Features
True Love for Valentine’s Day
The trouble is that we want Jesus to give us all of his glory and none of himself. We want to rise again without having first to die. We want love without the hassle of the other person breaking in and unsettling not only our priorities and plans, but the very knowledge that we have of ourselves.
Yes, we are for being against.
Church history shows us that to be for the Gospel we have to be against some things.
#38: Likes and Dislikes: The Gospel and False Gospels
Matt, Jady, and Nick talk about starting a Facebook group; sheep, shepherds, and wolves in an online world, and how being “for” something necessarily means being “against” other things.
Say It Again
When people who don’t yet belong to this “Great Nation” stumble across some outpost of it, they don’t generally find themselves landing on the word “great,” nor “nation” for that matter. It looks mostly like a pathetic group of superstitious scolds who should really go away and try something else.
#37: For God So Loved the World: The Why of Monogamous Sex
Matt, Jady, and Nick have a conversation about why God would create a beautiful gift like sex and then decree that it exist only in the context of a lifelong marriage between a man and woman.
Don’t Be Scared of Mortification
Mortification – it even sounds scary.
Hath The Lord Even Spoken
You being too busy is not a sin. You not being present to your family in an optimal way is not a sin. You being unhappy and dissatisfied with your life is not a sin. You are not going to go to hell because you couldn’t get out from under your to-do list.
Revoice, Sexual Ethics, and Christian Obedience
One of the primary reasons Revoice and Spiritual Friendship exist as movements seems to be to immanentize a kind of non-sexualized friendship that will only be possible at the eschaton.
#36: Let’s Talk About Sex: Identity and Christian Hope
Matt, Jady, and Nick discuss the recent statement from the ACNA Bishops about sex and identity, talk about the difference between temptation and sin, and explore the relationship between truth-telling and pastoral care.
Hope In A Cynical Age
It’s never too late to stop and listen carefully to the various kinds of good news offered by all, and wonder if they can live up to their own promises.
About Adjusting to the Coming Days
Christians need to step it up in being faithful with endurance and wisdom. And that will look different for different Christians. We need to respect that.
#35: Onward Christian Soldiers? Nationalism, Patriotism, and Faith
Matt, Jady, and Nick talk about “Christian nationalism” and “white evangelicalism,” discuss the ways faith in Jesus Christ impacts our involvement in politics, and find (more) fault with progressive Christianity.
I Have Heard You Calling
Anyway, imagine showing up to church with your offering in your hand, your discouragement in your mouth, and the pastor and his sons steal from you, violate you, and then yell at you when you try to complain. Well, we don’t really have to imagine. This very thing has happened in some churches, and we know about it because of the internet. Honestly, the internet is so useful.
#34: A Stand Firm Conversation: Alisa Childers
Anne, Liza, and Ralinda welcome Alisa Childers to talk her life story, her new book, progressive Christianity, Critical Race Theory, and more.
Totalitarian Moments X: Control of Speech is Priority One
Under whatever banners they take power, totalitarians demand control of speech and expression.
When We Were Literally Herod
For him, it doesn’t matter what your politics are, or who you voted for, or how angry you are, or how grieved, or if you can see the problems in an institution or remain completely blind to them. He cares not if you are anti-racist or racist, if you are Methodist or Presbyterian, if you are on the right side of something or the wrong side, if you have gone over to Parler or are still trying to make a go of it on Twitter. You could be Donald Trump or even Joe Biden for all he cares.
#33: Amen and…Well, Amen: Salvation in Jesus’ Name
Matt, Jady, and Nick discuss the strange ending to the recent Congressional prayer, look at Article 18 of The 39 Articles, and talk about why God can only be Good News as revealed in Jesus Christ.
#32: The Stand Firm Year-End Awards
Matt, Jady, and Nick hand out some awards at the end of a crazy year. They discuss their “issue of the year” and their “surprise of the year,” including Covid-19, Critical Theory, Trans activism, feminism, and more.
#31: Blood, Sweat, and Tears: The Incarnation Conversation
Jady and Nick discuss the different ways people have tried to make sense of the Incarnation, God come to Earth in Jesus Christ. Who was Jesus, and who must he be to be Good News for us?
So you want to cancel Christmas…
10,000 men of Kent and Canterbury:
“If they could not have their Christmas Day, they would have the King back on his throne.”
