In this episode, I share a recent Wednesday night sermon from the book of 1 Kings. We considered the life of King Solomon, how he started, how he lost his focus on the Lord, how he failed, and ultimately how he led his son to lose the kingdom. None of you have a literal kingdom to lose, but we all stand to lose much if we lose our focus on the Lord.

I hope you enjoy this episode. If you do, please share it with a friend!

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On this episode of The Podcast, Brian Garbade sits down to share his story of international mission engagement. From his first international trip that was a disaster, to today where he sits on the board of an evangelistic ministry from Scotland (The Heralds Trust), Brian sharers how short-term mission trips challenged him to be more missional abroad and more engaged in discipleship and evangelism at home.. Brian is a small business owner and farmer, but his heart is on serving the Lord through mission and ministry.

You can learn more about The Heralds Trust here: www.theheraldstrust.org

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In this episode, Craig Thompson interviews Paul D. Miller about his book, The Religion of American Greatness: What’s Wrong with Christian Nationalism? They discuss the personal background of Paul Miller, the relationship between Christianity and America, the concept of separation of church and state, and the dangers of Christian nationalism. They also touch on the influence of Christianity on the American founding, the definition of nationalism, and the importance of American ideals over heritage. The conversation explores the tension between nationalism and progressivism and the need for constructive dialogue. The conversation explores the topics of American identity, human flourishing, the relationship between Christianity and America, the role of Western and Judeo-Christian values in promoting freedom, the impact of ideas on history, the importance of democracy, the tension between free speech and promoting certain beliefs, the role of local involvement in shaping communities, the establishment of national holidays, and the dangers of Christian nationalism.

Takeaways

• Christian nationalism is the belief that America is a Christian nation and that the government should enforce a specific cultural and religious template.
• The historic Baptist emphasis in political theology is the separation of church and state, which is essential for religious freedom.
• Christian nationalism violates both constitutional and theological principles by giving the government jurisdiction over cultural and religious identity.
• American identity should be defined by the ideals of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, not by specific cultural or religious backgrounds.
• Nationalism and progressivism are two extremist, illiberal movements that fuel each other and hinder constructive dialogue. Neither the left nor the right is offering a vision of American identity or human flourishing that is satisfactory.
• The desire to avoid oppression is universal and not uniquely Western.
• Democracy is not impossible, but it requires a desire for peace and a willingness to live together without killing each other.
• Public libraries should be open to all citizens, regardless of their beliefs, but there should be a code of conduct that regulates behavior.
• The government should not have the power to ban certain groups from accessing public resources.
• There is a need to balance the celebration of national holidays with an understanding of the historical context and the exclusion of certain groups.
• Christian nationalism is an over-realized eschatology that seeks to build a version of the kingdom of God on earth, which is not the purpose of Christianity.
• The church should be the Christian nation, reflecting the true glory of the kingdom of God.
• There is a danger in merging the power of religion and politics, as history has shown.
• It is important to have an understanding and appreciation of our history as a nation, while also recognizing the flaws and striving for a more perfect union.

Sound Bites

• “The historic Baptist emphasis in political theology is the separation of church and state.”
• “Christian nationalism is when you say America is a Christian nation and the government ought to keep it that way.”
• “To be an American means to accept the ideas of the Constitution and the Declaration, to be loyal to them and to participate in the drama of our life in this land.”
• “Neither of them is offering a vision of American identity that I can support.”
• “We’re so busy tearing each other down on either side that we don’t have the opportunity to actually encourage human flourishing.”
• “There’s nothing uniquely Western about not wanting to be oppressed.”

Chapters

00:00Introduction and Background

03:18The Relationship Between Christianity and America

10:50The Dangers of Christian Nationalism

20:39The Influence of Christianity on the American Founding

26:21Defining Nationalism and American Identity

31:55The Tension Between Nationalism and Progressivism

34:17The Universal Desire to Avoid Oppression

43:14Balancing Free Speech and Belief Promotion

55:25The Establishment of National Holidays

58:13The Dangers of Christian Nationalism

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I have no idea if that means he will fly every day. It really isn’t my business one way or the other.

But, I am concerned for pastors.

