A podcast that seeks to marvel at the mercy of God that meets us in our messy ministries. www.graceupongrace.net
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Amazingly, 75% of "decisions" for Christ don't actually last,* and 33% of regular church attenders show little evidence of being genuinely 'born again.'* Christians. In light of this staggering reality, Step Up To Life's mission is to eliminate temporary decisions and replace them with genuine conversions by presenting the Gospel with greater biblical clarity. Tune in to hear stories from around the globe from ministry leaders, pastors, and individuals who are committed to sticking to Jesus' ...
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Hitching a ride through the foothills of biblical theology with Chad Bird.
1:08:31
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In this edition of the Ministry Minded Podcast, I am thrilled to be joined by my friend, Chad Bird, to talk about his new book, Hitchhiking with Prophets, and what it looks like to pursue a biblical theology that is centered on Christ alone. Chad and his wife Stacy live in Tyler, Texas, where he works as a Scholar-in-Residence for 1517. Along with …
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Send us a Text Message. Jason Hurt from 'Chariots 4 Hope' (www.Chariots4Hope.org) joins Lincoln and Nick in the studio to discuss what it was like trusting God after hurricane Sandy by moving with his wife Michelle and their kids from New York to Nebraska, founding a brand new ministry without a single supporter, and how Step Up To Life helps their…
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On Tolkien, storytelling, and the eucatastrophe of grace with Sam Schuldheisz.
1:09:02
1:09:02
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In this episode, I am joined by pastor and writer Sam Schuldheisz who accompanies me on a short excursion to Middle Earth to chat about the ubiquity of storytelling, especially as it relates to the greatest story of all — namely, the gospel. Along with Tolkien and Lewis, we also talk about the theology of Inklings and the eucatastrophe of God’s gra…
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Send us a Text Message. President of 'Christ for the City International' (www.CFCI.org) Dr. Chip Anderson joins Linc and Nick in the studio to discuss why CFCI partners with Step Up To Life, what problems it's solved in their ministry, how he went from 'Frat-boy' to 'Missionary,' and what he found out about ministering in Latin American through his…
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On the nuances of Reformation history and theology with Amy Mantravadi.
1:14:00
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In this episode, I am joined by essayist Amy Mantravadi as we dive into the particulars of the Reformation movement of the 1500s, the theological and historical ramifications of which are still being unpacked today. We discuss the importance of the Reformation, its impact on preaching, and its continued relevance for modern disciples. Amy lives in …
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Send us a Text Message. On this episode Pastor Ed King of Dayspring Ministries and Omaha's Hope Center for Kids joins Lincoln and Nick to talk about how God used Step Up To Life to change his life and how God is now using him to change the lives of kids n North Omaha in the same way nearly 40 years later! Support the Show. www.StepUpToLife.com…
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The anchor of historical theology for the local church with Raphael Mnkandhla.
1:34:06
1:34:06
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In this episode, I am joined by Pastor Raphael Mnkandhla to talk about the importance of historical theology and church history not only for pastors and theologians but also for everyday disciples of Jesus. Raphael pastors City Church in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where he lives and serves with his wife Heidi, and their six children. You can follo…
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Send us a Text Message. On this episode Cindy Nyberg from MyBridge Radio visits Lincoln and Nick on site in the studio to talk about how she became known as 'the Step Up To Life Lady,' how she works through the fear of sharing her faith, and why Step Up To Life has become 2nd nature to her when sharing the Gospel with the greatest clarity! Support …
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Send us a Text Message. On this episode we talk with UNO ACHA Hockey team players Nolan Sullivan and Kirby Proctor about how they came to saving-faith in Christ Jesus, what it's like to share their faith with others, and how Step Up To Life has changed the way they go about sharing the Gospel. Support the Show. www.StepUpToLife.com…
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Respecting the Journey of Sharing the Gospel
36:13
36:13
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Send us a Text Message. On this episode Stan Parker of My Bridge Radio (https://mybridgeradio.net) joins Lincoln and Nick remotely from his offices in Lincoln NE. to talk about how he came to know Jesus personally while playing football at the University of Nebraska, his first encounter with Step Up To Life as a uniquely powerful Gospel-sharing too…
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What is Genuine Saving-Faith vs. Churchianity?
