amount for the future? What's the best move for my family right now?Resources Mentioned:Faithful Steward: FaithFi's New Quarterly Magazine (Become a FaithFi Partner)Wisdom Over Wealth: 12 Lessons from Ecclesiastes on MoneyLook At The Sparrows: A 21-Day Devotional on Financial Fear and AnxietyRich Toward God: A Study on the Parable of the Rich FoolFind a Certified Kingdom Advisor (CKA) or Certified Christian Financial Counselor (CertCFC)FaithFi App Remember, you can call in to ask your questions most days at (800) 525-7000. Faith & Finance is also available on the Moody Radio Network and American Family Radio. Visit our website at FaithFi.com where you can join the FaithFi Community and give as we expand our outreach. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Big Idea: You are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone to the glory of God alone.1. Your righteousness is by faith in Christ alone."If they are correct, then Christ did not secure salvation for anyone, but only the possibility or opportunity for salvation for those willing to complete their salvation with their good works. This, however, is the furthest thing from the Gospel." - JV Fesko2. You can't blame your sin on Christ.3. I sin when I make salvation about the rules."The true way of becoming a Christian is to be justified by faith in Jesus Christ, and not by works of the Law. We know that we must also teach good works, but they must be taught in their proper turn, when the discussion is concerning works and not the article of justification... we do not mean to say that the Law is bad. Only it is not able to justify us. To be at peace with God, we have a need of a far better mediator than Moses or the Law." - Martin Luther4. I died so that I can live.Romans 7:4Galatians 4:4-55. I am alive in Christ.6. I never want to nullify God's grace in my life."The heart of Christianity is not a set of doctrines to believe, though sound doctrine is vital. Nor is the heart of Christianity an activity to pursue, even though the Christian faith is necessarily active. Nor is it essentially a set of disciplines, even though without reading the Bible and praying we will not get far in the Christian life. The heart of Christianity is- to use a phrase from John Bunyan, the old Puritan preacher and writer- 'to live upon God.' You were made for God. To know him. Enjoy him. Revere him. Draw strength from him. Trust him. Love him." - Dane Ortlund

Big Idea: You are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone to the glory of God alone.1. Your righteousness is by faith in Christ alone."If they are correct, then Christ did not secure salvation for anyone, but only the possibility or opportunity for salvation for those willing to complete their salvation with their good works. This, however, is the furthest thing from the Gospel." - JV Fesko2. You can't blame your sin on Christ.3. I sin when I make salvation about the rules."The true way of becoming a Christian is to be justified by faith in Jesus Christ, and not by works of the Law. We know that we must also teach good works, but they must be taught in their proper turn, when the discussion is concerning works and not the article of justification... we do not mean to say that the Law is bad. Only it is not able to justify us. To be at peace with God, we have a need of a far better mediator than Moses or the Law." - Martin Luther4. I died so that I can live.Romans 7:4Galatians 4:4-55. I am alive in Christ.6. I never want to nullify God's grace in my life."The heart of Christianity is not a set of doctrines to believe, though sound doctrine is vital. Nor is the heart of Christianity an activity to pursue, even though the Christian faith is necessarily active. Nor is it essentially a set of disciplines, even though without reading the Bible and praying we will not get far in the Christian life. The heart of Christianity is- to use a phrase from John Bunyan, the old Puritan preacher and writer- 'to live upon God.' You were made for God. To know him. Enjoy him. Revere him. Draw strength from him. Trust him. Love him." - Dane Ortlund

This two-part video series provides a deep historical analysis of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD), tracing its ingredients from 19th-century New England intellectual and social revolutions to its status as America's de facto civic religion. We argue that MTD collapsed when the sexual and moral revolutions forced a devastating fracture between its Christian heritage and its core principles of self-actualization and benevolence, leading to the polarized political landscape of today.Moralist Therapeutic Deism Part 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eHYMzanOvs&t=4679s @triggerpod   @InterestingTimesNYT   @JonathanPageau   @PaulVanderKlay 00:00:00 - Introduction and Recap00:10:07 - MTD, Chicago, and Obama00:13:00 - Cornell as Microcosm00:25:15 - Tim Keller on programatic secularism00:35:55 - Mainline Christianity00:37:45 - Wokeness and MTD00:47:05 - MTD and Partisanship00:49:20 - Arena vs Agent00:51:00 - Donald Trump 00:56:15 - Nationalism vs Globalism01:03:40 - Who killed MTD?01:05:55 - Competing Arenas01:08:25 - The future of Christian NationalismIn this video I mention:Aaron Renn, Abraham Lincoln, Albert Baker, Alfred, Allen C. Guelzo, Amos, Andrew Jackson Davis, Ann Lee, Anagarika Dharmapala, Arthur Conan Doyle, Athanasius, Barack Obama, Benjamin Franklin, Billy Graham, Black Lives Matter, Bud, Buddha, Calvin, Cathleen Falsani, Catherine Fox, Charles B. Rosna, Charles Carroll Bonney, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Charlie Kirk, Christian Smith, Christopher Pearse Cranch, Clement of Alexandria, Conrad Grebel, Constantine, David Bentley Hart, Deepak Chopra, Donahoe, Donald Trump, Eddie Lincoln, Eleanor Roosevelt, Elijah Muhammad, Eliott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Elizabeth Keckley, Ellen Todd, Emilie Todd Helm, Emanuel Swedenborg, Epictetus, Erica Kirk, Ernst Troeltsch, Ezra Klein, Fanny Hayes Platt, Faustus Socinus, Finney, Fox Sisters, Franz Anton Mesmer, Fred Shuttlesworth, Frederick the Wise, Friedrich Nietzsche, Galen, George Barna, George Fox, George W. Bush, Gregory of Nyssa, Henry Clay, Henry David Thoreau, Henry James, H. P. Blavatsky, H. Richard Niebuhr, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Harold Ockenga, Harry Emerson Fosdick, Helen Schucman, Hosea Ballou, J. Gresham Machen, Jacob Blake, James, James Comey, James Lindsay, James Russell Lowell, Jared Sparks, Jean H. Baker, Jenkin Lloyd Jones, Jesus Christ, Jim Lindsay, John, John Adams, John Bunyan, John D. Rockefeller, John Henry Barrows, John Locke, John Milton, John Murray, John Stott, Jonathan Edwards, Jordan Peterson, Joseph Priestly, Joseph Smith, Judith Skutch, Julius Dresser, Kant, Karl Menninger, Karlstadt, Kate Fox, Kenneth Minkema, Koot Hoomi, Kyle Rittenhouse, Lelio Socinus, Leonard Zusne, Lou Malnatis, Luke Thompson (  @WhiteStoneName  ), Lyman Beecher, Madame Blavatsky, Margaretta Fox, Marianne Williamson, Mark Parker (  @MarkDParker  ) , Mark Twain, Mary Baker Eddy, Mary Todd Lincoln, Matt Herman, Meister Eckhart, Melinda Lundquist Denton, Mesmer, Micah, Michael Bronky, Michael Servetus, Monophysite, Morya, Moses, Nancy Pelosi, Napoleon Bonaparte, Nettie Colburn Maynard, Newton, Niccolò Machiavelli, Nicholas of Cusa, Norman Vincent Peale, Oprah, Origen, Paul, Paul Tillich, Paul Vanderlay, Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, Plotinus, Proclus, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ramakrishna, Rick Warren, Robert Schuller, Robin D'Angelo, Rod Dreher, Ronald Reagan, Ross Douthat, Rowan Williams, Rudolf Steiner, Samuel Johnson, Septimus J. Hanna, Shailer Mathews, Shakers, Shadrach, Socrates, Soyen Shaku, Swami Vivekananda, Tad Lincoln, Tertullian, Thomas Aquinas, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Starr King, Tracy Herman, Virchand Gandhi, Victoria Woodhull, Warren Felt Evans, William Ellery Channing, William James, William Lloyd Garrison, William Newton Clarke, Willie Lincoln, Winthrop, Zwingli.

