Beggars at the Gate: Recent Episodes
Darren Colwell and Ben Hyink
A ministry of Covenant Grace Church. We aim to bring the good news of Jesus Christ and His work from a Reformed Baptist perspective in a Utah Context.
We have our first ever Q&A episode based on submissions through the "Hey Pastor, can you please clarify?" app form. In today's episode we address the questions of where did Lazarus go when he died, how should we think about the Angel of the Lord in the OT, and what do I do when I see the Book of Mormon in a hotel room?
Should pastors or other Christians pursue platforms? What are some of the dangers these present? And what do we mean by porches? We discuss the important role of pastors and members and the danger of elevating personalities.
If God providentially governs all things for the good of the elect to bring them to himself, then how does God's providence apply to the non-elect? We look at this important and heavy doctrine in today's episode. We also take a step back to see how God providentially provides for his church in all things and how that relates to the church's mission on earth.
In one of the most pastoral paragraphs of the confession we find God's wise, righteous, and gracious hand in the sins and sorrows of believers. God sovereignly and lovingly allows his people to sin in order to bring them back to himself, discipline us, and make us more dependent on him for his glory and our good.
We pray this conversation will be a comfort and balm to your soul in whatever the providence of God brings your way.
God providentially uses means to accomplish his ends. How does he do this? What relation does that have to our free will? And what about sin? The providence of God has direct relation to our lives and the most pressing questions we have.
Darren's audio had an issue until the 5:21 mark, so please bear with us for the first few minutes
What is the difference between providence and decree? How should we respond to God's providence? And what is the end for (the) which God is moving all things, and how should that affect my life practically? We discuss this and more as we dive into Chapter 5 on God's Divine Providence.
We were recently asked a helpful and clarifying question on our emphasis on the Sunday gathering and whether or not that deemphasizes personal Bible reading. We take time to discuss how Sunday worship should inform our family and personal devotion, how it should shape our reading, and what our aim should be in reading the Bible. We also discuss helpful methods of reading Scripture.
Our church recently voted to bring Darren Colwell on full time as a paid pastor/elder. Join us as we discuss what led our church to this, how we went through the process, and what our confession says about it. We also discuss the responsibilities of a pastor and whether or not being paid full-time affects those. How should we think about a full-time pastor compared to a bi-vocational one?
What does it mean for man to be created in the image of God? Why did God command Adam and Eve to not eat of the Tree? We discuss this and more as we look at what we believe about the creation of man and our hope in the true and better Second Adam.
Matthew Barrett, an author & theologian we've learned much from, just announced he's leaving the SBC and becoming Anglican as well as teaching at one of their seminaries. We thought this would be a good opportunity to discuss some of our distinctives as Reformed Baptists, such as our church government (Congregationalism), the regulative principle of worship, and why we're firmly credobaptists and not paedobaptists. Though we disagree with Dr. Barrett in the reasons he gave, we appreciate him and wish him and his family all the best.
How important is the doctrine of creation? There have been many debates over this doctrine, so what should we believe about it? We talk about this and more, including how the doctrine of creation relates to the doctrine of God and what we can learn from creation.
We cover the final three paragraphs of chapter 3 in the 1689, Of God's Decree. God's people are predestined to life, through means, for our comfort, assurance, and worship of God. This doctrine is a high mystery but of immense comfort for the believer.
Maybe a little late to do a recap of the conference as it happened a month ago but we thought it would be helpful and enjoyable discussion looking back at a fantastic time gathering with our fellow network churches. For more information on GRN go to gracereformednetwork.com
We apologize for the recording cutting off at the end. We ran into some computer issues. Thankfully we only lost a few minutes and nothing of significance.
We continue looking at God's decree as we work through chapter 3 of the 1689. In this episode we look at the doctrine of predestination, and, particularly, double predestination.
What is God's decree? How is it different from God's providence? This doctrine is a deep and difficult one at times involving questions about God's will, our will, and the problem of evil. We attempt some biblical answers as we look at our confession's statement on the decree of God.
Jesus and the apostles talk a lot about the unity of the church and how important that is. But sin is pervasive and seeks to destroy what God has created. With that in mind we look at the sin of division. We'll look at 13 causes of division written by Benjamin Keach in his excellent book, The Glory of a True Church, add a couple modern examples, and then look at what the Bible says about unity.
Perhaps you've heard the question asked "how do we keep the next generation in church?" There are a number of studies that look at how many of our young people leave the church after they graduate high school. How should the church address this?
