The guys are back, school is in session, and Joe doesn’t know Roman numerals. On this episode the guys talk through John Calvin’s Prayer on Preparing to Go to School. It’s a beautiful and helpful prayer that can guide both students and parents in praying through the beginning of the school year. You can read the prayer below in its entirety, and you can order the seven volume set of John Calvin’s Tracts and Letters by Banner of Truth here. Prayer on Preparing to Go to School O LORD, who art the fountain of all wisdom and learning, since thou of thy special goodness hast granted that my youth is instructed in good arts which may assist me to honest and holy living, grant also, by enlightening my mind, which otherwise labours under blindness, that I may be fit to acquire knowledge; strengthen my memory faithfully to retain what I may have learned: and govern my heart, that I may be willing and even eager to profit, lest the opportunity which thou now givest me be lost through my sluggishness. Be pleased therefore to infuse thy Spirit into me, the Spirit of understanding, of truth, judgment, and prudence, lest my study be without success, and the labour of my teacher be in vain. In whatever kind of study I engage, enable me to remember to keep its proper end in view, namely, to know thee in Christ Jesus thy Son; and may every thing that I learn assist me to observe the right rule of godliness. And seeing thou promisest that thou wilt bestow wisdom on babes, and such as are humble, and the knowledge of thyself on the upright in heart, while thou declarest that thou wilt cast down the wicked and the proud, so that they will fade away in their ways, I entreat that thou wouldst be pleased to turn me to true humility, that thus I may show myself teachable and obedient first of all to thyself, and then to those also who by thy authority are placed over me. Be pleased at the same time to root out all vicious desires from my heart, and inspire it with an earnest desire of seeking thee. Finally, let the only end at which I aim be so to qualify myself in early life, that when I grow up I may serve thee in whatever station thou mayest assign me. AMEN. John Calvin, Tracts and Letters, Volume 2, 96-97. Get all the links and show notes for this episode at www.doctrineanddevotion.com/podcast/back-to-school  Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/doctrine-and-devotion/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Joe and Jimmy take a listen to Pastor Brian Davis’s sermon, What Your Grumbling Says About God, to address the issue of complaining. It was a good word to people like us to often fall into the sin of grumbling, but a number of Twitter users offered a lot of negative pushback against a quote from the sermon that was shared by TGC. The guys explore the concept of complaining in Scripture and offer a more nuanced perspective. Is it always wrong to complain? What would a righteous complaint look like? And, why does this matter? For all the links and show notes visit www.doctrineanddevotion.com/podcast/complainingSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/doctrine-and-devotion/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Joe and Jimmy discuss the sermon stealing, preaching plagiarism, or whatever you want to call it when a pastor takes someone else’s sermon and preaches it like it’s their own. When does a preacher need to cite his sources? What if a preacher has permission to preach someone else’s sermon? What are the consequences of sermon stealing?REFERENCESZach Stewart’s Plagiarzed SermonSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/doctrine-and-devotion/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands