To flourish, a church not only needs a strong elder team, but a strong deacon team as well. That’s the message of Acts 6 when the apostles chose seven deacons to minister to widows who had been neglected. This division of labor is vital to the health of the local church. Even as elders are to focus on preaching and shepherding, the deacons are to meet the practical needs of the saints.

In this podcast, Scott Brown and Jason Dohm, joined by special guest Chad Roach, discuss the high calling of deacons, and urge younger men to aspire to this church office, as the Lord leads. Drawing from his personal experience, Chad shares how serving as a deacon has been one of the most fulfilling roles he’s ever played. When done well, the labor of deacons becomes a force multiplier of the elders’ work, something Chad has seen in action. His conclusion affirms that of Scripture—for the good of Christ’s church, more godly men should seek this noble post.

In today’s world, we’ve been flooded by a sea of lies on what manhood and womanhood really is. These weapons of mass confusion have led to tragic outcomes for boys, girls, marriage, as well as the local church. This distortion of gender roles has come about because we’ve rejected the plain teaching of Scripture—that “God created man in His own image,” and that He created every person either “male and female” (Gen. 1:27), with each having distinct roles they are called to fulfill.

In this podcast, Scott Brown and Jason Dohm outline four key pillars of manhood and womanhood: (1) Gender is not fluid, as God created men and women as distinctly different; (2) Men are to lead and women follow; (3) Women are not allowed to teach and exercise authority over men in the church; and (4) Women are not allowed to speak in the formal meeting of the church. Though the world finds these distinctives to be stifling, the full and glorious life of a godly woman is found when she embraces her complementary role, even as a godly man embraces his.

In this podcast, Scott Brown and Jason Dohm, joined by special guest Joel Beeke, discuss how God’s law is not only a tool of conviction to bring us to Christ, but it is a positive rule of life for the believer. The Ten Commandments, they explain, gives a map for how to live the Christian life by earnestly loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves. While freely acknowledging that we’re saved by grace alone, our desire should be that of David’s, “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day” (Ps. 119:97).

No one can be justified by keeping the law. Yet, as Christians, we should strive to obey God’s law out of sheer gratitude to Him for saving us. Once freed from the bondage of sin, our desire should be to do his will, viewing His law as a reflection of His personal holiness. Sadly, many professing Christians have adopted the antinomian falsehood that since we’re saved by grace, we don’t need to keep the law anymore—a point which Scripture soundly condemns: “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not!” (Rom. 6:1-2).