In Layman's Terms: Recent Episodes
Matthew Garnett
If we cannot identify an historical Adam, how can we be sure of the historicity of Christ?
Rick Warren says emotional praise and worship is the key to happiness in 2022 and we explore the historicity of the creation account in Genesis 1-3.
St. Paul teaches us that God's glory is revealed in creation. This revelation gives us a baseline for morality, but it does not reveal God's grace.
Why can't Andy Stanley talk about Jesus or the Bible? And we continue our Thomist ways with the moral and cosmological proofs for the existence of God.
We are doing a re-run of our most popular podcast of 2021, "Joseph Prince The Prince of All Law No Gospel".
For thanksgiving break, we are doing a re-run of "Ben Shapiro vs. Sam Harris" from 2018.
How science affirms life-long monogamous heterosexual relationships that bear children; A review of the Amazon Prime documentary "Marketing the Messiah"
Stanley shows us the proper confusion between law and gospel. Newsflash: obeying the commands of Holy Scripture should primarily benefit your neighbor, not you.
Roberts transforms herself into a psychic medium, a rock star, a stage hypnotist, and a comedian to please the crowd in this "sermon".
Part 2 of Matt and Nathan's discussion on Kolb's "Beware of Imperatives" and Koch's "That Damned Woman"
Nathan Rinne and I discuss Kolb's "Be Careful With Imperatives" and Cindy Koch's "That Damned Woman"
We've finallygotten around to looking at this year's Easter Sermons and per the usual arrangement, mega church pop-Evangelicals are talking about anything but the implications of the Resurrection and spending more time talking about you.
Pastors Alverez and Warr invite me on their podcast The Bookcase Behind Meto discuss the implications of Radical Lutheranism on the faith.
Jemar Tisby, author of The Color of Compromise is either ignorant and a pawn of a religio-political agenda of the highest order or he is out for blood and a rising star in the realm of religious race bating. Spoiler alert. I'm choosing choice B.
Pastor David Petersen gives a brilliantAsh Wednesday sermon on the difference between Sanctification and Justification.
Part 2 of our critique of Steven Paulson's lecture at the 1517 Legacy's "Here We Still Stand" conference.
Part 1 of my conversation with Nathan Rinne on Steven Paulson's lecture on The Theology of the Cross at the 1517 "Here We Still Stand" conference.
Part two of my discussion with Nathan Rinne on Dr. Peter Scaer's piece in the latest CTQ entitled Reckoned Among the Lawless
How you're being duped by 1517 Legacy, Higher Things, Christ Hold Fast, and Confessional Lutheran Fellowship. News Flash. They're not confessional Lutherans. Far from it. Spend some time reading the Confessions, Holy Scripture, and ice that cake with some intake from a source like Issues ETC
These are strange and confusing times especially when you don't understand how your enemy thinks. This week, Nathan Rinne of Concordia St. Paul continue our saga of helping you to understand and make sense of what's going on in our culture and world. This is round three of us showing you how the philosophy of Critical Theory aims to "destroy the world" with a seemingly irresistible ideological agenda.
Part two of our interview with Nathan Rinne of Concordia St Paul on Wilderson's "Afropessimism"
What happens when ideas from university campuses finally hit the ground? It's one thing to talk about ideas and it's something else entirely to make good on them. For those who still question whether or not the approaches of Critical Theory can be adopted by the Church, enter one Frank Wilderson; author of Afropessimism. Wilderson talks in a recent interview about what strain of Critical Theory will be able to "end the world" and that strain is the "Race" version of this philosophy. Translation? Critical Race Theory, in Wilderson's estimation is the best candidate to end the West. If you don't think that includes the Church...... Nathan Rinne of Concordia St. Paul and I discuss this alarming interview.
Our new podcast, the Jeff and Matt Show give the predictions of this monumental election.
In this episode of “Everything is Stupid” with Rob Bell, we’ll be treated to the incoherent meanderings of Rob Bell’s misadventures in Christian ministry and life.
