Ref Cast

What is the Bible All About?

Jimmy and Joe recorded this episode just before they left. for their Vegas trip. What is the Bible all about? Is it all about God? Is it about us in any way? How is it dangerous to be ignorant of Scripture? Plus, Jimmy is terrified by a dead bat.Baptist Catechism Question 6.Q. What things are chiefly contained in the holy scriptures? A. The holy scriptures chiefly contain what man ought to believe concerning God, and what duty God requireth of man.RESOURCESThe Baptist CatechismA Scriptural Exposition of the Baptist Catechism by Benjamin BeddomeRead Beddome’s Exposition online for free here. SPONSOR: CROSS20This episode is sponsored by CROSS20, a special live-stream conference going down December 29-30, 2020 aimed at helping 18-25 year-olds find their place in God's global plan. Featuring speakers like David Platt, John Piper, and Kevin DeYoung participants will walk through The Lord’s Prayer together. Registration is just $10 per person. Register for the conference at CROSS20.com, and to download the free ebook, Genesis to Revelation, be sure to visit cross20.com/doctrine.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/doctrine-and-devotion/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Sunday Sermon: Beware the Leaven of False Teachers (Matthew 16)

Pastor Gabriel Hughes reads Matthew 16 where Jesus warns against believing the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, that the church may remain pure to the calling and word of Christ. Visit fsbcjc.org for more info about our church!

WWUTT 1305 Q&A (Part 2) Necromancy Technology, Tim Keller Voting Democrat, Getting the SBC Turned Around

Responding to questions from listeners about new technology conjuring up the dead, Tim Keller’s arguments about Christians voting democrat, and is it possible to get the SBC turned around. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!

WWUTT 1305 Q&A (Part 1) Can Women be Judges, Are We Just Puppets, Is the Word Homosexual Mistranslated?

Responding to questions from listeners about women in leadership, Deborah as judge over Israel, if God ordains everything does that mean we are just puppets, and is the word homosexual a mistranslated word in the Bible? Part one of (hopefully) a two part Q&A to continue tomorrow.

Presenting the Gospel to Children IV

This week we continue our series-within-a-series in discussion how we can present the gospel to our children. For help in this episode we are looking to Philip Doddridge’s and his writing, “Teaching Children about God.”

The Church: Pillar and Ground of the Truth bit.ly/church-preorder

WWUTT 1304 Hear My Son Your Father's Instruction (Proverbs 1:8-19)

Reading Proverbs 1:8-19 and continuing to receive and understanding right instruction, for as was stated in verse 7, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge! Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!

WWUTT 1303 I Will Call My People (Romans 9:25-29)

Reading Romans 9:25-29 where the Lord says, “Those whom I did not call my people I will call my people,” not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!

It’s Okay to Be a Pastor

You don’t need to hear it from me, but maybe I need to hear it from myself: Pastor, you have permission to be a pastor.
Let’s see, you got into ministry because you love people, love the church, and love the Word of God. Your weeks are full—even in a pandemic—with leading meetings, preparing agendas, responding to emails, praying, counseling, reading a book with your staff, meeting a student for coffee, putting out relational and institutional fires, and, oh yeah, trying to find time to write a sermon.
And now, with everything going on in our country, you have to think through COVID protocols, navigate racial tensions, and help steer your congregation through another divisive election.
You’re tired.
Not tired of Jesus or tired of the gospel or tired of being with people in their moments of pain and joy. You are not tired of being a pastor. You are tired of not being a pastor.
You didn’t sign up for the ministry to become an expert in epidemiology or Supreme Court nominations.
You aren’t quite sure if masks are saving lives or the first step of government oppression.
You don’t know how to fix policing in America or if it needs fixing in the first place.
You’re not looking to sign up for Black Lives Matter or for Trump’s re-election campaign.
You don’t have an opinion on everything, or at least not an opinion you think needs to be shared with everyone.
But somehow, you’re wondering if you’re a squish for plodding along with social distancing and masks, or if you are insufficiently attuned to social justice because you aren’t sure the nation is a racist nightmare.
You’d like to think that reading old books, reading commentaries, and reading your Greek and Hebrew are still the most important things you can read each week. But it doesn’t feel like that. It feels like being up on the news is more important than being up on the mountain with God.
You’d like to think, even in the midst of COVID, that the old paths are still the right paths, that the ordinary means of grace are still the right means of grace. But that’s not what you’re hearing. Experts are saying we can’t go back to the way ministry was before. Once the pandemic passes, we have to start over and rethink everything.
What is a pastor to do?
If a few pastors have the time and the calling to speak into the pressing cultural issues of our day with courageous grace and winsome truth, go for it. We will rise up and call you blessed. But most pastors are not short on things they need to do. Don’t neglect what the Bible says about good shepherds: they feed, they guide, they protect, they preserve.
It’s tempting to think, Nothing prepared me for this. Perhaps. But don’t lose sight of what you were prepared to do. Don’t think that preaching the whole counsel of God is not prophetic. Don’t think that caring for the least of these in your congregation is not doing justice. Don’t think that being faithful in all the mundane messiness of your church and family is not real Christian discipleship. Keep your hand to the plow. Keep praying. Keep preaching. Keep loving people.
Everything is changing, they say. True, it always does. And at the same time, nothing has changed. God is still God. Sin is still the problem. The cross is still the answer. Jesus is still mighty to save.
Head down, chin up, one foot in front of the other. The world is broken, but what’s new about that? The Word still needs to be proclaimed, the darkness still needs the light, and the sheep still need a shepherd.
Don’t give up pastor. You have permission to be the pastor you always wanted to be.

Kevin DeYoung (PhD, University of Leicester) is senior pastor of Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, North Carolina, Council member of The Gospel Coalition, and associate professor of systematic theology at Reformed Theological Seminary (Charlotte). He has written numerous books, including Just Do Something. Kevin and his wife, Trisha, have nine children: Ian, Jacob, Elizabeth, Paul, Mary, Benjamin, Tabitha, Andrew, and Susannah.

WWUTT 1302 What if God Desiring to Make Known His Power (Romans 9:22-23)

Reading Romans 9:22-23, continuing to draw upon examples from Scripture where God has shown mercy to one and judgment to another. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!

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