The Whole Counsel

Earlier this month Ian Hamilton came to the office of Media Gratiae to begin production on a new study focusing on genuine discipleship. While he was in town, we asked him to preach at Christ Church New Albany. His chosen text was Psalm 44 and he focused on the seasons of life when our theology and life experience seem to be at odds with one another. How should we pray when overwhelemed by life’s problems? How should we worship when all seems hopeless? We as a team and as a church found his sermon warm, encouraging, convicting, and most importantly, Christ exalting. We share it with you praying it will be a blessing to your soul. Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Exploring the significance of turning to Christ in times of uncertainty, delving into the word 'all' in Matthew 11, discussing the danger of familiarity with scriptures, diving into the authority of Christ and His miracles, emphasizing God's joy in saving the humble, and contrasting indifference with divine mercy.

In Matthew 11, we see this incredible scene of John the Baptist questioning whether or not Jesus is the promised Messiah. This is the man who had prepared the way for Christ. He was the final Old Covenant prophet. He had stood before kings and refused to turn from the truth. That’s why he was in prison. But this strong, faithful man had questions and doubts. The fact he had doubts isn’t the only important detail of this passage, we also need to see what he did with those doubts. He took them to Jesus Christ. He asked Jesus directly the questions that burdened his soul. And Jesus chose to answer John in an interesting way. It wasn’t simply, “Yes.” It was pointing John to the Old Testament passages he already knew so well, but shifting his perspective on them. In this week’s episode of The Whole Counsel, Dr. John Snyder, author of the Behold Your God series and an elder of Christ Church New Albany, teaches us how we are to apply this scene of Scripture to our lives. What do we do when we have questions? What dangers are there when we are facing difficult questions in our souls? And what do we do when we receive an answer we weren’t expecting? See the full study here: https://shop.mediagratiae.org/collections/behold-your-god-series Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

This week we end our special episodes publishing the interviews from Behold Your God: Rethinking God Biblically. We chose to end these with Paul Washer. In the concluding part of his interview, Paul points out the necessity of making the realities of God more than mere head knowledge. The truths of God and the Christian life must be applied. It is dangerous to have the head knowledge of Jonathan Edwards without also having his heart. We pray these special episodes have been a blessing to you. If you want to see the study they came from, you can view that at the link below. If you have already gone through the study, we pray and hope these interviews have reminded you of the truths you wrestled with during those 12 weeks. See the full study here: https://shop.mediagratiae.org/collections/behold-your-god-series Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Continuing with our final series of interviews from Behold Your God: Rethinking God Biblically, we present to you the final installment of our interview with Richard Owen Roberts. Roberts has dedicated his life to studying, teaching, and writing about the reality of revival. He is a well-known itinerant preacher and he was very instrumental in the spiritual development of Dr. John Snyder. We pray this interview warms your heart to the joys of Christ and encourages you to pursue holiness with clean and intentional hands. See the full study here: https://shop.mediagratiae.org/collections/behold-your-god-series Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

We will be spending the next three weeks publishing the rest of our complete interviews conducted for Behold Your God: Rethinking God Biblically. We pray you have benefited from these interviews as much as we have. It has been an indescribable joy to go back through this old material with the knowledge of how the Lord has been pleased to use it over the last decade. This week we are releasing the interview with Jordan Thomas. Jordan is a pastor in Memphis, Tenessee, and was discipled by Clyde Cranford, the same man who discipled John Snyder. As you watch or listen to this week’s episode, let us ask that you pray for Jordan and the Media Gratiae team as we put the finishing touches on his study on treasuring Christ. See the full study here: https://shop.mediagratiae.org/collections/behold-your-god-series Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

