Before You Quit

To understand transgenderism, we must understand our fallen nature. God created us in his image, and this is distorted by sin. The pressure from society to accept that you are born in the wrong body only leads to fatalism and despair. The gospel, however, brings hope and points to the restoration of our God created design through the God-man, Christ Jesus. In this podcast, my cohost and I discuss the origins of transgenderism, societal pressures, and how the church can better address the issue. Here is a sermon Pastor Dan Stegeman preached on the subject: Click the link here. Below is the lecture Pastor Dan Stegeman gave on the subject: Click the link here. For the Focus On the Family article on how to address transgenderism with your family, click the link here.   The post Podcast 152: Transgenderism and the Gospel appeared first on Before You Quit.

What is good, Gospel preaching. We believe it must center on preaching both the law and the gospel. According to Eric Beach from 9 Marks, Scripture contains both commands to obey (law) and promises to believe for salvation (gospel). These are not antithetical to each other. Instead, they play indispensable yet different roles in the lives of Christians. A “gospel-centered” hermeneutic which unintentionally downplays or sidelines the commands of God for Christians will often result in significant problems over the long-term. The solution is not to downplay the gospel with a soft moralism or sideline the law with a soft antinomianism. Rather, teachers should proclaim both the law and the gospel. Pastor, preach the gospel of Christ the glorious savior in every sermon. But also preach the whole counsel of the word of God. Give your sheep God’s instructions and his commands for holy living. (See link here) Pastor Dan Samms and I discuss the importance of preaching LAW AND GOSPEL and how to frame the sermon so it does here in this podcast. Dan is in love with his wife, Christy. They have three kids, a few chickens, and an awesome dog named “Sam.” Dan drinks good coffee, enjoys fine woodworking, and writes theology curriculum. Christy is a licensed counselor. She owns Hope Counseling and Consultation Services, LLC, and is an incredible mother who has a variety of hobbies. Together, they raise their kids, lead the church, and enjoy God’s blessings. Dan wrote a book, Follow: A Handbook for Making Disciples of Jesus Christ. It’s a handy tool for guiding people through initial steps in following Jesus. You can purchase it on Amazon.com, and it is inexpensive enough that you can easily buy a copy for a friend and read it together. Dan’s primary role at Restoration is equipping the saints to make disciples. Email: dan@restorationamherst.org Instagram: @roaringshepherd Website: www.undergroundseminary.net   The post Podcast 150: Preaching Law and Gospel (Pastor Dan Samms) appeared first on Before You Quit.

Increasingly, parents are carrying a burden for prodigal adult children. Some months ago, out of my own burden, I purchased and read Pastor James Banks’ book called Prayer for Prodigals. I used the book as part of my devotional time and found great courage and comfort from the way James uses scripture to shape his prayers for his own two children. In this podcast, we discuss not only his book but also the humble journey of living and trusting a sovereign God to answer the deep cries of the heart for our burden for adult children who are not following Jesus. Dr. James Banks’ bestselling writing on prayer and faith, translated into multiple languages, has encouraged and inspired millions around the world. James is a devotional writer for Our Daily Bread and has been a pastor and church planter for 30 years. James is also a popular speaker at churches, conferences and retreats (to learn more visit his website). He is a graduate of Westmont College and holds advanced degrees from Princeton and Gordon Conwell Theological Seminaries. He and wife Cari have been married 35 years and make their home in Durham, NC. They have two adult children and one grandchild. For more information visit JamesBanks.org, PrayersForProdigals.org and James’ Facebook Author Page. Order Pastor Jame’s books below by clicking on the image: The post Podcast 148: Praying For Your Prodigal (Pastor James Banks) appeared first on Before You Quit.

One Sunday after preaching, I found myself gravitating to a man I knew would compliment me for another great sermon. I found that I did this every Sunday. I bypassed others and went straight for my backslapping, always sermon-affirming, never-to-disappoint friend. The day I caught myself doing this was the day I realized this was unhealthy. So, I ignored that friend and stood in the lobby, eager to talk to anyone, even those who didn’t like my sermon and were honest about it. Why are pastors like that? According to my interview with Dr. Andreas Kostenberger, it comes down to our self-image. The Bible does talk about it, but it has to be a discussion around how Jesus views us. We both agreed that God will sometimes make us insecure so that we, in time, find our security in him. Dr. Andreas Kostenberger writes this on his blog on this subject: The role of pastors in fostering a healthy self-image is vital. People may think the concern for mental health and a proper self-image is a fairly recent phenomenon, but it is not. In the pages of the Bible, we see the apostle Paul display a consistent concern for the mental health of his associates and people in the churches. We see this most poignantly by the recurrence of the Greek word group, sōphro-, typically translated into English as “self-control,” though a more accurate translation would be “sound or healthy mind.” In his letters to Timothy and Titus, Paul urges that a sound mind be pursued by church leaders (1 Tim 3:2; 2 Tim 1:7; Titus 1:8), older and younger men (Titus 2:2, 6), older and younger women (Titus 2:5; cf. 1 Tim 2:9, 15), and by every believer (Titus 2:12). Drs. Andreas and Marny Kostenberger have four adult children, have decades of experience equipping leaders for ministry, and are devoted servants of God in our local church. Andreas is a Bible teacher and prolific author with a heart for coaching men in the ministry. Marny enjoys hospitality and coaching ministry wives and other Christian women leaders. Together, Marny and Andreas have written books on marriage and family, and each has written on topics of their expertise. Andreas is well known for his love of Biblical Theology and the Gospel of John. Both of us are also certified Christian leadership coaches (CCLC). Whether you are a pastor planning a sabbatical, a missionary starting home assignment, or any Christian leader looking for refreshment, encouragement, and support, we look forward to hosting you soon at our quaint cottage home! Whether you are a pastor planning a sabbatical, a missionary starting home assignment, or any Christian leader looking for refreshment, encouragement, and support, we look forward to hosting you soon at our quaint cottage home! Check out: www.oaktreecottage.org www.biblicalfoundations.org   The post Podcast 146: The Pastor and His Identity (Dr. Andreas Köstenberger) appeared first on Before You Quit.

