TGC Podcast

Good Faith Debates #3: Should the Pro-life Cause Encompass 'Womb to Tomb' or Focus on the Womb?

In spring 2022, TGC released a five-part video debate series featuring prominent Christian thinkers discussing some of the most divisive issues facing the church today. On today’s episode, we’re featuring the third debate, where Scott Klusendorf and Karen Swallow Prior discuss the pro-life cause and what it should, and should not, encompass. Pastor Jim Davis from Orlando Grace Church moderates this debate. To watch videos from the debates and download free resources for further discussion w...

Good Faith Debates #2: Is ‘Woke Church’ a Stepping Stone to Theological Compromise?

In spring 2022, TGC released a five-part video debate series featuring prominent Christian thinkers discussing some of the most divisive issues facing the church today. On today’s episode, we’re featuring the second debate, where Sean DeMars and Rebecca McLaughlin discuss whether “woke church” is a step toward theological compromise. Pastor Jim Davis from Orlando Grace Church moderates this debate.  To watch videos from the debates and download free resources for further discussion with you...

Good Faith Debates #1: How Should Christians Think About Gun Control?

In spring 2022, TGC released a five-part video debate series featuring prominent Christian thinkers discussing some of the most divisive issues facing the church today. On today’s episode, we’re featuring the first debate, where Bob Thune and Andrew Wilson discuss the topic of gun control. Pastor Jim Davis from Orlando Grace Church moderates this debate.  To watch videos from the debates and download free resources for further discussion with your staff or small group, visit goodfaithdebate...

Pastor, Keep Running Your Race

John Yates leads a pastoral panel with Matt Carter, Vermon Pierre, and Afshin Ziafat in a discussion on how hard ministry can be and what it takes to not lose heart. They discuss their personal experience of carrying the weight of the church and encountering criticism and fatigue. Together, they suggest how to prevent burnout by having: great mentors, friends inside the church, and a safe place to confess sin. They close with an emphasis on the importance of being surrounded by other believe...

Bonus: Escape from Kabul

On today’s bonus episode of TGC Podcast, we’re featuring a selection from TGC’s narrative podcast, Recorded.  In "Escape from Kabul", TGC senior writer Sarah Zylstra tells the story of God's dramatic work through the underground church in Afghanistan.  To hear the full episode, subscribe to Recorded on Apple Podcasts. 

When It's Hard to Keep Fighting the Good Fight

At TGC21, Darryl Williamson explains how Hebrews 12 uncovers the purpose of opposition in the Christian life. Spiritual conflict has been our defining reality since the fall of man, and God has used the church—people—to show himself to the world. Williamson says as we consider Christ, we cannot miss the cross and the way of suffering. Jesus doesn’t tell us to avoid suffering. Instead, he says to not be afraid about what we are about to suffer. The purpose of this suffering, Williamson expla...

Receiving Singleness as a Gift

Sam Allberry leads a breakout session at TGCW21 on receiving the gift of singleness. Allberry encourages Christians, both married and single, with three reasons why singleness is a gift and not a curse. He explains that the culture, and even sometimes the church, has taught us that we can only find happiness and intimacy through marriage. But the true, Biblical view of singleness shows us that: Singleness is good, and we should embrace it as a gift. Singleness allows us to find intimacy a...

How Discipleship Strengthens the Church

Courtney Doctor, Vanessa Hawkins, Melissa Kruger, and Trillia Newbell discuss what discipleship is and why it is important, especially within the local church. The panel defines discipleship as a lifelong growing in the knowledge of the Lord, a growing in his likeness, and a growing in affection for Christ until he returns. Kruger explains that discipleship isn’t “you becoming like me,” but instead becoming like the Lord together. A practical path to discipleship is outlined during the disc...

The Best Motivation to Pray

Julius Kim closes the Book of James with an explanation of why we should pray, tying together all the teachings from TGCW21. Kim connects all the previous teachings on steadfastness by describing what James meant in his closing statements of the book. Kim explains that what we pray about reveals the priorities of our hearts. In his letter, James teaches us exactly what we should pray and why, listing four reasons why we should remain steadfast in prayer: God hears us. God heals us. God f...

The Power of the Songs of Scripture

At TGCW21, Nancy Guthrie teaches on James chapters 4 and 5 and paints a picture of two different songs being sung to us—the world’s song of self-indulgence and self-accomplishment, and the song of God’s sovereign plan of patient endurance through suffering. She explains that we must reject the world’s song and instead, sing the song of Scripture, which tells us to wait patiently for the coming of the Lord. Singing God’s song of Scripture so that it comes out in our dreams, ambitions, and pl...