Sadly, unlike Bell’s former books, there is extraordinarily little here to even consider. Bell’s life simply isn’t that interesting. It’s the same old “Oh I was a pastor and I had problems with the doctrines of hell and women in ministry and so I bailed” story we have to endure from the likes of Bell and his ilk.
Instead of thinking through these age-old doctrines and attempting to understand why they have such longevity, Bell, per the usual arrangement, dismisses them along with everyone else who lacks imagination at best and refuses to trust that we have a word from God on this at worst.
Again, its unfortunate that there’s just not that much here with which to contend, but we’ll try to get a couple of episodes out of it at any rate.
After all, I was forced to forfeit an entire Audible credit to have a go at Bell’s droning tripe, so we’ll try to make it worth it.
Sometimes we hear sermons and we know something isn't quite passing the smell test. The pastor might be saying "God" and "Jesus" and even quoting the bible, but something just isn't right. Learn how to recognize the symptoms of a self-help lecture masquerading as a sermon in three easy steps:
- Could the sermon just as easily be given by a self-help guru?
- Is the sermon all about you becoming a better person for the sake of being a better person?
3. Is the sermon properly interpreting Holy Scripture?
If the answer is "Yes", "Yes", and/or "No", you may have a self-help lecture masquerading as a sermon!
My thirteen-year-old son could pick out what's wrong with a sermon from Steven Furtick on just about any given Sunday.
I've rarely critiqued a sermon from a man like Furtick because he's such low hanging fruit. In this case, it was an opportunity to showcase the weaknesses of the "mega church model" of "doing church" and to express my hopes that churches like Elevation die right along with Covid 19.
Here I honestly think the Covid 19 shutdown has gotten the better of mega church pastor Steven Furtick.
At my church, we have met and will continue to meet in person because we believe what Christ said about Holy Communion. We were able to do it without breaking the shutdown orders of our state while others were forced to obey God rather than men.
Sadly Furtick and Elevation Church have too much at stake here to risk it.
While a small congregation like ours - where the pastors know everyone and can actually care for them - can meet, for Furtick's some 20k member "congregation", that's impossible.
However, I wonder if the rush of performing before his usual crowds isn't taking something off his delivery. It seems that even for the mega churches, meeting in person might mean something for them.
For us it means the body and blood of Christ.
For them, it's important that they have the normal "crowd effect" in order to keep a man like Furtick on track.
With no crowd to cheer him on in earnest, Furtick and his approach to preaching is worthless.
We continue our conversation with Nathan Rinne of Concordia St. Paul on race, race relations, America, and the Church.
I think the American Experiment is doomed here in the near future as is the American Church and we'll all have to move to Madagascar.
Nathan thinks we have a fighting chance to survive all this nonsense.
What say you?
Empires typically last about 300 years. Christians have never experienced the kind of peace we are experiencing now. I think it's about time for all that to end and groups like BLM, Antifi, and the Biden/ Harris ticket are moving this inevitability along quite nicely.
Long time friend Nathan Rinne is back and better than ever. We discuss terms like "systemic racism", "whiteness", and "reparations". While we've got some good stuff to say about it, don't worry if you don't get it either. I like you ask all the time, "Show me the racism in the system so we can fix it" and then I'm called a blind and weak white boy for not being able to see it.
Personally, I'd just like to see an ex-con be able to get a good job when he gets out, but of course here, I'm just another racist playing along with the system which is racist. I don't think we can survive much more of this. What should the Church do? Well if it's going to die in the West - which I think will happen - you're going to have to look at holing up and sitting out the storm or moving to say Madagascar where there are some eight million devout Lutherans and Christians.
At any rate Nathan is some what hopeful; I'm somewhat not hopeful. Where do you land?
It seems not an unfair comparison between sending our girls to the front lines of war as to when we send them to the front lines of the spiritual battle; namely the pulpit. Are we sending our women, our girls, into danger when we men should be taking up that charge?