Royal Vagabonds: How John Bunyan’s Life and Work Offers Hope for Storytellers and Artists(Joe Sutphin, Erik Peterson, Nathan Engelhardt) Many Christian artists struggle to feel at home in today’s culture, and can tend to feel unworthy of their calling at times. But we are treasured by God and called by Him to create wonderful things, despite ourselves. In this session, we will discuss the challenges and suffering that John Bunyan endured, leading him to write one of the most endearing and enduring stories of all time. A story that continues to inspire and encourage authors and artists, nearly 350 years later. The session leaders include the team behind Joe Sutphin’s illustrated edition of Little Pilgrim’s Progress.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pastors Tyler and Jon explore the life and legacy of John Bunyan, author of The Pilgrim’s Progress. From his imprisonment for preaching without a license to the timeless allegory that has shaped countless believers, Bunyan’s story points us to perseverance in the Christian life. Discover why his work influenced leaders like Spurgeon, C.S. Lewis, and Wesley—and why it still matters for us today.

Pastors Tyler and Jon explore the life and legacy of John Bunyan, author of The Pilgrim’s Progress. From his imprisonment for preaching without a license to the timeless allegory that has shaped countless believers, Bunyan’s story points us to perseverance in the Christian life. Discover why his work influenced leaders like Spurgeon, C.S. Lewis, and Wesley—and why it still matters for us today.

QUOTES FOR REFLECTION “This hill, though high, I covet to ascend;The difficulty will not me offend.For I perceive the way to life lies here.Come, pluck up, heart; let's neither faint nor fear.Better, though difficult, the right way to go,Than wrong, though easy, where the end is woe.”~Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan, 17th Century English writer and preacher “Everything is needful that He sends; nothing can be needful that He withholds.”~John Newton, 18th Century English hymnwriter and preacher “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”~John 16:33 (NIV) “The Bible is profoundly realistic because it tells us suffering is inevitable. No one escapes it. We shouldn't be surprised and shocked by it. The Bible is terribly matter-of-fact about the reality that the world is filled with misery. Yet, it offers not merely a spiritual afterlife but the hope of a renewed creation, the resurrection, and a material world wiped clean of decay and suffering and death. No other religion promises such a thing."~Tim Keller, 21st Century American pastor and author “Though Satan should buffet,though trials should come,let this blest assurance control,that Christ has regarded my helpless estate,And hath shed His own blood for my soul.”~“It Is Well With My Soul,” Horatio Spafford, 19th Century American hymnwriterSERMON PASSAGEHebrews 12:3-17 (ESV) 3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly   the discipline of the Lord,     nor be weary when reproved by him. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,     and chastises every son whom he receives.”7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