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49:25
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Send us a Text Message. On this episode Pastor Curt Dodd (Westside Church - Omaha, NE.) joins Lincoln and Nick in the studio to talk about how he came to genuine Saving-Faith in an unusual way, what drives his ministry heartbeat, and what he's concerned about as he looks at church leadership over the next 5 years. Support the Show. www.StepUpToLife…
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Send us a Text Message. On this episode SUTL's African Hub Director (Rev. Jefferson Gathu) joins Lincoln & Nick on site in the studio to share how he came to be SUTL's official Champion to Africa leading over 12 nations in sharing the Gospel with greater clarity through the SUTL life tool, how it's impacted the countries it's been shared in, and ho…
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Memory Lane: The History of 'Step Up To Life'
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Send us a Text Message. On this episode of the Step Up To Life Podcast, we talk with the wife of our late founder (Nancy Murdoch) about why her husband (Elmer 'Doc') began sharing a 5-Step approach to explaining the Biblical Gospel, and how he could have never foreseen that a single sermon he gave in 1957 would one day be translated into over 80 di…
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Send us a Text Message. On this episode of the Step Up To Life Podcast, 'Fresh Start' ministry founder Mindy Peterson (www.freshstartforallnations.org) and marriage minister Sharon Harris of 'Hearts Set Free' (www.hsfomaha.org) share with us their how they came to saving-faith in Christ, how the Lord called them into forgiveness and marriage minist…
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Send us a Text Message. Keith Becker (founder of the Todd Becker Foundation) joins us to talk about the tragic event that ignited his passion for youth ministry, what his particular emphasis is when ministering, & why he's chosen to partner with Step Up To Life for the last 7 years to train his interns as they minister in high schools throughout th…
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Send us a Text Message. On this episode of the Step Up To Life Podcast, Pastors Roy Helu Jr. & Justin Larsen of CityLight Bennington Church join us to share how they came to Saving-Faith in Christ, what they believe is the unique advantage of sharing the Gospel with the 5 Steps, how they've seen it impact people in real life, and why they recommend…
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Send us a Text Message. On this episode Executive Director (Lincoln Murdoch) shares how Step Up To Life came to be, why it emphasizes Jesus' Message and method of inviting people to 'follow/believe' in Jesus, as well as how it has impacted people on an individual level (Justin Kofoed), and a ministerial level (Pastors Nick Bank & Curtis Isaacson). …
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On the beauty and blessing of biblical preaching with Kris Estep.
1:04:48
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In this episode, I am joined by Pastor Kris Estep to talk about the state of preaching in the modern church and why preaching expositionally through the Bible is so important for the good and the health of the local church. Kris Estep pastors Barberville Baptist Church in Waynesville, North Carolina, where he lives and serves with his wife Becky, a…
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God’s love for unnoticed things, the precariousness of preaching, and a gospel tornado.
23:01
23:01
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In this episode, I share some thoughts on what ought to undergird every sermon and why the good news of the gospel can be likened to a thunderstorm of grace. Resources. “God Goes Belonging,” Sam Bush “Preaching That Connects,” Todd Brewer “Rainstorms and Reformations,” Sam Schuldheisz Grace: So Much More Than You Know and So Much Better Than You Th…
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Determining the timing of Holy Week and the subversive good news of Easter.
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26:50
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In this episode of the Ministry Minded podcast, I share a helpful way to make heads-or-tails of the timing of Holy Week, along with some thoughts on the remarkably subversive story of Easter. Resources. “Raised for Our Justification,” Michael Bird “Something to This Story,” David Clay “The Hero Dies in This One,” Sam Bush “Was Jesus in the Grave fo…
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On God’s great heart for pastors with Randy Greenwald.
