Reformed Podmatics

Christmas Movies & the Christian Faith - Episode 183

'Tis the season for a Reformed Podmatics discussion about Christmas movies! This week, as good Neo-Calvinists, we take a little time to reflect on some of the most beloved Christmas films like A Christmas Carol, It's A Wonderful Life, A Charlie Brown Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Home Alone and examine what they get right, what they get wrong, and what they suggest to us about how our culture sees the Christian faith. As this will be the last episode of the year, we'd like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year from us here at Reformed Podmatics. May your celebrations of God's incarnation bring life, joy, and hope to you all this season. See you in 2025!
 
Visit www.almondvalley.org for information about Almond Valley Christian Reformed Church in Ripon, CA.
Music by Jonathan Ogden used with permission.

A Reformed Approach to Predictive Prophecy - Episode 182

With Advent now well and truly upon us, 'tis the season for some prophecy! This week, sparked by a radio preacher Mark heard who taught that Isaiah 19's prophecies about the conversion of Egypt are being fulfilled as we speak, we decided that for this week's episode we'd dig in a little bit to how Reformed Christians have and ought to think about the predictive prophecies given to us in Scripture, in both the Old and New Testaments. 
 
Visit www.almondvalley.org for information about Almond Valley Christian Reformed Church in Ripon, CA.
Music by Jonathan Ogden used with permission.

Why the Church Needs the Elderly - Episode 181

In every age, the Church faces new obstacles and trials and is tasked with faithful living, thinking, believing, praying, and witnessing. It's all too easy, given the circumstances, to lose perspective and think either too much of the current generation or too little. What we need, then, is the perspective of the aged and the spiritual ballast and balance that they bring. In this week's episode, we aim to convince both the old and the young of the important place that the elderly serve within the larger body of Christ. For some, this will be an encouragement. For others, a challenge. But we hope that, for all of you, it is a blessing. And maybe, once you finish the episode, go give a listen to Bing Crosby's old Christmas classic, "Faith of Our Fathers". You'll be glad you did!
Visit www.almondvalley.org for information about Almond Valley Christian Reformed Church in Ripon, CA.
Music by Jonathan Ogden used with permission.

Biblicism, Prooftexting, and Being "Biblically-Informed" - Episode 180

How are Christians to approach the Word of God? Should we come at it like a textbook which, if carefully studied, will provide explicit answers and commands to guide every quandary and conundrum we face? Or maybe more like a manual to guide every decision? Or perhaps even like a superstitious text which will give us its power if we wear it on our clothes or slap it on a car sticker. Or maybe--just maybe--it's different. Maybe there's a deper way. In this week's episode, we aim to show how a Reformed approach to Scripture will help us avoid the dangers of biblicism, (bad) prooftexting, and being minimally "biblically-informed."Resources referenced in the episode:
Being Biblical™: When the Bible Becomes a Brand, by Alastair Roberts
Reformed Catholicity: The Promise of Retrieval for Theology and Biblical Interpretation, by Michael Allen & Scott Swain
Other links:
Visit www.almondvalley.org for information about Almond Valley Christian Reformed Church in Ripon, CA.
Music by Jonathan Ogden used with permission.

The Perceptions of Neo-Calvinism - Episode 179

As a podcast which gets its name from Herman Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics, Neo-Calvinism is obviously a theological tradition and project near and dear to our hearts. But it's one that so often gets a bad rap, or is misconstrued. In this week's episode, spurred on by our conversations with recent guests over the past few months, we seek to take stock not only of what it is, but to explore some of its native tensions as well as the ways in which it is often viewed by others in the broader Reformed tradition. 
 
Visit www.almondvalley.org for information about Almond Valley Christian Reformed Church in Ripon, CA.
Music by Jonathan Ogden used with permission.

Exploring the Reformed Tradition, Pt. 4 - Dr. Gerald Bray of Beeson Divinity School - Episode 178

After a week away and several weeks since our last episode in this series, we've returned once again to explore the Reformed faith this time with special guest, Dr. Gerald Bray, research professor at Beeson Divinity School (Birmingham, AL) and an evangelical church historian and theologian from the Church of England. His seminal works include God Is Love: A Biblical and Systematic Theology, A History of Christian Theology: A Trinitarian Approach, Augustine On the Christian Life, and Anglicanism: A Reformed Catholic Tradition. He's also served as an editor for a few volumes of the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture and has written extensively on the history of biblical interpretation. As a historian and Calvinist, Dr. Bray makes the perfect guest to help us explore the riches of the Reformed tradition.
 
Visit www.samford.edu/beeson-divinity for more information about Beeson Divinity School.
Visit www.almondvalley.org for information about Almond Valley Christian Reformed Church in Ripon, CA.
Music by Jonathan Ogden used with permission.

