When Jesus taught his disciples how to pray in Matthew 6, he began with these important words: “Our Father.” Consider that very carefully. Why “Our Father”? Father is familial. Father is close. Father is warm. Growing up, I respected my father, and I trusted my father. My dad gave me good things growing up. He gave me a nice house, food, clothing, and support. He gave me presents at Christmas and on my birthday. My dad counseled me and gave me Biblical wisdom to apply to life. My dad...
Author - Jonathan Shirk
Imagine that you’re doing some project around the house, and your neighbor comes by and asks, “Do you need a hand with that?” How kind. But you quickly respond, “No, I think I got it. Thanks, though.” Why do we oftentimes decline a helping hand? Well, we feel like we have things under control. We got it. We don’t really need the help, so why inconvenience our neighbor if we’ve got it under control. Now, if things weren’t going well, if we were sweating, struggling, and maybe...
I’ve never seen a toddler run the 40. Toddlers don’t run, they toddle. Usain Bolt. Now there’s a guy who can run. In 2019, during Super Bowl weekend, Usain Bolt ran the 40 in 4.22 seconds. He ran a 4.22 in what appeared to be Puma loafers. He’s still blazing fast. When we think of baby steps, we don’t think of Usain Bolt. We think of a cute little kid waddling forward. He’s not fast. He’s not even steady, but he is making progress. There’s at least one thing that a toddler...
God says, “You shall not murder.” How do Christians go about having a rational and civil conversation with a woman holding a sign that says, “Abortion saves lives!”? She will probably not feel honored when you share your Biblical view of life with her, especially if she had an abortion. God reveals in plain language that He made human beings in His own image and made them male and female. How do Christians have respectful dialogue with people who applaud Facebook for giving 14 gender...
You look at your watch as you wait in line at the grocery store checkout counter. You’re in a hurry. You load your groceries onto the conveyer belt as the barcode scanner beeps for the person in front of you. “Let’s get a move on it,” you think to yourself. The person in front of you pays. After your groceries are scanned, you quickly give your cash to the clerk who in return gives you your receipt and change. Into your pocket, it goes, and off you go to your next stop. Later that...
Would it shock you to meet someone who self-identified as a “Racist Christian”? Or maybe a “Wife-Beating Christian”? Or maybe an “Adulterous Christian.” I think this would raise serious concerns for both Christians and non-Christians alike. There’s just something about a Christian identifying themselves with sin. It’s unsuitable. See, Christians are no longer identified by their sinful inclinations, desires, or actions, they are identified by their union with Christ. Though...
The great United States of America has existed for 245 years, and during those years four Presidents have been assassinated. Can you name them? Can you name them in order? Abraham Lincoln was shot in 1865. James Garfield in 1881. A quick aside, a great read on James Garfield is Candice Millard’s book Destiny of the Republic. The third was William McKinley. He was shot in 1901. Last was John F. Kennedy in 1963. These assassinations were all committed within 100 years. Additionally, there were...
In this episode, we’re going to begin unpacking the content of the Heidelberg Catechism (HC). The boxes are unloaded from the moving truck, they’re in the house, but now we have to open the boxes and put the truths in their respective places. We have three boxes: guilt, grace, gratitude. What truths are inside these boxes? Where do these truths belong in our lives? How will they serve us? When someone is unpacking boxes in their new home, they often open a box and rediscover the...
The aim of this podcast is to help you, the listener, find deeper comfort and joy in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel should produce comfort and joy in our hearts every day as we strive by the Holy Spirit to live for the glory of our God. In order for you and me to find the comfort and joy our souls crave, we need to understand several important things. We need to understand God’s law, the law’s goodness, and how God uses the law to love us. We need to understand the gospel...
First, thank you so much for listening to the podcast or perhaps reading the episodes, either in emails or at smalltowntheologian.org. I appreciate your time investment, and I trust that God has used this podcast to deepen your comfort and joy in the gospel in some way. Keep listening. More helpful content is coming. Second, I want to improve this podcast for the good of my beloved local church, Jerusalem Church, which meets in the small town of Manheim, PA, and for the good of...