I have no idea if Starbucks’ culture can be changed by a CEO who is doesn’t live among his people, but I know that pastoring well requires presence.

A pastor is a shepherd, and for a shepherd to care well for his sheep, he has to be among his sheep.

The presence of a pastor is needed in hospital rooms and at bedsides. Most people know that, but if a pastor is going to impact his community, he has to be present in lots of other places as well.

Church members need to see their pastor at Bible studies and senior adult picnics. Pastors need to be present for children’s events and outreach efforts. But, there really is more. Pastors should go to football games and 5k races.

Pastors need to be present in their communities. Where should (or could) a pastor be present? Pastors should be missionally present in places where community members gather so they can reach others with the gospel. Pastors should also look for ways to be present in places where church members gather so that they can build community.

I’ve given you a list of possible places for pastors to be present below, but the places really do not matter as much as the person and the effort. Pastors have opportunities to make wide impact, but they have to do more than preach. They have to know the people to whom they preach, and meet them where they are.

If you are a pastor reading this, look at your schedule. How often are you present in your community? Do people expect to see you in public and look forward to your presence? There is a biblical expectation for pastors to practice hospitality, but there is a form of hospitality that you get to practice outside of your home–you make yourself available to others by sharing your presence with them.

Pastors, get out of your office and spend time with your people. Get out of your pastors meetings and spend time with real people. You will be blessed. They will be blessed. And, your ministry impact will be multiplied as people discover that you are a real person with a supernatural message!

Some places pastors can be present:

• Nursing homes.
• Coffee shops and local restaurants
• Farmers Market
• high school football games (it is football season after all)
• school board or local government meetings
• little league baseball
• local dance performances (we had nearly a dozen kids from our church in ONE ballet performance recently)
• Community concerts
• Christmas events
• Volunteering in local schools
• Chamber of Commerce
• Civic organizations
• Police or Fire chaplain
• hunting clubs

Phot Credit: Kendall Horner https://kh–photography.pixieset.com/

In this episode recorded with a live audience, Craig and Angela discuss ⁠7-STRONG⁠ and Jonathan Haidt’s book, ⁠The Anxious Generation⁠. If you are interested in helping kids to thrive and seeing healthy communities come together with intention and purpose, this episode is for you. 

If you are interested in accessing the audio of this episode, it is available on the Ordinary Christian Podcast in your favorite podcasting app.

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Summary

Dr. Ed Uszynski discusses his new book, Untangling Critical Race Theory, and the importance of having conversations about race. He shares his personal background and experiences with race, highlighting the need for open dialogue and introspection. The conversation delves into the concepts of critical theory and Marxism, exploring their influence on critical race theory. The hosts discuss the complexities of these ideologies and the importance of grounding our understanding in biblical principles. They also address the need to confront injustices and inequalities while avoiding the extremes of Marxism. Overall, the conversation emphasizes the importance of engaging in thoughtful and informed discussions about race.

In this conversation, Ed Uszynski and Craig Thompson discuss the influence of critical theory and critical race theory on society and the church. They explore the origins of these theories and their impact on culture, politics, and social justice. They also examine the role of the church in addressing issues of injustice and the need for a biblical worldview. The conversation highlights the importance of understanding these theories and engaging in thoughtful dialogue to navigate their complexities.

Takeaways

• Open and honest conversations about race are necessary for growth and understanding.
• Understanding the historical and ideological foundations of critical race theory is important for engaging in meaningful dialogue.
• It is possible to appreciate insights from different worldviews while remaining grounded in biblical principles.
• The church must confront injustices and inequalities while avoiding extreme ideologies.
• Engaging in thoughtful and informed discussions about race can lead to healing and growth. Critical theory and critical race theory have had a significant influence on society and the church.
• Understanding the origins and impact of these theories is crucial for engaging in thoughtful dialogue.
• The church has a role in addressing issues of injustice and promoting biblical social justice.
• A biblical worldview should inform our understanding of social justice and guide our actions.
• Both the left and the right have co-opted social justice for their own agendas, but a biblical perspective transcends political ideologies.