We finish our discussion of the doctrine of the Trinity by looking at what is called the eternal relations of origin and how we have communion with this God.
The doctrine of the Trinity is at the heart of our faith and is often the subject of attack. What does the Bible say about it and what should we believe? How does this doctrine affect us as believers? We discuss this and more as we begin our discussion of this great doctrine of our faith.
We finish paragraph 2 of chapter 2 in the 1689 by discussing God in relation to creation. Our God is sovereign and good and does good, even when we don't understand it all.
We made it to the second paragraph of Chapter 2 of the Second London Confession of Faith! We spend time discussing God's glory in himself and our delight in our most blessed God as his people.
Here's part 2 of our interview with our sending pastor, Matt Emadi. We dive into discipleship and pastoral visits in this part. We're so thankful for Matt Emadi's faithful service and willingness to discuss the church with us.
We interview Pastor Matt Emadi from our sending church, Crossroads Church in Sandy, Utah. We discuss preaching, membership, and what makes a healthy church. We apologize that Matt was a little hard to hear in this interview. We're still trying to perfect our audio set up for a third person.
We finish the first paragraph of chapter 2 on God and the Trinity by discussing the attributes God has gracious shared with us and his disposition to save his people.
We continue our dive into the depths of theology, the being and essence of God, as we press on into the first paragraph of chapter 2 of the 1689. We discuss God's eternality, immutability, and other attributes of God that we know by "negative analogy." Join us as we marvel at who our God is and worship him in truth.
We dive into Chapter 2 of the 1689, Of The Holy Trinity. We make it part way through the first paragraph and discuss who the Bible reveals God to be and why he is, and can only be, the only true God.
Is the practice of church membership a biblical one? At CGC we believe that it is. So where do we find it? What is membership? And what are some of the ways it can be and has been abused?
We finish chapter 1 of the 1689 confession by looking at the use of Scripture in interpretation and controversies. We discuss the use & limitation of the historical-grammatical method of interpretation, how we should read and understand the Bible, as well as where creeds and confession stand in relation to the Bible.
We take a week off of the 1689 to discuss David's song of confession and repentance in Psalm 51. In this devotional episode we discuss the nature of sin and the glory of God's forgiveness.
We discuss the clarity of Scripture (or its perspicuity) and why that's so important as well as the languages it was written in and why we need translations.
Can we add to Scripture? What does it mean "necessarily contained" and why did the Particular Baptists change this from the Westminster? What governs our worship and why? We discuss this and more as we continue moving through the 1689.
We continue our discussion of the Bible's authority in the church and the internal witnesses to the Bible as the Word of God.
We continue our series through the Second London Baptist Confession, the 1689, by looking at the authority of Scripture. Why do we believe this is the very word of God? How do we prove that to those around us? Are there other testaments we should submit to? What about the Apocrypha.
We continue our series through the Second London Baptist Confession by looking at the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs of the first chapter, Of The Holy Scriptures. What books make up the Bible and why? Who decided this?
We look at one of the great doctrines of the Reformation, Sola Scriptura, as we continue our series through the 1689 and look at chapter 1, paragraph 1, Of The Holy Scriptures. We talk about natural revelation and special revelation, can we trust our Bibles, and why the Bible is so necessary.
We begin our series through the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith (or the 1689) by looking at the introduction. Why was this written and what use does it have in the church? Is it helpful to have a confession of faith like this in a place like Utah?
the1689confession.com
Many believers make new plans around the new year to read the Bible more or read the whole Bible in a year. How should we think about personal Bible reading? What are the benefits? Are there any dangers we should look out for? We also discuss some of our plans for the podcast in 2025.
What makes a church plant into a church? There's a theological aspect to this question (and we address that) but also a practical one in terms of maturity. In this episode we look back on the year that was and rejoice in the ways God has worked in us and in our church.
We continue our short Advent series through some of our favorite hymns and their rich gospel theology by looking at Hark the Herald Angels sing. Some of the major themes include God's reconciliation of sinners to himself, what it means that Jesus veiled his divinity (and what it doesn't mean), and the often forgotten fourth verse.
This Advent season Ben and Darren discuss some of their favorite hymns and the depth of gospel truths each one has. This week we look at Joy to the World and discuss why we can be joyful even when life often isn't and what Jesus came to do.
By popular demand! Ben and Darren discuss the most requested topic for the podcast, the fig trees in the gospels. This may seem like an obscure topic to discuss but it is rich with biblical imagery and the glory of the gospel in the New Covenant. Listen in as we explore the vast riches Scripture has to offer in even the smallest details.