Introduction: Guard Your Heart… (Proverbs 4:20–27) With the WORD OF GOD (Proverbs 4:20–22) Psalm 119:9–11 (ESV) – How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Because it BRINGS TRUE LIFE (Prov 4:22a) Because it BRINGS LASTING HEALING (Prov 4:22b) With UNWAVERING VIGILANCE (Proverbs 4:23–27) Luke 6:45 (ESV) – The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. By Watching WHAT YOU SAY (Prov 4:24) Proverbs 13:3 (ESV) – Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin. By Controlling WHAT YOU FOCUS ON (Prov 4:25) By Directing WHERE YOU GO (Prov 4:26–27) 1 Kings 11:2–4 – ...for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love... For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods... Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! Small Group DiscussionRead Proverbs 4:20-27What was your big take-away from this passage / message?How do you guard your heart with the Word of God? How would you describe your devotional life and the ways it needs to improve?What does it look like to be vigilant in guarding your heart? How have you been lazy in guarding your heart in the past?What actions steps do you need to take moving forward?BreakoutPray for one another. AUDIO TRANSCRIPT The Lord saved me at a young age, but my relationship with Him wasn't really deep until I was a senior in high school.At that time, I became a serious student of God's Word and I bought myself a nice new Bible.Do you want to see that nice and new Bible 16 years later?Alright, thanks. I'll show Jay. Jay wants to see it.Here's how it looks now. How's it look?Some of you get it. Yeah, it does look good in some ways. It doesn't look great in other ways, though, does it?You may be wondering, did you get run over by a lawn mower or something while you were reading it?Nothing as dramatic as that, but for years, this Bible went everywhere with me.It took it to Haiti, twice to Kenya, all the missions, trips I led as a youth pastor.I preached a lot of sermons and taught a lot of lessons from this Bible.When I first bought it, I protected it. I guarded it. I kept it in the box. It came in whenever I put it into my backpack or went on a trip.But as years went by, I stopped protecting it with the box and I just hoped for the best.And I kept getting more worn out, kept getting more beat up.With each passing year, I kept looking worse and worse and worse and worse.It really bummed me out to look at this Bible and what it had become.Other people would comment on it as well, like, "Do you need to buy a new Bible or get it rebounded?"It's going to fall apart any minute.So I eventually took people up on that and I bought a nice leather-bound Bible.And I learned my lesson with my old Bible because I still have the box for the new one.And I still keep it in there all the time whenever I travel or put it into my backpack.I am resolved to guard this copy of God's Word moving forward.It has immense value to me. It is precious to me.So I want to take care of it by any means necessary.According to God's Word, there is something of immense value within youthat you often fail to consider and guard properly.Your heart. Your heart should be precious to youand you should want to take care of it by any means necessary.Over this past year, we have focused on one major theme from Scripture.God wants your heart.God wants your heart.But what if you don't want God like you used to?What if you don't want to give God your heart like you used to?This is the final week of our latest series, Heart Problems.What to do when you don't want God?Every single person in this room has a heart problem of some kind.It could be apathy and prayer, spiritual laziness and gratitude,unrepentant sin in your life.Thankfully, God has solutions to every single heart problem you can experience.Over the past few weeks, we've discovered three of God's solutionsto these heart problems.Evaluating your heart. Confessing sin from your heartand giving thanks with your heart.Maybe at this point you're thinking, "Well, Taylor, I'm good to go.I've done all those things. I've evaluated my heart.I've confessed sin from my heart. I've given thanks to my heart.Time to move on from this series and go back to the Sermon on the Mount.Thanks so much. I'm done with this."Well, not so fast.You are missing one important piece of the puzzle,and that is guarding your heart.Because if you fail to guard your heart,you will lose all the progress that you've made over the past few weeks.And all the old heart problems that you had will return and intensify.New heart problems will pop up and spiral out of control.You must protect yourself from this danger.You must do your best to resolve these heart problems when they first pop upinstead of ignoring them and leaving them undoubt with.We'll spend the rest of this message talking about what it looks liketo guard your heart in action.I want you to walk out of this series with a confidencethat you can resolve heart problems right when they appearthrough God's power and with God's methods.So before we continue, let's go to the Lord in prayer.Please pray for me, and I will pray for you.Father, we come to you with a sense of weightiness.But we all have a heart problem of some kind right now.None of us can say that we don't.I pray that we can be honest about it this morning.Bring those things to you that you can change us,that you can convict us, that you can build us up.Lord, I can do none of those things.All I can do is share your word,and you are the only one who can use your word to change lives.And I ask that you would do that this morning.I ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.So over the past two Sundays,we spent a lot of time with King David in the Psalms.This morning we're going to spend some timewith King David's son Solomon in Proverbs chapter 4 verses 20 through 27.So if you have a Bible with you,you can turn to Proverbs chapter 4 verses 20 through 27.And as you turn there,let me give you a quick crash course on King Solomon.At a young age, this man was given a blank check by God himself.Name what you want, and I'll give it to you.You ever think about how awesome that is?Just imagine that.What do you think you would ask forif God gave you that blank check?Well, Solomon didn't ask for what was expected.He didn't ask for riches, for honor, or the ability to fly.That would be really cool though.No, what does he ask for instead?Wisdom.Wisdom, which is the ability to apply God's wordto every situation you experienceand every decision that you make.Wisdom is knowledge and action.And God was so pleased with this answerthat he still gave Solomon all the stuffhe didn't ask for minus the superpower flighthe didn't get that.But Solomon was blessed with so much material stuff,most importantly, with wisdom from God.And he used this wisdom to accomplish a lot of great thingslike building the first temple,but later in life, he squandered that wisdom,which we'll talk about at the end of this message.But the first nine chapters of Proverbsare written from the perspectiveof a father speaking to his son.Solomon is addressing his own son,but he's also acting like a fatherly figureto anyone who listens to what he has to say.His wise words should not be ignored.They should not be forgotten.They should be treasured.And in these chapters, Solomon tells his sonthat wisdom is the most valuable thing.It's better than silver, gold, or precious jewels.He's seek after wisdom and get it.He also warns his son against many thingsthat he should not do.But our main focus this morningis Solomon's words of wisdom about his son's heart.That is the thing that Solomon is most concerned aboutbecause if your heart is wrong,it doesn't really matter what else you get right.Solomon gives his son and everyone who readsProverbs 4, 20 through 27 the same command,guard your heart.So on your outline,guard your heart with the word of God.Guard your heart with the word of God.Let's read verses 20 through 21."My son, be attentive to my wordsand climb your ear to my sayings.Let them not escape from your sight.Keep them within your heart."These verses remind me a lot of conversationsI had with my dad when I was younger,when he made it very clear that I should listento what he had to say and not tune him out.I have very similar conversations with my own sonthat vary in their level of effectiveness and success.In those moments, I want my son, Sam, to close his mouth,open his ears, and heed my warningsto listen to what I have to say.But you have to remember that this instructionfrom an earthly father isn't the only thinghappening in this passage.Remember, this is the authoritative word of God.It's not just the end of the Andy Griffith Show.When Sheriff Andy sits down with Opieto give the major moral lesson,no, your heavenly father is sitting you downto give you commands and instructions.God himself is calling you to be attentive to his words,to incline your ears to his sayings,to not let them escape your sightand to keep them within your heart.That sounds very similar to Psalm 119-11.How can a young man keep his way pureby guarding it according to your word?With my whole heart I