How to Become Wise

Unpacking James chapters 3 and 4 at TGCW21, Paige Benton Brown teaches us how to discern where worldliness has crept into our lives: Worldliness in Our Logic Worldliness in Our Longings Worldliness in Our Loyalties As we recognize our worldliness, we can become humble, draw near to God through repentance, and reflect the wisdom God gives. Worldly striving is no longer necessary since Christ already exalted us and seated us with Him in the heavenly places. Brown ends with the glorious new...

Are We Really Saved by Faith Alone?

Courtney Doctor teaches at TGCW21 on James 2:14-26, and carefully examines the true meaning of “faith apart from works is dead.” Are we justified by faith alone or justified by works along with faith? In her keynote address, Courtney Doctor explains that true and living faith transforms us and changes what we do, creating the good works to which James calls us. We should not muster up these good works to be right with God. Instead, we can follow the four examples of living faith James gives...

Whose Story Will You Follow?

At TGC's 2021 Women's Conference, K. A. Ellis presents a message called, “Whose Story Will You Follow?” based off of James 1 and 2. Ellis explains that the Bible is an ancient and true story that God has created for his people. She also speaks of the false stories and idols that we, as humans, are so quick to follow. Ellis, preaching from the Book of James, lays out what it means to choose to follow God’s story, instead of all the other false stories that lead us astray. The theme she crea...

Why Is It So Hard to Talk About Race?

“Our conversations will produce more light than heat if we can focus in on one argument at a time. By more carefully isolating our real disagreements, we will be better equipped to talk responsibly, listen respectfully, and find common ground and move in the direction of possible solutions.” – Isaac Adams Isaac Adams delivers a message at TGC21 addressing the question, “Why is it so hard to talk about race?” He begins with the most basic and foundational of answers from James 4: sin is the ...

God Only Gives Perfect Gifts

“It's by relying on the Father of every good and every perfect gift that we can remain steadfast under trial.” –– Mary Willson Mary Willson delivers a message at TGCW21, teaching from James chapter 1, addressing the questions and concerns that have arisen within the Church over the last couple of years around sickness, financial strain, joblessness, loneliness, disorientation, anxiety, and how to faithfully stand firm in the midst of such compounding adversity. She encourages listeners to r...

The Power We All Need

“I want to be content in the presence of God with me, no matter what the circumstances are around me.” – David Platt David Platt preaches a message at TGC21 based in Hebrews 13:1-21. He begins by reminding us that we have an adversary who wants to destroy our intimacy with Jesus and divert his people from his mission in the world, which is why we have the book of Hebrews. Platt gives 25 ways that God directs his people through instructions, expectations, declarations, and a benediction in ...

How Storytime Shapes Your Children

Every society has concepts of right and wrong, including overlaps and differences, and those concepts formulate moral ecosystems that pass down values from generation to generation. As described by Tim Keller, moral ecosystems display four distinct characteristics: moral cosmology (who we are and why we are here), moral instruction in some authoritative text, moral imagination (the stories we tell), and cohesive community made up of moral discourse, moral modeling, and moral practices. In h...

The Importance of Catechizing Your Kids

Collin Hansen delivers a message at TGC21 titled “The Duty and Delight of Catechizing Your Children.” He begins with the thesis that someone will catechize your children and follows with the pivotal question, “Will it be you or someone else?” From Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Hansen addresses the nuts and bolts of catechesis, beginning with its theological foundation and detailing how parents might engage in both formal and informal catechesis, as the Scriptures command. As parents lay the foundatio...

Christ’s Greater Covenant

Lloyd Kim delivered a message at TGC21 from Hebrews 8:6-13 titled “Christ’s Greater Covenant.” The author of Hebrews makes a case, he taught, that the New Covenant through Jesus is based on better promises of God than the Old. Those promises he described as three-fold: God will remember our sins no more God will write his laws on our hearts, and we will be his people All will know him, from the least to the greatest

Sexual Identity and Loving Our Neighbor

Sam Allberry, Rebecca McLaughlin, and Jackie Hill Perry participated in a panel discussion during TGCW21 titled “Sexual Identity and Loving Our Neighbor.” Having experienced same-sex attraction and taught extensively on issues of sexuality, each participant in the panel spoke from their own experiences—both being confronted personally by the gospel and engaging in conversations with others around the confrontational and controversial topics of sexuality. They encouraged their listeners to en...