1:04:22
1:04:22
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In this episode, I’m joined by pastor and writer Randy Greenwald to talk about his newsletter, “Greatheart’s Table,” and why pastoral efficiency is a bad thing, along with a host of other topics relating to ministry in the local church. Randy Greenwald is the pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Oviedo, Florida, where he lives and serves with …
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Social media is dead, how Facebook has changed, and the failure of the Jefferson Bible.
30:38
30:38
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In this episode, I talk about the recent proliferation of articles and essays that speak to the negative side-effects of social media, and how this negativity can be discerned just by examining the ways in which social media has changed since its inception. I also talk about the good news of God’s rest as found in Christ and why Thomas Jefferson’s …
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The fallacy of the therapeutic church, Bono’s testimony, and pastoral remit.
41:40
41:40
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In this episode, I reflect on some articles that talk about the emergence of the “therapeutic gospel” which, in effect, leads congregants into functional atheism. I also reflect on Bono’s Christian testimony and what falls within a pastor’s remit. Resources. “A therapeutic church is an atheist church,” Brad East “Sin, preaching, and the therapeutic…
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Holiday odds and ends, and the one-way love of Christmas.
30:28
30:28
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In this episode, I reflect on the holiday season and welcome the New Year by talking through a myriad of holiday-themed articles I’ve been chewing on recently, each of which serves to remind us of the one-way love of Christmas. Resources. “O Come All Ye Faithful, Except When Christmas Falls on a Sunday,” Ruth Graham “There Is No Mary Problem in ‘It…
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Southern Yankees, low anthropology, Doubting Thomases, and the famine of the Word.
28:26
28:26
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In this episode, I reflect on the scene where doubt of poor ole “Doubting Thomas” was quelled — and why we, too, can find so much solace in the Christ of God condescending to his disciple’s deepest fears. I also highlight a new book from David Zahl and an essay by longtime friend Obbie Tyler Todd. Resources. “Fearless Thomas Apart From Christ,” Mar…
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Tales from the carpenter’s desk, the risk of Bible study, and the Black Swan of Puritanism.
27:58
27:58
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In this episode, I talk about why Jesus never used carpentry in any of his parables, why Tobias Crisp is the “Black Swan of Puritanism,” and why studying the Bible doesn’t necessarily have to have a goal in order for it to be profitable and beneficial. Sometimes God just wants us to go to the Word to enjoy it. Resources. “The Tales the Carpenter To…
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Wasting your life trusting in the efficiency of God, the SBC’s reckoning, and the Word that abides forever.
26:38
26:38
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In this episode, I share a few brief thoughts on the recent reckoning in the Southern Baptist Convention before zeroing in on the truest hope for our times — namely, that God wastes nothing. Even the days that seem impossibly dark and incredibly inefficient are days in which God’s Word abides forever. Resources. “How Should Baptists and Christians …
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Leaving Lordship salvation behind and the languishing of ‘Lightyear’.
38:04
38:04
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In this episode, I share some thoughts on the recent hullabaloo surrounding the newest Disney/Pixar film Lightyear, plus why Lordship Salvation should be left behind. Resources. “If ‘Representation’ is the Issue, Where Are Pixar’s Religious Characters?” Samuel D. James “Success Of ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’ Puts Excuses For Disney’s Failed, Woke ‘L…
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In this episode, I reflect a little on the recent “face-lift” the blog has received, courtesy of my dear friend Sara Bordner; plus I talk about some other stuff relating to social media and the understanding of the self, along with the incandescent hope that’s found in humor. Resources. Paint By S, Sara Bordner Embodied Hope: A Theological Meditati…
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Redeeming the time with Pastor Mike Gray.