In light of the recent election, Ben and Darren discuss how we as Christians should respond and what our hope is. They discuss the nature of the two kingdoms we live in and what our mission should be and why the mission of the church must be protected.
Ben and Darren continue their discussion on discipleship of our families as they look at parents' responsibilities to their children on Sunday and beyond. They discuss the role and responsibility of the church in overall discipleship and how that should shape home life.
What does God command from parents as they seek to raise their children to know the Lord? Ben and Darren discuss what discipleship in the home might look like, from formal devotion time to informal discussions.
Ben and Darren talk through the (sometimes) hotly debated doctrine of cessationism? What is it? Is it biblical? Where do we see this in Scripture and why is it important? What about our charismatic and continuationist brothers and sisters?
Ben and Darren discuss the ending to the Lord's Prayer. Should this section be included in Scripture or is it an addition later on? How does the doxology shape our prayers and our life as Christians? What does it look like to live for the glory of God and desire that above all things?
Ben and Darren discuss the sixth petition of the Lord's Prayer where we see our dependence on God to avoid sin and to be delivered from a threat more powerful than we can handle on our own. And in this we see God's loving heart for his children.
Do we have to earn God's forgiveness through our own willingness to forgive? What does it mean to forgive as God forgives us? Ben and Darren discuss these topics and more as they look at the fifth petition.
Ben and Darren discuss the fourth petition, give us this day our daily bread. What does this say about who our God is, who we are, and how we should live our daily lives? Should the Christian be anxious about daily needs?
We discuss the third petition in the Lord's Prayer, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We discuss topics like what is the Lord's will and what we mean when we ask that God do his own will.
We discuss the second petition in the Lord's prayer as we make our way through the prayer Jesus taught his disciples. What is God's kingdom and what is it we're praying when we pray that God's kingdom would come. We discuss our understanding of the Reformed Two Kingdom view (and attempt to define it) and how this guides prayer and life in this world as believers.
Ben and Darren talk through the first petition of the Lord's Prayer as they continue their series through this model prayer Jesus taught us. What does it mean for us to pray that God's name would be hallowed?
We continue our series on prayer by looking at the preface to the Lord's Prayer. Why do we address God as our Father? Is it important that we understand he's in heaven? What does it look like to pray together?
When we pray, how do we know what we should pray for? Not only should we lift up our heart's desire, we're commanded to do so. We're also called to pray according to God's will, which is revealed in his word. We talk about these as well as whether or not prayer changes God and other topics.
We begin a series on prayer by looking at what prayer is and how the gospel should inform our prayer life. Why is thanksgiving important? Why pray if God is sovereign? These questions and more in today's episode.
In today's episode we talk about what it looks like to be a Christian in the modern workplace. How should Christians be thought of, how do you share the gospel with others when you might only have a few minutes, and how do we respond biblically to gender identity issues?
When we sit under the preaching of the word, how should we listen to it? What should go through our minds? We discuss this as well as preparation beforehand and discussion afterward.
Have you ever wondered how we select songs and passages for Sunday or pick our next books to preach through? Or perhaps you've wondered why we do liturgy the way we do. We discuss what our liturgy is, how we select songs, and what it looks like for us to pick books of the Bible to preach through.
We all want to be the one who has it all together, but none of us do. In fact, we're more broken than we even know. And that's ok. What do we mean by that? What do we not mean by that? Listen in as we discuss our need for grace and how we can find it in Christ and his church from a pastoral perspective.
We finish our series on the Ten Commandments looking at final command to not covet. What does it forbid? What does it require? How do we break it and how do we look to the gospel?
We come to the penultimate command of the 10 commandments in the prohibition against bearing false witness against your neighbor. We discuss how this is far more than just a command against not lying, but deals with our reputations and how we speak of one another. As always we look at where this comes from in the character of God and how the gospel applies to law-breakers like us.
We continue our series through the 10 Commandments as we talk about the 8th commandment against stealing. What does it mean to steal? Can we steal from ourselves? What does it look like to love our neighbor in regard to this command, and how does the gospel apply to us here? This and more in the episode.
We discuss the command to not commit adultery and why God commands us to pursue purity. This is a particularly sensitive topic full of guilt and shame but one the gospel addresses and gives great encouragement on. We handle it in a pastoral and family friendly manner but we do discuss the reality of our cultural context. You may want to keep younger ears from these topics until you're ready to discuss it with them.
Join our discussion of the sixth commandment, you shall not murder. We discuss the difference between killing and murder, the reason for the command, the way we all break it, and our hope in the gospel.
