The Whole Counsel

True-Hearted Disciple II: Where Authentic Discipleship Begins

https://www.mediagratiae.org/true-hearted-discipleship
Last week Dr. John Snyder introduced you to our newest study, The Nature and Practice of True-Hearted Discipleship. The eight-week study is written and taught by Dr. Ian Hamilton. As a further introduction to the study, we wanted to give you a preview of the video sessions. So this week we present to you session one, Where Authentic Discipleship Begins. The full study will officially launch November 15.
In the 8 workbook lessons and accompanying video sermons, Dr. Ian Hamilton seeks to guide you back to Scripture in order to examine what Jesus has to say about what it means to be His follower. The life of a disciple begins with a radically transformative new birth, and from that birth flows a life of following Jesus in obedience.
Embracing all that Jesus says about discipleship will cost you everything, but as you unequivocally surrender your life to Him, you will truly find it.
If you would like more information about the study or to order it, visit https://www.mediagratiae.org/true-hearted-discipleship
Endorsements for The Nature and Practice of True-Hearted Discipleship:
“What does it mean to be an authentic disciple of Jesus Christ? The Bible gives us clear answers to this question, but many have not considered its teaching carefully and systematically. In this valuable little book, Ian Hamilton helps us walk step-by-step through the teaching of scripture. Each lesson is brief and interactive, with examples and application seamlessly interwoven throughout. I highly commend this study for individuals and families. It gives Bible answers to some of the most foundational spiritual questions.”
Jonathan Master, President, Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
"In this deeply encouraging and timely study on the nature of Christian discipleship, Dr. Hamilton shows believers that following Jesus is not merely a way of words, but a way of life. He challenges God’s people to beware of superficial forms of spirituality, and reminds us that biblical discipleship is Christ-centered, countercultural, and costly. Perfect for individual and group studies, I cannot recommend this volume highly enough."
Dr. Jon Payne, Senior Minister of Christ Church. PCA, Charleston
Show Notes:
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

True-Hearted Disciple I: Interview with Dr. Ian Hamilton

https://www.mediagratiae.org/true-hearted-discipleship
Behind the scenes at Media Gratiae we have been busily working on our next study, The Nature and Practice of True-Hearted Discipleship by Ian Hamilton. This eight-week study focuses on a topic near and dear to Dr. Hamilton’s heart. The study will be available for purchase on November 15, but we wanted to give you a bit of the heart behind the content. To that end, Dr. John Snyder has a conversation with Dr. Hamilton about the study, why he chose the topic, and why it is so important for today’s church.
Next week we will give you session one of the study so you can see a bit of it for yourself. If you want more information visit https://www.mediagratiae.org/true-hearted-discipleship
Some words about The Nature and Practice of True-Hearted Discipleship
“What does it mean to be an authentic disciple of Jesus Christ? The Bible gives us clear answers to this question, but many have not considered its teaching carefully and systematically. In this valuable little book, Ian Hamilton helps us walk step-by-step through the teaching of scripture. Each lesson is brief and interactive, with examples and application seamlessly interwoven throughout. I highly commend this study for individuals and families. It gives Bible answers to some of the most foundational spiritual questions.”
Jonathan Master, President, Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
"In this deeply encouraging and timely study on the nature of Christian discipleship, Dr. Hamilton shows believers that following Jesus is not merely a way of words, but a way of life. He challenges God’s people to beware of superficial forms of spirituality, and reminds us that biblical discipleship is Christ-centered, countercultural, and costly. Perfect for individual and group studies, I cannot recommend this volume highly enough."
Dr. Jon Payne, Senior Minister of Christ Church. PCA, Charleston

Reformation Day Special Episode: The Church Bible Study Session

This year our podcast happens to be published on Reformation Day, October 31. We wanted to take advantage of this opportunity and present to you a special episode commemorating the day Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to Wittenburg Castle Church. To do so, we are presenting to you Session 9 from our study, The Church: Her Nature, Authority, Purpose and Worship. In this session, Dr. Jeffrey Johnson is before Martin Luther’s house in Germany to discuss the teachings of the true Christian church. We pray it is a blessing to you. If you want to see more from the study, click the link in the description below.
Also, for today only we are discounting the price of the The Church: Pillar and Ground of Truth documentary. You can see more here: https://shop.mediagratiae.org/collections/the-church

