Practically Theologians

Andrew and Josh talk about the benefits of church membership. We hope it is helpful!

Another driving episode, sorry for any road noise or such. I am a cessationist, which many people are not today. Thought it would be helpful to explain what that is.

A brief description of what "reformed" means as well as a bit of discussion on what covenant theology is. I was driving to work, so had no notes, pardon any rambling or stupidity :-).

Josh talks about why he became a paedobaptist. Apologies for the rambling, hope it is useful!

Andrew and Josh discuss singing and mask wearing in 2020. This was released very very late, sorry. Hopefully it is an interesting discussion. 

Andrew and Josh discuss the four levels of tyranny described by the Magdeberg Confession of 1550, a summary of which can be found here: https://www.intoyourhandsllc.com/blog/84.

We hope you find our discussion helpful as you think through these things with those around you. We don't intend to tell you what to do, only to let you in on where we are at to help round out your thinking. These are difficult things to work through for most of us, as we never really were forced to consider them in our relatively free society until the lockdowns shut down churches, workplaces, gatherings, etc. 

We broke the discussion into two parts, the first on these levels, and the second on a discussion of singing and masks. We will release the second part as soon as we can get it edited!

Mask mandates. Churches not allowed to meet. Businesses shut down. Andrew and Josh discuss authority and what the Christian response to many of the orders coming down from governors should be. What is lawful authority? What about truth? These are difficult issues and we want to make it clear here that we are only two friends discussing these things; we are not representing our churches; we are not trying to be dogmatic; we are only trying to work it out. We hope to be helpful in giving the listener a perspective that might lend toward being more compassionate toward those with whom you disagree. We all have different ways of coming at things, and sometimes we have to disagree at the end of the day even as we leave the discussion as friends and brothers or sisters in the faith. Due to time constraints we had to leave this at a cliff-hanger, but will come back as soon as we can find time to continue the discussion. Hope you find it helpful. As always, we'd love feedback at podcast@practicallytheologians.org.

Josh throws together a quick update on what's happening with the lockdown in Washington state, and also talks a bit about definitions. What is a vulnerable person? Who defines what it means to be human?

Here is the short post Josh wrote regarding the vulnerable:

A short, quickly written observation. So forgive any incomplete arguments and bear with me! And if clarification is needed I’d be happy to address.

As I was sipping my coffee this morning, thinking about the current state of society amid this whole panic over a virus, I decided I would write something that has been on my mind for the last few days regarding the “vulnerable” (not “scare” quotes, just labeling as a label). I keep thinking about the  inconsistency of politicians, news sources, and individuals who support the murder of unborn children and then claim to care about the “vulnerable” among us. What I have been thinking is how they are being allowed to define “vulnerable” based on something other than how I would define it.

Those who rebel against God by supporting the murder of babies get around that charge by redifining what a baby is.  They redefine what it means to be a human being. They get to choose when that baby becomes a person. And so, those among us who are truly vulnerable, those who are grey with wisdom, those who have underlying health issues, and babies; are all at risk of someday losing the “vulnerable” label when those who define what it means to be a human decide to define the vulnerable right out of society.

God defines what it means to be human. Male and female He created them, after His image and very good. All who bear His image are human beings, and because we bear His image are worthy of being treated with respect by one another. Jesus Christ, God incarnate, gives us the supreme example of protecting the vulnerable. All humans face certain death, we all share in this ultimate vulnerability. Not only that but we should all face the terrible judgment of God for our rebellion against Him. But Jesus came to bear the curse for His people, and death now has lost its sting for those who believe that Jesus came, died, and rose again to bring resurrection life!

As we weather a storm that may or may not be all media hype and social media fueled panic (why a run on TP?), be encouraged that you face certain death. Be encouraged because death is the most fearful thing we face and there is an answer to its sting, the work of Jesus the Christ. And treat the vulnerable well knowing we are bearing the image of God who treated His people with amazing grace in Christ. And when people throw out these terms let’s think about what they mean by them. Maybe that will present an opening to talk about Jesus with them, who knows?

We discuss some of the lessons we learned while preaching this year. Ranging from trying to utilize illustrations to creating a memorable main idea, it was a fun discussion and we hope you enjoy!

Today we work through Psalm 131 in an attempt to not only explain what an exegetical idea is, per the book Biblical Preaching by Haddon Robinson, but also show you how we work toward one (although imperfectly). This is to hopefully provide you also with another way to help study Scripture, as  trying to get to what the author is saying as the subject/complement of a passage tends to focus one in on a truth in the passage under which the particulars of that passage can be organized. Anyway, we hope it is useful and interesting, but if not we at least had fun talking!  Leave us feedback if you'd like, or suggestions for future episodes, at podcast@practicallytheologians.org.

A message preached by Josh recently from the book of Ruth.  In 2:18-3:5 Ruth brings back a bounty of grain to Naomi and they are excited to learn that Boaz, the generous benefactor, is a redeemer for the family. But is Naomi seeing Boaz as simply a solution to her earthly woes, or is she seeing a great provision for redemption brought about by Yahweh? We will consider Naomi's scheme and what this great little book is teaching us to help us understand what God has to say to us here in Ruth. Here is my main idea from the text, "when your heart is bitter consider the loving-kindness of the Lord, for by it He patiently leads us to repentance."

Josh and Andrew discuss Matthew 18:20 and how to utilize good interpretive skills.  So often we take these verses that we are used to quoting out of context simply because we know the verse so well but forget the context.  We hope to show why understanding context is important and why this verse is not a good proof-text for the church being wherever there are 2 or more believers present.  And if you have any feedback for us please let us know at podcast@practicallytheologians.org.  Thanks for listening! 

In the first episode of a special series we will be recording every so often on misused Bible passages, Andrew and Josh discuss Romans 8:28 and how it can be taken out of context either in innocence or by false teachers. We ought to think about the context of passages that we are very familiar with, and if we don't remember the context we should take another look to remind ourselves.  Sometimes those verses are so ingrained in our minds that we use them almost reflexively, and when that happens we can tend to use them even out of context.  We do our best, we were both rusty, but we hope it get you thinking.  And if you have any feedback for us please let us know at podcast@practicallytheologians.org.  Thanks for listening!