The Pilgrim’s Purpose in Life

Bryan Chapell taught a message from Hebrews 12 during TGC21 titled “The Pilgrim’s Purpose in Life.” Amid a global pandemic, he sought to answer the ancient question, “If God is for us, why is all of this happening?” He reminded believers that God is greater than our senses and explanations—and we need him to be. What God is doing in us, he explained, is disciplining us as sons and daughters, teaching us how dear we are to each other and how dear the Savior is to us. When life hits hard and ...

Our Empathetic High Priest

Don Carson delivered a message during TGC21 titled “Our Empathetic High Priest.” Focusing in on three passages from Hebrews chapters 4-7, he emphasized three major points as it pertains to Christ’s role as our Great High Priest: — He is able to encourage us to persevere despite our weakness, brokenness, and sin. — He is able to encourage us by anchoring our hope, in his immutable promise and oath. — He is able to encourage us by being uniquely qualified to save us completely.

What's The Will of God?

Aimee Joseph led a session during TGCW21 titled “What’s Next? Discerning God’s Will.”  In a sense, she said, life is a huge series of compounding choices. At any given time, we are all in one of three places: on the verge of making a choice, in the midst of a choice, or having just made a choice. From the simple and nearly meaningless to complex and deeply significant, right choices are all around us.    Aimee addressed decision-making from a biblical view using a five-part structure:  —T...

The Secular Creed

Rebecca McLaughlin led a breakout during TGC21 titled “The Secular Creed” based loosely on her recently released book by the same title. Framing her teaching within current cultural critiques of modern evangelicalism and its history, she encourages Christians to both take the critiques seriously and avoid simply defending our tribe. She focuses on four points for consideration: - Jesus demands diversity - Jesus defines sexuality - Jesus defends women - Jesus desires repentance

The Necessity of Justification

Mike Horton delivered a message during TGC21 titled “The Necessity of Justification,” taking a look back at Luther’s discovery of the doctrine and the many factors that have affected its understanding, acceptance, or rejection by believers over the years. Correctly understanding and applying the doctrine of justification, Horton argued, is key to another needed reformation, though it does not stand alone. We must recognize the priority of justification, he encouraged his listeners, while als...

Experiencing God in Your Affliction

TGC hosted a panel discussion at the 2021 Women’s Conference titled “Experiencing God in Your Affliction.” Vaneetha Rendall Risner, Emily Jensen, Jen Oshman, and Kristin Wetherell shared from personal experience regarding pain, suffering, and loss and addressed several questions regarding faith and the strength to endure, including —How has God met you at the end of your rope? —How can we prepare for suffering? —How does the Word of God minister to you in suffering? —Are there particular ver...

The Same Jesus, Yesterday, Today, and Forever

Gospel Parenting During The Little Years

Melissa Kruger and Jen Wilkin led a conversation during a session at the 2021 TGC Women’s Conference titled “Gospel Parenting During the Little Years.” Each with older children now, the pair addressed questions regarding parenting their children through the younger years. From understanding accurate metrics for how difficult parenting small children should be to proactively teaching them the Bible in your home to relational vs. authoritarian leadership and choices about education, the women ...

Behind the Song with Steven Lufkin

In this episode of TGC’s Behind the Song, Brett McCracken interviews Phoenix-based singer/songwriter LOVKN about his story, his songwriting process, and his desire for a renaissance of artistically beautiful Christ-centered music. Raised in a creative home, Steven Lufkin was immersed in music and began attending a performing arts school in the sixth grade. From that point on, creativity and excellence were vital in his music, and he sadly found most Christian music uninspiring and inauthent...

Behind the Song with LOVKN

In this episode of TGC’s Behind the Song, Brett McCracken interviews Phoenix-based singer/songwriter LOVKN about his story, his songwriting process, and his desire for a renaissance of artistically beautiful Christ-centered music. Raised in a creative home, Steven Lufkin was immersed in music and began attending a performing arts school in the sixth grade. From that point on, creativity and excellence were vital in his music, and he sadly found most Christian music uninspiring and inauthent...

Behind the Song with Tenielle Neda

In this episode of TGC’s Behind the Song, Brett McCracken interviews Tenielle Neda about her journey to faith and writing music that can influence other people’s faith. From a farm in Australia to Australian Idol to an internship at her brother’s church and a very cool job (teaser), her uncommon story has shaped the trajectory of her life and perspective on writing and performing devotional music to nourish the church. Tenielle discusses her deeply gospel-centered songs and the important rol...

