The Ragtown Pulpit: Recent Episodes
Gordan Runyan
Here is the link to my guest appearance with Jake Green on the Free Georgia podcast. Enjoy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHrRLeuhoLw
Because apparently it's time to thin out my list of listeners. Deo volente. A friend who shall remain nameless called me a few minutes into this sermon. Please forgive this interruption, as he since been properly chastised.
Brother Train comes in with an excellent exposition on Christ's strong desire for judgment. If this doesn't sober you up, you dead.- Gordan
A few lessons gleaned from the apostolic examples on dealing with hostility and tyranny
It isn't merely that Christian faith stands or falls on the resurrection of Jesus. Everything else does as well.
Paul's dealing with the possessed girl in Acts 16 provides us with lessons on leadership, including the virtue of delayed judgment and the vice of coercive power.
Lydia's conversion gives us opportunity to go over the Biblical doctrine of regeneration, or "effectual calling." Listen and be set free.
After losing several sermons due to tech snafu's we're back.Enjoy this encouraging word from the Beatitudes and be blessed.
The incident of the split over Mark gives us an opportunity to clarify what forgiving people really demands of us.
By a close reading of the Scripture, great comfort may be enjoyed by the Lord's people, when the Enemy seeks to trouble them with doubts about the "unforgivable sin".
Couple quick announcements from pastor Gordan, looking ahead to plans for 2023. Thank yous and prayer requests for exciting projects. Gordan's email: reformnm(at)yahoo.com Replace (at) with @ of course
We compare the suffering of the apostles with Christ's instruction in Matthew 10, and, hopefully, get some guidance for ourselves, if the Lord should allow things to keep going the way the are.
The parallel (not competing or opposite) issues of God's sovereignty in the salvation of sinners, and the true moral agency of humanity.
Paul's message in Antioch reaches the stage of application/invitation and produces remarkable results.
Paul's sermon at Antioch begins with a joyful, gracious announcement of God's track-record of faithfulness. New Covenant believers should find their hearts "strangely warmed" by this retelling.
Very informal message due to the tiny, holiday crowd. At times more a discussion than a sermon. May it bless you.
In Psalm 2 we learn that God answered rebellious rulers by setting His king on His holy hill. We apply that truth to Herod's malicious malfeasance in Acts 12.
John Train dives into the little (neglected?) book of 2 John for his first ever forray into the pulpit. We may be biased but we think his initial bit of preaching went really well. We are proud of his obvious desire to be a Man of the Book.
Peter's sermon to Cornelius's household spells the end of the old world: It cannot survive any longer in the face of the kingdom gospel
Peter's vision of food in a sheet and its place in redemptive history.
The second half is an examination of the food laws of the Bible and an argument against requiring their observance in Christians.
When we see the Lord remembering people, this is referring back to his own previous promises. It is a literary cue that God is about to act for the salvation of his own.
Enmity with Christ healed by Christ himself. The living, breathing Man is the only remedy.
We keep a bunch of plates spinning in an effort to approach our text in its context. The gospel hits the Gentiles, starting right here.
Abandon pagan models of "leadership" in favor of the way of Christ, and we just might make some real progress around here.
In the punishment phase of Stephen's trial, we see a contest between two claimants to the job of representing God on earth. Who has sanctioning authority?
As the show-trial ends, Stephen issues the real verdict, the real condemnation, on the Council of little tyrants.
Stephen begins to put a point on his argument. Christ is not opposed to Moses. Israel was.
Toward the end of the sermon, the pastor's voice begins to obviously start failing. He asks God for help in a very quick prayer, and you can hear his voice get stronger from that moment. Just a little, tangible token of the grace of Christ.
Stephen's defense shifts to the charge that he's been blasphemous Moses. As he retells the old story, he's inviting the listener to start connecting some dots. Dots which he will pointedly connect himself in a short time.
Stephen's defense begins to develop an edge that is sneaky-sharp, as he tells a familiar story about the patriarchs.
Toward the end of the message we received a text from an addict that looks like Jesus may have converted him while we prayed for him moments ago. Please say a little prayer for this young man.
Stephen uses the life of Abraham to seek to break his judges from their excessive devotion to geography.
God's witness/martyr gets noticed, opposed, and vindicated. What did it mean to be "full of grace"? More enemy tactics are exposed.
The Lord grants the church the grace to overcome an internal squabble. He calls us to an uncomfortable maturity.