Sound Bites

• “We need to be reminded that we don’t need to be afraid of these conversations. These conversations matter.”
• “Anywhere that Satan is hanging out, it makes sense that it’ll be a difficult conversation, a difficult topic to try to step into.”
• “We need to be willing to actually deconstruct what we’re hearing from other places.”
• “Not only did it not fail because there were government interventions to help it get through its dips the same way we have interventions today, but you had leaders that rose up and took Marx’s ideas and became tyrants with them, right? Brought atrocity to the world that the world has never seen.”
• “There’s problems with it, but it’s rooted in the truth of their intention.”
• “As a solution, and Craig, let’s stop here just for a second, because a theory in and of itself is a lens through which to view the world. It’s making an observation about the world.”

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

02:12 The Importance of Conversations about Race

08:42 The Influence of Critical Theory and Marxism

18:15 Grounding Our Understanding in Biblical Principles

26:19 Confronting Injustices and Inequalities

31:46 The Need for Thoughtful and Informed Discussions about Race

33:40 The Influence of Critical Theory and Critical Race Theory

35:25 Navigating the Complexities of Critical Theory and Critical Race Theory

38:18 The Role of the Church in Addressing Injustice

40:26 Promoting Biblical Social Justice

49:38 Transcending Political Ideologies with a Biblical Worldview

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Life is better with friends. In this episode of the podcast, I have a conversation with Angela (my wife) and with our friends Luke and Patty Tolbert about the nature of our long friendship. We talk about what friendship is, how to find friends, and the joy found in a shared life together. Along the way we address the ways friendship can be inconvenient and some of the necessary personal sacrifices that go along with being a friend.

We discuss two books in the podcast:

• Made for People
• Life Together

I hope you enjoy our conversation. The purpose of this conversation is to highlight the great value of friendship and to give practical tips on how you can find great friends for the long haul.

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I began the Ordinary Christian Podcast in 2020 just before the world shut down from a worldwide pandemic. In the four years since then, the podcast has continued in starts and stops. For the 100th episode, I decided to revisit some lessons we all learned during COVID shutdowns, but which we are on the verge of forgetting.

In this episode I encourage you to:

1. Prioritize people over possessions.
2. Live where you live.
3. Don’t sleep on rest.
4. Go for a walk.
5. Practice hospitality.
6. Slow down.

What COVID lessons do you remember? Which ones have you already forgotten to practice?

Thank you for being part of the Ordinary Christian Podcast for the last 100 episodes. I look forward to the next 1oo! Please let me know how this podcast has blessed you or how it could bless you in the future.

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It is a great place.

I often get asked how we are reaching so many people or what we are doing differently at Malvern Hill–especially as it relates to reaching children and teenagers.

Interestingly, many people don’t believe my answer. They assume we must have uncovered some secret growth trick, some special program, or a new discipleship method.

The truth is simple and difficult.

The primary thing we do at Malvern Hill is preach the Word. The church is built around the preaching of the Word of God, and we trust in the power of the Word of God to build Christ’s church.

The discipleship of our church is built around the preaching of the Word. When our LifeGroups gather, they focus on the preached sermons and work to apply them in community. Our student ministry is built on discipleship and preaching. Our kids ministry–you guessed it–nothing special there either, just a commitment to regularly teach the word of God at age-appropriate levels. Our kids ministry utilizes music, catechism questions, and even Bible trivia questions to train up our kids in the way they should go.

Pastors struggle to believe preaching can be the answer, because they assume it must be more complicated. But nothing will shape and mold a church–nothing else can build a church into the image of Christ the way consistent, faithful preaching of God’s Word does.

Perhaps even more than pastors, church members struggle to believe that preaching is the answer because to believe preaching is the answer is too easy and too difficult. Church members are often looking for a non-profit executive to pastor their church. When they find a good executive, he can manage all the moving pieces and enable all the people to lead in their sphere of influence or preference. They believe (especially if they are managers themselves) that the church needs a good leader to raise up middle managers to generate efficiency that will lead to effectiveness within the church. This empowers people to manage the church.

Managing the church will not build the church. It may build an organization, but it will not build the living organism that is the church of Christ.

WHY?

