The State of the Churches

Corey J. Mahler on Wed 17 Apr 2024

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Hosts

Corey J. Mahler

coreyjmahler.com

@CoreyJMahler

    Woe

    aka Eschatologuy

    @treblewoe

      Knowledge is not what saves us, but faith cannot be devoid of content, for one must have faith in something. Part of being a Christian is, unsurprisingly, knowing the content of the Christian faith. Or, perhaps, this would be surprising to many, given the state of knowledge and belief among those claiming to be Christian — even among the best (in terms of knowledge and right belief) of those claiming to be Christian.

      In today’s episode, we return to the state of the churches. This time, we examine the general state of knowledge and belief among Christians. Do Christians even know the basics of the faith? For most, the answer is very clearly: No.

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      Show Notes

      See Also

      Further Reading

      Parental Warnings

      None.

      Transcript

      The transcript for this episode can be found here

      Other transcripts can be found here

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      Tithing

      Corey J. Mahler on Wed 10 Apr 2024

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      Hosts

      Corey J. Mahler

      coreyjmahler.com

      @CoreyJMahler

        Woe

        aka Eschatologuy

        @treblewoe

          All that we have comes from God. As we covered in the episode on jealousy, we are, in fact, to be jealous, to be protective, of the things that are ours. However, this must be balanced against the fact that much of what we hold we hold in trust. There are things which are solely ours and there are things which are ours for the sake of serving God and neighbor.

          Ultimately, we are stewards of this Creation, and we owe duties to God. One such duty is the duty to render thanks to God in the form of tithes. A tithe, simply, is an offering ‘off the top’ of a portion of what God has given us as thanks for the whole. How much we tithe, how we tithe, to whom we tithe, and other related questions are matters of wisdom. Unlike Old Testament Israel, we do not have explicit rules telling us what to tithe, when, and to whom. However, God does invite us to test Him by bringing in the fullness of the tithe, and where God invites us to test Him, it is not only foolish, but sinful, to refuse.

          »“Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the LORD of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the LORD of hosts.«

          — Malachi 3:6–12 (ESV)

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          Show Notes

          See Also

          Further Reading

          Parental Warnings

          None.

          Transcript

          The transcript for this episode can be found here

          Other transcripts can be found here

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          Inheritance

          Corey J. Mahler on Wed 03 Apr 2024

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          Hosts

          Corey J. Mahler

          coreyjmahler.com

          @CoreyJMahler

            Woe

            aka Eschatologuy

            @treblewoe

              “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with Whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

              All that we have and all that we are flows from God, and yet, as covered in previous episodes, God acts in time via means. Your height and your intelligence, God transmitted to you via your ancestors, via your nation; your material prosperity, God transmitted to you via your forebears and your country; and your faith, God transmitted to you via faithful forebears and His written Word (whatever copies of which you may own, someone had to print). It is a tripartite inheritance that is bestowed upon us by God — biological, material, and spiritual.

              The modern world, with its manifold lies — among them, the idea of the ‘blank slate’ — would have us believe that we are atomized individuals instead of parts of a greater whole. Each generation is a link in a chain extending back through Noah to Adam, and it is incumbent on each generation to faithfully pass forward the inheritance — preferably improved — that it received from those who came before. Without inheritance, there is no prosperity, there is no continuity, and there would be no salvation, for it is our adoption as sons of God that makes us inheritors of eternal life.

              We must jealously guard our inheritance, faithfully preserve it, and dutifully transmit it.

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              Show Notes

              See Also

              Further Reading

              Parental Warnings

              None.

              Transcript

              The transcript for this episode can be found here

              Other transcripts can be found here

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              Join the discussion on Telegram, visit the feedback form or comment below.