One of our favorite episodes to create every year is our book recommendation episode. Each year, close to Christmas (sorry if it’s too close to Christmas for you this year) we record an episode recommending some of our favorite books we have read over the last year. If you want to see previous years’ book recommendations, we have an entire playlist on our YouTube channel. We’ve provided links to all the book recommendations below, and for those that are out of print, we have the digital versions. Books: Mercy Revealed by Gerald Bilkes https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/mercy-revealed-a-cross-centered-look-at-christs-miracles-bilkes.html Daniel Rowland by Effion Evans https://banneroftruth.org/us/store/history-biography/daniel-rowland/ Proverbs by Charles Bridges (Digital) https://www.monergism.com/exposition-book-proverbs-ebook (Kindle) https://www.amazon.com/Proverbs-Charles-Bridges-ebook/dp/B07JMY75KL (Out of Stock) https://banneroftruth.org/us/store/commentaries/proverbs/ Revelation by Joel Beeke https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/revelation-the-lectio-continua-expository-commentary-on-the-new-testament-beeke.html All that Jesus Commanded by John Piper https://www.amazon.com/All-That-Jesus-Commanded-Christian/dp/1433585057 (Free Digital) https://www.desiringgod.org/books/all-that-jesus-commanded The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs https://banneroftruth.org/us/store/christian-living/the-rare-jewel-of-christian-contentment/ (Box Set) https://banneroftruth.org/us/store/collected-workssets/puritan-classics-box-set/ Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Media Gratiae is an independent, donor-funded publisher. We both create and distribute material focusing on the experiential Christian life. Throughout 2023, we have been blessed to produce materials such as Behold Your God: Seeking Him Early, and distribute the film Welsh Awakening. In addition to creating study resources for churches, families, and small groups, we also produce several podcasts such as The Whole Counsel, From the Heart of Spurgeon, A Word in Season, and Hymn Stories. Every year we publish a ministry report to let those who support us know how their money was used. We are very grateful to those who helped us produce this content. But we also produce the ministry report so everyone who follows us can know how to pray for us in the upcoming year. We do not ask for donations, funds, or support. But we will ask you to pray for us. Pray that we would live lives pleasing to our King. Pray that we will produce material that honors Him. Pray that we would have hearts in line with His will. You can read our ministry report here: https://report.mediagratiae.org

If you have listened to The Whole Counsel for any length of time or gone through the Behold Your God studies, you know that Dr. John Snyder has great appreciation and affection for Samuel Rutherford. But he doesn’t appreciate of Rutherford’s work equally. In fact, there is one book that he calls, “My least favorite book from my favorite Puritan.” That work is Lex Rex. Lex Rex: The Law and the Prince, though John’s least favorite, is an incredibly important work by the Scottish minister. It was influential not just in his own day (published in 1644) but also in today’s legal realm. Many lawyers and legal practictioners have found the content to be incredibly helpful in defining, description, and developing the proper boundaries for government and individual liberty. With John not being well versed in this book, we have called into two men who have both read, benefited, and used this work in their professions. Those who have followed The Whole Counsel have already met Steve Crampton. Steve is a lawyer who has argued cases before the Supreme Court. He specializes in religious liberty litigation and has worked with several organizations across his storied career. But new to our listeners this week is Chris Green. Chris is a Professor of Law and Jame L. Whitten Char in Law and Government at the University of Mississippi. He was educated at Notre Dame, Yale, and Princeton. He is the author of several books focuses on constitutional law. In this episode of Navigating the Classics, the trio walk through the historical setting of Lex Rex, the biblical philosophis that undergird the work, and lastly they bring this 500-year-old work into current events helping us see how we as contemporary Christians are to both submit to and, when necessary, stand against governing powers. If you want to step into reading Samuel Rutherford, but aren’t quite ready to the giant work that is Lex Rex, we recommend “The Loveliness of Christ:” https://banneroftruth.org/us/store/devotionalsdaily-readings/the-loveliness-of-christ/ If you would like to read through Lex Rex: Physical and ebook: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BHKNF88/ref=x_gr_bb_kindle?caller=Goodreads&tag=x_gr_bb_kindle-20 Free ebook: https://www.monergism.com/lex-rex-ebook

This is our final look at the five letters of Archibald Alexander written to those in the Autumn of Life. In this last letter, Alexander wants to teach his readers how to prepare to end their lives well and it perhaps the most applicable letter to those who are far from the grave. Alexander starts the letter by saying we can be best prepared for death by living intentionally, walking closely to our Savior while we still have the vigor of health. He gives us some great help in how we walk the path Christ has set before us in confidence and holiness. But there is another important point Alexander makes. When we know our end is coming near, it is easy to lose assurance that we are Christ’s and Christ is ours. Alexander points out that it isn’t assurance we should seek, but the face of Christ Himself. If we do that, not only will we gain assurance, we will obtain much more. A good test for our souls to see whether we are seeking assurance or Christ Himself is to note if we slacken our pace when we are certain, or if we press on. While we had hoped to give away a biography of Archibald, it is currently unavailable. In its stead, we are giving away five pamphlets of the letters published by Log College Press: https://www.logcollegepress.com/shop/aging-in-grace-letters-to-those-in-the-autumn-of-life. You can sign up for the giveaway here https://www.mediagratiae.org/the-whole-counsel-giveaway You can read his “Letters to the Aged” online here: https://gracegems.org/26/letters_to_the_aged.htm Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app