The Laymens Lounge

As we celebrate Reformation month, Luke Kjolhaug joins us to unpack Luther’s life-giving insight that we are simul justus et peccator — both saint and sinner. We discuss how this truth frees us from despair and lets us rest in the finished work of Christ.

Join us as we sit down with Joel Beeke who co-author of the forthcoming book “Essentials of Reformed Systematic Theology” published by Crossway (expected around Nov 4). Here we discuss Theology-as-hobby guys, Bavinck vs Kuyper, Paedo vs Creedo, Classical Theism, obedience, Young Restless Reformed and all manner of subjects.

Dutch Reformer, Institution Founder & Michigan Entrepreneur Albertus Christiaan Van Raalte was born in 1811 in the Netherlands, was a pillar in the Afscheiding, sat under Groen van Prinsterer, was always running from the law, wrote letters to Abraham Kuyper to not over-work (which council Kuyper failed to apply), led the emigrations to Michigan, helped start Hope College and Western Seminary, and loved him so church polity. To talk about Van Raalte we are joined by the living-legend Robert Swierenga, author of “A. C. Van Raalte: Pastor by Vocation, Entrepreneur by Necessity.” A stagnant economy, premodern agriculture, and high population growth had led to a sense of hopelessness. Then Enlightenment rationalism and political discontent cast the Dutch Reformed Church adrift in a sea of doubt and uncertainty. This set the stage for the welcome by Dutch liberals of invading French “liberators” in 1795 and the formation of the Batavian Republic, which disestablished the public church. French dominance increased under Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte who established the Kingdom of Holland under his brother Louis in 1804 and made the nation a French vassal state in 1810. The new regime introduced the French Civil Code and modernized an antiquated bureaucracy, bringing with it new taxes and intrusive regulations, such as the first national census, universal military conscription, a civil registry, and other constraints. Young Albertus received the best education the Netherlands could offer in the nineteenth century—parochial day school, Athenaeum, and university. He became an itinerant pastor who planted congregations in the largely rural province of Overijssel. When desperate poverty drove thousands of these Separatists to emigrate to America in the 1840s, Van Raalte himself decided to emigrate and lead his followers to safer pastures. Had he remained in the homeland, as did all but a few of his colleagues, his life would have been comfortable and in familiar surroundings, within his subculture and its routines. Emigrating overseas never entered his mind until midlife, but doing so lifted him to a dynamic role in a period of change in both countries, with different speeds, directions, opportunities, and threats. The two major Dutch Reformed colonies in the 1840s were those of A. C. Van Raalte in Holland, Michigan, and Rev. Hendrik (Henry) P. Scholte in Pella, Iowa. Van Raalte and Scholte, erstwhile friends in the Netherlands, faced a role reversal in America, and they became rivals, competing for settlers and influence. Pella had the early advantage because Scholte had brought almost nine hundred followers, compared to Van Raalte’s fewer than one hundred. But Scholte’s religious independence and refusal to join the American branch of the Reformed Church, as Van Raalte did, hurt his recruitment efforts. The poverty-stricken Holland colony was isolated and twenty miles from the nearest market towns. But thanks to its harbor, wood products shipped to insatiable Chicago markets paid for provisions and supplies that were brought back on return sailings. Holland’s harbor offered easy sailing to Chicago and other Great Lake ports as far away as Buffalo and even New York City via the Erie Canal. Kalamazoo, fifty-five miles southeast, provided a direct rail connection to New York. Pella in south-central Iowa lay fifty miles from Des Moines, the capitol and nearest large city, and it had no railroad service for twenty years. As a result, it remained for generations a small, market town that serviced farms within twenty miles. Holland lay astride the two most productive agricultural counties in Michigan—Ottawa and Allegan. The Holland area today has five or six times the population of the Pella area. And Holland’s diverse industrial economy far surpasses that of Iowa’s agricultural economy. In the rivalry with Scholte, Van Raalte’s accomplishments became the embodiment of what Scholte had hoped to achieve.

Most children’s book and entertainment are woefully lame (and, of course, most adult books and entertainment are lame as well [(did you guys see that there is an Amazon show for clowns that has a black, gay, handicap King of England?]). In attempts to counteract that (often with good intentions) authors who seek to position the male lead in his rightful masculine place often, perhaps unknowing to them (perhaps in their knee-jerk reaction resulting in overcorrection), will often relegate the female role to a truncated picture of optimal biblical femininity. However, in Forrest Dickison’s new children’s book “Crispin’s Rainy Day” we don’t get that sort of sloppy work. Sons of Adam and daughters of Eve are given a proper account that aligns aright with their respective roles as bearers of the image of God. Join me as I sit down with Dickison and discuss what goes into a penning a book for children, toads and pirates, and, how, being a father of daughters, Forrest accounts for the role of both boys and girls in a way that does your kids right.

