MarsCast

We had the privilege of having Rev. Danny Patterson come to campus for a week, teaching a portion of the Introduction to Counselling course. He sat down with Rev. Andrew Compton, who teaches the Applied Counselling course here at Mid-America, and who also conducted this interview. Check it out.

The faculty of Mid-America have been talking about the work of the church and its efforts to be "outward" facing, to be looking out in mission, and specifically what it means to contextualize the message: to speak concretely and clearly to people in categories that they know.    But in doing this, do we risk setting ourselves up to dumb down the gospel, to dumb down corporate worship, to...

In our last episode our faculty spent time discussing the biblical backdrop to the question of being "outward-facing,", and they started talking about this idea of “contextualization” at the end. What a great thing to explore a little bit before looking more concretely at how pastors, elders, and church leaders can take concrete steps in helping churches to have this “outward” focus. First of all:...

The Apostle Paul says in 1 Timothy chapter 4, "Command and teach these things. Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching." Something that has been a strength in Reformed churches is this focus on teaching – this focus on th...

It is our pleasure to bring to you this special episode outside of our regular cycle of discussions with our Faculty. This past month we had 2nd and 3rd-year students arrive on campus before the second semester officially kicked off to take an intensive interim class. There's a new class offered each year, and this January happened to be one on Advanced Preaching, specifically on "Communicating Go...

We've been talking a lot about Natural Law in the past two episodes, and we've seen some of the limits of how some might appeal to Natural Law as though it would somehow be a silver bullet that would get everyone on the same page morally. Some of course would then respond and say "Well it's simple, we've got the Bible. Let's use the Bible to enact all of our laws here in North America or some othe...

Part 1 of Natural Law introduced the subject matter, but now we want to understand a little bit more about it, particularly how it functions in society. Once more at the Table in speaking order are Dr. Alan Strange, Dr. J. Mark Beach, and Rev. Andrew Compton.

Well, you've heard the Professors of Mid-America discuss justification, systematic theology, preaching, and the Puritans. Now they're here to talk about this topic of "Natural Law." What is natural law, what are people saying about it, how has the church talked about it, what is its value? A lot of people wonder, they hear this terminology used but apart from specialists and people who are engaged...

Addressing the Puritans once again in speaking order are Professor of Church History, Dr. Alan Strange, Professor of Doctrinal Studies, Dr. J. Mark Beach, Old Testament Professor, Rev. Andrew Compton, and President of Mid-America & Professor of Doctrinal Studies, Dr. Cornelis Venema.

There has been a “revival” of Puritans in the half-century. What should we know about Puritans so as to understand better their value for the church in the 21st century? Let's make room for Faculty of Mid-America to help us out here. You'll hear in speaking order Professor of Church History Dr. Alan Strange, Old Testament Professor Rev. Andrew Compton, President of the Seminary and Professor of Do...

In this particular podcast episode, we wanted our professors to discuss specifically what it means to teach “the whole counsel of God,” to preach sound doctrine, to be diligent in season and out of season. In continental churches, specifically Dutch Reformed churches, you'll notice the practice of “catechetical” preaching. But many engage in some form of doctrinal preaching, or confessional preach...

We spoke last time about the importance of preaching, covering a range of topics there, but we thought it would be useful to dig down a little deeper into specifically what is entailed in preaching exegetical sermons, or biblical sermons. Of course, preachers want to preach the Bible, they're not interested in preaching the phone book, or preaching a new novel. But how do preachers go about doing...

Rev. Andrew Compton, Rev. Mark Vander Hart, Dr. J. Mark Beach, & Dr. Alan Strange sit down together for this latest installment in the Round Table podcasts to discuss the importance of preaching in the church. Our next episode will tackle the topic of the method of preaching that is taught here at Mid-America Reformed Seminary. May you be blessed by this conversation!

Rev. Andrew Compton, Dr. J. Mark Beach, and Rev. Mark Vander Hart discuss the Ministerial Apprenticeship Program and its implications for a healthy seminary education as students seek to enter into pastoral ministry.

Our professors have been discussing at length the subject of Systematic Theology. Now time to hear them speak more specifically on the role of Systematic Theology in their classrooms. For those of you new to Mid-America and our community of professors, we have here represented Dr. Cornelis Venema, President of the Seminary and also professor of Doctrinal Studies. We have Dr. J. Mark Beach, profess...

In part 1 of "Systematic Theology," those very words were used quite a bit. But what exactly is systematic theology, and what are its various components?

In this new "Round Table" series, professors Rev. Andrew Compton, Dr. Cornelis Venema, Dr. J. Mark Beach, and Dr. Alan Strange lend their voices to the subject of Systematic Theology: what is it? Is it useful, helpful? How does Mid-America Reformed Seminary prepare ministers by studying ST, and how can non-theologians learn more about it?

In part 2, Rev. Andrew Compton, Dr. Alan Strange, and Dr. J. Mark Beach explain how justification and the gospel concretely affect pastor's preaching, their leading of worship, their planning of worship, and how we are to think about all these things in pastoral ministry.

Andrew Compton, Alan Strange, and J. Mark Beach take on the topic of justification and its relationship to the gospel in pastoral ministry.

Rev. Mark Vander Hart, Rev. Andrew Compton, Dr. Cornelis Venema, and Dr. J. Mark Beach gather together for a round table discussion for our first ever podcast recording of --- "Round Table" --- a moment where our professors take time out of their busy schedule to discuss theological issues of our day. Enjoy our premiere - Episode 1: Salvation of the Infants of Believers.