seek you.Let me not wander from your commandments.I have stored up your word in my heartthat I might not sin against you.You cannot guard your heart, fight sin,and lead a pure life apart from significant time in the Bible.It's just not possible.It's like trying to build a deck on the back of your housewithout any tools or any supplies of any kind.You can have the best of intentions,but you will get nowhere fast.It's not enough just to read the Bible.You need to keep it stored up in your heart.How do you do that?You push out other things to make room for it.You kill the bad habits in your life.You let go of those hobbies that hold you backand that vie for your attention.You make room for God's word by memorizing it.I know what some of you are thinking,"Taylor, I can't memorize stuff. I have a horrible memory."Let me share a universal truth with you.You memorize what you care about.If you love sports,you have a ton of information about players,games, teams, write your fingertips at all times.If you love golf in this room,you have a lot of informationdownloaded into your brain about the perfect golf swing.All the courses you want to play at in the world,if you're a movie freak,you have film knowledge, directors, actors,write in your brain,what is the focus of your memorization?What do you make the most room for in your heart?John Bunyan, the man who wrote one of the best-selling books of all time,The Pilgrim's Progress, hundreds of years ago,was described in this way."This man is a living Bible.Prick him anywhere and he will bleed the Bible.The very essence of the Bible flows from him.He cannot speak without quoting a textfor his very own purpose.He cannot speak without quoting a textfor his very soul is full of the Word of God."Is that description true of you?I wish I fit this description far more than I do.But this can describe you.It can describe me if we grab ahold of the right motivations.And let me tell you this morning,I have no desire to guilt youfor spending more time in the Bible.Do you want to know why?Because that motivation won't last beyond the end of this week.You may be diligent in studying, reading, praying this week,but it won't last any longer.You need the motivation only God can provide.You need to believe that this book is far more importantthan anything else you can set your mind toor fill your time with.Truly be convinced from your heart that reading this book,studying it, living it, applying it,blesses and benefits you in every wayand in every area of life.My yelling, my nagging, my pesteringmay make you feel like a shame dogpopped on the nose with a rolled up newspaper.But those tactics will not make you lovethe instructions of your heavenly mastereven one bit more.So let's talk about two motivationsthat will inspire you to guard your heartwith the Word of God.So on your outline,guard your heart with the Word of Godbecause it brings true life.Because it brings true life.Let's check out the first half of verse 22."For they are life to those who find them."You are only as healthy as what you consume.As the old saying goes, "You are what you eat."That is true both physically and spiritually.Your physical well-being cannot rise abovewhat you put into your body.Your spiritual well-being cannot rise abovewhat you put into your heart.When he was tempted by Satan and the wilderness,Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8.3,"Man shall not live by bread alonebut by every word that comes from the mouth of God."Maybe you are spiritually starving this morningbecause you have never feasted on the Word of God.You have never tasted the goodness of Jesus Christin the gospel.Listen, nothing and no one can satisfy your longingsand cravings apart from Jesus Christ.Stop poisoning yourself with the junk food of this world.That diet will do nothing but make you sick,hurt your heart, and kill your eternal soul.Life is offered to you today in the Word of God.Let go of the junk food of this worldand grab a hold of Jesus Christ who suffered,died, and rose again so that you can have eternal lifethat starts now and lasts forever.Grab a hold of Christ by faith and you will have that life.Guard your heart with the Word of Godbecause it brings true lifeand because it brings true healing.Because it brings true healing.Let's read all of 22."For they are life to those who find them in healingto all their flesh."The Word of God provides a remedy for every ailment.It provides a solution to every heart problem.This book is like the ultimate Swiss army knife.It is multifaceted, multi-purpose,and useful for every situation.It is a genuine lifesaver.I can't guarantee you much,but I guarantee you there is no trial,there is no discouragement,there is no relational issuethat you cannot come to the Word of Godand find wisdom for.There is no issue, you'll come across and be like,"Well, the Bible can't help me with this.Time to buy a self-help book or watch that lifetime movie.Maybe that'll help me."No.The healing help you are looking for is in the Word of God.It's right at your fingertips.You can have access to it every single secondof every single day.And the Lord has brought me so much healing personallyby praying through Scripture,especially through the Psalms.The Psalms provide you a vocabularyfor how to pray to Godas you experience every emotion.Anger, fear, frustration, confusion, sadness,excitement, joy.Do you pray through Scripture?If you don't, let me teach you how to do it.This is very complex.Are you all ready for this?All right, really pay attention.Read a verse and then pray about it.Read the next verse and then pray about it.Read the next verse and then pray some more about it.Rinse, wash, and repeat.Can you do that?You can do that.Pray through God's Word.Pray through the Psalms.Are you overwhelmed right now?Are you at the lowest point that you've been in a long time?Are you in need of healing?Push out what the world has to say about you and your issues.Make room for what God has to say about you and your issues.Guard your heart with the Word of Godand you will experience the healing and the lifethat you are so desperate for.Guard your heart, secondly, with unwavering vigilance.With unwavering vigilance.Verse 23 is the centerpiece of this entire passage.It is one of the go-to verseswhen it comes to the importance of your heart.Solomon writes this,"Keep your heart with all vigilancefor from it flow the springs of life."After a year of repetition,you may be tired of hearing it,but I'm going to say it again,your heart is who you really are on the inside.Your heart is like a spring or a fountain.Everything that you think, say, and do flows from it.Most fountains only pour out what they are filled with.If a decorative fountain is filled with contaminated water,it will only pour out unclean water that you shouldn't drink.If a fondue fountain is filled with cheese and chocolate,you shouldn't be surprised when it only pours out cheese and chocolate.Your heart is a fountain that will only pour out what it is filled with.Have you ever come across a person who is rude in every situationand constantly rags on everyone?And then someone comes along to defend this person."Oh, well, you know, they might be rough around the edges,but deep down, he or she really is a nice and kind person."What do we think about that?Is that true?Incorrect.What is in that person's heart spews out of their mouth.Their heart is full of resentment and disrespect,so it comes out in how they talk to everyone.I can't put it any better than our Lord when He said,"The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good,and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil.For out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks."You show who you really are by what you say and by what you do.And with that essential truth in mind, Solomon says,"Keep your heart with all vigilance."Vigilance.Do you know who I think of when I hear that word?McGruff the crime dog.Does anyone remember McGruff?He was a character in the '80s who was created to increase personal safetyand awareness of crime.He was a bloodhound in the trench coatwho had a really deep and intimidating voice.Does anyone know what his tagline was?Anyone remember?"Take a bite out of crime."McGruff set his sights on important issues like bullying, drug use, home invasion.And he would just be so emphatic that you have to defend yourself.You have to have alarm systems. You have to have a deadbolt on your door.McGruff wants you to be constantly aware and unwaveringly vigilantin order to guard your loved ones and yourself from the crime that wants to take a bite out of you.Well, God himself wants you to be constantly aware and unwaveringly vigilantin order to guard your heart from the sin that wants to take a bite out of you.You cannot take breaks or vacations from this vigilance.Heart security is infinitely more important than home security.Spiritually, your head needs to be on a swivel at all times.You must be circumspect, not careless, cautious, not casual.So what should you be on the lookout for?How should you guard your heart with unwavering vigilance?What should you be focused