In this episode, Russell is joined by 8-year-old guest co-host, Barrett. Russell addresses the problem of evangelical youth leaving the faith. Is the problem a lack of apologetics training Or is it a more fundamental problem in the evangelical church? We talk about the need for discipleship and e...

In this episode, we talk about abortion. Abortion is a horrendous evil, and yet the pro-abortion rhetoric is stronger than ever. Sean and Russell work through some of the most common arguments in favor of legal abortion, and show how they are all intellectually, morally, and scientifically bankru...

Russell and Sean continue to take apart pro-abortion arguments, one at a time. We demonstrate how each of these arguments is intellectually, morally, and scientifically bankrupt, and give advice to Christians on how to interact with pro-abortion rhetoric.

Abortion claims the lives of approximately 3000 babies each day. What can we do to fight against this atrocity? Can anti-abortion ministry become unhealthy? Sean and Russell discuss these questions and list some simple ways that any Christian can contribute to this battle.

In this episode, Sean and Russell discuss protesting outside of abortion clinics. Should Christians do it? Are there right and wrong ways to approach this ministry?

In this episode, we wade carefully into the waters of "social justice." We begin by outlining some of the difficulties that arise when talking about this issue, including the importance of defining our terms carefully.

In this episode, we continue to build the foundation for discussing social justice. We talk about the way the English language changes over time, how people intuit the meanings of important terms like “justice", and discuss the importance of looking for the Aristotelian mean during these types of...

Continuing our discussion of social justice, we begin to hammer out some fundamental terms. In this episode, we define the word "church." If you want to think rightly about social justice, you have to understand the mission of the church. If you want to understand the mission of the church, you h...

Much of the current buzz about social justice centers on what the church should be doing in the world. But what is the mission of the church? As we discuss in this episode, the mission of the church is far more specific than many evangelicals believe it to be. When we we add to that mission, even...

In this episode, we discuss recent tweets from the President of the Southern Baptist Convention, J.D. Greear. We believe these tweets are indicative of serious problems within evangelical culture, namely, a pragmatic view of worship that turns Sunday gatherings in to performances. Because Pastor ...

In this episode, we discuss the way the Bible speaks of “justice.” We look at the two Hebrew words translated as “justice” in our English bibles, and use them to build a framework for understanding the use of the word in modern discussion about “social justice”.

The term “Social Justice” can be found in almost any discussion about society, politics, and religion, and many evangelicals have fully embraced the word. But what is the history of the term, and how might the ideological origins of “social justice” color its meaning? In this episode, we survey t...

Following our analysis of the history and evolution of the term “social justice”, Sean and Russell ask an important question: How should we use this term? We look at the three major conceptions of the term that are popular today, and make the argument that Christians (and especially pastors) shou...

What is the role of music in a church? Should music leaders and pastors focus primarily on entertainment and musical excellence, or on congregational singing? In this episode, Sean talks with Grant Miller about the way scripture changed his theology of worship, and ultimately the way he leads mus...

If you’ve listened to our episodes on the biblical definition of a “church”, you’ve probably figured out that we don’t believe the multisite church model is healthy, or biblical. In this episode, we unpack our concern that multisite churches are particularly at risk for developing a culture of ce...

After a long hiatus, we get back to the topic of social justice. We find that the concepts of charity, clarity, proximity, and speed, give us good biblical categories through which we can discuss issues of justice. Give this one a listen and see if you agree.

This episode's "book you should rea...

Have we slandered those who use Church Planting Movement methodologies? In this episode, we discuss the feedback we've gotten on our current series. Why are some of our listeners telling us that our description of multiplying movements is accurate, while others are telling us we've attacked a str...

The prosperity gospel is one of the greatest threats to the true gospel in the world today. In this episode, we describe the underlying heresies associated with the prosperity gospel, also known as the word of faith movement. We unpack some of the dangers of the prosperity movement, spend some ti...

Where does the prosperity gospel come from? Why should we care? In this series we look at the historical roots of the Word of Faith movement and explain how understanding the history of this American phenomena can help us better understand it today.
In this series, we recommend three "book you sh...

How is the prosperity gospel is uniquely American? Check out part 2 of our series on the history of the word of faith movement, and if you haven't already seen it, go watch part 1!

In this series, we recommend three "book you should read":

1. The Word-Faith Controversy: Understanding the Health...

How did Pentecostalism, Methodism, the Gilded Age, and Scientific advancement combine to create the roots of the prosperity gospel? In this episode, we finish our overview of the history of the Word of Faith movement and get ready to present the biblical argument against this theology.

In this s...