              Jealousy

              Corey J. Mahler on Wed 27 Mar 2024

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              Hosts

              Corey J. Mahler

              coreyjmahler.com

              @CoreyJMahler

                Woe

                aka Eschatologuy

                @treblewoe

                  “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with Whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

                  The modern world would have us believe that jealousy is a purely negative matter — we all know the tropes. Scripture teaches something entirely different. God tells us that one of His names is Jealous. To be jealous of the things that God has given us is not only not sin, but an affirmative duty for every Christian. You must be jealous of your wife, jealous of your children, jealous of your property, and jealous of every other good and perfect gift that has come down from the Father above.

                  To fail to be jealous is, in fact, to sin.

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                  Show Notes

                  See Also

                  Further Reading

                  Parental Warnings

                  None.

                  Transcript

                  The transcript for this episode can be found here

                  Other transcripts can be found here

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                  The Required Confession

                  Corey J. Mahler on Wed 13 Mar 2024

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                  Hosts

                  Corey J. Mahler

                  coreyjmahler.com

                  @CoreyJMahler

                    Woe

                    aka Eschatologuy

                    @treblewoe

                      When the world demands that we speak falsely about the faith, we are required to speak the truth; when the world demands that we speak truthfully about the faith, but neglect certain truths, then it is those very truths the world tells us to ignore that we must profess all the more loudly. Satan, although he is the father of lies, does not always lie; where it is possible to do so, it is often far more effective to mislead with the truth — to lie by omission. This is what the world so often demands of Christians today.

                      If the world says we must call slavery sin, then we affirm that Scripture does not call slavery sin and even commands it in places. If the world says we must tolerate homosexuality or false religions, then we affirm that Scripture condemns such things as abomination. If the world tells us that it is fine to say that our sins crucified Christ, that the Romans crucified Christ, and that Pilate crucified Christ, but that we must not say that the Jews murdered Christ, then we affirm in no uncertain terms that the Jews murdered Christ.

                      There are no optional parts of Scripture — we, as Christians, are required to affirm the full counsel of God. To deflect with an irrelevant truth is no less a lie than an affirmative false statement. Whether you are fated to be a confessor or a martyr is in God’s hands, but it is in your hands to decide whether you will follow God or yield to the world.

                      There is no promise of salvation for those who apostatize by denying the Word of God.

                      If I profess with the loudest voice and the clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christianity. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides is mere flight and disgrace to him, if he flinches at that one point.

                      — St. Martin Luther, Confessor

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                      Show Notes

                      • Scripture readings from the end of the episode:
                        • Acts 7:51–53
                        • John 8:34–47
                        • Matthew 12:14
                        • John 5:18
                        • John 7:1
                        • John 7:19–20
                        • John 10:31
                        • John 11:8
                        • John 11:53
                        • Matthew 26:3–4
                        • John 5:16–17
                        • Acts 2:22–25
                        • Acts 2:36–41
                        • Acts 3:14–15
                        • Acts 5:27–33
                        • 1 Thessalonians 2:14–16
                        • Luke 23:13–16
                        • Matthew 27:20
                        • Luke 23:18–23
                        • Matthew 27:24–26
                      • HB 1076 (the South Dakota law mentioned in the episode) [PDF]
                      • IHRA definition of “antisemitism” (with examples)

                      See Also

                      Further Reading

                      Parental Warnings

                      The word “masturbation” is used once in the middle of the episode.

                      Transcript

                      The transcript for this episode can be found here

                      Other transcripts can be found here

                      Support the Podcast

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                      Join the discussion on Telegram, visit the feedback form or comment below.

                      Technology

                      Corey J. Mahler on Wed 06 Mar 2024

                      Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:46:42 — 205.5MB) | Embed

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                      Hosts

                      Corey J. Mahler

                      coreyjmahler.com

                      @CoreyJMahler

                        Woe

                        aka Eschatologuy

                        @treblewoe

                          Technology is a part of our daily lives. In fact, technology has been a part of the daily life of man from the beginning. Whether that technology is relatively simple — a garden hoe or a flint knife — or incredibly complex — a nuclear reactor or a quantum computer — it is, nevertheless, technology, which is to say that it is a material application of science (i.e., knowledge) to achieve a human end.