on your outline?Guard your heart with unwavering vigilance by watching what you say.By watching what you say.Let's read verse 24."Put away from you crooked speech and put devious talk far from you."Crooked speech and devious talk, what does that mean?It's not about trying to be honest, it's about trying to be honest.It's about trying to be honest.It's about trying to be honest.It's about trying to be honest.It's about trying to be honest.It's about trying to be honest.It's about trying to be honest.It's about trying to be honest.That is a stupid thought that you and I both fall for.We've already established that you show who you are on the insideby what you say on the outside.So let's run that through.If you lie to others on the outside, who does that make you on the inside?That makes you a what?A liar.It's that simple.You cannot call yourself a lover of the truthif you constantly indulge in one of the activities that God hates the most.Elsewhere in Proverbs it says, "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord."So should you mess around with something that is described so harshly?No, we really shouldn't.The pathway of Christian speech is straight, not crooked.You need to walk the straight highway of God's truthinstead of stumbling down those side roads of deception.Put away crooked speech and devious talk by fessing up to how you've been deceitful.Sit that person, sit those people downto unravel every single lie that you've told.Those conversations sure won't be fun,but they sure will set your heart free.Put away crooked speech and devious talk by entering into tough conversations,by praying to God, "God, I know I'm going to be tempted to be dishonest.I know I'm going to be tempted to stress the truth.Guard my heart.Help me to only say what is true, even if it costs me."Put away crooked speech and devious talk by diving into Proverbs that talk about how you speak.Proverbs like the one we're studying this morning, or Proverbs 13.3,"Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life, he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin."Be vigilant in guarding your heart by guarding your mouth.Be vigilant in what you say and what you don't say.Guard your heart with unwavering vigilance by controlling what you focus on.So Solomon moves from what you say to where you look in verse 25."Let your eyes look directly forward and your gaze be straight before you."Where you look is where you'll end up.Where you look is where you'll end up.Imagine that after church, I take a nice long walk,I find myself on a road with a really steep embankment.And for some reason, I stop looking directly aheadand my eyes start to wander to the embankment.Keep looking at it, keep looking at it, keep looking at it.If I keep doing that, where am I going to end up?Smashing into the guardrail or through the guardrailand rolling down the entire road.Smashing into the guardrail or through the guardrail and rolling down the embankment.I will most likely get in a very serious accident.I could have avoided that if I had kept my eyes looking directly forwardwhere I should have been looking.Where are you looking right now?Are you looking where God wants you to look?Or are you looking where the enemy wants you to look?Where the world wants you to look?If you keep up with watching those corrupting movies and shows,you'll end up with those movies and shows rewriting your thinking.If you keep up with mindlessly, endlessly scrolling on social mediaall hours of the day, you'll end up as a spiritual zombie.As an undisciplined slacker who doesn't give his or her familythe time and attention that they deserve.If you keep up with that pornography addiction,you will end up feeling very aloneand ruining the good connection that you have with your spouse.You become what you behold.Be vigilant in guarding your heart by controlling where you lookand what you focus on.Finally, guard your heart with unwavering vigilanceby directing where you go.By directing where you go.Let's wrap up with verses 26 through 27."Ponder the path of your feet, then all your ways will be sure.Do not swerve to the right or to the left.Turn your foot away from evil."Staple this truth to your brain and never forget it.You are one decision away from life-shattering disaster.You can destroy all the trust that you've worked so hard to build up in an instant.You can tear your reputation to shreds with one choice.You can do serious damage if you're not careful of where you go.Don't do what feels good.Don't do what feels right.Do what is good.Do what is right."Ponder the path of your feet.Direct yourself to where you should go."But here's the thing.You can't ponder the path of your feet on your own.You will go to the right or to the left if you isolate yourself.You will not turn your foot away from evil if you try to go this way alone.Direct yourself towards worshiping with God's people every single week.Direct yourself towards intentional Christian community in small groups.Direct yourself to honest and accountable relationships in the body of Christ.If you've been on the outskirts of this church for weeks, months, or even years,I want to encourage you to dive in.Take a risk.Be vulnerable.Listen, you may have been hurt in the past by a church,and I in no way want to nullify that or minimize that pain.But that pain will not go away if you don't get involved in this church.It will only get worse and worse and worse.To truly be in community, to be truly known, to truly know others,it's always a risk.It always requires you being vulnerable.Take that step in faith and trust the Lord.Trust that He will direct you to where you should go.That He will direct you towards greater maturity and connectedness in the body of Christ.Please know that we love you and we want you here.Be vigilant and guard in your heart by directing where you go.At the end of this message, you may be thinking, "Well, Taylor,all this stuff that Solomon is saying is very obvious.I already know all this stuff. It's not complex."You're right.Keeping your heart, guarding your heart is not complex,except when it comes to actually doing it.When theory becomes reality, when rubber meets the road,when your worldly desires experience a head-on collision with your godly affections.Before we close a curtain on this series,I want to give you a word of warning from Solomon himself.It's actually a warning from his own life,because Solomon didn't listen to his own words.As time went on, he didn't guard his heart with the word of God.He didn't guard his heart with unwavering vigilance.He was told, "Time and time again,don't marry foreign wives from pagan nations who worship other gods.If you do that, they will cause you to not be faithful to the Lord."Solomon knew that, but he didn't listen.Which leads to one of the saddest passages in the entire Old Testament.Solomon clung to these in love.He had 700 wives who were princesses and 300 concubines.And his wives turned away his heart.For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods.And his heart was not wholly true to the Lord, his God,as was the heart of David, his father.What a heartbreaking end for Solomon.What a serious warning for you and for me.Solomon knew it all.He knew what the right thing to do was, but he didn't do it.He didn't guard his heart.It's tempting to think, "Well, my heart seems like it's fine right now."But then you fail to think,"Well, I'm going to have heart problems moving forward."You may not think that you have heart problems right now,and that you're free from them.But what about tomorrow?What about next week?What about next month?What about next year? Are you ready?Evaluating your heart is not a once in a lifetime appointment.It is a daily appointment with the Lord.Confessing sin from your heart isn't something you just do once at your conversion.No, it is a daily acknowledging and repenting of your sin.Giving thanks with your heart isn't something that you just do in Novemberwhen you're eating turkey with your family.It is a daily discipline that shapes how you view Godand how you view your own life.Guarding your heart isn't just something you do when you have the time.No, it's something you do 24/7, 365 days a year.Guard your heart with the Word of Godbecause it is the only source of help, encouragement, and strength that you can find.Guard your heart with unwavering vigilancefor from it flow the springs of life.Your heart problems can only be solved by God's solutions.Let's pray.Father, we come to you.And we acknowledge that there is something going on within all of us.Whether it's doubt, severe anxiety, constant complaining,a sin that we don't think anyone knows about, but you do.What help us to lay all those things at your feet,help us to seek after you for help, for encouragement, for strength.Lord, we don't have the energy in ourselves to guard our hearts.We don't have the passion that's needed within ourselves, but you do.Give us your strength, give us your encouragement, give us your passionso that we can guard our hearts, not just today, but every day moving forward.We ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen

In a poignant performance of Pilgrim: The Musical, Leisa stood before a special section for the Deaf and using American Sign Language expressively interpreted the performance. The musical, based on John Bunyan’s book The Pilgrim’s Progress about one man’s faith journey, was deeply moving, but so was Leisa’s delivery. When asked about her interpreting, Leisa said, “The reason I do Pilgrim and the reason I interpret is because the gospel should be accessible to everyone. And the Deaf are a group that is [largely] ignored.” She went on to say, “It’s heartbreaking because less than 2 percent of the Deaf worldwide have heard about Jesus.” Leisa uses her gift so the Deaf can know Jesus. Like Leisa, we’re called to use our gifts and abilities to be witnesses of God’s love and draw others to Jesus—to impact the world with the good news. The apostle Peter wrote, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10). These gifts include loving and praying for others (vv. 7-8). Whether you’re an encourager, a helper serving behind the scenes, a teacher, a speaker, a prayer warrior, or have another gift or ability, God can use you to serve others. Just ask. He’ll show you a way.

There are two quotes that have stuck with me that have helped me over the years: The first is from AW Tozer who said, It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until he has hurt him deeply. The second is from John Bunyan who said, Conversion is not the smooth, easy-going process some men seem to think... It is wounding work, this breaking of the hearts, but without wounding there is no saving... Where there is grafting there will always be a cutting, the graft must be let in with a wound; to stick it onto the outside or to tie it on with a string would be of no use. Heart must be set to heart and back to back or there will be no sap from root to branch. And this, I say, must be done by a wound, by a cut.[1] Throughout the Bible, I see the wisdom of Tozer and Bunyans counsel as it relates to the hard stuff we experience in life. As much as God has used AW Tozer and John Bunyan, the real question is this: What has God said about the trials that will come and do we trust and believe Him enough to turn to Him even when we do not understand how He will work it out of our good? It is to James that we now turn our attention to discover what God has said about it. Gods Will for the Christians Life is to Finish Well Gods will for the life of the Christian is to receive the crown of life. What is the crown of life you ask? Ironically, it is a type of victors crown that the Christian will receive after he/she has died. During the Isthmian games a crown in the form of a wreath would be awarded the victor who finished whatever event a Greek male athlete participated in. Like the Olympics of today, only the best of the best would compete after training harder than anything else in their lives in the hope that they could receive the coveted crown. Borrowing language from the games, Paul wrote of the Christian life: Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. So they do it to obtain a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way as not to run aimlessly; I box in such a way, as to avoid hitting air; but I strictly discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified (1 Cor 9:2527). Just before he was executed, Paul wrote to Timothy: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing (2 Tim. 4:7-8). The crown of life is eternal life with Jesus. At first glance, it sounds like James is telling us that in order to receive the crown of life, we have got to dig deep and persevere. This makes our salvation sound like we have to work for our salvation. This is not what James is saying at all, and we know this because of verse 18, which states: In the exercise of His will He gave us birth by the word of truth... The word of truth is the gospel of Jesus Christ that saves. It is of this gospel that Paul wrote in Romans, For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes... (Rom. 1:16). It was because of Gods will that we went from spiritual death to spiritual life, and the evidence that we are now spiritually alive is with the life we are living today. Listen to what Jesus said in John 1:12-13, But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God. In John 10:16, Jesus said that the evidence of those who belong to Him is in how they respond to Him: And I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice; and they will become one flock, with one shepherd (John 10:16). So here is the rub that is very important that you not only hear me say, but that you take it to heart. The one who perseveres to the end... even under and through various trials, is the one who was truly born again when they heard the gospel of Jesus Christ; it was in the moment that you were born again that you went from being spiritually dead to being alive with Christ! The crown of life is given not based on your merit, but because of your relationship with Jesus. It was His sinless life, His sacrificial death, and His victory over death that secured, secures, and will secure your salvation. The crown of life is awarded on the basis of your relationship with Jesus with the understanding that His merit is all that you need! The crown of life is not given to those who have good intentions, it is not given to those who are religious, it is not given because of some prayer you said, it is not given because you started out well, for it is given because you have been born again! Here is what the apostle John said of those who do not persevere until the end: They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be evident that they all are not of us (1 John 2:19). If you are wondering how you can know that you belong to Jesus and that you are indeed born again, James provides us with four words: ...those who love Him. The evidence that you have been born again besides the fact that you will persevere under trial, is that you love Him. This is why Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed (1 Cor. 16:22). If you have heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and have been born again as a result, you will love Jesus... which is evidence that God first loved you (1 John 4:9-19). Now, when it comes to the trials in life (v. 12) and the temptation(s) we all face, what purpose do they serve in the Christian life? James seems to indicate that trials are both allowed and designed by God while temptation comes from within and is used by the devil and his demons. What you cannot see in your English Bible is that the root of the Greek word for trial (peirasmos) and the root for temptation (peirazō) comes from the same Greek root and both words can be translated test or tempt. Trials are Designed by God to Ultimately Bless the Christian (vv. 12-13) So how do we make sense of these verses? Permit me to offer you an alternate translation of verse 13 that I think will open these verses up for you in a way that ought to help. Here is what I think is a better and more helpful way to translate James 1:13, No one is to say when he is tested, I am being tempted by God; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. How do we know that God does not tempt us? We know because He is a God of love, we know because He is good, and we know because He is holy! Because God is infinitely good, James states in verse 17, Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. Not only is God good, but because He is God, He has not, does not, and will not change. Because God is good, every trial that God brings or allows into your life is designed to strengthen your faith... not destroy your it. This is why James can say in verse 12 that when the trials do come, you can receive them knowing that such trials will ultimately serve for your blessing. How do I know that? For starters, it is the pattern we see with God in the way that He has always dealt with His people. Consider Abraham as one example of how God will use and bring trials into the lives of His people to do the kind of thing that needs to happen in the life of the one who belongs to Him. After Issac was born and old enough to know better, God told Abraham to take his only son and to offer him as a burnt offering (Gen. 22). What was the purpose of the testing? For starters, to show Abraham that his identity was not to be found in the son he and Sarah had longed for and prayed for their entire lives. Did God make Abraham go through with the slaughtering of his only son? Nope. Abraham would have done it, but God stopped him and then said to him: For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me (v. 12). For most of Abrahams life, he struggled to trust God. All throughout Abrahams life God used the various trials in Abraham and Sarahs lives that God brought, allowed, and even the trials Abraham brought upon himself to temper his faith to the point that by the time we come to Genesis 22, he knew he could trust God even when doing so did not make sense, such as Gods instructions to sacrifice Isaac. How do I know this, besides the fact that Abraham was so committed to obeying God that God had to stop him from following through with sacrificing Isaac? Here is how I know: When Abraham, Isaac, and his servants arrived at the mountain where Abraham was to follow through with Gods instructions, Abraham said to his servants something that reveals that something had changed in his heart; here is what he said: Abraham said to his young men, Stay here with the donkey, and I and the boy will go over there; and we will worship and return to you (Gen. 22:5). God told him to sacrifice Isaac, and the reason why Abraham was willing to go through with it was because over the years God was tempering Abrahams faith to the point that he knew God well enough to know that the God who told him to kill his son was both good and able to raise the dead. Abrahams action was the evidence that his faith in God was not just lip service (see Jas. 2:20-23). Temptation to Sin Comes from Within and Is Used by Satan to Destroy the Christian When the trials come, the primary danger we face in such moments is from within. Suffering can serve as a catalyst to deepen your relationship with God, or it can cause you to doubt the wisdom, goodness, and sovereignty of God. To be tempted is not sin, but it is what you do with the temptation. Notice what James says in verses 14-15, But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death (Jas. 1:1415). God does not tempt, but He does test. His testing often comes in the form of trials that serve to temper our faith for the purpose of making it stronger. Sin comes from within us, and whatever forms the temptation is that we are faced gives birth to sin when we are carried away and enticed by our own sin nature. Facing the temptation is not the sin, but giving into the temptation is. James tells us that when temptation comes (and it will), the downward progression leading to the act of sinning begins with a decision that involves both the mind and the heart. Giving into the temptation to sin begins when you decide to dwell on the temptation instead of run from it. The next step is to be carried away and enticed by your own lust (this is when both your heart and mind are lured by your own lust). Our lust comes from the sin nature that is within all of us, and when left unchecked... it gives birth to sin. Robert Plummer put it this way in his commentary on James: ...just as conception leads naturally to childbirth, giving free rein to sinful inclinations naturally results in discrete moral transgressions. Just as water runs downhill, so evil desire, if allowed to pursue its gravitational inclination, runs down into sinful activity.[2] Where does unchecked sin inevitably lead? It leads to death. Listen, most of the temptation we face comes by way of our own doing because of our own lustful desires. The devil is just one person and can only be at one place at a time. His demons are many, but they are also limited by their number and ability. However, Satan is also known as the Tempter for a reason. He is real and he wants to use temptation as a way to destroy your faith. The greater threat you face through is not the devil but your own heart and passions. To follow your passion is horrible advice if it is not tethered to the will of God for your life that you can only know and discern through His word and prayer. Conclusion Every time Abraham trusted his own heart or caved to his own fears, he was carried away and enticed by his own lust. The same can be said about Adam and Eve, the Hebrews in the wilderness, King David, and every other person we read about in the Bible. It wasnt until Abraham trusted in a good and sovereign God to lead him that he experienced the blessing God wanted for him. For Abraham, that blessing did not come when he wanted, but arrived when God knew Abraham was ready for it. All sin comes by way of trusting what you think is right, instead of believing God and trusting Him for what He has declared is right. So, how do we face the trials of life and at the same time resist the temptation to sin? James offers us some help in verses 16-17. Dont be deceived. Instead of trusting in what you desire, trust in the goodness of God and what He had declared to be good. Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above... (v. 17a), so trust the One who is good and wants good for you. Focus on Gods unchanging character instead of your desires. James tells us that all that is good comes from, the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow (v. 17b). We change all the time, our emotions ebb and flow, what we think is right one day may change the next day, but God does not change!His character remains the same. Instead of being carried away by your sin, turn to the God who does not change and trust Him. Trust Gods Word. It is because of His word that you have been born again when you heard the gospel. Tony Evens put it this way: For many, the Bible is like the queen of England. Its held in high esteem but wields no power over them personally. What Scripture accomplished for your salvation, though, it can accomplish for your sanctification.[3] When faced by temptation, Jesus used the Word of God to combat the devil; you can and ought to do the same. Know that God loves you. God called you by the word of truth, and He did it because He loves you. According to James 1:18, God gave you a new birth for the purpose of being His first fruits among His creatures. God instructed His people to give the first fruits of their possessions back to Him; for the Hebrew people, the first fruits were the best and first from their harvest. To be Gods first fruits among His creatures means that you are loved and treasured by Him! What He is doing in your life today, is for the purpose of something greater tomorrow that will ultimately lead to your sanctification and then glorification as His son/daughter. His no from His Word is for your good, your joy, and ultimately your thriving. [1] John Piper, The Hidden Smile of God (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books; 2001), 65. [2] Robert L. Plummer, James, in HebrewsRevelation, ed. Iain M. Duguid, James M. Hamilton Jr., and Jay Sklar, vol. XII, ESV Expository Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2018), 234. [3] Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2019), 1339.