Pastors struggle to develop meaningful friendships. Imagine struggling, striving, and working for the good of others. But then, when you have a need, there is no one with whom you can be honest and share your heart. Many pastors are going through this. Almost all go through it eventually. In this podcast, Pastor Ken Cluck and I discuss why friendships are difficult for pastors but why they are still critical to his personal health and effective ministry. Pastor Ken has been in pastoral ministry since 1995. His ministry has included two Indian reservations (Northern Cheyenne and Nez Perce), refugee ministry, Korean churches, and urban and rural settings. Pastor Ken holds advanced degrees in ministry and theology, including two master’s degrees and a doctorate. In addition to pastoral ministry, Ken teaches graduate and undergrad classes through Crown College and is an evaluator for Alliance Leadership Development. In both roles, he trains future pastors. He also serves as a member of the Rules and Bylaws Committee for the Christian & Missionary Alliance.Pastor Ken has been married to Yong since 1987. They have been together through thick and thin, through good times and bad. Neither is perfect, but both seek to exemplify a godly marriage and provide a loving family for their children and grandchildren. For Pastor Ken’s blog titled: With Whom Does the Pastor Talk? Click here.   The post Podcast 144: Pastors and Friendships (Pastor Ken Cluck) appeared first on Before You Quit.

When I heard the news of Steve Lawson’s sexual sin, I threw up my hands and said, “I give up! Is there anyone we can look up to anymore? Who is next?” If you need to find out who Steve Lawson is, he was right up there with giants like RC Sproul and John MacArthur. Lawson was a board member and teaching fellow of R. C. Sproul’s Ligonier Ministries. Lawson also served as the dean of the Doctor of Ministry program at The Master’s Seminary, founded by John MacArthur. Dan and I discuss what happened, how it could happen, and, more importantly, what lessons we can learn from it. One of our takeaways is how much more we should look up to our small-town local pastor than to famous pastors who we don’t know well and do not know us. We want to remind you that if you are looking for ways to direct your end-of-the-year giving, Fruitful Vine Ministry needs your help. You can go to our support page here and follow the directions. For helpful resources on the Steve Lawson story, check out these resources. https://truthscript.com/church/the-fall-of-a-leader-lessons-from-steve-lawsons-removal/ https://banneroftruth.org/us/resources/announcements/2024/when-a-christian-leader-falls/?srsltid=AfmBOorfFqnoeZ6Iw-nElkQp00WrUGQXN_kqCdr8xU-Br-BfYczO4mnd https://www.equip.org/articles/a-christians-response-to-pastor-lawsons-moral-failure/ https://pastoral-theology.com/2021/02/22/a-response-to-the-fall-of-ravi-zacharias/ The post PODCAST 142: The Story of Steve Lawson (Dan and Mitch) appeared first on Before You Quit.

