MarsCast

Do you have the Apostles’ Creed memorized? Can you recall how many times you’ve probably recited it in worship in your church growing up, and still do today? It’s a beautiful Creed passed down through church history all the way up to the present time.  But if there’s an article in the Creed that some in the Church may struggle with, it’s our expressing the words “He [Christ] descended into he...

In today's episode, Dr. Marcus Mininger, Professor of New Testament Studies, will speak to Hebrews chapter 6. This is perhaps one of the most well-known passages in Scripture, more so for its striking language of apostasy in the Christian community.

Do you ever wonder how we got the 66 books of the Bible, otherwise known as the canon of Scripture? With us once again is Dr. Marcus Mininger, Professor of New Testament Studies, to help us answer this question. 

Stepping up to the microphone over the next few weeks is New Testament Professor, Dr. Marcus Mininger. He’ll kick off a series of episodes on the New Testament, beginning with a discussion on optimism and pessimism, that is to say, will things get better or worse before Christ’s return?

In this third and last installment of Dr. Beach's series on the Kingdom of God, he addresses the question surrounding the relationship between “the church” and “the Kingdom of God” and, given that, how Christians should live in the world as citizens of God’s Kingdom. 

In today’s episode, Dr. Beach considers the period of redemption, where the Lord embarks upon the work to reestablish the kingdom of God, to regain His reign of fellowship through His redemptive and healing rule over the broken creation. Of course, this finds its focus in God’s fallen image-bearers, but, as Dr. Beach will point out, finally embraces the entire scope of God’s creation.

Beginning today and continuing over the next couple of weeks, Dr. J. Mark Beach, professor of doctrinal and ministerial studies here at Mid-America, takes us on a doctrinal tour of the meaning of the Kingdom of God, where he’ll offer a biblical sketch of what the Bible means by the kingdom of God, outline some aspects of the doctrine of the church as it relates to the kingdom of God, and then look...

If you’ve ever done any amount of studying of the Old Testament, you’ll notice the various visible manifestations of the Lord throughout redemptive history, particularly that of the Angel of the Lord. Theologians call this theophany. Back with us one last time is Old Testament Professor Rev. Mark  Vander Hart, here to go into more detail on this subject of theophany.

Old Testament Professor Mark Vander Hart joins us once more to address another tough issue of Scripture: the violence of the conquest of Canaan. 

Associate Professor of Old Testament Studies, Rev. Mark Vander Hart, joins us to talk about one of the most famous women of the Bible, Esther, and one of the most pressing questions readers of Scripture have when it comes to that book of the Bible: Why is God not mentioned?

Having spoken on rationalism and theological false dichotomies, Dr. Alan Strange turns now to the spirituality of the church. What does this have to do with rationalism? What does it mean for the church to be a spiritual institution, and how was that doctrine abused in the South with respect to American slavery?

Branching out from the theme of the lure of rationalism, Dr. Alan Strange now explores theological false dichotomies, addressing the particular doctrines of salvation and justification, and in doing so, highlights the importance of not privileging certain aspects of those doctrines to the exclusion of others.

With us today is Dr. Alan Strange, Professor of Apologetics and Church History, addressing what he calls “the lure of rationalism.” As Christians, we’re not exempt from this temptation of reason over revelation. It’s certainly been on the rise since the Enlightenment, but really, it’s been with us ever since the Garden, and we need to be careful when playing around with reason and its relationship...

In today’s episode, Rev. Andrew Compton takes the principles of prophecy that he’s spoken to at this point (telescoping, reading biblical imagery in HiDef), and applies it to another Old Testament text in the book of Daniel (chapter 8), where he’ll look at the issue of typology and the oppressor of God’s people: Antiochus Epiphanes.

Last time on the show Rev. Compton elaborated a little bit on reading the Bible in HiDef, a method that is aimed at helping us to see and understand what is going on in biblical prophecy. He takes that method in today’s episode and applies it to a bizarre passage of Scripture in the book of Daniel, chapter 7, and the vision of the Four Beasts

What does it mean to look at prophetic literature in HiDef? In today’s episode Rev. Andrew Compton (Associate Professor of Old Testament Studies) gives us some pointers on reading prophecy properly, that we might have a better understanding as we read the Bible. 

Dr. Venema describes the conditions of the Millennium and what exactly is taking place during these thousand years.

In our final section on tough topics in Eschatology, Dr. Cornelis Venema explores Revelation chapter 20 and the question of The Millennium. In this episode, he lays a contextual foundation for the structure of the book of Revelation, and how chapter 20 functions literarily in that structure. 

Who is the Antichrist, the Man of Lawlessness? Will we know who he is when he shows up? Is the Antichrist even a person?  Dr. Venema answers these questions and more in our series of tough theological topics on Round Table. 

It’s a new year for the podcast, and we are glad to be back with some exciting content planned for you. As we move along, Director of Marketing, Jared Luttjeboer, will be sitting down with our faculty members, discussing some tough theological topics. He began with Dr. Cornelis Venema (President of the Seminary and Professor of Doctrinal studies). They sat down to discuss aspects of eschatology (t...

Amidst the tumultuous times we’ve found ourselves in, turning to our Lord and Savior is really the only shelter in the storm. We hope that’s where your ultimate focus has been; not only in this past Christmas season, but as we look forward to tomorrow, a new year, 2021. Although Christmas has passed, Old Testament Professors Andrew Compton and Mark Vander Hart reflect once more on the coming Chris...

In our advent series, Old Testament Professors Andrew Compton and Mark Vander Hart spoke last week on the coming Savior in Genesis. Now they turn their attention to Isaiah and the Prophets. 

Next week is Christmas, and we find ourselves in the season of Advent. Joining the podcast for the next 3 episodes are Old Testament Professors, Rev. Andrew Compton and Rev. Mark Vander Hart, who sit down to talk about Advent and the coming Savior, focusing today on Genesis and other Old Testament texts.

Wrapping up round 2 of chapel messages from our faculty, Instructor of Ministerial Studies Dr. Eric Watkins addresses us today with a message on Mark 1:40-45, speaking on Christ healing the leper, and the messianic secret. What can we learn from this account? After his healing, Jesus sternly charges him not to tell anyone what has taken place – but he does anyway. What do we make of the leper’s di...

Continuing today in our series of chapel messages from the Faculty, adjunct professor and OPC pastor Rev. Danny Patterson from Second Parish OPC will speak on Psalm 124 and how it speaks against self-congratulating ourselves in the context of our salvation.