If Rick Warren was some spring chicken, I might give him a pass on this, but he's not. In this sermon, I am convinced he is trying to mainstream moral relativism. He knows the age old mantra of "don't judge" as used by those who want to do away with the moral moorings of Western Christianity. Sadly, there's simply no other way to weigh this out. Rick Warren is an enemy of the Gospel. In fact, he can't be bothered to mention the Gospel as a remedy to all of this in his sermon here. He has, in fact, joined the radicals and has become an enemy of the Gospel. The mantra of groups like BLM and Antifa is, "Don't judge; especially if it cuts against your agenda." Unfortunately, I've known Warren for too many years and too often to simply pass this off as ignorance. Warren has submitted to the radical agenda of moral relativism.
When we make Law issues - like racial reconciliation - Gospel issues, we lose the forgiveness of sins and choose to save ourselves.
If you're only listening to podcasts and not reading and studying your bible, you're wrong!
Loving your neighbor and why the Gospel is not Good News without the reality of God's eternal law.
" Our Western nations have both forgotten God and forgotten where they have come from. Now they are attempting to complete the process of severing the roots of Western civilization, destroying its root system, poisoning its soil and ruining its entire spiritual, moral and social ecology." Os Guinness
The Western Church is giving in to the cultural revolution of our time. Once trusted conservative Evangelical leaders are bowing the knee to these seismic cultural shifts. Learn what's behind all of this as Nathan Rinne of Concordia St Paul and I discuss the origins and implications of what is known as "Critical Theory". It may be coming to a church near you if it hasn't already!
Lower textual criticism is your friend if you love the Scriptures; Sundry on first priniciples.
Last week of vacation for me from the podcast. We'll be back and better than ever next week with fresh material, but in the meantime enjoy this critique of Pr Todd Wilkin's lecture from the 2017 Redeemer Winter Conference on the on the necessity of proper Law preaching.
When we make Law issues - like racial reconciliation - Gospel issues, we lose the forgiveness of sins and choose to save ourselves.
The reason CT, IP, and other tools in the post-modern tool box don't make sense to the casual observer. This is by design.
Could the Western Enlightenment have happened without Christianity? Did it happen despite Christianity?
What if "Jesus of Nazareth" was invented based on popular "dying and rising gods" of the the 1st century?
Southern Baptists adopt "Resolution 9" proclaiming that Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality are "useful analytical tools"
If God does not exist, then we're left with Richard Dawkins to dictate terms - whenever he feels like getting around to it.....You may not like what he comes up with.
Do men need God to rule over them or can they rule themselves by means of pure reason? How do we know when our reason is corrupt? What are the consequences of flawed men, using flawed reason?
Feeling overwhelmed by the barrage of seeming non-sense coming out of the television, radio and the internet? Here's a good primer on culture and politics and how we should think about it as Christians from Joy Pullman of The Federalist.
How cultural Marxists use race to infiltrate the Church with Jon Harris of "Conversations That Matter"
We almost lost our son during childbirth. My friend Erica almost lost her son due to SIDS. To be sure these harrowing experiences color our opinions on abortion and now the infanticide proposed and defended by some in our county. We talk about it this week on the podcast.
There is no objective morality without God's voice. Period. This is proven by those among us ready and willing to massacre babies as they are being born.
Narcissism abounds on the "Intellectual Dark Web" as Rogan interviews Sadd, Rubin interviews Barron and Wolpe, and Shapiro interviews Barron.
This week we take a look at how the modernist and post-modernist epistemological approaches operate on the ground and how the Christian worldview must be a corrective to that.
Patrick Coffin puts Milo Yiannopoulos on the spot concerning homosexuality, a scientist shows us why a naturalistic worldview is basically speculation, and Bret Weinstein debates Richard Dawkins
How faith commitments of Jesus Mythicists won't allow for a good faith discussion on history
Mythicist arguments against the historicity of Jesus of Nazareth ignore the scholarship and are conspiratorial.
I was all set to adopt atheism as my worldview - that is until I read Dawkins' God Delusion
Part two of our tag team sermon critique on Andy Stanley's "Irresistible" with Pr Bryan Wolfmueller
When it comes to the insult game between leftist Christians and historic Christians, we might do well to be the ones who blink first.
