A Time to Think

How is someone formed spiritually? Chris and Josh discuss one answer to this question - the Spiritual Formation Movement. What are the motives and methods? Where is the movement misguided?

How is growth related to the Christian life? Do Christians need to grow, or is grace free no matter what? Should Christians constantly look at their growth in order to know if they are truly Christians? Chris and Josh begin a series on spiritual formation by talking about growth in the Christian life and how it relates to being formed spiritually. 

How do you know a true church? How do you know a healthy church? Chris and Josh discuss what any church must be and what a healthy church should pursue. 

Why talk about something you’re not thinking about? Chris and Josh discuss Eastern Orthodox theology - something that may not have yet been on your radar but has grown in its popularity recently amongst the younger generation. Chris and Josh discuss the the claim to exclusivity in the Eastern Orthodoxy along with how the salvation offered by the Orthodox differs from the pinnacle of the Christian...

This episode differs from others where Chris and Josh have distinguished between Christianity and false religion. On this episode of A Time to Think, theological basics of Catholicism are overviewed in order to discuss the practices they inform.

Is all we see all there is? Or, is the universe charged with divine energy? Chris and Josh discuss two opposite ways to view the modern world. Each is based on denial or acceptance of the supernatural.

Who is the Holy Spirit? For the Jehovah's Witness, this is the wrong question. For them, the Spirit is not a who, but rather a what. Chris and Josh discuss this enormous difference between Christianity and Jehovah's Witness theology.

On this episode of A Time to Think, Chris and Josh dig into the nitty gritty of debates over the divinity of Jesus. How do we respond to technical arguments from the Greek language? And, how do we read the Bible in away that we see the largest theological truths are not dependent on grammatical technicalities?

Chris and Josh discuss the historical development of the Jehovah's witness movement. During this, they highlight the dangerous nature of equivocating on biblical issues. They also highlight the nature of authority and how to understand and demonstrate true expertise.

Chris and Josh reflect on the "good news" of Mormonism. How does the salvation offered in the Mormon church pale in comparison to salvation in Christ by his grace alone? This episode helps not only discuss problems with the Mormon vision of salvation, but also points to the greater news of Christ's finished work for us.

Why won't you just answer the question? Our culture struggles to answer plain questions plainly. Josh and Chris talk about clarity in communication in order to show how necessary clarity is when talking about Mormonism.

Chris and Josh begin their discussion of Mormonism by discussing the historical roots of the Mormon movement alongside the nature of of false religions wanting to use Christian words while meaning different things.

Josh and Chris finish their discussion of Islam by talking about the Trinity along with how Christians can engage with Muslims when they meet.

Chris and Josh continue their conversation about Islam focusing on living in the midst of competing worldviews. They specifically address the nature of biblical revelation and continued revelation as it pertains to the Quran and other religious sources.

Chris and Josh continue the series on pluralism and begin discussing the specific beliefs of Islam. How do we understand the distinctives of Islam and see them in contrast to the core of Christianity? Further, how do we analyze this in a pluralistic age?

Pluralism is a cultural value in the modern West. Chris and Josh define pluralism and describe its influence upon popular thinking. Then they move to discuss why Christians need to be able to disagree well with pluralistic claims.

Chris and Josh take a moment between podcast series to reflect on a recently attended pastors' conference. Listen in to ponder the role of abnormal times of devotion and reflection in the Christian life.

Our focus is often diverted from the right things when we think of the last things. "End timess" discussions tend to focus on disagreements over the timing of the return of Christ. But, in this podcast Chris and Josh focus on what Christians should agree on, namely the sure judgment of Christ and the eternal happiness of Christ's people with him.

Josh and Chris continue the What We Affirm series by talking about the two means of grace. In baptism and the Lord's Supper, God promises blessing to his people.

During a tangentially related episode to our What We Affirm series, Chris and Josh discuss the nature and necessity of friendship within the church.

We believe that God’s new covenant people have already come to the heavenly Jerusalem; they are already seated with Christ in the heavens. This universal church is manifest in local churches of which Christ is the only Head; thus each “local church” is, in fact, the church, the household of God, the assembly of the living God, and the pillar and foundation of the truth. The church is the body of C...

We believe that those who have been saved by the grace of God through union with Christ by faith and through regeneration by the Holy Spirit enter the kingdom of God and delight in the blessings of the new covenant: the forgiveness of sins, the inward transformation that awakens a desire to glorify, trust, and obey God, and the prospect of the glory yet to be revealed. Good works constitute indisp...

We believe that this salvation, attested in all Scripture and secured by Jesus Christ, is applied to his people by the Holy Spirit. Sent by the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ, and is present with and in believers. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and by his powerful and mysterious work regenerates spiritually dead sinners, awakening th...

We believe that Christ, by his obedience and death, fully discharged the debt of all those who are justified. By his sacrifice, he bore in our stead the punishment due us for our sins, making a proper, real, and full satisfaction to God’s justice on our behalf. By his perfect obedience he satisfied the just demands of God on our behalf, since by faith alone that perfect obedience is credited to al...

We believe that, moved by love and in obedience to his Father, the eternal Son became human: the Word became flesh, fully God and fully human being, one Person in two natures. The man Jesus, the promised Messiah of Israel, was conceived through the miraculous agency of the Holy Spirit, and was born of the virgin Mary. He perfectly obeyed his heavenly Father, lived a sinless life, performed miracul...