Reformation Day Special: An Interview with Lutheran Teacher, Jonathon Bolt - Episode 177

What better way to celebrate Reformation Day than with an old friend from the Lutheran Church? Join with Pastor Mark as he interviews his old friend, Jonathon Bolt, who now teaches at a Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod day school in New Haven, Indiana. In this week's conversation, we get into the commonalities and distinctions of Reformed and Lutheran theology as well as our two traditions' approaches to Christian education. We hope this is a fruitful dialogue for this special day!
 
Visit www.almondvalley.org for information about Almond Valley Christian Reformed Church in Ripon, CA.
Music by Jonathan Ogden used with permission.

Rap in Worship? On the Sound of Worship Music - Episode 176

In contemporary worship music today, there is an increasingly popular trend toward using unconventional styles of music such as rap or EDM in corporate worship settings. So in this week's episode we dive into the legitimacy of this trend and whether or not it has a place in the Church's worship. More importantly, the conversation aims to lay out a positive vision for what kind of music ought to be sung so as to best honor the Lord.
 
Visit www.almondvalley.org for information about Almond Valley Christian Reformed Church in Ripon, CA.
Music by Jonathan Ogden used with permission.

"For Our Daughters" Documentary Review - Episode 175

On September 26, 2024, Calvin University history professor, Kristin Kobes Du Mez, released a new documentary entitled For Our Daughters: Stories of Abuse, Betrayal, and Resistance in the Evangelical Church. Over the past few weeks this 29-minute documentary has been making waves in the broader church, both in the CRC and beyond. So for this week's episode we decided we've offer some of our thoughts on the documentary, both what we appreciated and what we thought was unhelpful, in order to add the conversation it has undoubtedly begun.
Watch the documentary for free at https://youtu.be/IkES4X_qb6c?feature=shared 
Visit www.almondvalley.org for information about Almond Valley Christian Reformed Church in Ripon, CA.
Music by Jonathan Ogden used with permission.

On Death & Funerals - Episode 174

Of all life's many challenges, it is perhaps death which brings us pain and grief unmatched by anything else. So in this week's episode we decide to explore how we as Christians can approach death and think about what makes for a good, God honoring funeral service.
 
Visit www.almondvalley.org for information about Almond Valley Christian Reformed Church in Ripon, CA.
Music by Jonathan Ogden used with permission.

Warning Passages & the Perseverance of the Saints - Episode 173

One of the perennial objections to the Reformed doctrine of perseverance is the mere existence of the Bible's warning passages where believers are warned of the spiritual dangers of apostasy. In these week's episode, we take a look at Hebrews 6 and 10, two of the most passionate warning passages, and explore what implications they might have for our understanding Reformed theology and for the Christian life more broadly, as we seek to avoid making shipwreck of our faith.
 
Visit www.almondvalley.org for information about Almond Valley Christian Reformed Church in Ripon, CA.
Music by Jonathan Ogden used with permission.

Where to Begin? Thinking Through the Trail Map of Christian Discipleship - Episode 172

One of the perennial questions of Christian discipleship is where to begin. The Bible is a big book, and there's no shortage of good books to read about the Christian faith. So where should a new believer start? In this week's episode we take a step away from our two ongoing series to address this important question, thinking through a sort of trail map for those wanting to follow Christ in our world today. This is a great episode for new Christians asking this question or for mature believers who find themselves discipling others in the faith.
 
Visit www.almondvalley.org for information about Almond Valley Christian Reformed Church in Ripon, CA.
Music by Jonathan Ogden used with permission.

Christ & Culture, Pt. 3 - Addressing the Evangelical Inferiority Complex - Episode 171

In our third installment of our new series, Christ and Culture, we address the ways in which Evangelicals today feel pressure to appear intelligent, fashionable, and morally virtuous given the ways in which the Christian faith is uniquely perceived and often maligned in our world today. So as we address these pressures, Christians need also to consider ways in which we might develop assurance, fortitude, and resilience as we stand firm on the gospel of Christ despite the shifts currently taking place in our broader Western culture. 
 
Visit www.almondvalley.org for information about Almond Valley Christian Reformed Church in Ripon, CA.
Music by Jonathan Ogden used with permission.

Exploring the Reformed Tradition, Pt. 3 - Aaron Renn, author of Life in the Negative World - Episode 170

In what is maybe more of a crossover episode of our two ongoing series here at Reformed Podmatics, this week we're interviewing writer and consultant, Aaron Renn. Aaron's work over the past several years has been focused on cultural analysis of the Evangelical church with respect to the ways in which Christianity has now become a minority position in America and what that means going forward. In this week's episode, we talk about Aaron's new book, Life in the Negative World: Confronting Challenges in an Anti-Christian Culture, and about some of Aaron's insights for the Reformed tradition in the 21st-century. 
For more insight into Aaron's work, visit aaronrenn.com.For Aaron's new book, Life in the Negative World, click here.
Visit www.almondvalley.org for information about Almond Valley Christian Reformed Church in Ripon, CA.
Music by Jonathan Ogden used with permission.

