Captivate & Conform

Since the podcast launched one year ago, the Lord has enabled this platform to exceed our humble expectations. In celebration, we reflect on the past year, react to comments from our audience, and even make a few phone calls to our listeners. --- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a positive review and share it with a friend! If you have any questions for the show, email us at podcast@ce...

Whether for a moment or an extended period of time, every Christian has doubted their salvation. Cliff Boone returns to the show to discuss assurance. Saints can stand firmly on the promise of salvation—confident in Christ’s shed blood on their behalf and the Holy Spirit’s power to help them persevere to the very end. --- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a positive review and share it...

Special guest and new Director of Outreach Nathan Trommler joins the show to share his powerful story of how he came to know the Lord. Nathan talks about his past gang lifestyle, the night that turned his life upside-down for good, and why every testimony is “dramatic.” --- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a positive review and share it with a friend! If you have any questions for the...

On this final installment of our series on eschatology, we drill deeper into premillennialism, the official eschatological position of the BFC. Specifically, Pastor Chris and Pastor Jason defend historic premillennialism and identify the weaknesses of the dispensational view. Resource Recommendation | The Meaning of the Millennium: Four Views (Boettner, Hoekema, Hoyt, & Ladd) Part 3 of a 3-epi...

Slavery appears all over Scripture, from the Israelites’ captivity in Egypt to Paul’s epistle to Philemon, beseeching him to take back and forgive a runaway slave. So with these examples in the Bible, what does it have to say about the actual ethics of slavery? Does it simply accept and regulate the institution wholesale, or does it condemn certain practices while emphasizing the transformative po...

Jules and Adrianne Hull come on the show to share their experience as adoptive parents of two children, with a third one hopefully on the way! Learn how you can support Jules and Adrianne at Hull Family Adoption . --- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a positive review and share it with a friend! If you have any questions for the show, email us at podcast@cedarcrest.church . Visit Capti...

Why you should read biographies, what the Methodist ruling on homosexuality means for state of the church, and why motherhood matters. Resource Recommendations | Is God Anti-Gay? by Sam Allberry, What Does the Bible Really Teach About Homosexuality? by Kevin DeYoung --- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a positive review and share it with a friend! If you have any questions for the show...

What do the world famous atheist Richard Dawkins and postmillennialism have in common? They both wish to see cultural Christianity flourish. Take a listen as we unpack the four main eschatological positions: Historic Premillennialism, Dispensational Premillennialism, Amillennialism, and Postmillennialism. Resource Recommendations | The Meaning of the Millennium by Robert Clouse, An Evening of Esch...

Eschatology, or the study of end times, is typically a polarizing topic. On either end of the spectrum are extreme views that either obsess over details in a sectarian way or dismiss the last days as entirely unimportant. On this series, we aim to thread the needle down the middle by breaking down the widely accepted and disputed parts of eschatology within the church, along with the different pos...

Dr. Farnham shares 9 apologetic parenting principles on raising children and grandchildren in a world of secular influences. --- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a positive review and share it with a friend! If you have any questions for the show, email us at podcast@cedarcrest.church . Visit Captivate & Conform | cedarcrest.church/podcast Learn more about Cedar Crest Bible Fellows...

Occasionally, disagreements arise within Christianity. These disputes vary from doctrine to how a church should run to even the attire of the pastor. But in order to determine how important an issue is, like in medicine, we must triage it. ER Nurses Jeanna Werner and Sadie Gehman join the show to explain the medical background of triage, bringing clarity to how it applies to theology. Resource Rec...

We continue our conversation on biblical counseling, and how every believer to a certain degree is called to counsel their brothers and sisters in Christ. If you are seeking counseling or are interested in becoming a counselor, visit our Care Ministry to learn more. Part 2 of a 2-episode series. --- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a positive review and share it with a friend! If you h...