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41:06
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In this edition of the Ministry Minded Podcast, I get to share a conversation my dad and I were able to have during our recent vacation in South Carolina on how to live fearlessly with “sound of mind” (2 Tim. 1:7) in these evil days. Connect with the show: https://graceupongrace.net/ Buy Fresh Roasted Coffee: http://www.freshroastedcoffee.com **Use…
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A much-needed rest and holding fast to faith when it doesn’t make sense.
30:19
30:19
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In this episode of the Ministry Minded Podcast, I share some reflections on a much-needed vacation spent with family as well as some timely encouragement on the providence of God, whose sovereignty is never in doubt. What’s in front of us and all around might make us believe otherwise. We are very easily swayed into declaring the “end of all things…
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In this episode of the Ministry Minded Podcast, I recap some sermons and talk about how God’s grace gives us the freedom to be present, right now, where we are. I also highlight some articles from around the web that have proven enlightening and encouraging. May you be blessed by this brief episode. Grace and peace. Connect with the show: https://g…
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Sensationalizing the present means we’ve turned a blind eye to the past.
46:13
46:13
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In this episode of the Ministry Minded Podcast, I share some updates on this “beautifully exhausting” season of life and ministry, as well as the concrete hope of the Word to which the church can cling in times of doubt and fear and frenzy (Heb. 6:19). Connect with the show: https://graceupongrace.net/ Buy Fresh Roasted Coffee: http://www.freshroas…
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Thoughts on “The Chosen,” the only Word that matters, and the God who gets in the water with us.
42:11
42:11
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In this episode of the Ministry Minded Podcast, I share some personal and ministerial updates for the week, as well as confess my affections for the newest Christian phenomenon, a.k.a., The Chosen. May you be blessed by these reflections. Connect with the show: https://graceupongrace.net/ Buy Fresh Roasted Coffee: http://www.freshroastedcoffee.com …
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The God of our deepest need, the essence of humility, and the beautiful predictability of the ordinary means of grace.
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39:11
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In this episode of the Ministry Minded Podcast, I share some encouraging excerpts from 9Marks’ newest online journal, The Ordinary Means of Grace—Or, Don’t Do Weird Stuff. I also talk through 1 Kings 17 and how it might just be the best chapter to illustrate the habit of God to work in and through and with our suffering in order to reveal his savin…
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On rest and resiliency in pastoral ministry with Josh Hedger.
1:13:16
1:13:16
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In this edition of the Ministry Minded Podcast, I am thrilled to share mine and Josh Hedger’s discussion of the pastorate and how modernity’s expectations of pastors can create unhealthy and unsustainable ministry environments. May you be blessed by this conversation notwithstanding your current ministerial context. Connect with the show: https://g…
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On the “deep magic” of a God who confounds sense and challenges faith.
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44:00
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In this episode of the Ministry Minded Podcast, I get to reflect on some prescient thoughts and themes that I’ve been considering lately through the course of my sermon series on Philippians, especially as it relates to the ways God confounds our sense and challenges our faith through his divine and sovereign “Deep Magic.” Connect with the show: ht…
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7 reasons to not leave your church and other church membership wisdom with Pastor Mike Gray.
1:35:21
1:35:21
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In this edition of the Ministry Minded Podcast, I share some updates on the podcast itself as well as talk through this past week’s sermons and why Psalm 131 constitutes, perhaps, the best picture of what it means to live the life of faith. I also get the thrill of sharing another conversation between myself and my dad, as he and I reflect on the p…
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Jesus’s incendiary sermon and the need for pastor-theologians.
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43:08
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In this episode of the Ministry Minded Podcast, I consider (again) Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount and I also highlight some recent articles from around the web that articulate the growing need for pastor-theologians. It is my aim to encourage the listener that theology isn’t meant to be sequestered in the halls of scholastic thought — it’s meant to ri…
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On ministry transition in the middle of a pandemic and making sense of the atonement with Obbie Tyler Todd.
