Suffering Servants

We're back with another heresy today. We all know about the loud and obvious prosperity Gospel...but what about the subtle prosperity Gospel of positivity, optimism, and speaking blessings? How can we tell if what we are hearing is the prosperity Gospel? How can (should we) we defend against it? All this and more on this week's episode! Follies of the week include cultish social media groups, a new movie, and Washington's removal of the Bar Exam.

Pastor Tyler is joined this week by Pastor Mark Renner to talk about Pastor Mark's new book, "Curious Cases: A Series of Short Pastor Case Studies." In this book, Pastor Mark explores different situations that have arisen in the church, or that might arise in the church, and how might we as THE Church work with God's people. It is a book that can be used in studies, staff matters, or just to inform the Christian about struggles they may not have considered before. Praise be to Christ for Pastor Mark's work and love for people in writing this book! Amazon: Curious Cases Wipf and Stock: Curious Cases

What about the mysteries of God? Can we be in the dark about some of God's ways and works? Today we talk about an ancient heresy called "Gnosticism" that continues to rear its ugly head in 2024. A belief that pits the physical against the spiritual, Gnosticism is a denial of the human nature of Jesus Christ and the holding on to the "spiritual nature" of God in our worship and daily life. Unfortunately, a denial of Christ's humanity is a denial of Christ himself. How do we bridge this gap? All that and more on this weeks episode! Follies of the week include a famous WWII picture being cancelled, and Travis Kelce's "rules" for dating Taylor Swift.

Pastor Nick joins us again as we talk about a heresy that we all may have heard, subscribed to, and even believed in at some point: the sneaky "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism." The temptation for many Christians is to worship God and ask God to fix our problems, to make us feel "better", and to be soft and comforting. While God can fix our problems in this world, while He certainly makes us feel better in the assurance of His grace, mercy, and forgiveness, and while He certainly is the great Comforter, there is SO much more to God. We must not forget Christ and Christ crucified FOR YOU! We know this is a very brief overview, so if you would like to hear more or ask more questions, please do not hesitate to ask. You can find our emails on the Family of God website at www.fogdetroit.com Folly of the week features cereal for dinner!

This episode was recorded on Ash Wednesday, so naturally we talked about the significance of the ashes we receive on our foreheads and how that has been taken for granted in the Church. Follies include Canada (obviously) and Super Bowl themed church services.

Joining me on this week's episode is my dear brother in Christ, Josh Kittleman, the Director of Christian Family Formation at Christ Our Savior in Livonia. Together we talk through his journey from small parish ministry, to the University level, and then to big parish ministry and what he has seen, learned, and experienced. We also are sure to hit one of the things that Josh struggles with on a regular basis: his diagnosis of ADHD. Josh is incredibly transparent and humorously walks through what his life and his approach to ministry has shifted knowing that he struggles in this. We both pray that as you listen to his story that you receive comfort, reassurance, and confidence knowing that you are not alone in your sufferings.

Pastor Nick joins in on the fun as FollyFest continues this week with the idolatry and attachment of Scripture to sports, removing God's Word from churches, the wokeness of Christian Universities, and pro-life activists being sentenced to prison. We tie all this into this week's featured heresy of Pelagianism. Do we have the ability to be "good"? Do we choose God or does God choose us? What are the implications of the dangerous doctrine of double predestination? All of that and more on this week's episode! Enjoy. "This Train" is sung by Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

Lots to catch up on today. On this episode we talk through a couple of follies that are hitting our culture - the remaking of classic movies, the stupidity of Christians, and a GenZ Bible to name a few. We then take a constructive turn to begin talking about some of the ancient heresies (a different kind of folly) that have plagued our churches for generations. Today we touched on Nestorianism, the belief that Christ's two natures can be separated. What are the implications of this for our faith and why is it so important to confess in the hypostatic union (Jesus is 100% man AND 100% God)? All this and more on this week's episode of Suffering Servants! Enjoy.

In this frigid episode, we talk about the impact of the cold on our ministry. We then pick up the conversation where we left off last week about apostasy, but this time with a bit of a stronger emphasis on the pastor. We also take a look at an article by Carl Trueman, who writes what the church can learn from the Lutherans, in particular suffering. Enjoy! Lessons from the Lutheran Tradition by Carl Trueman Follies this week include the cold and snow and the "church" of unbelievers!

We don't talk about apostasy much in the church. "Falling away" is a very real thing that is plaguing the church and people don't even realize it. Scripture speaks of warnings many times and we would do well to heed to these warnings. In this episode, we talk about what apostasy is, how does one end up falling into this, and how can we prevent it. We go where God has promised to reveal Himself to us: in the assembly where we hear His Word and receive His gifts.

We are kicking off 2024 with a bang, talking about Christian charity and what is our response to the love that Christ Jesus has shown to us. In this episode we review Christmas, both personally and at the Family of God (the good, bad, and ugly). We then take a look at an article written by a student that we felt missed the mark about why we as Christians love and serve our neighbors. Is it a "should"? Or is it a "get to" when it comes to charity. All that and more as we bring in another year on the Suffering Servants podcast. Enjoy! New music is "Cold World" by Red from their latest album "Rated R"

It's the first Christmas episode for the Suffering Servants podcast! We are joined by two familiar voices (Nick and Joel) and a new voice (Dean) on the show today where we talk about a ton of Christmas happenings. Has Christmas become "too secular"? What can our response be? What is the significance of the Virgin Mary giving birth to a son? Does it matter that she is a virgin? (yes). We also talk about some of our favorite Christmas memories. Enjoy! And Merry Christmas to all of you. *note from Tyler* - this was my first time with 5 microphones and as an amateur podcaster, it was harder to navigate than I thought. Please bear with us through some of the echo, especially for the last 25 minutes or so. While the sound might not be pristine, the content is exceptional.