Podcast
#26: The Cat in the (Pointy) Hat: The Good and Bad of Bishops
Matt, Jady, and Nick talk about bishops and bishop-led churches. They discuss advantages and disadvantages of having bishops, whether or not they’re biblical, and consider the recent resignation of a bishop in the ACNA.
#25: A Coin the Coffer: Purgatory Then and Now
Matt, Jady, and Nick talk about the Vatican’s recent statement about indulgences and purgatory, why the idea is such bad news, and how the attempt to buy one’s way into grace is widespread, both inside and outside the church.
#24: Mo Money No Problems: Give Unto the Lord
Jady and Nick discuss the intersection of the church and your money. Why does the church talk about money so much? Is there any Good News to be found in stewardship?
#23: Please Mr. Postman: A Stand Firm Mailbag
Matt, Jady, and Nick answer some listener questions, including what love has to do with honesty about sex, a potential referendum on abortion, and what it might mean to be called to celibacy.
#22: When Push Came to Love: The Myth of Progressive Tolerance
Matt, Jady, and Nick discuss the recent finding by The Episcopal Church against Bishop William Love. When justice and love are defined outside the Word of God, defenders of God’s Word find themselves labeled as unjust and unloving.
#21: Ibram Kendi and Adoption as Colonialism
Jady, Nick, and special guest Michael Neal discuss public reaction to Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court, and especially to her adopted children.
#20: But He Actually Became a Person: The Problem with a “Personified” Jesus
Anne, Liza, and Ralinda discuss a transgender Icelandic Jesus, the downside of the Jesus Storybook Bible, and a few more thoughts on “Cuties.”
#19: No Second Opinions: On the Sufficiency of Scripture
Matt, Jady, and Nick talk about the good news that the Bible is the only authority we need, the human urge to make new laws, and what it means that God’s Word once delivered is “enough.”
#18: The Sledgehammer of God? Discipline and Restoration in the Church
Matt, Jady, and Nick talk about Jesus’ plan for discipline in the church and the Good News that comes along with repentance, reconciliation, and restoration.
#17: Truth Decay: The Sad Cynicism of Progressive Christianity
Matt, Jady, and Nick discuss the hesitance to make any claim of absolute truth. Intended to be welcoming, the idea that many opposing things can be true at once is really hollowing churches out from the inside.
#16: Nuclear War: A Defense of the Traditional Family
Matt, Jady, and Nick discuss the biblical warrant for the “nuclear family” and attacks on the idea from some evangelicals, more revolutionary organizations, and everything in between.
#15: Between Moloch and a Hard Place: Voting in the Abortion Age
Matt, Jady, and Nick discuss why abortion is such an important issue for Christians and what a broad view of “pro-life” really means.
#14: WAP: White Aging Pastors Talk Whores and Hip-Hop
Matt, Jady, and Nick discuss Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s hit new single, the virtue of purity in light of the Gospel, and the role of sex in a world which refuses to hear the word of God.
#13: Ladders to Heaven and a Chute to Hell: The Will and Sanctification
Jady and Nick discuss the role a Christian plays in his or her spiritual growth. They decide that there is Good News for sinners wondering about their Christian development.
#12: Easy Like Sunday Morning? Disembodied Worship and Virtual Church
Matt, Jady, and Nick discuss the source of Christians’ desire to gather together. God commands it in the Bible, and it edifies the body, shaping it into Christ’s image in ways that online worship cannot.
#11: My Kingdom Come? Reflections on Our Pretensions
Matt, Jady, and Nick discuss the “kingdom mandate.” The Good News is that Christ’s kingdom is a promise, not a commandment.
#10: Free Will was Bound to Come Up Again
Matt, Jady, and Nick continue their conversation about free will, discussing the differences between Reformed views, Pelagianism, Arminianism, and even Molinism.
#9: Robots Bound for Glory: A Reflection on Free Will
Matt, Jady, and Nick talk free will on the occasion of Independence Day. Is the biblical assertion that we are slaves bad news…or is it ultimately Good News?
#8: To Err is Human: When is a Christian Not a Christian?
Matt, Jady, and Nick discuss theological errors. What’s the difference, they ask, between a Christian who is wrong about something and someone who has put themselves outside the scope of the faith?
#7: Monumental Change: The Broken Arc of History
Matt, Jady, and Nick discuss the removal of statues and the renaming of buildings, talk about the complicated nature of history, and rejoice in the Good News of the Gospel for people with sins in their past.