For years, when folks were taking stock of our cultural moment in regard to faith and such, it was a given that people would reference Charles Taylor. As of late, however, I've started noticing every book, article, and podcast I've digested is referencing Aaron Renn and his observations and analysis in connection with his book "Life in the Negative World: Confronting Challenges in an Anti-Christian Culture." With the help of this framework, join us as we discuss with Renn everything from the SBC, Doug Wilson, and Jordan Peterson to Taylor Swift, Disney, and short-term missions.

The Image-Bearing Piety of Being a Cog in the Wheel If you read one book this year let it be David Bahnsen’s “Full-Time: Work and the Meaning of Life.” Why? Well, you know there are three persons in one God, and you know that you are saved by grace alone through faith alone, you know you would do well to be a part of a local church, etc. (and you do well to know and consider these things), but is that extent of the Christian life? Is your telos in this life to just white-knuckle it until you swept away yonder by and by? Surely there must be something more to this life than mere prep for the afterlife. Work must be more than just a medium to evangelize and support missionaries… Yes, yes! Tis true! There is more! Rejoice in your telos, in the glorious blessing of work that has been given you! When we work, we reflect the image of God, we have an intuitive sense of firing on all cylinders, and all seems to be in order when we submit to the Lordship of Christ in this most fundamental of spheres (both pragmatically and spiritually). Do read the book – and listen-in as we chat with Bahnsen and catch a primer on what awaits you in these foundational and timely and God-honoring and joy-yielding pages. Pro Rege!

Was Jesus merely an “emergency measure”? Did Kuyper take the creation and culture far enough? Is the goal of life to “get saved” or is it to get saved unto the end that God intended all along? Do we overemphasize Jesus at the expense of the Trinity? All this, and more, is what the great Dutch Theologian AA Van Ruler causes us to consider. Join us as we sit down with Ernst Conradie and discuss Ernst’s project that saw a series of AA Van Ruler’s essays, called “This Earthly Life Matters," made available in English.

In this episode we are joined by Stephen O. Presley, author of "Cultural Sanctification: Engaging the World like the Early Church." to see if we might glean some insight on how to engage our post-post-Christian-now-pagan-nation. In an increasingly secular world, Christians are often pulled in two directions. Some urge us to retreat and build insular communities. Others call upon us to wage a culture war, harnessing the government to shore up Christian cultural power. But there is another way—and it’s as old as the church itself. Stephen O. Presley takes us back to the first few centuries AD to show us how the first Christians approached cultural engagement. Amid a pagan culture that regarded their faith with suspicion, early Christians founded a religious movement that transformed the ancient world. Looking to great theologians like Augustine, Origen, and Tertullian, Presley shows how the early church approached politics, family, public life, and more. From these examples, he draws lessons for practicing authentic, pious discernment in how we engage with the wider culture. The Christians who came before us endured persecution to share a vision of human flourishing that changed the world. Following in their footsteps, we can sanctify our society through social witness. Readers anxious about shifting cultural tides will be left with hope in the already-present kingdom of God and the promised resurrection.

Today we are talking with the delightful Dr Paula Maddox. Author of "THINK Globally LEAD Strategically: A Christian Guide to Building Effective Leaders" and are reminded of the wisdom of slowing down and listening. Dr Maddox, like Proverbs and Francis Schaffer reminds us to walk/talk in humility and be wise with our words and lead with our ears.

Join us as we sit down with Stephen Wolfe, author of “The Case for Christian Nationalism,” and consider what the specifics of a Christian Nation might look like when applied (what to do with Mormon? Effeminates and butch ladies with blue hair? Taylor Swift, etc.).

After receiving a devastating brain cancer diagnosis, Jay Hewitt had a decision to make: Should he give up on faith or practice what he preached and trust that with God all things are possible? In I Am Weak, I Am Strong, Jay chronicles his journey of turning toward Jesus even when circumstances urged him to turn away. Faith in action for Jay included competing in an IRONMAN triathlon while undergoing cancer treatment. His race was a grand gesture of love for his young daughter--and a call to resilience for all of us. Join us, in this episode of The Laymens Lounge, as we survey a few areas where our Lord caused Jay to be strong in the midst of his weakness.

One may characterize this book as non-ecclesiastical kingdom work. In the footsteps of Abraham Kuyper, the well-known Dutch theologian and politician, Herman Dooyeweerd, a legal scholar, realized that the Reformation of the 16th century touched the heart as the religious root of human existence and therefore could not remain restricted to the narrower church life for its penetrating and renewing effect must affect all areas of life. This reformational legacy inspired the ensuing Christian life and world view which turned out to be a direction giving life orientation. It inspired the transformation of all walks of life including the entire academic enterprise. The encompassing scope and depth present in the philosophical work of Herman Dooyeweerd opens up avenues which shed new light on the foundations of the various special sciences as well as diverse everyday practices. Exploring the insights contained in this Book will turn out to be an enriching experience while introducing distinctions and analyses not familiar to everybody. Join us as we sit down with Danie Strauss, editor of “Discovering Dooyeweerd” as we get a primer on the father of Reformational Philosophy.