                          Technology may be good, bad, or neutral, but it cannot be truly or fully assessed in the absence of an assessment of the attendant intention of the men who develop and deploy it. For the Christian, there are additional considerations. Some technologies bring with them intrinsic or even inherent risks, and this grows more pressing by the day. We must be intentional with our use of technology, and we must recognize that neither is all knowledge good nor is all ignorance evil.

                          Neither knowledge nor its material application (i.e., technology) is amoral. As Christians, we must be aware of the risks and of the right mindset with regard to technology and our use of it. The Church faces novel threats and we do not have the benefit of any insight from past Christians, for what we face they could not even conceive. We are in an uncharted land, because we are the ones who have been tasked with making the charts.

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                          Show Notes

                          See Also

                          Further Reading

                          Parental Warnings

                          We discuss the demonic in this episode.

                          Transcript

                          The transcript for this episode can be found here

                          Other transcripts can be found here

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                          Comments?

                          Join the discussion on Telegram, visit the feedback form or comment below.

                          Repentance

                          Corey J. Mahler on Wed 28 Feb 2024

                          Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:54:38 — 222.8MB) | Embed

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                          Hosts

                          Corey J. Mahler

                          coreyjmahler.com

                          @CoreyJMahler

                            Woe

                            aka Eschatologuy

                            @treblewoe

                              Repentance consists of contrition and faith. Contrition is sorrow for sin, the terrors of conscience that are attendant the realization of the nature of sin and God’s wrath toward it; faith, in this case, is the entirety of the Christian life — the ‘and then what’, which follows regeneration. But more than this, to be truly repentant is to turn from one’s sins and move toward God. In the Greek (μετανοια), repentance is a ‘change of one’s mind’, or, in the verbal form, ‘to change one’s mind’ — literally, ‘to think differently [about]’.

                              When we are regenerated, we think differently about the sins of our past (and about the sins we still desire to commit) — we recognize that they are sins and that they are contrary to the will of God. And not only do we think differently about these matters (i.e., have that μετανοια, that change of mind), but we also seek to undo the harms that we have done — there are works that follow true repentance.

                              In a very real sense, repentance is the core of the Christian life. We are saved, of course, by the work of Christ and the free gift of faith, but a living faith will always produce good works, and chief among those works are repentance and what flows from it. We read the Word of God, which convicts us of our sins, we feel sorrow for these sins (i.e., contrition) and we turn from them (i.e., repentance). This is the Christian life in this world.

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                              Show Notes

                              See Also

                              Further Reading

                              Parental Warnings

                              There is some discussion of sexual sins (not in explicit terms) shortly after the one-hour mark.

                              Transcript

                              The transcript for this episode can be found here

                              Other transcripts can be found here

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                              Slander

                              Corey J. Mahler on Wed 14 Feb 2024

                              Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:53:11 — 219.2MB) | Embed

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                              Hosts

                              Corey J. Mahler

                              coreyjmahler.com

                              @CoreyJMahler

                                Woe

                                aka Eschatologuy

                                @treblewoe

                                  Once taken, a man’s reputation is nearly impossible to restore to him. In the 8th Commandment (and many other places in Scripture), God enshrines and makes abundantly clear that He hates slander and the man who spreads it. And yet Scripture goes further: Not only must we not slander our neighbor, but we must rebuke the one who does so. Scripture calls the one who hears slander but does not rebuke the slanderer evil.

                                  Next to his life, wife, and possessions, the most dear thing a neighbor has is his good name and reputation. As Christians, we know that we must aid our neighbor in maintaining all that is his, and this certainly includes his reputation. Slander destroys families, friendships, organizations, churches, and entire societies. A godly prince would wield the sword against the slanderer, but every individual Christian has a moral duty to rebuke the slanderer and not to repeat what he has heard.

                                  In this episode, we will examine the contours of what “slander” encompasses, and what we, as Christians, must do in this life.

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                                  Show Notes

                                  See Also

                                  Further Reading

                                  Parental Warnings

                                  None.