Living with the True God IV: Approaching Judges Alongside Joshua

Living with the True God: Lessons from Judges - https://www.mediagratiae.org/lessons-from-judges
For the last three weeks Dr. John Snyder and Teddy James have been discussing the book of Judges. Our desire has been to make you aware of how much this book speaks to our current era.
To conclude this short series we want to present you with session one of our study, Living with the True God: Lessons from Judges. If you would like to get a more complete preview of the study by going through chapter one of the workbook follow the link below.
Show Notes:
Weeks 1 preview: https://shop.mediagratiae.org/a/members/326e6bce-c6c4-4d33-afb8-a70d9e341652/b31729a2-2f15-4aaf-922c-2f731b0cfdbd
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Living with the True God III: Right in Our Own Eyes

Living with the True God: Lessons from Judges - https://www.mediagratiae.org/lessons-from-judges
The refrain of Judges is “Every man did what was right in his own eyes.” When we stop to consider this statement it can become quite shocking. Gideon, a man who feared God, shaped a golden ephod and led his family into idolatry for generations. Jephthah committed human sacrifice. Eleven tribes attempted genocide against Benjamin. And through all this, each person was convinced he was doing what was right. In many cases, the people convinced themselves their actions were pleasing to God.
In this week’s episode, Dr. John Snyder and Teddy James have their final discussion on the heartbreaking book of Judges. There was so much to say we couldn’t keep it to our normal 30 minutes and instead chatted for an hour. And there was still so much more we wanted to say!
While the content of this episode is shocking and heartbreaking, we pray it pushes you to pursue holiness in Christ with a renewed vigor and earnestness.

Living with the True God II: Extraordinary Importance of Ordinary Lives

Living with the True God: Lessons from Judges - https://www.mediagratiae.org/lessons-from-judges
The book of Judges is an extraordinary book. It records times of great peril, eras of God’s grace, and heartbreaking seasons of idolatry. The people of Israel wrongly believed that since the battle for Canaan was over their battle against idolatry and sin was as well. As New Testament believers reading this account know, the battles for their hearts was just beginning.
In this week’s episode of our series giving you an overview of the Judges, Dr. John Snyder and Teddy James discuss the season of the Christian’s life that can seem so mundane and ordinary. It is the everyday life where the greatest victories of the Christian life happen. We can certainly celebrate victories over sin we once thought unbeatable. But when the battle is over and we return home, we must continue to be vigilant. We must continue leaning on our Beloved.
Again, this episode is just a fly-by of this often-misunderstood book of the Old Testament. For a more in-depth study of Judges, consider the Media Gratiae study, Living with the True God: Lesson from Judges. https://www.mediagratiae.org/lessons-from-judges.

Living with the True God I: Overview of Judges

The book of Judges can be a difficult book to understand. There are scenes and characters that confuse and alarm us. There are actions of God’s people that bother us. Sadly this can result in many Christians misreading or completely neglecting the book. But we must remember this is part the inspired word of God (2 Tim 3:16). God considers it necessary for the Christian life, and so must we.
That begs the question: Why? Why is Judges so important? What can we learn of Christ? What would the Christian life be missing with out? This week we begin a series highlighting this piece of Scripture. If you want to go deeper into the book, Media Gratiae has a seven-session study called Living with the True God: Lessons from Judges. We briefly mention it in the beginning of the podcast, but if you want more information about the study, you can click the link below.
Show Notes:
Living with the True God: Lessons from Judges - https://www.mediagratiae.org/lessons-from-judges
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Revival Sermon: William Chalmer Burns (Psalm 110:2)

