The Ryley Heppner Podcast

With Acts 28 the book of Acts comes to end. As Luke brings brings Paul's journey to a conclusion, he passes the torch of the mission of Jesus to the reader, as if to say, "Now will you go? Will you take the gospel the rest of the way?" So, will you? Or maybe the better question: Will you go all in? Will you give everything to Jesus and hold nothing back?

Today I am joined by my wife, Nicole Heppner, to talk about the basics of biblical counselling. In our chat Nicole helps define what exactly biblical counselling is; she disusses how it is different from other forms of counselling, and even gets into some the specifics of applying biblical counselling principles and methods to our day to day lives. Nicole grew up on Long Island NY and spent many years working for apologetics ministries in NY as well as serving on the mission field in Latin America. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from State University of New York, and a Master’s degree in Biblical Counseling from Master’s College. Nicole works as a Biblical Counselor in our local church.

It is easy to think that the gospel will reach the ends of the earth without me. A pastor will do the job, or a missionary, or just somehow God will accomplish it without me having to go. But is that a biblical view of the mission of Jesus and what He calls us to? The question asked in this sermon is simply this, how does the Gospel reach far away places? How will the kingdom of God advance to the edges of the earth?

We are tempted as Christians to at times believe that deeper study will lead to a heady and withered faith. I am convinced that the exact opposite is true. That in fact deeper study, when it is saturated with Christ, will lead us into the most thrilling faith we have ever known.

Three takeaways from Paul's testimony/defense before the rulers.

As both a pastor of a church and a blood bought member of the church I find myself continually living with this tension, that I love where the church is at and I know that there is more. In this first episode of who knows how many episodes, Ben and I begin an ongoing conversation around this tension. We have no real plan or destination in mind, except to start the conversation and to (God willingly) find more biblical clarity, a greater vision for the future, and a deeper love for His Bride along the way.

I was joined today by Dr. T. Desmond Alexander from Union Theological College to chat about, among other things, some of the common mistakes people make in reading the Old Testament, the importance of the Old Testament for understanding the New Testament, and the keys to understanding and interpreting the book of Exodus. Dr. T  Desmond Alexander (PhD, The Queen’s University of Belfast) is senior lecturer in biblical studies and director of postgraduate studies at Union Theological College in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and an elder at Fitzroy Presbyterian Church. Alexander has written many volumes in the area of biblical theology, notably The City of God and the Goal of Creation: An Introduction to the Biblical Theology of the City of God and The Message of the Kingdom of God. T. D. is married to Anne, and they have two adult children.

In this conversation I am joined by Dr. Craig Ott to discuss topics ranging from the need for scholarship in missions, to the parallels between contextualization and Settlers of Catan, to the effects of the increase in short term mission trips. Dr. Ott is professor of mission and intercultural studies, and chair of the mission and evangelism department at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Deerfield, USA). Prior to going to Trinity in 2002 he served for 21 years in Germany planting four reproducing churches and teaching at the Academy for World Mission. During that time he also served as Central Europe church planting consultant with ReachGlobal. He has since ministered in over forty countries on five continents and coauthored or co-edited several books including Encountering Theology of Mission and Global Church Planting.

Mark's gospel ends abruptly, as if to say to the reader, "Now you finish the story." So how will we respond to the evidence of the resurrection that Mark presents? Like the 3 women, in fear and silence? Or with faith that declares through the radical lives that we live, "He has risen from the grave."

If you are ever a prisoner, what kind of prisoner will you be? I think it really depends upon this question: What kind of person/citizen are you now?