We start in on the second table of the law as we discuss what it means to honor our father and mother, what that means for us as parents, and how this drives us to the gospel.
Should Christians observe the Sabbath today? Join us as we discuss the abiding relevance of the command, when it should be observed and how we observe it as Christians.
What does it mean to not take the name of the Lord in vain? What is the name of the Lord and how ought we to use it? And how does the gospel apply to law-breakers like us?
Join us as we look at what the second commandment is, what it forbids, and what it commands. This is a commandment we don't often think about but has much to say about who God is and how we are to worship him.
We look at the first commandment in our series through the Ten Words or Ten Commandments. This command calls us to give worship and glory to the true God alone. What does it look like to obey this command while looking to Christ? How do we break this command? And how can we obey this together as the church? We answer these questions and more.
We begin our series on the Ten Words, or Ten Commandments, by looking at the law/gospel distinction. This is central to how we understand not only the law and the gospel but how we understand Scripture as a whole and how we live life together before the Lord.
The new year is often a time of hope and longing for change. It’s also a time to look back on the year that was. We talk through various aspects of this and how the most important thing is to look to Jesus.
We relax a little and talk about our own Christmas traditions before talking about a variety of questions Christians have about Christmas. Can we celebrate it? How should we celebrate? What about Santa or candlelight services? We discuss these and many more.
Jesus is our mediator. What does that mean? Who does he mediate for and how does he do it? The mediation of Christ is our comfort and hope as Christians and why Jesus came and took on flesh.
What does it mean that Jesus is called our Immanuel, God with us? On our second advent episode we discuss why we needed this promise, how Jesus fulfilled it, and what that means for us every day and how this is the heart of the gospel.
Why did God the Son, the second person of the Trinity, take on flesh and come to us? We discuss a few of the biblical reasons why Jesus came to earth and why it means so much for us. Join us as we begin our advent series on the incarnation of Christ and what he’s done for us.
What is the will of God for your life? To be thankful in all circumstances! What is thanksgiving? What isn't it? And how can we be thankful in the midst of hardship?
We finish up our series on the five solas by looking at the culmination of the gospel and the most practical aim of all theology - the glory of God. We talk about what the glory of God is, how it's the center of the gospel, and what man-centered theology looks like, and a lot more.
In part 4 of our series through the five solas of the Reformation we look at Sola Gratia, grace alone. What is grace? How are we prone to misunderstand this doctrine? Many in our culture claim to believe in grace, but is it the same grace the Bible talks about? This and more in our episode.
In part 3 of our series through the five solas of the reformation we take on Sola Fide. Is this really the doctrine on which the church stands or falls? What does it mean to be saved or justified by faith alone? What are some of the modern challenges to this doctrine? And how important is this to our daily walk with the Lord?
A little treat for your Reformation Day. Why do we call it Reformation Day? What did Martin Luther do 500 years ago and why should we care? Find out in this short bonus episode.
In Part 2 of our series on the Five Solas we discuss the idea of Solus Christus. Why is Jesus Christ so important to our faith? Was he really God, or just a prophetic teacher? We discuss these questions and more in today's episode.
We begin our series on the Five Solas today with a discussion of Sola Scriptura? Why is the Bible so important to our faith? Should we consider other sources of authority other than the Bible? We discuss these questions and more in today's episode.
We finish our series on the ordinary means of grace talking through baptism and prayer (part 1 was on preaching, and part 2 on the Lord's Supper). Why are we credobaptists? Is baptism just the first act of obedience for a believer? What should corporate prayer teach us about private prayer? We answer these questions and more.
We continue our series through the ordinary means of grace and why they are so important for the discipleship of the local church. Our first part covered the topic of preaching. Today we walk through the Lord's Supper
In our first discussion of the ordinary means of grace define what they are and why they're so important to the church. The four primary ordinary means are preaching, the Lord's Supper, Baptism, and Prayer. They are grounded in the doctrines of the liberty of the conscience and the regulative principle of worship. And we discuss what preaching is and why we must preach Christ!
Join us as we define what the gospel is and what it isn't. We talk through the law and the gospel and look at how the Bible proclaims the gospel from beginning to end. We also discuss how to share the gospel with others and why we need to preach it to ourselves.
We are Baptist, Confessional, and Missional. What does that mean? Listen in to find out and also hear a little about who we're not.
Welcome to our first episode! We are a ministry of Covenant Grace Church, hosted by her pastors, Darren Colwell and Ben Hyink. On this episode we discuss where we got our name and our hope for this podcast.