Because the church was never intended to be managed by human wisdom. Jesus said he would build his church, and he builds it through the preaching of the Word. Finding a pastor who will preach the Word in season and out of season means finding a pastor who is subject, not to the ruling powers of a particular church, but to the King of the church. Finding a pastor who is committed to preaching the Word means finding a pastor who is committed, not to the vision of deacons or committees or boards, but to the vision of God and his Word. Finding a pastor who will preach requires being a church who is eager–not to lead, but to submit and follow.

Too many churches are dying, not because they are not well-managed or well-led, but because they are too well-led. There are too many leaders in the church who are effectively managing the church, but not nearly enough of the church body who are eagerly surrendering to the Word of God and submitting to the authority of the preached Word and the man who preaches it.

As I write this, I am confident there will be deacons, personnel committee members, and Sunday School teachers who read this and smugly snort that it is their responsibility to keep the pastor in line. If that is you, let me humbly suggest that your desire to keep the pastor in line and your desire to manage may very well be the very attitude keeping your church from experiencing God’s blessing.

The pastor has many responsibilities, but he has one primary responsibility and it is to equip the saints for the work of ministry. When Paul and Barnabas were laboring to see the church take root in Lystra and Iconium, they preached the word to strengthen the disciples. The saints were equipped through the preaching of the Word then, and they need to be equipped through the preaching of the word now.

Too many saints have decided that they are already equipped for the work and have proudly stopped up their ears to the preaching of the Word or have even decided that the preaching of the Word should not be primary in their church.

As you read this, some of you will no doubt be aware of pastors who have abused their position and neglected their duties. But, just because a some pastors have been sinful in the fulfillment of their responsibilities does not mean that all churches should jettison a biblical model.

Pastors, you need to preach and churches, you need to plead with your pastors to preach. The word of God is powerful as it is being preached and through that Word, God is raising up his church. There are many different things you could do to try to “fix” your church. You can build buildings or implement programs or create new staff positions. You can empower more volunteers or start an outreach. But, if you do not prioritize the preaching of the Word, it will ultimately fail.

It seems too easy to work–and it often feels too hard to implement. It seems foolish, and yet, the foolish things in the eyes of the world prove to be the wisdom of God.

¹⁸ For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
    and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

²⁰ Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. ²² For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

Pastors, preach. It really is the answer. Churches, expect your pastor to preach and respond well to his preaching. If you happen to be a church searching for a pastor today, prioritize preaching in the search process. You don’t need a social media influencer or an executive manager. Those are fine, but they are not necessities. What is necessary? The preaching of the Word, so find a pastor who prioritizes preaching.

Preaching is the answer and it is the God-ordained method to building Christ’s church. How has your life been impacted by the preaching of your pastor?

Reflections on the Psalms by C. S. Lewis. Lewis shares some of his thoughts on the form and meaning of selected Psalms as well as some insight on how the Psalms should be read as a form of poetic literature. My favorite quote from this book comes as Lewis explains it is not an apologetic work, but urges, “A man can’t always be defending the truth, there must be a time to feed on it.” The Psalms are incredibly nourishing bits of truth for our Christian journey.

The Case for the Psalms by N. T. Wright. Wright explains why the Psalms are essential and how they can and should be incorporated into worship and everyday life.

Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer focuses on the fact that Jesus died with a Psalm on his lips and in those same Psalms, followers of Jesus today can find comfort, praise, and challenge.

The Treasury of David by C. H. Spurgeon. The Prince of Preachers offers one of the most comprehensive pastoral and devotional studies on the book of Psalms in five substantial volumes.

Psalms 1-72 and Psalms 73-150 by Derek Kidner. An accessible, but limited commentary on the Psalms.

Psalms in the Expositors Bible Commentary. An accessible, but helpful one volume commentary on the Psalms.

A Commentary on the Psalms by Allen Ross. A detailed commentary with great helps to understand the form of the Psalms and with a detailed outline for each Psalm. The technical details of the Psalms are relegated to the footnotes in this commentary making it easy to read and accessible by most readers.

The Messiah and the Psalms by Richard Belcher. Christ is present in the Psalms and Belcher helps us to see him vividly and to proclaim Christ from the Psalms.

I look forward to all that God has in store for Malvern Hill from this sermon series. What are some of your favorite resources for studying the Psalms?