Behind the Song with Poor Bishop Hooper

In this “Behind the Song” episode of the TGC Podcast, Brett McCracken interviews Poor Bishop Hooper—Jesse and Leah Roberts—about their EveryPsalm project, which releases a new song each week, one for each Psalm. An already ambitious 3-year project became even more so when, only a few months after launch, the world was shaken by a global pandemic. But the sovereign timing of the project unexpectedly worked for good, creating a hymnal of hope and comfort for listeners in a world that seemed to...

How Gentleness Raises Us Above Cancel Culture

Scott Sauls led a session at the 2021 TGC National Conference titled “Rising Above Cancel Culture with the Fruit of Gentleness.” Quoting the inimitable Mr. Rogers, he urged his listeners to move beyond the self-aggrandizing attitudes borne of the craziness of the last year and a half and greet one another, “I like you,” especially within the church. Instead of speaking over one another and canceling people with whom we disagree, he taught, we can—and must—love one another enough to address t...

God’s People Are a Waiting People

John Onwuchekwa led a session at the 2021 TGC National Conference titled “The Christian’s Patience” from Hebrews chapter 11. Defining hope as “the feeling that the feeling you have right now isn't permanent,” Onwuchekwa reminded listeners of its importance while also encouraging us to guard against the idea that identifying Christ as our source of hope is the end of the journey. Hope inherently assumes waiting, and we’re not great at that practice; practice doesn’t make us better at it. Onw...

Finding Peace in the Midst of an Anxious World

Betsy Childs Howard led a discussion with Suzanne Bates, Courtney Reissig, and Kristin Wetherell in a breakout session at the TGC 2021 Women’s Conference titled “Steadfast Hope in an Anxious World.”  They addressed different types of anxiety, the notion that anxiety is sin, scriptural vs. sinful responses to anxiety, anxiety as spiritual warfare, and medical treatments for anxiety, among other topics. They offered specific and practical hope for women struggling with anxiety, encouraging th...

How the Cross Provides Healing for Abuse Victims

Speaking primarily from his own traumatic experiences and pastoring others through their own, Matthew Spandler-Davidson led a workshop for pastors at the 2021 TGC National Conference titled “How the Cross Offers Healing for Victims of Abuse.”  Having both experienced and seen abuse as a child—from beatings to rape to being smothered with a pillow—he was left shy, insecure, bitter, angry, and self-centered. It was through the care of a rugged fisherman with a thick Scottish accent, a glass e...

Why You Should Attend Church Every Week

New Testament patterns clearly show that the normal practice of the church is to meet for embodied acts of corporate worship and mutual edification. - Matt Merker Matt Merker led a workshop at the 2021 TGC National Conference titled “Gathered by God’s Grace” to encourage pastors as they move toward assembling in more traditional ways after tight guidelines from the pandemic are loosened. He walked through the gathering of God’s people in both the Old and New Testaments, focusing on how they...

Even in Our Anxiety, God Is in Control

“We serve a God who is not only powerful—not only does he have utter control of everything that's going on in our lives—but we serve one who has tasted death on our behalf.” – Alasdair Groves Alasdair Groves taught a breakout session at TGC’s 2021 National Conference titled, “Nothing Outside His Control” as a response to the anxiety that is common to our human experience and amplified through current events. Defining anxiety as “the reality that, in the fallen world, there will be sufferin...

Motherhood and the Hope of the Gospel

TGC hosted a panel discussion during the 2021 Women’s Conference titled “Motherhood and the Hope of the Gospel” with Christine Hoover, Trillia Newbell, Irene Sun, and Laura Wifler. Against the backdrop of such a difficult last year for mothers everywhere dealing with the reality of pandemic-driven changes, the panel offered words of hope for those who are tired and weary.  Mental health, emotional health, relational strain, and all sorts of suffering and struggle common to motherhood were ...

John Piper on the Essential Achievement of Christ

John Piper preached a message at TGC’s 2021 National Conference on “The Essential Achievement of Christ” from Hebrews 9:1-10:18. Through this text, Piper expounded upon six manifestations of Christ’s greatness, magnifying the central achievement—the removal of guilt—and the averting of the wrath of God from those who are in Christ Jesus. He preached: Christ the Great Absence Christ the Great Achievement Christ the Great Accession Christ the Great Application Christ the Great Arrival C...

Jackie Hill Perry on the Power of Words

Jackie Hill Perry taught a message at TGC’s 2021 Women’s Conference titled “Steadfast Speech: A Mighty Little Tongue.” James chapter 3 formed the backdrop for her admonition to carefully control the tongue by the power of the Spirit. Perry taught that the tongue is accountable, the tongue is powerful, and the tongue is inconsistent. Creating a better world through our words, she suggested, comes by addressing those realities in three ways. She called her listeners to be honest, to behold, a...