                                  Transcript

                                  The transcript for this episode can be found here

                                  Other transcripts can be found here

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                                  Galatians 3:28

                                  Corey J. Mahler on Wed 07 Feb 2024

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                                  Hosts

                                  Corey J. Mahler

                                  coreyjmahler.com

                                  @CoreyJMahler

                                    Woe

                                    aka Eschatologuy

                                    @treblewoe

                                      Galatians 3:28 is, perhaps, the most abused verse in modern churches (a term that should, arguably, be in quotes), and this is not without reason. Satan attacks where he knows there is purchase to be found or headway to be made. In entirely unambiguous terms, Galatians 3:28 affirms the very real existence of race, hierarchy, and sex (i.e., that we are created either male or female) — the very things that the modern world constantly attacks and denies.

                                      We must be careful readers when it comes to Scripture. God does not choose His words idly and we should not skim over them. We do not usually focus on a single verse to this extent, but it is incumbent on faithful Christians to defend where the battle is joined. In today’s episode, we will arm you to detect abuses of this verse, to defend yourself against those abuses, and to understand the wealth of what God has transmitted to us in a mere twenty-three words).

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                                      Show Notes

                                      • Galatians (The entire letter will take you no more than fifteen minutes to read.)
                                      • “What We Believe” from the ‘Black Lives Matter’ website [via Archive.org]

                                      See Also

                                      Further Reading

                                      Parental Warnings

                                      None.

                                      Transcript

                                      The transcript for this episode can be found here

                                      Other transcripts can be found here

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                                      Apostasy

                                      Corey J. Mahler on Wed 31 Jan 2024

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                                      Hosts

                                      Corey J. Mahler

                                      coreyjmahler.com

                                      @CoreyJMahler

                                        Woe

                                        aka Eschatologuy

                                        @treblewoe

                                          By the time Josiah, King of Judah, noticed that pagan worship practices had crept into the land of Judah — and even into the Temple itself —, apostasy, wickedness, and idol worship were rampant. The Temple was filled with altars to and symbols of false gods, the area around the Temple and around Jerusalem was filled with centers of false worship, and the valley adjacent to Jerusalem even saw the sacrifice of children to demons. Undoubtedly, these false beliefs and false practices did not creep into Judah all at once — Satan brought them in bit by bit.

                                          The apostasy of Judah was not the first time humanity lost the Word of God (although perhaps none have done this as literally as Judah forgetting the actual scroll somewhere in a pile of rubble in the Temple); by the time of Judah’s apostasy, Israel (the Northern Kingdom) was already apostate and in the process of being eradicated by the Assyrians. We see the same happening all over the world as the sons of Noah lost the Word of God over time — some certainly faster than others. And, of course, the entire world, save Noah and his immediate family, had lost or rejected God’s Word by the time of the Flood.

                                          Today, the churches face a similar crisis as that which faced Josiah: We are beset on all sides by false worship, and false shepherds and wolves have even brought these false beliefs and false practices into the church. We have fallen so far that supposed pastors, priests, and teachers will recoil when presented with the words of God. This does not mean that there is no hope, but it is surely a call for repentance and prayer. Josiah would not see the destruction of Judah, which God promised as recompense for their wickedness, but his grandson would.

                                          Let us not be like the wicked Northern Kingdom or the apostate Southern Kingdom.

                                          Joel 2:12–14 (ESV):  
»“Yet even now,” declares the LORD,  
  “return to me with all your heart,  
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;  
  and rend your hearts and not your garments.”  
Return to the LORD your God,  
  for he is gracious and merciful,  
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;  
  and he relents over disaster.  
Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,  
  and leave a blessing behind him,  
a grain offering and a drink offering  
  for the LORD your God?«

                                          Subscribe to the podcast here.

                                          Show Notes

                                          See Also

                                          Further Reading

                                          Parental Warnings

                                          None.

                                          Transcript

                                          The transcript for this episode can be found here

                                          Other transcripts can be found here

                                          Support the Podcast

                                          Comments?

                                          Join the discussion on Telegram, visit the feedback form or comment below.