Church and Family Life Podcast

Church and Family Life exists to proclaim the sufficiency of Scripture. So, for our one-hundredth podcast. This podcast discusses the heartbeat of our ministry – the sufficiency of Scripture. The world's cultures are insufficient to teach the people of God how to be saved and live. The sufficiency of Scripture is always the heart of the problem in our families and churches. Using Joshua 23:6-8 as a springboard, we recognize the continental divide between the church and the world and the need to cleave to God and His Word. The greatest danger to the church is syncretism-following the contemporary prophets. The most excellent help, however, is the Word of God alone.

God has always gathered His people together to pray. So why has the weekly prayer meeting gone out of favor? What are the blessings of weekly prayer meetings? What is the Biblical basis for gathering the church specifically for prayer midweek? What scriptural guidelines are there for prayer meetings? What are the common problems in prayer meetings? What about children in prayer meetings? Why do families with little kids often not attend regularly? What should we think about this?

What do you need to know about your pastor? Do you understand what is pressing upon him? It has been recently reported that 51% of pastors are considering leaving the ministry in 2022, up from 29% in the previous year. Depression, church conflict, losing members, criticism, and low pay are the culprits. What can church members do about this? Carlton McLeod’s Burnings in the Soul Message:  https://churchandfamilylife.com/resources/62b471b6abdc5044b1bc5503

The Supreme Court recently declared abortion on demand unconstitutional. What does that mean? Now what? Join us with Bradley Pierce, a Texas attorney, and long-time friend, to consider how Christians should think about laws limiting abortion? Also, his organization, Foundation to Abolish Abortion, is holding a conference for church leaders in Houston on August 19 https://faa.life/church-leaders-conference

What does Biblical ministry to women look like in the church? The modern church has accumulated various unbiblical offices such as student pastor, children’s pastor, youth pastor, worship pastor, senior pastor, sports pastor, pastor of counseling, and women’s pastor. In the same way, we have also created unbiblical ministries in the church. One of those is what we call women’s ministries. These commonly focus on the emotional life of the women in the church. A new office in the church is created: women’s ministry leader. What should we think of these ministries? What does the Bible say? More Resources on Women’s Ministry from Jeff Pollard: Scripture is Sufficient for Women’s Ministry Part 1 Teachers of Good Things - https://churchandfamilylife.com/resources/60ca7fea23fa965169a3cd46 Scripture is Sufficient for Women’s Ministry Part 2 Keepers at Home - https://churchandfamilylife.com/resources/60ca7fed23fa965169a3cd47

God has designed the church to be led by qualified pastors/elders. What are the qualifications? What kind of man does God desire to fill the office of elder? As it turns out, he is the kind of man every woman would want as a husband. Jeff Johnson’s Leaders Lunch Message on Pastors: https://churchandfamilylife.com/resources/62b4713cabdc5044b1bc5501

How do you avoid a culture of gossip and slander in the local church? The Lord has designed a wonderful culture to be maintained in His church. Through many commands for governing our tongues, God keeps His church, “loving life and seeing good days.” (1 Peter 3:10). This session explains a church covenant that addresses this critical matter for happy church life.

Raised in a devout Catholic home, Brian was a proud, self-righteous altar boy who wore his religion on his sleeve. Whenever his parents or sister missed Mass, he would corral them into a room and perform communion. Yet, despite his showy legalism, he was consumed by guilt. Brian knew, full well, that he was a hypocritical sinner who was mean-spirited, lustful, and that he told jokes for the praise of men. Then, quite unexpectedly, Brian’s mother came to Christ, and his father followed, once they began to read the Bible for themselves. Seeing Brian’s miserable struggle, his mother urged him to read God’s Word as well, starting with the New Testament. Once he did, Brian was convicted of his Phariseeism, realizing he must look to Christ, not the church, for forgiveness. Having his eyes opened, he was born again and soon felt the call to the ministry. Brian currently serves as the pastor of Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada.

This is an overview examination of the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture through three lenses: Worship, Counseling, and Preaching.

How has the Catholic Church eroded the church's foundation by slowly moving away from the sufficiency of Scripture? How has the social justice movement, modern apologetics, and modern theological systems done the same?