Mortification of Spin

Times are getting tough for Churches and it's not just spiritual strains they are feeling. Should pastors-to-be change their expectations from full-time to part-time pastoral ministry? Bi-vocational ministry may be the latest fashion raising more eyebrows than ever before ... and should be discussed more often in seminary classrooms. Join us in today's casual conversation about the future of the p...

Eschatology … it’s about the already and not yet, a key concept in making sense of our lives, and even more specifically, our marriages. To help us understand this, we have with us today Dr. Gregory Beale, Westminster professor of New Testamemt studies. We ask him some pretty tough questions: How would eschatology explain divorce? How do you prepare young men for the pastorate? And Todd’s itching...

The Gang are out for a quick bite to eat at K.C.’s Alley. Todd’s struggling, he’s so eager for that first bite of veggie burger. But who will pray, and for how long, and do they even need to pray?! We’ve all found it distracting to bless our food at a restaurant or hesitated to bow our heads before non-Christians, or even with a Non-Christian, yet we are all called to pray, and sometimes it isn’t...

Household management: It is a Biblical qualification for ministry and one to be taken seriously. So when is one actually disqualified for the ministry by the way he runs his home? What does good management even look like? The finger is easily pointed at children, but maybe it's how the father reacts to his child’s behavior that’s more telling. There's no easy answer on this one, but it's one requi...

Public pulpit prayer can be real hit or miss these days, even a lost art. So what’s the criteria for a good prayer? Are they best on-the-fly or written, and is it more biblical one way or the other? The 40-somethings answer these and many more questions today and give their usual food for thought. Resources mentioned on Public Pulpit Prayer: The Book of Common Prayer Valley of Vision Leading in Pr...

Q: What is man's chief end? A: Man's chief end is to live an exciting life of stimulation, importance, void of boredom and monotony. Many Christians could easily spot the fault here, however, more functionally believe this than they’d like to admit. A major misconception thrives in today's contemporary culture in that all of life must be entertaining and the Church has not been spared this impover...

Seems every category of person needs their own make of Bible these days in order to really read it, “for themselves”. What does this say about our culture, and even more, the Church? Have we grown so individualized that even our Bible translations aid in our navel gazing? Is the Word being manipulated or used as commercial even consumeristic gain instead of the ordinary means of growth in Christia...

There’s a lot of talk [ah-boat] pornography these days. Christian author and blogger, Tim Challies, even calling it “the primary pastoral issue of the church”. Tim lends insights from his pastoral perspective and the call to fight this particular lust of the flesh by seeking holiness. In the wider world, pornography can be excused as just part of being a man, but that view isn’t one the Church hol...

Sermon applications … they're important and can be a real hit or miss. So how should we think of making them from the pulpit and implementing them from the pew? As a pastor, should you aim to include the big picture of the gospel in every sermon, or would that be a stretch? And if you don’t, have you abandoned an unspoken sermon formula? Today’s conversation is extremely practical and relevant to...

Today we have Hannah Anderson on the line. Hannah is a pastor's wife, blogger, author of "Made For More", and co-host on the podcast, Persuasian. Usually holding her own among the fellas, Aimee’s glad for more estrogen on the show. Hannah asks pointed questions for the Church today: Where do women belong and do we have a strong or weak ecclesialogy about their roles in the church? From a Complemen...

Exclusion of the Lord's table - it is both a severe mercy and primary act of church discipline and something our hosts have given witness to in their own churches. Carl, Aimee, & Todd share insights from this discipline, the beauty it can yield, and some other odds and ends: Do you take communion while visiting other churches? Grape juice or wine? Serve it weekly or monthly? And most importantly:...

An impostor host has taken over! Only his second time on the show and he wants to call all the shots! Tune in to hear who our first-time honorary host is as Carl, Aimee & Todd discuss the invisible Church. So who decides who's in or who's out of the Church? Does the visible church negate the invisible one? They answer these questions and address the charge for church membership. Membership is beco...

This week Carl, Aimee, & Todd chew on the significance and mystery behind the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper. There are many different views on this sacrament, and more ink was spilt over this particular issue in the Reformation than any other! So what are the elements? What is the theology behind them, and what do we receive from communion that we cannot from the preached word? The Alliance...