Today, as Pastor Hill finishes his vacation, Tyler is joined by a dear friend of the Family of God. Ron Hughes has been serving with us for over ten years and has become an intricate part of the ministry. Our people love him and gravitate towards him because of his experiences. On the show today, we talk about those experiences. As a veteran in recovery, Ron has much to say with regard to faith, community, and the power of the Holy Spirit. He talks about his journey as a recovering alcoholic and how God works in our lives, especially at our lowest moments. We pray that you are blessed by the conversation today. If you would like to be put in contact with Ron, please let us know!

We are back this week with an intriguing read: Faith in the Face of Tyranny. We talk through the importance of the Bethel Confession, a document composed by German pastors Herman Sasse and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, with a similar skeleton to the Formula of Concord. What is the role of the Holy Scriptures in our lives? What about the Aryan Paragraph and the Jewish Question? What is the risk to taking a stand when groups openly oppose specific groups of people? All that and more on this week's show. Follies include virtue signaling, compromising your faith, and "THEE" Ohio State University.

"This episode is incredibly special to me. To sit and chat with one of my favorite people in the whole world truly is such a gift. I pray that you hear my sister's story of her multiple trips to the NICU with her son, Beckham, and with her, truly see the goodness of God even in our suffering." - Tyler We do not own the rights to the song "Goodness of God" by Jenn Johnson and Bethel Music.

On today's episode, Pastor Nick joins us as we continue our discussion on Pastor Bradley Gray's book, Finding God in the Darkness. Mental illness has a way of crippling the one that it ails and so often it feels like there is no way out. Empty words are spoken over the one who is suffering, yet there still seems to be no hope. What is the solution? Is it memorizing more Scripture? Is it "just have more faith"? Or is it turning to the only one who can sit with you in the depths of mental illness, because He truly does value your suffering, and refuses to let you go through it alone. All that and more on this weeks episode! Enjoy! Another episode about Depression: https://sufferingservants.buzzsprout.com/2105824/12218750 Follies include alligators in Lake Michigan, the rich in Gaza raging war, and social media censoring a manifesto of a murderer. You can read it here.

On this week's episode, we digest Halloween and all the happenings from the week. Then we take a turn and look at chapter one of Pastor Bradley Gray's "Finding God in the Darkness." Pastor Gray is writing from a personal traumatic experience from a few years ago in which God allowed him and his family to experience some intense suffering. What has he learned? Where was God? What are some of the platitudes that we may offer up as an excuse to not suffer with our brothers and sisters? What is our response to suffering? All of this and more this week. Have a listen! Purchase Pastor Bradley Gray's book, Finding God in the Darkness Follies of the week include a Halloween snafu, and, of course, the ongoing Michigan Football scandal.

"He who stands alone falls." Pastor Hill drops a great thought about men and women in the ministry who try to be "hero" servants and serve a great mission, but do it alone. This person has made themselves a prime target for the enemy to pick them off and suffocate them. What can we do? How can seminary training prepare pastors better so that they don't end up trying to serve Christ by their lonesome? Pastor Joel Werner of Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church in Livonia joins our conversation today as a pastor with nearly four months of pastoral experience. He shares from his time at the seminary and provides some deep insights into what the Church may or may not be able to do to equip not just pastors, but members of the congregation. We also review (from last week) the six elements that the Church should perhaps look inwardly about. All that and a bag of chips on this week's episode! Follies include a tire store, and of course, Michigan football. "Pia Desideria" Reimagined for Contemporary Theological Education: https://place.asburyseminary.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1299&context=asburyjournal A History of Lutheranism: https://www.amazon.com/History-Lutheranism-Eric-W-Gritsch/dp/0800634721/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3FYM61WJMSEPU&keywords=a+history+of+lutheranism+gritsch&qid=1697733866&sprefix=%2Caps%2C220&sr=8-1

On today's episode, we introduce pietism! What role does piety play in our lives as Christians? Pastor Hill unveils 6 concepts that we would do well to pay attention to in our fight against an ever changing Christian culture: 1) Restore the Bible to the people 2) Revive the priesthood of all believers 3) Understand that knowledge devoid of action is empty 4) Avoid unnecessary dogmatic arguments 5) Reform pastoral formation to show pastors how to BE disciples 6) Preaching without edification is dangerous. We will be unpacking these concepts more next week. For now, enjoy the introductory conversation! Follies of the week include a Florida pastor using his people to build a multi-million dollar entity, and online worshippers lead in Bible reading. "Pia Desideria" Reimagined for Contemporary Theological Education: https://place.asburyseminary.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1299&context=asburyjournal A History of Lutheranism: https://www.amazon.com/History-Lutheranism-Eric-W-Gritsch/dp/0800634721/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3FYM61WJMSEPU&keywords=a+history+of+lutheranism+gritsch&qid=1697733866&sprefix=%2Caps%2C220&sr=8-1

The Rev. Dr. Jim Marriott joins Tyler on this week's episode! Jim taught at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, where Tyler attended, and now serves as the Associate Pastor at small Texas church outside of Austin. He also teaches theology and music at Concordia University Texas where he is also the chairman of the theology department. On this episode, we talked about the use of liturgy in suffering, difficult transitions, and yes, we talked a little bit about the ongoing struggle with Concordia and the LCMS. Enjoy!