Christ & Culture, Pt. 2 - The Olympics, the Last Supper, & Handling Offense and Mockery - Episode 169

One of the many public conversations that set the internet ablaze this past summer came from the opening ceremony of the Paris summer Olympics in a scene which appeared to many as a mockery of Leonardo Da Vinci's famous painting of the Last Supper. And so for this week's installment in Christ & Culture series, Pastor Mark and Pastor Zac tackle the questions, How should Christians respond when their faith is publicly mocked and ridiculed? And if we do feel offended, how can we be sure we're offended by the right things and not just by the fact that Christianity no longer holds a privileged position the way it once did?
Visit www.almondvalley.org for information about Almond Valley Christian Reformed Church in Ripon, CA.
Music by Jonathan Ogden used with permission.
 

Christ & Culture, Pt. 1 - Is Modern Western Culture Progressive or Conservative? - Episode 168

A crucial aspect of Christian discipleship is learning how to follow Christ faithfully regardless of the culture we find ourselves in. At times in history, Christians have found themselves both on the outside and on the inside of cultural power. But today, things are a little more complicated. And that leads us to ask the question, Is our culture more progressive or more conservative? How you answer this question often has everything to do with your general outlook, but it's an important question to consider if we're going to really understand and navigate the complexities of life in the modern West as those whose desire is, above all, to be faithful to the Lord Jesus.This episode is the first of a new series we'll be doing here at Reformed Podmatics right alongside with our other ongoing series, Exploring the Reformed Tradition. 
Visit www.almondvalley.org for information about Almond Valley Christian Reformed Church in Ripon, CA.
Music by Jonathan Ogden used with permission.

Exploring the Reformed Tradition, Pt. 2: Dr. Gayle Doornbos of Dordt University - Episode 167

In this week's episode Pastor Mark and Pastor Zac sit down with Dr. Gayle Doornbos of Dort University to discuss the Reformed tradition and particularly its Neo-Calvinist stream and how it helps us navigate many complexities of daily life in the 21st century. This conversation is part of a larger series of discussions we are be having with various Reformed leaders from the CRC and beyond. 
Visit www.dordt.edu for more information about Dordt University.
Visit www.almondvalley.org for information about Almond Valley Christian Reformed Church in Ripon, CA.
Music by Jonathan Ogden used with permission.

Making Sense of the Assassination Attempt on Donald Trump - Episode 166

In the aftermath of the failed assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, people throughout the country have been trying to make sense of things. For Christians in particular, and especially those on the political right, it has become quite common in recent days to try to see in Trump's survival a divine endorsement of his candidacy for reelection. In this week's episode, Pastor Zac and Pastor Mark do their best to avoid political analysis as they try to offer theological reflections on what this weekend's events do (and, maybe more importantly, don't) mean. 
 
Visit www.almondvalley.org for information about Almond Valley Christian Reformed Church in Ripon, CA.
Music by Jonathan Ogden used with permission.

Exploring the Reformed Tradition, Pt. 1: Dr. Michael Allen of RTS-Orlando - Episode 165

In this week's episode, Pastor Zac kicks off a new series of episodes in which we'll be gathering voices from around the Reformed tradition, both within the CRC and without, to give their insights on what the Reformed faith is all about. With Pastor Mark on a missions trip this week to New Mexico, Pastor Zac takes the reigns and kicks off the series with Dr. Michael Allen, author and professor of systematic theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, FL. Topics covered include Reformed theology, Neo-Calvinism, and the catholicity of the Reformed tradition. 
 
Visit www.rts.edu/campuses/orlando for more information about Reformed Theological Seminary's Orlando campus.
Visit www.almondvalley.org for information about Almond Valley Christian Reformed Church in Ripon, CA.
Music by Jonathan Ogden used with permission.

Reflections on CRC Synod 2024 - Episode 164

It's been a week since the conclusion of synod, and there is definitely a lot to talk about. Many other great summaries and reviews of synod have already been conducted (see links below), so Pastor Mark and Pastor Zac settled down this week to discuss not so much the play-by-play of what took place but to try to analyze the deeper theological forces at work within our denomination--the "spirit" of synod, if you will. We hope you find this edifying and beneficial as you process the goings on in the Christian Reformed Church, whether yo
u're a member or following along from the outside!
 
Other post-synod resources:
The Banner (official periodical of the CRCNA)
The Abide Project synod recap
Paul VanderKlay's synod delegate panel discussion 
 
Visit www.almondvalley.org for information about Almond Valley Christian Reformed Church in Ripon, CA.
Music by Jonathan Ogden used with permission.