Church and Family Life Podcast Church & Family Life

Robert grew up as an only child in the small town of Beckley, West Virginia. Though his father never had much money, he had a tremendous work ethic and taught Robert the value of hard work. This said, his dad had no interest in the things of God, while his mom possessed a simple faith in Christ and took her son to a local country church. Entering his teens, Robert professed faith and was baptized at age 14. Yet, deep down, he had no change of heart. 

Joining the Air Force at 18, Robert served four years as an intelligence analyst. During this stint, he and a good friend began discussing various religions, and Robert shared what he knew of the Bible with him. In God’s providence, his friend became a true believer, and God used his friend’s testimony to later bring Robert to true faith, as he was confronted with what sin is and his need for real repentance. Impassioned to share the gospel, Robert met his wife through street preaching. Married to Andrea since 2012, he is currently pursuing a MA in Theological Studies at Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary.

When it comes to having tough conversations with a spouse, friend, fellow believer, or co-worker, some are willing to sail right into the storm and throw everything on the table. Others, by contrast, are terrified in approaching any discussion that’s remotely uncomfortable. Regardless of where you fall on the spectrum, God’s Word gives clear principles to guide our hearts and words as we prepare for difficult talks. 

 

In this podcast, Scott Brown and Jason, joined by guest Taylor Tsantles, discuss these principles. The first is to love sincerely from the heart. We should strive to have this relationship equity with others, even before challenges arise. This will help smooth the way when tough conversations are necessary, because they know we care about them as a person. The second is to avoid harmful communication patterns such as using harsh words or tones, refusing to listen, and trying to force outcomes. We should instead be filled with the Spirit and be on a mission to bless—even when sharing hard truths.  

In the last half of the 20th century, the singing of the Psalms hardly existed in the evangelical church. But Psalm-singing has made a resurgence. Why is this? It’s happened as increasingly more Christians and local churches have embraced the sufficiency of Scripture, recognizing that God has given His people an inspired hymnal of 150 psalms. 

 

In this podcast, Scott Brown and Jason Dohm, joined by special guest Scott Aniol, discuss this encouraging trend. There’s great value, they explain, in learning and singing the entire book of Psalms. As with expository preaching, this practice forces us to sing about themes we may not need in the moment, but we do need for shoring up our souls for the entire Christian life. Learning the full breadth of the Psalms will form our hearts to repentance, trust, thanks, and praise—giving us the posture that’s needed for every experience we face as Christians. 

As Christians, we’re not free to dress as we please. Because we’ve been “bought at a price” we’re to “glorify God in [our bodies]” (1 Cor. 6:20). We learn this lesson from our first parents. Adam and Eve dressed their own way by covering their loins with fig leaves. Yet God viewed their effort as inadequate and designed more substantial clothing, using skins from a dead animal. The doctrine of clothing thus points to the substitutionary atonement of Christ:  He removes our filthy garments and replaces them with robes of righteousness. 

 

In this podcast, Scott Brown and Jason Dohm, joined by special guest Jeff Pollard, break down the doctrine of clothing, explaining that it’s about far more than modesty.  If Christ has purchased us with His blood, how we dress matters. To paraphrase Abraham Kuyper, “There is not one square inch [of our clothing] over which Christ . . . does not cry, ‘Mine!’” Ultimately, our clothing isn’t about us and what we like. It’s about giving ourselves to the Lord to bring glory to Him in how dress. 

God ordained music not merely to convey particular moods, but to form our affections after His Word. As Christians, we’re to teach and admonish “one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Col. 3:16). This is a non-optional mandate. But how does a dad, with no musical background, cultivate music in his home? How can the local church foster robust singing in the congregation? 

 

In this podcast, Scott Brown and Jason Dohm, joined by special guest Scott Aniol, discuss how to create a culture of music in the home and church. For dads who lack experience, they encourage investing in a good set of hymnals and using the SingYourPart app and relevant online videos to bolster the process. For churches, they explain that the human voice, not musical accompaniment, should be the prominent feature in corporate worship. Be it at home or church, the voice of God’s people should joyfully sing forth His praises. 

For 35 years, Alexander Strauch’s book, Biblical Eldership: An Urgent Call to Restore Biblical Church Leadership, has been the premier book explaining the biblical teaching on church eldership, which is shared pastoral leadership by a council of scripturally-qualified elders. Theologically sound and eminently practical, Alex’s book helped ignite a worldwide awakening to this long-neglected and misunderstood subject. 

 

In this podcast, Scott Brown and Jason Dohm welcome Alex to discuss his completely revised edition of his classic work. The new version, titled Biblical Eldership: Restoring the Eldership to Its Rightful Place in the Local Church, features a word-for-word exposition of all the key biblical texts on eldership—as the original—yet offers a new chapter, “Making Pastoral Eldership Work,” as well as a more developed discussion on the full parity—yet functional diversity—of elders within a local church.