Reverend Joel Beeke joins us today to talk piety and backsliding. Joel has faithfully pastored for 37 years having served 29 of them at Heritage Reformed church in Grand Rapids, is President of Puritan Reformed Seminary, and has authored numerous books on the puritan writings. So why read the Puritans? Joel's answers are convicting! If you don't own any John Owen books, you will want to by the end...

Due to some technical difficulties (yes, even recording equipment has not escaped the Fall), we've reached into the vault to resurrect a conversation that's as relevant as it was when we first aired it last May. It never hurts to hear some good truths twice, especially when it concerns the prevalence of emotional exhibitionism in today's church. From blogs to the pulpit, how much is too much? The...

The Insider Movement … what is it? Well, we've pulled out the big guns to ensure we got a good answer, and his name is Dr. David Garner. He's Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary, and he's even willing to say he's friends with Carl Trueman. Aside from his charitable friendship to Carl, Dr. Garner is extremely knowledgable on the Insider Movement. He articu...

Proverbs 22:6 says: "Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it." Apart from teaching your child the living Word, there are other means to teach them the doctrines we hold fast to and few things capture their mind quite like a good children's book. Do you feel confident about what books to read to your children or use during family devotions? In a sea...

Next stop: Mortification Elementary! Carl, Aimee & Todd are on the big yellow bus shootin' the breeze about school. It's a hard conversation in the church and can become a heated one, too! Do you take your kids to public school or do you homeschool? Is it the role of the church to answer that or is it a matter of freedom and conscious? What does scripture even say about education?! Our hosts are p...

There's a searing spotlight on adultery in today's headlines, highlighting the recent blow up of the Ashley Madison hack that exposed many - and church leaders were among the fallen. Carl, Aimee, & Todd discuss the havoc such sin wreaks on the sinner, the cost to the spouse, and their children. The Spinning Trifecta also addresses some misconceptions about sin such as, "All sin is the same in God'...

Carl & Todd have really done it now. The Puppetmaster is about to pull the plug and poor Aimee appears to have gotten roped in, too. They'll undergo some serious trial and may face a mortifying …excommunication?! It could get ugly. So what do we think or even know about excommunication? It's a hard decision for a church to make and hard for any layperson to watch, let alone undergo. Yet the Bible...

Carl, Aimee, & Todd continue their discussion on Rosaria Butterfield's latest book: Openness Unhindered, in which they respond specifically to her thoughts on and approach to Christian fellowship and hospitality. So how do you and your church fair in these areas? Is hospitality a characteristic of God? Rosaria's missional way of life is both humbling and challenging, offering serious food for thou...

Rosaria Butterfield, former advocate and participant of the LGBT agenda, now converted Christian living a heterosexual lifestyle, has authored two books and speaks publicly about her homosexual past, unlikely conversion, and present life of faith and repentance. Carl, Aimee & Todd discuss her new book Openness Unhindered: Further Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert on Sexual Identity and Union with Ch...

Shhh, you mustn't speak a peep. Our hosts are pacing the grounds at a monastery pondering the painful sound of silence. They wonder: "Why is the church so quiet, turning a blind eye to outrageously unbiblical issues? Why is there growing ambiguity on doctrine and confession within the Christian world?" The hosts discuss how the evangelical world has grown poor in voicing its beliefs, standing firm...

There are some Christians who are neither hot nor cold - it's what we'd call nominalism and it's nothing new in today's Church. So how do we approach "Christians," having the appearance of godliness, or non-Christians clothed as sheep among the flock? Christ has not only broken the curse of sin but also its power over us. This should be clear in the mind of the Christian but in today's church, it'...

Outside Gold's Gym in sunny Cali, our beach-buff Spinners await Max Benfer, a friend and pastor of Meadowcroft Church (PCA). As they pump iron, they discuss Max's call to the pastorate, roles, and the challenges of the ordinary pastor. For instance, when you're the pastor, who shepherds the pastor? Like many, Max is still figuring out the balance of his pastoral responsibilities, personal needs, a...