How "social justice", liberation theology, and critical theory is harmful to our black neighbors. With Nathan Rinne
Will the government eventually need to force people to abandon traditional marriage? Foundations of morality.
Advice for the week: Know your bible. Had Southerners in the antebellum studied and known their bible, we would have avoided slavery all together.
We have Monica Ocholo tell us about the Kenya well project for Kibos Hope Academy and then we get after Bart Ehrman and Sam Harris
"Together for the Gospel" and David try to tackle the issue of racism in American churches
With American Protestantism in the sad state of affairs it is, it's no wonder people are flocking to Rome and to the East
A critique of Jordan Peterson, Ben Shapiro, Dave Rubin, and Russell Brand on religion, faith, and Christ
I took ill this week - note to self, don't try a low carb/ cal diet when you're a flat bed truck driver ----But enjoy this classic sermon from Ligon Duncan while I'm on the mend!
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I insert myself into the Shapiro v. Harris debate.....I so wish I could have been a bug in Shapiro's ear!
Jordan Peterson schools us on why post-modern philosophy is violent and has no place in the Church
Last segment of our interview with Nathan Rinne and a critique of the new Tullian.net website.
Nathan and I continue to explore the 3rd Use Controversy via the book "Necessary Distinction"
Nathan Rinne of Concordia St. Paul and I critique and analyze the antinomian notions in this book and their dangers
Part two of our "speaking the truth in love" series with Pr Gaven Mize and Pr Robert Portier
An analysis of two very good sermons by Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller using our "Law and Gospel Matrix"
Not all law and gospel sermons are created equally. Learn how to discern the good from the bad here!
Last segment of our interview with Pr Kachelmeier and a pop-Evangelical sermon critique.
The interview on antinomianism devolves into a discussion of current issues surrounding this error.
Pr Kachelmeier discusses antinomianism, how to detect it, and its biblical correctives.
Critique of a lecture by Pr Kevin DeYoung at the 2016 Together for the Gospel Conference
Should we "throw out a fleece", Good Sermons vs Bad, Megan Kelly and Newt Gingrich at each other's throats, the LCMS "Mustache Challenge"
Hillary's lies on abortion, Law or Gospel vs Law and Gospel, Worldviews in Movies, Pagan or Christian Holidays
The Evangelical High Holy Day of "B.A.I.T." - "Biblically Absent and Innocuous Teaching"
Random Facebook and finishing the sermon critique of Pr Jeff Barksdale of "Lifecoast Church".
Tee shirts for the School of Hard Knocks are on sale for $100,000 per. I'd suggest you pass on the School of Hard Knocks.
Rerun of Pr Portier discussing Kevin DeYoung's "What's Up With the Lutherans?" blog post on the Gospel Coalition
Random Sermon Critique of Christ Fellowship Church, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Christine Caine, pt. 1
Good Sermon Critique on Revelation 6 and 7 from Pr Rex Keener of Grace Fellowship Church
A re-cut and reprise of our expose on just how similar pop-evangelical leaders are to the papacy of old.....viz. Eric Dykstra, Mark Driscoll, Perry Noble, Steven Furtick, et al.....
2nd Half of Dr. Harris' Sermon Critique; Armchair Theologian; Amazing Reformation Day Sermon
Brandon Warr of the Augsburg Journal podcast joins me on a movie critique of "God's Not Dead".
God has already given us all the blessings we need based on the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Trust it for what? To tell us about God? About ourselves? Both? What should we do with the Scriptures?
Part 1 of Our Interview with Rob Grayson of Faith Meets World (www.faithmeetsworld.com)
A pirate sermon on Luke 7 and an amazing sermon by Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones - "The Man at the Beautiful Gate"
Commentary on Session 5: Papers presented by Dr. Campbell and Dr. Scott Hafemann of St. Andrews
You are a damnable sinner of the law - and so am I! Praise be to God that Jesus stands in our place!