Gentle Savior, Gentle Shepherd

Speaking at TGC’s 2021 National Conference, Dane Ortlund delivered a message titled “Gentle Savior, Gentle Shepherd.” He addressed a common insufficiency many believers—and church leaders, specifically—possess when it comes to really knowing Christ. Through four Old Testament passages, Ortlund outlined the gracious, merciful, compassionate character of God that “rolled out the red carpet and constructed a perfectly fitted throne” for the King who would appear in the New Testament to inhabit...

Forgiveness: The Hardest and Most Life-Changing Thing We Can Do

Vaneetha Rendall Risner delivered a message titled “Forgiveness: The Hardest and Most Life-Changing Thing We Can Do” at TGC’s 2021 Women’s Conference. Speaking from her own difficult experience learning to forgive someone who had hurt her deeply, she encouraged those listening to explore and understand what forgiveness really is—allowing God to heal them through the process. Risner clarified what forgiveness is and, just as importantly, what it is not, as she outlined what it means to forgi...

Female Bravery and the Mission of God

Jen Wilkin delivered a message at TGC’s 2021 National Conference called “Female Bravery and the Mission of God.” Walking through Scripture, Wilkin relayed stories of women who feared God rather than men and stood against the Serpent, risking their very lives. The imagery revealed in the stories, she taught, is the metaphor necessary for the modern church to understand in order to also be shrewd as a serpent and innocent as a dove—overcoming the enemy that wages war against our very souls.

Are African Americans Really Free at Last?

Phillip Holmes moderated a panel with Carl Ellis and Walter Strickland at TGC's 2021 National Conference titled “Free at Last: The Gospel and the African American Experience 25 Years Later.” From the framework developed in Carl Ellis’s Free At Last, the panel addressed questions regarding the African American experience over the last 400 years, including history, cultural contexts, and cultural biases and how that has affected African Americans and their faith.    

The Now-and-Forever Kingdom of God

Paige Brown taught a session at TGC's 2021 Women’s Conference titled “Kingdom Matters.” Many believers, she posited, focus their belief mainly on how we are saved (justification), while lessening the theological and practical importance of what we are saved to do. The kingdom, she proclaimed, is not only good for the future but is meant for today and should permeate every part of our world. And it is the role of the church—of every believer—to proclaim the goodness of the kingdom.

Before You Lose Your Faith: Deconstruction and the Church

Brett McCracken hosted a panel discussion at TGC's 2021 Women’s Conference with Alisa Childers, Preston Perry, and Trevin Wax titled “Before You Lose Your Faith: Deconstructing Doubt in the Church," addressing the topic of healthy deconstruction as discussed in the book by the same name. The panel addressed multiple questions, from what healthy deconstruction looks like to cultural structures that fuel deconstruction processes, to how believers address conversation about deconstruction, and ...

Can I Lose My Salvation?

Mike Kruger delivered a message at TGC’s 2021 Women’s Conference titled “Can I Lose My Faith? Understanding Apostasy.” Susan Pevensie, of The Chronicles of Narnia fame, serves as the jumping off point of the message, having been so central to the beginning of Lewis’s storyline, yet so glaringly absent from its conclusion. As Peter, her brother, explained, she was eventually “no longer a friend of Narnia.” Her story is reminiscent of many believers who seem to be strong in their faith but eve...

The Hard Work of Lifelong Friendships

Christine Hoover delivered a message at TGC's 2021 Women’s Conference titled “Messy Beautiful Friendship: Learning to Love Others in a Christlike Way.” Speaking from her own experiences building friendships—first as a child, then as an adult—Hoover discussed the “wish dream”: the idealized vision of a perfect friendship that too many women embrace. She compared this to the reality of mature, biblical friendship that, despite all its flaws and blemishes, is a priceless gift from God. She loo...

Julius Kim on Witnessing in Weakness

Julius Kim delivered a message to the Bay Area Regional Chapter of TGC titled “Weakness & Witness” as part of the series “Testify: Bearing Witness to Christ in the Present Age.” 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 served as the text by which Kim encouraged his listeners to testify to the goodness of God even in the midst of overwhelming weakness.  When we feel intimidated, overwhelmed, hopeless, powerless, paralyzed, and demoralized in the face of a culture that esteems success and shuns godliness, we ar...