Many of us get stuck when we see contradictions in the Bible. Pastor John Fogal argues that exceptions in the Bible are never contradictions. This podcast interview will open a window to worship an amazing God who made the greatest exception ever when he extended to us redemption. John W. Fogal lives in Ft. Wayne, IN. He pastored for twenty years and served as a district superintendent with the Christian and Missionary Alliance for 18 years. He has also served as a coach for pastors and churches. John is also the author of Living The Beatitudes. EXCEPTIONS and CONTRADICTIONS The God who is revealed in Scripture is so great that He can make exceptions but never so small that He is guilty of contradictions. He can make exceptions without contradicting the foundational truths. We need spiritual discernment to know the difference. We need faith to see that God is always all His Word claims Him to be. And we need strong discipline to never turn one of God’s exceptions into an official human policy that ultimately contradicts and invalidates God’s foundational rule. He is God. We are not. The more I see of God’s exceptions the more I see the greatness of His sovereign authority and the grandeur of His radiant glory. God made it clear from the start that when a human being sins, he/she will die. Read the genealogies in Genesis 5 and you will see the number of years that each man lived, “and he died.” Except for verse 24 which reads, “And Enoch walked with God; and was not, for God took him.” Before the 10 commandments were given to Moses everyone (including Cain) instinctively knew that it was wrong to kill another human being. Yet God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac on the alter. When Abraham passed the test, God provided a ram, so Isaac did not die prematurely. (However, when it came time for God the Father to sacrifice His only begotten Son, “He spared not His own Son but freely gave Him up for us all.”) God told Hosea to marry a harlot (an exception) to teach him and Israel and us about His love for all of us who are “harlots” in His sight. True miracles are, by definition, exceptions that do not conform to the general rule. They transcend the general laws of nature and accomplish exceptional and unusual and rare events. The iron ax head floated on the water. The sun stood still. The bush burned but was not consumed. The Red Sea parted. Jonah was swallowed by a great fish. The three Hebrew children miraculously came out of the fiery furnace. God shut the lions’ mouths. Extraordinary miracles happened throughout the Old and New Testaments. The Virgin birth of Jesus was a miracle. So was His resurrection. None of these exceptions negated the overriding, foundational laws of God. We must remember that God’s ways and thoughts are higher and better than ours and are beyond our finding out (Isaiah 55:8-9). From our human perspective, the best of God’s “exceptions” is our great salvation. Every human being is “already condemned” and deserves the wrath of God. In His loving sovereign will He chooses us. The Bible calls it “election.” He draws us to His Son; brings us to a place of godly sorrow that leads to repentance; declares us to be justified in His sight; forgives and cleanses us when we confess our sins; makes us new creatures in Christ; calls us to be His children; and Christ is coming soon to take us to be with Him! That makes the “few” exceptional! PRAISE THE LORD! Universalists want to make this exception into a rule and conclude that, in the end, everyone will be saved and go to heaven. That is not what the Bible teaches. “But when He saved my soul, cleansed and made me whole, it took a miracle of love and grace.” THREE APPLICATIONS God’s Word makes it clear that He instituted marriage and unites a man and a woman in “one flesh” and that union is to last “until death us do part.” When the Pharisees asked Jesus about divorce He said, “a man shall leave father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” They said to him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce?” He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.” (Matthew 19:4-8) He then gave clear teaching for the restrictions on the exception called divorce. Add to the large number of marriages that end in divorce all the people who co-habit without being married and it almost seems like the exception has become the rule and the rule has become the exception.. What we call a “miscarriage” is one of God’s exceptions. There may even be times when a husband and wife and doctor need to prayerfully decide (with godly, biblical counsel) to end the pregnancy as the only way to save the mother’s life. But that is not the motivation for more than 99% of the millions of abortions. When the sperm and egg are fertilized, a new life, with its own special, individual, unique DNA is formed, and God knits that new body together in the mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13-16 NLT) until the baby is born and the umbilical cord is cut. We are “fearfully and wonderfully made” “in the image of God.” God gives the mother the supreme privilege of providing life for that new life throughout the gestation period, but that new life is distinct from the mother’s body. Abortion is clearly the terminating of the work of God. Shouldn’t we think twice before committing such a crime? God made us “male and female.” He made us equal but different because He has designed different functions for us to fill. When it comes to the leadership roles in the home and church, it seems to me that God gave us a foundational principle in 1 Corinthians 11:2, “I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.” There are further details found in verses such as Ephesian 5:22-33, 1 Timothy 2:9-15, and I Corinthians 14:33-35. We need to think foundationally, based on God’s Word, not man’s word. So what about the story of Deborah as a judge in the book of Judges (and all the other places where you may think there are exceptions to the rule.) Remember, they are exceptions, not the rule. Think about all the rest of the judges, and priests, and kings, and prophets, and apostles, and elders, and pastors, and bishops. I believe there can still be exceptions today. But we must know that it is God’s exception and not a man-made human policy. We cannot blur these gender distinctive in leadership without “unintended consequences” such as ultimately negating God’s foundational law, causing confusion, and displeasing and offending the God who created us male and female. He is God. We are not. The post Podcast 140: Contradictions in the Bible (John Fogal) appeared first on Before You Quit.

In this final podcast reviewing Dr. Rob Reimer’s Soul Care Ministry, Rev. Mark Barnard of Blessing Point Ministry joins the conversation with Dan Stegeman and me. We discuss Dr. Reimer’s teachings that Christians can be indwelt by demons and we offer a biblical response. To listen to the first podcast on Soul Care, click here. To listen to the second podcast on Soul Care, click here. To listen to the third podcast on Soul Care, click here. For a full written review I wrote on Dr. Reimer’s Soul Care teaching, click here.For Mark Barnard’s paper on Reimer’s teaching on demon occupation, click here.For Testimonies from those who left Soul Care teaching, click here. For Jonathan and Brooke Gangi’s testimony of attending a Soul Care conference click here.   The post Podcast 138: Christians and Demons (Dr. Rob Reimer’s Soul Care Ministry) appeared first on Before You Quit.