The apostles are kidnapped again; intimidated; humiliated; subjected to a sham trial; nearly murdered, and finally beaten. And God's kingdom kept right on rolling.
Learn the perennial tactics tyrants consistently use in the protection of their own power
Every threat you receive has a unique power to reveal the truth about your secret faith. We mark the characteristics of the early church's response.
Peter says that the ignorance of his hearers is a mitigating factor in God's willingness to forgive their sin. We take a moment to chase that down in the Scripture a bit.
More time than I wanted to spend on the misuse of Acts 2:38, but many found it convicting.
Peter's explanation of the phenomenon of Acts 2 covers some interesting ground and ends with a stinging indictment.
Miracles, sovereignty, and Scripture as the bedrock of truth.
Peter brings forth older prophecy to explain present events, in ways that might surprise us, but ought to inform our own attempts at the same thing.
Seeking to move beyond the common Pentecostal emphasis on personal experience, and think in terms of larger Biblical themes.
It's a minor detail, but why wait in Jerusalem? Because God doesn't leave loose ends, and this whole thing is headed somewhere.
So how'd this concise study of New Testament salvation make it into the Psalter? LOL
Sorry about the irritating noise interference.
David seeks vindication and proclaims his own integrity. And who is this band of bad guys he hates? Shouldn't he love er'body?
We receive the precious promise of Psalm 25:10, the Old Covenant version of Romans 8:28.
Our congregation has taken some huge hits recently and this was a very needed reminder.
Joyful celebration of the victorious, sovereign King.
We also take a look at a presuppositional case for private land ownership
David feels alone, in a generation focused on emptiness and trivialities. God promises deliverance in words that are perfect and eternal. Plus a discussion on the use of imprecatory prayer.
What's David tempted to flee from? What foundations are in danger? How does God "feel" about men devoted to violence?
This message ends abruptly when we began a street level discussion about strategies and tactics in dealing with a government bent on violence.
What is man that You are mindful of him? Well, for starters, humanity is the race that's supposed to bear God's image in subduing the whole of creation; ruling over the work of His hands and exercising dominion. Just like our elder brother, the last Adam, founder of a new humanity.
Surrounded by enemies, David remembers past deliverance and prays with confidence for a salvation he knows he doesn't deserve. Strong consolation in times when evil presses in from all sides.
God's answer to rebellious kings, once He stops laughing, is the installation of Christ as King, along with great promises of that King's victory.
We are in a critical season, a dry season, a potentially deadly season. The command is not to survive, but to advance, take new ground, and bear new fruit.
From John 10 and Zechariah 11, on the roll of New Testament shepherds in light of the ministry of the one Good Shepherd, who is the Door of the sheep fold.
The Apostle ties everything together in a neat bow here, as we end the series with the last verses of chapter 6. A prominent ethical/judicial note is in the text that hasn't been explored before and has immediate relevance to our situation: That is, when people tell you who they are, it's not unloving to believe them.
What comfort can people draw from the law of sowing and reaping as they head into dark times, when negative sanctions are threatened?
Galatians 6:1-9
It may be a surprise to you if you haven't been listening long, but the New Testament never connects Elders with church discipline, and that is demonstrated again in this passage, as Paul urges that restoration from sin be handled by Spirit-filled individuals, not title-holders or men in offices.
Finishing up Galatians 5, we encounter the familiar, iconic Fruit of the Spirit, but our focus is returning this (maybe too familiar) passage to its original context, the flow of Paul's argument, and what has been an extended discussion commending life in the Spirit over the attempt to finish in the flesh.
Galatians 5:13-14, the importance of freedom, service, love of neighbor; and their relationship to the current pressure to love your neighbor by getting the shots.
We take Paul's amazing use of Isaiah 54:1 in Galatians 4, back to the source and see some of the amazing ramifications of understanding that older passage in light of the apostolic interpretation. This is a great, and under-appreciated, comfort to the people of Jesus.
Arguments 4-6 from Galatians 3 on why Christians should not seek to become more Jewish.
Arguments 1-3 from Galatians 3 for why Christians should not seek to become more Jewish.
Back in Jude after a two week hiatus in Mexico, we discuss what is meant by the term, Power Religion, and how radical the message of Christ really is, in terms of turning the whole world upside down. We do this by focusing on the three iconic bad guys in Jude 11: Cain, Balaam, and Korah. They highlight three main roads to Power that have been prevalent in the world from the get-go, roads which need to be shut down and blocked by a new, Gospel way of thinking about authority.