This week we are presenting a special episode to you. Several years ago Andrew Davies, a long-time friend of Media Gratiae and contributor to our Behold Your God studies, visited New Albany, MS. While he was here we asked him to read select sermons preached during the Great Awakening. One of those sermons was originally preached by William Chalmer Burns.
Burns was a contemporary of Andrew Bonar and Robert Murray M’Cheyne in Scotland. Because of his godliness, he was offered a number of offices in large churches but turned each one down because he had on his heart to preach the gospel in China. He saw very little fruit there, but took the opportunity to mentor a young missionary by the name of Hudson Taylor. If you are unfamiliar with the work of Taylor, you can search through our archives as we have mentioned him multiple times throughout our podcasts. We also highly recommend his two-volume biography and will put a link to it below.
We pray this sermon is a blessing to you.
Show Notes:
Hudson Taylor Biography - https://www.davidsonpublishing.org/hudson-taylor.html
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

The Call of Wisdom VII: Dig for Treasure

During the gold rush of the 1800’s, men packed up their families and moved out west in search of treasure. Friends and family may have thought them crazy for taking such risks on the small chance of riches. But no one would have faulted the same men if they suddenly found a vein of gold and refused to eat or sleep until they have dug to the end of that vein.
When it comes to studying Scripture, it is helpful to think of it as digging in a mine. We go where others have found treasure before, trusting that we will find it as well. But there is one major difference between those who mine the Scriptures and those who mine for gold: we are guaranteed a reward for our efforts.
God is the author of Scripture and the same Holy Spirit that worked in the lives of its human authors is living and working in every believer. But that does not mean the work of reading, studying, interpreting, and applying will be easy.
As you do the hard work of studying and praying, keep the end goal in mind. God’s ultimate purpose is not that you would have the ability, like the Puritans, to write multiple volumes on one verse of Scripture. God’s purpose in your life is for you to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Let that aim, that goal, that purpose, be the fuel that prevents you from stopping short and getting lazy. Follow the example of Martin Luther said that he would beat against the Scriptures until he wrung our every drop of truth and application from its pages.
Show Notes:
Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs https://banneroftruth.org/us/store/christian-living/the-rare-jewel-of-christian-contentment/
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

The Call of Wisdom VI: God Teaches Those Who Cry Out

In this week's episode, Dr. John Snyder and Teddy James engage in an imaginative discussion. What if we could bring back masters in their fields like J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, George Whitefield, Albert Einstein, or Hudson Taylor to teach us in Northeast Mississippi? If they were to offer tutoring near our homes, we'd do whatever necessary to be present and prepared to learn from them.
As previously discussed, wisdom has called out to us. God Himself has promised to teach us His word. Sadly, we often approach Scripture unprepared, uninterested, and unwelcoming. Yet, there's no greater privilege in human life than meeting with our Creator. Therefore, we must come to Scripture filled with prayer, crying out to the One who is willing and able to teach us all we need to know.
But how do we read and study well? John provides helpful tips on approaching personal Bible study. He and Teddy then discuss how to pray while studying Scripture to maximize its impact on our pursuit of holiness. We'll delve deeper into this subject next week.
Resources mentioned:
Hendrickson Commentaries https://www.accordancebible.com/product/bakers-hendriksen-kistemaker-nt-commentary-12-volumes/
New International Commentaries
Old Testament: https://www.christianbook.com/page/academic/bible-commentaries/nicot?srsltid=AfmBOorKYTUSA9vqpFT4J28fPCsHtRUqdWc4Y6KgJKScSgsH33N0UkaS
New Testament: https://www.christianbook.com/apps/easyfind?Ntt=nicnt&Ntk=keywords&action=Search&Ne=0&event=ESRCQ&nav_search=1&cms=1&ps_exit=KEYWORD|legacy&ps_domain=www&aq=NIC
Geneva Commentaries: https://banneroftruth.org/us/store/series/geneva-series-of-commentaries/
John MacArthuer commentaries: https://www.gty.org/store/macarthurcommentaries
Welwyn Commentaries: https://us.10ofthose.com/series/welwyn-commentary-series
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app