1:45:26
1:45:26
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In this episode of the Ministry Minded Podcast, I am thrilled to be joined once again by my dear friend, Obbie Tyler Todd. In this lengthy dialogue, we reflect on an assortment of life- and church-lessons learned through the course of the pandemic. We also dissect his newest book, The Moral Governmental Theory of the Atonement: Re-Envisioning Penal…
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In this episode of the Ministry Minded Podcast, I share some time-management advice via Oliver Burkeman. Also, I get to interact with that massive GQ cover-story profiling the life of troubled pop-star, Justin Bieber. Connect with the show: https://graceupongrace.net/ Buy Fresh Roasted Coffee: http://www.freshroastedcoffee.com **Use code ‘GRACE10’ …
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Opening a can of worms and continuing the legacy of the best Bible study ever.
33:36
33:36
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It’s time for another edition of the Ministry Minded Podcast. In today’s show, I get to share some reflections on 1 Kings 11 and how the decline of Solomon’s empire actually points to the resolute truth of the God of all grace and the Governor of all history. Indeed, the fact that this history is extant for us at all points to a divine author behin…
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Preaching that lasts and pastoring for the long run.
32:53
32:53
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I’m back with another episode of the Ministry Minded Podcast! This time, I share some general thoughts on pastoral ministry before diving into some recent articles which have helped concretize my own convictions concerning the office of pastor. As a young man in ministry, I am so grateful to soak up resources like this which put me on a trajectory …
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In this edition of the Ministry Minded Podcast, I reflect on last week in which the Church celebrated Easter Sunday and the good news of Jesus’s resurrection from the dead. I spend some time talking through some events and ministry moments that encouraged me in the knowledge the fact of the resurrection, which, I think, is the point of the whole th…
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On Luther, Limbaugh, and the league of the guilty.
40:27
40:27
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In this edition of the Ministry Minded Podcast, I chat about a slew of articles that I’ve been chomping at the bit to share with you, including one that shows how Rush Limbaugh and Martin Luther were similar in use of language to make courageous stands for the truth. Of course, Limbaugh and Luther operated in very different fields of expertise, not…
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On the settled Christian life with Jon Moffitt and Justin Perdue.
1:00:36
1:00:36
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In this edition of the Ministry Minded Podcast, I get the privilege to talk with two-thirds of the Theocast crew, pastors and podcasters Jon Moffitt and Justin Perdue. In this encouraging and enriching discussion, we chat about the sufficiency of Christ throughout the life of the Christian and why it’s so important to know that all things are settl…
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Thinking out loud about when a ministry leader falls.
38:34
38:34
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In this edition of the Ministry Minded Podcast, I take some time to think out loud about how to deal with the egregious failings of ministry leaders. How can you make sense of their platform life and their personal life? What hope is there for them in the midst of their failure? And what grace is there for those feeling the repercussions of their f…
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The comforting gospel of God’s substitution, Jesus as the hero, and the end of scorekeeping.
36:27
36:27
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In this edition of the Ministry Minded Podcast, I reflect on the gospel of God’s comfort and the specific reason why it’s so comforting — namely, because we have a Substitute. I also talk about why Jesus is the true and better hero and why a religion of scorekeeping can never last. Soli Deo Gloria! Amen. Connect with the show: https://graceupongrac…
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The solid rock truth of Christ crucified.
42:44
42:44
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In this edition of the Ministry Minded Podcast, I think through several different instances and examples which given evidence for the necessity of God’s truth — specifically, the solid rock truth of Christ made sin for us. Such is the only message the world needs to hear. And good thing, too, it’s the only message the church has. Connect with the s…
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Mercy for the desperate, the story of Scripture, and gorging on the Bible.
36:26
36:26
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In this edition of the Ministry Minded Podcast, I think through what it means that Jesus is our “great high priest” and why his is a ministry of mercy for the desperate. I also share some thoughts on the unfolding narrative of the Bible and why Christians everywhere ought to be gorging on the Scriptures. May you be blessed by these thoughts. Grace …
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