The Sword & The Trowel

Today on The Sword and The Trowel, Tom Ascol and Graham Gunden talk with Dr. Timothy Decker about his new book: A Revolutionary Reading of Romans 13: A Biblical Case for Lawful Subjection to the Civil Magistrate and Dutiful Resistance to Tyrants. They discuss the difficulties and questions that arose for Pastors and Churches in 2020, sphere sovereignty and how Christians think through these issues...

Today on The Sword and The Trowel, Tom Ascol and Graham Gunden talk with Josh Daws, host of The Great Awokening Podcast. They discuss his article on American Reformer that accesses the Christian Nationalism movement, Christian Federalism, and how to engage well in the public square while keeping the Lordship of Christ as our foundation. SHOW NOTES: Follow Josh Daws: https://twitter.com/JoshDaws Re...

Today on The Sword and The Trowel, Tom Ascol and Graham Gunden talk with Joey Tomlinson about his book - Serious Joy: Reflections and Devotions on Jonathan Edwards’ Seventy Resolutions. They discuss Edwards' life and the Lordship of Christ over all, even the seemingly mundane aspects of our lives. You will be challenged and encouraged by this episode! SHOW NOTES: Follow Joey Tomlinson: https://twi...

Today on The Sword and The Trowel, Tom Ascol and Graham Gunden talk with Jared Moore about his book: The Lust of the Flesh - Thinking Biblically About "Sexual Orientation," Attraction, and Temptation. There has been much debate recently about the Bible and homosexuality. Does the Bible prohibit homosexual desires? Are temptation and sin the same? They also discuss the reluctance from some Evangeli...

Today on The Sword and The Trowel, Tom Ascol and Graham Gunden talk with Stan Reeves, Professor Emeritus at Auburn University and long time friend of Founders. For the last few years, Stan has given himself to the study of Bitcoin and how Christians ought to think about bitcoin. As an engineering educator and researcher, he has been drawn to both the educational and technical challenges of Bitcoin...

Today on The Sword and The Trowel, Tom Ascol and Graham Gunden welcome Larry Taunton back to the show to discuss the World Economic Forum. They talk about some the WEF Genesis and their agenda, while hearing about Larry's personal experience after infiltrating their 2023 meeting in Davos, Switzerland. SHOW NOTES: Larry Taunton Website: https://larryalextaunton.com Pre-Order: Just Thinking: About E...

Today on The Sword and The Trowel, Tom Ascol and Graham Gunden talk about the Cultural Mandate and what that means for us as Christians living in this world, especially in light of the Incarnation. Does the cultural mandate still apply to us today? How does God call us to live in this world? How should we think about work and taking dominion in our individual spheres? SHOW NOTES: Pre-Order: Just T...

Today on The Sword and The Trowel, Tom Ascol talks with Jorge and Yoandra Alvarez. Originally from Cuba, they share the incredible story of how God worked in their family while they struggled under the oppressive weight of communism, eventually bringing them to America and opening their eyes to the Gospel. They talk about the dangers of Marxism, expose some of the realities of living in a Communis...

Today on The Sword and The Trowel, Tom Ascol and Graham Gunden talk with Pastor Michael Clary, author of God's Good Design: A Biblical, Theological, and Practical Guide to Human Sexuality. They discuss the beauty of God's design in our sexually confused and distorted culture. How do Christian men and women live faithfully in a world confused over sexuality and gender? Is singleness a gift or a tri...

Today on The Sword and The Trowel, Tom Ascol and Graham Gunden talk with Jeremy and Jinger Vuolo about Jinger's book: Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear. They discuss the dangerous theology of Bill Gothard and Jinger's journey of understanding the beauty of God's grace for sinners. Jeremy and Jinger also share some of the difficulties and blessings in their dating rela...

Today on The Sword and The Trowel, Tom Ascol and Graham Gunden sit down with Darrell Harrison, co-host of the Just Thinking Podcast and Director of Digital Platforms at Grace To You. Together they spend some time just thinking (and talking) about the State, the Church, Ethnicity, Theonomy and much more... SHOW NOTES: Pre-Order: Just Thinking: About Ethnicity - https://press.founders.org/shop/just-...

Today on The Sword and The Trowel, Tom Ascol and Graham Gunden talk about one of their favorite books, Pilgrim's Progress. Recently it was trending on Twitter and it became a great opportunity to discuss why this work from John Bunyan is helpful for the Christian life. SHOW NOTES: 2024 National Founders Conference: Remember Jesus Christ | https://founders.org/conference/ Pre-Order: Serious Joy: Re...

Today on The Sword and The Trowel, Tom Ascol and Graham Gunden talk with Dusty Deevers, Pastor of Grace Reformed Baptist Church of Elgin, OK. Dusty is currently running for State Senate in Oklahoma. They discuss why Christians should be involved in politics, how a Pastor can serve in a political office and more. SHOW NOTES: Dusty Deevers: https://www.deevers2023.com 2024 National Founders Conferen...

Today on The Sword and The Trowel, Tom Ascol and Graham Gunden welcome Pastor David Schrock back to the show to discuss his newest book - Dividing The Faithful: How a Little Book on Race Fractured a Movement Founded on Grace. David's book serves as a chapter by chapter analysis of “Divided by Faith" and today on the show, he shares a little bit of the history behind writing it and the need to addr...

Today on The Sword and The Trowel, Tom Ascol and Graham Gunden talk with Lizzie Marbach, former communications director for Ohio Right To Life. Lizzie made headlines recently when she was publicly slammed by a local Republican for sharing a Gospel message on social media. Shortly after that tweet, Lizzie was fired from her position at Ohio RTL. In this episode, she shares more of the story and als...

Today on The Sword and The Trowel, Tom Ascol and Graham Gunden talk with Brother Phil Johnson, executive director of Grace to You. They discuss some of the Christological controversies, both in the early church and now, and they also unpack why studying the doctrine of Christ is important. SHOW NOTES: 2024 National Founders Conference: Remember Jesus Christ | https://founders.org/conference/ Serio...

Today on The Sword and The Trowel, Tom Ascol and Graham Gunden talk about Complementarianism, Egalitarianism and Patriarchy. They address the recent conversations around women studying theology, women teaching theology, women pastors and more. Included in this episode is also an exciting announcement regarding our 2024 National Founders Conference. SHOW NOTES: 2024 National Founders Conference: Re...

Today on The Sword and The Trowel, Tom Ascol talks with 19 year old Marcus Schroeder, street preacher and student at the Institute of Public Theology. On Saturday, July 29th, while reading Scripture and preaching at an event where drag queens were performing in front of children, Marcus was arrested. Dr. Ascol discusses with Marcus what happened that day and the importance of living out our faith...

Today on The Sword and The Trowel, Tom Ascol and Graham Gunden welcome Dr. E.D. Burns, a longtime missionary overseas, author and theological instructor both overseas and stateside. Dr. Burns came on the show to discuss his newest book with Founders Press: Seeds and Stars: Resting in Christ for Great Commission Service. SHOW NOTES: Frontier Dispatch: https://frontierdispatch.net Get 20% off Seeds...

Today on The Sword and The Trowel, Tom Ascol and Graham Gunden talk with Travis Allen, Pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Greeley, Colorado and Professor at IOPT. They discuss Pastoral ministry in the 21st century - both the challenges and the joyful wonder that comes from being in such a role. They address this trend of celebrity pastors, being consumer Christians and more. SHOW NOTES: PRE-ORDER L...

Today on The Sword and The Trowel, Tom Ascol and Graham Gunden talk about children in times of gathered church worship. We have a responsibility to raise our children in the Lord, but what does that look like on a Sunday morning when they're wiggly and fussing? Tom and Graham share their perspectives both as Pastors and Fathers, and offer some challenges to the mainstream thinking about children i...

Today on The Sword and The Trowel, Tom Ascol and Graham Gunden talk with Dr. Carl Trueman. They discuss his IOPT course on The Rise of the Modern Self, his insights on the current evangelical world and is there a place for CRT in Christianity? SHOW NOTES: The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: https://www.crossway.org/books/the-rise-and-triumph-of-the-modern-self-hcj/ Support Founders Ministries...

Today on The Sword and The Trowel, Tom Ascol and Graham Gunden talk about the recently released Amazon Prime documentary, Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets. They discuss Bill Gothard and examine some of his teachings, and try to shed some light on the narrative behind the documentary series that lumps all Biblical and conservative Christians into the Gothard camp. SHOW NOTES: TAG Books - 2...

Today on The Sword and The Trowel, Tom Ascol and Graham Gunden talk with Pastor Mike Law about his Amendment to the SBC constitution regarding the office of Pastor, at the recent 2023 Southern Baptist Convention. They discuss his long journey to submitting this amendment, concerns regarding women pastors in the SBC (is REALLY an issue?) and more. SHOW NOTES: Founders Press Sale - use code BWS25: h...

Today on The Sword and The Trowel, Tom Ascol and Graham Gunden do an overview and debrief from the 2023 Southern Baptist Convention. They share moments of encouragement from the Convention, some things that were discouraging and the way forward from here. SHOW NOTES: Founders Press Sale - use code BWS25: https://press.founders.org Support Founders Ministries and become a part of the F.A.M: https:/...