There are two quotes that have stuck with me that have helped me over the years: The first is from AW Tozer who said, It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until he has hurt him deeply. The second is from John Bunyan who said, Conversion is not the smooth, easy-going process some men seem to think... It is wounding work, this breaking of the hearts, but without wounding there is no saving... Where there is grafting there will always be a cutting, the graft must be let in with a wound; to stick it onto the outside or to tie it on with a string would be of no use. Heart must be set to heart and back to back or there will be no sap from root to branch. And this, I say, must be done by a wound, by a cut.[1] Throughout the Bible, I see the wisdom of Tozer and Bunyans counsel as it relates to the hard stuff we experience in life. As much as God has used AW Tozer and John Bunyan, the real question is this: What has God said about the trials that will come and do we trust and believe Him enough to turn to Him even when we do not understand how He will work it out of our good? It is to James that we now turn our attention to discover what God has said about it. Gods Will for the Christians Life is to Finish Well Gods will for the life of the Christian is to receive the crown of life. What is the crown of life you ask? Ironically, it is a type of victors crown that the Christian will receive after he/she has died. During the Isthmian games a crown in the form of a wreath would be awarded the victor who finished whatever event a Greek male athlete participated in. Like the Olympics of today, only the best of the best would compete after training harder than anything else in their lives in the hope that they could receive the coveted crown. Borrowing language from the games, Paul wrote of the Christian life: Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. So they do it to obtain a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way as not to run aimlessly; I box in such a way, as to avoid hitting air; but I strictly discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified (1 Cor 9:2527). Just before he was executed, Paul wrote to Timothy: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing (2 Tim. 4:7-8). The crown of life is eternal life with Jesus. At first glance, it sounds like James is telling us that in order to receive the crown of life, we have got to dig deep and persevere. This makes our salvation sound like we have to work for our salvation. This is not what James is saying at all, and we know this because of verse 18, which states: In the exercise of His will He gave us birth by the word of truth... The word of truth is the gospel of Jesus Christ that saves. It is of this gospel that Paul wrote in Romans, For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes... (Rom. 1:16). It was because of Gods will that we went from spiritual death to spiritual life, and the evidence that we are now spiritually alive is with the life we are living today. Listen to what Jesus said in John 1:12-13, But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God. In John 10:16, Jesus said that the evidence of those who belong to Him is in how they respond to Him: And I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice; and they will become one flock, with one shepherd (John 10:16). So here is the rub that is very important that you not only hear me say, but that you take it to heart. The one who perseveres to the end... even under and through various trials, is the one who was truly born again when they heard the gospel of Jesus Christ; it was in the moment that you were born again that you went from being spiritually dead to being alive with Christ! The crown of life is given not based on your merit, but because of your relationship with Jesus. It was His sinless life, His sacrificial death, and His victory over death that secured, secures, and will secure your salvation. The crown of life is awarded on the basis of your relationship with Jesus with the understanding that His merit is all that you need! The crown of life is not given to those who have good intentions, it is not given to those who are religious, it is not given because of some prayer you said, it is not given because you started out well, for it is given because you have been born again! Here is what the apostle John said of those who do not persevere until the end: They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be evident that they all are not of us (1 John 2:19). If you are wondering how you can know that you belong to Jesus and that you are indeed born again, James provides us with four words: ...those who love Him. The evidence that you have been born again besides the fact that you will persevere under trial, is that you love Him. This is why Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed (1 Cor. 16:22). If you have heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and have been born again as a result, you will love Jesus... which is evidence that God first loved you (1 John 4:9-19). Now, when it comes to the trials in life (v. 12) and the temptation(s) we all face, what purpose do they serve in the Christian life? James seems to indicate that trials are both allowed and designed by God while temptation comes from within and is used by the devil and his demons. What you cannot see in your English Bible is that the root of the Greek word for trial (peirasmos) and the root for temptation (peirazō) comes from the same Greek root and both words can be translated test or tempt. Trials are Designed by God to Ultimately Bless the Christian (vv. 12-13) So how do we make sense of these verses? Permit me to offer you an alternate translation of verse 13 that I think will open these verses up for you in a way that ought to help. Here is what I think is a better and more helpful way to translate James 1:13, No one is to say when he is tested, I am being tempted by God; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. How do we know that God does not tempt us? We know because He is a God of love, we know because He is good, and we know because He is holy! Because God is infinitely good, James states in verse 17, Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. Not only is God good, but because He is God, He has not, does not, and will not change. Because God is good, every trial that God brings or allows into your life is designed to strengthen your faith... not destroy your it. This is why James can say in verse 12 that when the trials do come, you can receive them knowing that such trials will ultimately serve for your blessing. How do I know that? For starters, it is the pattern we see with God in the way that He has always dealt with His people. Consider Abraham as one example of how God will use and bring trials into the lives of His people to do the kind of thing that needs to happen in the life of the one who belongs to Him. After Issac was born and old enough to know better, God told Abraham to take his only son and to offer him as a burnt offering (Gen. 22). What was the purpose of the testing? For starters, to show Abraham that his identity was not to be found in the son he and Sarah had longed for and prayed for their entire lives. Did God make Abraham go through with the slaughtering of his only son? Nope. Abraham would have done it, but God stopped him and then said to him: For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me (v. 12). For most of Abrahams life, he struggled to trust God. All throughout Abrahams life God used the various trials in Abraham and Sarahs lives that God brought, allowed, and even the trials Abraham brought upon himself to temper his faith to the point that by the time we come to Genesis 22, he knew he could trust God even when doing so did not make sense, such as Gods instructions to sacrifice Isaac. How do I know this, besides the fact that Abraham was so committed to obeying God that God had to stop him from following through with sacrificing Isaac? Here is how I know: When Abraham, Isaac, and his servants arrived at the mountain where Abraham was to follow through with Gods instructions, Abraham said to his servants something that reveals that something had changed in his heart; here is what he said: Abraham said to his young men, Stay here with the donkey, and I and the boy will go over there; and we will worship and return to you (Gen. 22:5). God told him to sacrifice Isaac, and the reason why Abraham was willing to go through with it was because over the years God was tempering Abrahams faith to the point that he knew God well enough to know that the God who told him to kill his son was both good and able to raise the dead. Abrahams action was the evidence that his faith in God was not just lip service (see Jas. 2:20-23). Temptation to Sin Comes from Within and Is Used by Satan to Destroy the Christian When the trials come, the primary danger we face in such moments is from within. Suffering can serve as a catalyst to deepen your relationship with God, or it can cause you to doubt the wisdom, goodness, and sovereignty of God. To be tempted is not sin, but it is what you do with the temptation. Notice what James says in verses 14-15, But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death (Jas. 1:1415). God does not tempt, but He does test. His testing often comes in the form of trials that serve to temper our faith for the purpose of making it stronger. Sin comes from within us, and whatever forms the temptation is that we are faced gives birth to sin when we are carried away and enticed by our own sin nature. Facing the temptation is not the sin, but giving into the temptation is. James tells us that when temptation comes (and it will), the downward progression leading to the act of sinning begins with a decision that involves both the mind and the heart. Giving into the temptation to sin begins when you decide to dwell on the temptation instead of run from it. The next step is to be carried away and enticed by your own lust (this is when both your heart and mind are lured by your own lust). Our lust comes from the sin nature that is within all of us, and when left unchecked... it gives birth to sin. Robert Plummer put it this way in his commentary on James: ...just as conception leads naturally to childbirth, giving free rein to sinful inclinations naturally results in discrete moral transgressions. Just as water runs downhill, so evil desire, if allowed to pursue its gravitational inclination, runs down into sinful activity.[2] Where does unchecked sin inevitably lead? It leads to death. Listen, most of the temptation we face comes by way of our own doing because of our own lustful desires. The devil is just one person and can only be at one place at a time. His demons are many, but they are also limited by their number and ability. However, Satan is also known as the Tempter for a reason. He is real and he wants to use temptation as a way to destroy your faith. The greater threat you face through is not the devil but your own heart and passions. To follow your passion is horrible advice if it is not tethered to the will of God for your life that you can only know and discern through His word and prayer. Conclusion Every time Abraham trusted his own heart or caved to his own fears, he was carried away and enticed by his own lust. The same can be said about Adam and Eve, the Hebrews in the wilderness, King David, and every other person we read about in the Bible. It wasnt until Abraham trusted in a good and sovereign God to lead him that he experienced the blessing God wanted for him. For Abraham, that blessing did not come when he wanted, but arrived when God knew Abraham was ready for it. All sin comes by way of trusting what you think is right, instead of believing God and trusting Him for what He has declared is right. So, how do we face the trials of life and at the same time resist the temptation to sin? James offers us some help in verses 16-17. Dont be deceived. Instead of trusting in what you desire, trust in the goodness of God and what He had declared to be good. Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above... (v. 17a), so trust the One who is good and wants good for you. Focus on Gods unchanging character instead of your desires. James tells us that all that is good comes from, the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow (v. 17b). We change all the time, our emotions ebb and flow, what we think is right one day may change the next day, but God does not change!His character remains the same. Instead of being carried away by your sin, turn to the God who does not change and trust Him. Trust Gods Word. It is because of His word that you have been born again when you heard the gospel. Tony Evens put it this way: For many, the Bible is like the queen of England. Its held in high esteem but wields no power over them personally. What Scripture accomplished for your salvation, though, it can accomplish for your sanctification.[3] When faced by temptation, Jesus used the Word of God to combat the devil; you can and ought to do the same. Know that God loves you. God called you by the word of truth, and He did it because He loves you. According to James 1:18, God gave you a new birth for the purpose of being His first fruits among His creatures. God instructed His people to give the first fruits of their possessions back to Him; for the Hebrew people, the first fruits were the best and first from their harvest. To be Gods first fruits among His creatures means that you are loved and treasured by Him! What He is doing in your life today, is for the purpose of something greater tomorrow that will ultimately lead to your sanctification and then glorification as His son/daughter. His no from His Word is for your good, your joy, and ultimately your thriving. [1] John Piper, The Hidden Smile of God (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books; 2001), 65. [2] Robert L. Plummer, James, in HebrewsRevelation, ed. Iain M. Duguid, James M. Hamilton Jr., and Jay Sklar, vol. XII, ESV Expository Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2018), 234. [3] Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2019), 1339.