Ever since Jesus rolled the stone away, unbelievers have been devising false theories of the resurrection, including the Pharisees who immediately spread the lie that the disciples had stolen the body. Why is this? Because every person must reckon with the empty grave. Each individual must make the choice whether to believe the supernatural biblical account—that Jesus rose from the dead—or some ot...

“Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.” (Proverbs 11:14-15) There is an overabundance of counseling and therapy options today, as some 23% of US adults see a counselor or therapist. However, there is shortage of rich biblical counseling. The type of counseling that not only binds up the wounds of the sufferer using Scripture, but helps him o...

When attempting to disprove the faith, enemies of Christianity—especially Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Muslims—take aim at the doctrine of the trinity. This is for good reason, as it is typically a weak point among Christians. The average churchgoer is unprepared to defend it, let alone explain how such a concept is derived from the Bible. But the trinity can and must be defended. And as one...

If the Christian has freedom in Christ, why does he still fall into sin and do the things he hates? This is the Apostle Paul’s plea in Romans 7:13-20. Is what he is describing the “normal” Christian experience? Special guest Cliff Boone, former senior pastor of Cedar Crest BFC, answers this question by unpacking the paradigm of Law-Keepers versus Spirit-Walkers. You can contact Cliff at pastorclif...

To wrap up our series on the fruit of the Spirit, former senior pastor Cliff Boone joins the show to answer what it means to “walk by the Spirit.” Part 4 of a 4-episode series. --- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a positive review and share it with a friend! If you have any questions for the show, email us at podcast@cedarcrest.church . Visit Captivate & Conform | cedarcrest.churc...

Many misconceptions exist around the discipline of fasting. Does Scripture command us to do it? If so, for how long? Or is it a practice only reserved for “super devout” Christians? Resource Recommendation | Ask Pastor John: What Is the Purpose of Fasting?   --- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a positive review and share it with a friend! If you have any questions for the show, email...

We continue our study of the fruit of the Spirit—the unique qualities of each one and how they fit together to form the singular fruit in a Christian. Fruits covered: KINDNESS GOODNESS FAITHFULNESS GENTLENESS SELF-CONTROL Part 3 of a 4-episode series. --- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a positive review and share it with a friend! If you have any questions for the show, email us at p...

The fruit of the Spirit is singular. It’s a package deal. In other words, each one presents itself in the life of a believer, albeit in varying degrees. For the sake of clarity we focus on one at a time, with the recognition that they work together as a whole in a Christian’s life. Fruits covered: LOVE JOY PEACE PATIENCE Part 2 of a 4-episode series. --- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave u...

On this episode we explore the meaning behind the fruit of the Spirit. It is not a Christian to-do list of active spiritual habits, but a set of characteristics that will naturally grow in the life of a believer and infuse everything they do. Part 1 of a 4-episode series. --- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a positive review and share it with a friend! If you have any questions for th...

On Sunday morning, we can often think that all the responsibility resides in the pulpit. We just need to show up. Perhaps we’re a little late, but at least we got our coffee! However, being an expository listener entails much more than relaxing in the pew. Guests Rick and Keri Whitmire join the show to share how they prepare their minds and hearts to engage with and respond to Sunday sermons. Reso...

Should Christ and his gospel be present in every single sermon? To answer this question, one must first understand the purpose of preaching on Sunday morning and the overarching story of Scripture. Resource Recommendations: - The Gospel by Numbers by Ligon Duncan - Preaching Christ in Every Sermon by Fred Malone --- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a positive review and share it with a...

In reformed circles, we hear the term “expository preaching” pretty often. But what does it mean exactly? And how is it different from other styles of preaching? --- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a positive review and share it with a friend! If you have any questions for the show, email us at podcast@cedarcrest.church . Visit Captivate & Conform | cedarcrest.church/podcast Learn...

We serve a God of order. He is not only creator but sustainer and perfecter of all things, particularly our salvation. When you become a Christian, there are a series of distinct events that occur (and continue to do so) on your road to salvation (which isn’t even the final destination).  The Ordo Salutis helps believers to reflect on what God has done, what he continues to do in our lives, and wh...