This was a message given at our agape feast, so you'll hear a lot of voices from our church family in it. It's a baffling text, but we ended on a really encouraging note that was a lot of fun to preach. If you struggle with repeated failure to certain sins, this will bless you.
This sermon was preached on Easter Sunday and highlights the reality of Christ's human nature. His life, death, burial, and resurrection lend meaning and honor to human life. Any denial of this "defiles the flesh."
Jude continues in his description of the target. These false teachers do the same despicable things their kind have always done.
Five minutes on the coming Equality Act. Not on the foolishness of its morality, but on basic issues about government that are raised by its existence from the get-go.
Announcing an interesting and provocative interview Gordan Runyan did with the "God and Government" podcast.
Jude begins to describe the crisis within the churches that has prompted him to call the believers to battle. Who must we fight and why?
No soldier goes to war at his own expense. Having reminded us of our identity in verse 1, God now makes sure we know how we have been supplied and outfitted for the coming battle. (Verse 2) After that, the book of Jude is about making us understand the nature of the war and who the enemy is.
Jude's first step in mustering the Lord's army to spiritual battle is to make sure all the soldiers have their feet planted on a rock. Know who you are in Christ, or victory will always elude you. Be the Moe.
We begin a new series today in the little, barely mentioned book of Jude. It won't come as any surprise to hear that we think it's immanently relevant to our times. Hear the trumpet call.
A needed reminder as our culture (both Right and Left) rushes into greater foolishness. What are the people of God to do? What provision has been made for times like this? What Help is there?
Looking back on our journeys through the Numbers, we come away with a handful of important Kingdom principles to have under our belts as we seek to be Kingdom people in a wilderness world.
Answering pertinent questions. This one is particularly timely: Now that an election has (supposedly) been stolen, what will it mean for Christians to live and work under an illegitimate administration?
This is the penultimate message in our Numbers series, Drama in the Wilderness. In this chapter, instructions are given for dealing with accidental homicide, instructions which have informed Western judicial systems ever since; and which tend to raise the community out of barbarism.
Moses slips some interesting information into a chapter that details all of Israel's journeys. Not to be missed. Strong encouragement to keep moving forward without carnal fear.
The 2 1/2 tribes get their "Promised Land" on the wrong side of the Jordan. Has something gone wrong here? Or was expansion always the plan?
Numbers 32
We come to a passage that is a bit obscure and strange, and, thus, mostly overlooked. Husbands/fathers given the legal ability to nullify a woman's religious vows. But there is much to chew on here, with real-world application and a nice look forward to Christ's redemption.
The daughters of Zelophehad (Numbers 27:1-11) prompt a discussion of the concept of familial inheritance and the roll it plays in extending the conquest of God into all the earth.
We come to the second "numbering" of the people, from which the English name of the book is taken. Historically, a bit of a challenge for both readers and preachers. But we walk away instructed in both the faithlessness of man to God, and God's faithfulness to remain the same.
How much of what Phinehas did can serve as a model for modern believers? What does Biblical zeal look like? And, have you noticed the piercing-death-atonement-covenant pattern that is present in the story?
Balaam predicts a Scepter rising out of Israel that would smash through Moab's forehead. We look at the fulfillment in time-and-history and the later expansion in the Messiah's life, and address the question, "Why should anyone have expected the Christ to have authority over demons?"
Balaam's second attempt to curse the Israelites winds up blessing them with certain victory, both over Balak and his people, and over the whole promised land.
QAnon is an increasingly visible phenomenon, both online and in modern politics. This presentation introduces the story behind it, and the outline of its central conspiracy theory, and compares it to Biblical truth. Take every thought capitve!
We talk about Balaam's first attempt at cursing Israel. We discuss a magical worldview; condemning what Christ condemns; God's promises and our sure defense.
Israel undergoes an unmentioned revival of sorts, in the wake of the incident with the serpents, and proceeds to go from strength to strength, in this understated passage.
What might God do if you replaced complaining with singing and obedience?
We walk through the incident of the fiery serpents, and the bronze snake on the pole that cured the people. Christ's surprising use of the story. Dispelling some bad ideas.
We look at the death of Aaron and its implications for priesthood. We also explore the notion that priesthood is an inescapable concept. You are accepting that someone in your life speaks for God. If that's not Jesus, it's someone else.