Opposition is an opportunity to clarify the message and strengthen the movement -- but it requires Spirit-filled boldness. Pastor Jeremy Treat continues our series through Acts with a sermon from Acts 4:1-22.

Despair can loom over us like a fearsome giant. And doubt can become like a prison cell. John Bunyan envisioned both in The Pilgrim’s Progress but he didn’t forget—God has provided a means of escape.

QUOTES FOR REFLECTION“I've tried to hate myself,Thinking that's how things will change,But it never helps, piling up the blame.Fighting fire with fire, hurt with more hurt,Breaking my own heart makes everything worse.”~“Kind to Myself” by Tenth Avenue North “That is that which I seek for, even to be rid of this heavy burden; but get it off myself, I cannot; nor is there any man in our country that can take it off my shoulders; therefore am I going this way, as I told you, that I may be rid of my burden.” “I went but a little further, and I saw one, as I thought in my mind, hang bleeding upon the tree; and the very sight of him made my burden fall off my back, (for I groaned under a very heavy burden,) but then it fell down from off me.”~The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan “The only way that the disciplines strengthen the Christian life is when we view them as bread, not barter. They are not trading chips to exchange for God's grace but, rather, divine manna, providing the nutrition by which our love for Christ thrives. As we meditate upon the lavishness of grace across Scripture, commune with our God in prayer, and experience many dimensions of his mercy among his people, we grow in our understanding of his love. As a consequence, our love for him grows, displacing lesser loves that attack us even as they attract us.”~Unlimited Grace by Bryan ChapellSERMON PASSAGEHebrews 10:1-18 (ESV)1 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,  but a body have you prepared for me;6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings  you have taken no pleasure.7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,  as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.'”8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. 10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them   after those days, declares the Lord:   I will put my laws on their hearts,   and write them on their minds,”17 then he adds,   “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

June 2, 2025 ZACH MAXCEY,President of Providence TheologicalInstitute of New Covenant Theology,who will address: “An OVERVIEW of the UPCOMING2025 JOHN BUNYAN CONFERENCEin FRANKLIN, TN: ISRAEL: PAST,PRESENT & FUTURE” Subscribe: Listen:

Would you like some advice for how to work through scrupulosity and salvation OCD from a famous Christian author? Allow me to share with you some important insights about working through salvation OCD by highlighting a statement from John Bunyan himself, who was known to have his own battle with scrupulosity. You are not alone […]

How do you prepare for suffering before it comes? In this episode of Light + Truth, John Piper examines John Bunyan's unwavering trust in God's sovereignty.

Why do the greatest lessons often come through suffering? In this episode of Light + Truth, John Piper explores how John Bunyan's time in prison made his ministry a balm for sufferers.

What sustains your faith when all is stripped away? In this episode of Light + Truth, John Piper looks at the hardships of John Bunyan to reveal how suffering teaches us to depend on God alone.