Shows
The ParrhesiansDr. John Gerstner on John 3:16 | Part 3Send us a text“This is a perishing world. Your neighbors are perishing. Maybe some of you I’m looking at right now are perishing. […] Everyone is either on their way to heaven or on their way to hell.” This is the last installment of a three-part series Dr. John Gerstner gave at Beverly Heights Presbyterian Church in 1984 on the riches of John 3:16. It focuses on God’s love of the “world,” the sovereign will of the Spirit, and those who believe. In this episode, Dr. Gerstner discusses the world as a burning house, God’s obl...
2025-07-2148 min
The ParrhesiansSpeech, Sight, Sacrifice: Signs of a Healthy ChurchSend us a textIn a previous episode, Peter, Pastor Nate, and Kyle discussed how we measure church health and vitality. What does it mean that a church is healthy? What does it look like for it to be sick? They continue this exploration by providing several signs for what makes a church healthy. Such as, - The congregation's words are more informed by the Word than the world. They speak less like Moabites and more like the ancient Israelites. The Pharisees don't have their tongue but the Prince of Peace.- The c...
2025-07-0734 min
The ParrhesiansDr. John Gerstner on John 3:16 | Part 2Send us a textThis is part two of a three-part series Dr. John Gerstner, long-time professor at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, gave at Beverly Heights Presbyterian Church in 1984 on the riches of John 3:16.In this episode, Dr. Gerstner discusses the need for apologetics, the insult that is evangelism, the condemnation that can come through missions, and how the road to hell is paved with pluralism, gentility, and tolerance. Dr. Gerstner reminds us that we were there when the Son was crucified. Except He wasn’t our Lord then. He was our enemy. And we...
2025-06-2045 min
The ParrhesiansNo, You're Unhealthy: Taking Stock of Church Vitality and EffectivenessSend us a text“I told my doctor he was counting my heart rate incorrectly.” You ever heard that before? Yeah, me neither. People who know, know, and we trust them. “It’s all about perception.” “Your church is unhealthy.” “We’re just trying to help.” You ever heard that before? Yeah, me, too. All the time. People who don’t know are always vying for your ear. What does it mean that a church is healthy? What does it look...
2025-06-061h 23
The ParrhesiansDr. John Gerstner on John 3:16 | Part 1Send us a textIn this three-part series, recorded at Beverly Heights Presbyterian Church in 1984, Dr. John Gerstner explores the depths of the riches of John 3:16.But, Dr. Gerstner asserts that this "golden text" of scripture is oft misunderstood. To avoid misunderstanding, we need the whole context. That's why Dr. Gerstner starts at the end of the story where Jesus answers the "why" question. Why did Jesus come into the world? He came because this is a perishing world. Dr. Gerstner was a long-time professor at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, ment...
2025-05-2239 min
The ParrhesiansWho's In Charge Here?Send us a textHe’s got the whole world in His hands. Your mother. Your girlfriend. Even Kamala. He is the true "Govenator." And He shares His power. He raises His people up and gives them responsibilities. He passes along His keys and expects His Church to use them (Matthew 18:18).But the modern church just likes to swing them around her finger. She doesn’t even know which doors they open and close. In this episode, Peter, Pastor Nate, and Kyle talk about the politics of the local church and using...
2025-05-0247 min
The ParrhesiansOverseeing Souls in Negative World: An Interview with Joe Rigney on EldershipSend us a textThree rogue elders walk into a Session meeting and slap a folder down. “We have concerns.” They leave it to Session to deal with it. Time passes, and they grow impatient. They escalate their “concerns” to a higher authority and call in reinforcements. They enlist the Presbytery to do something about it. The Presbytery nominates a few guys with good “intentions.” Those intentions take on a life of their own. They grow an ill-will, and the next thing you know, those intentions birth bullies. It all goes nuclear...
2025-04-181h 21
The ParrhesiansMembership in Negative WorldSend us a textYou can’t claim to be a Christian if you don't go to church. Likewise, you can't claim to be a member of Christ's Body if you don't read your Bible. Just call yourself a "pagan," have a coke, and smile. In this episode, Peter, Pastor Nate, and Kyle discuss the political importance of the local church. Specifically, we dive into the topic of membership and what it has to become in Negative World. The bar for membership has gotten so low it’s like we’re playing Limbo. Anyone a...
2025-04-041h 32
The ParrhesiansSpecial Edition VII - The Finale Part 1Send us a textIt's been 18 months since the Presbytery of the Alleghenies formed an Administrative Commission to "help" our church secure the peace, unity, and purity of the congregation. But instead of help, our congregation experienced conflict, lawfare, and abuse of power at the hands of EPC leadership. On Sunday, January 26, 2025, the church voted to disaffiliate with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. The vote passed 106 in favor, 13 opposed, with 89% approval. The conflict is over. Join Nate, Peter, and Kyle in Part One of this special edition of The Parrhesian Podcast, as they...
2025-02-201h 15
The ParrhesiansSpecial Edition VII - The Finale Part 2Send us a textIt's been 18 months since the Presbytery of the Alleghenies formed an Administrative Commission to "help" our church secure the peace, unity, and purity of the congregation. But instead of help, our congregation experienced conflict, lawfare, and abuse of power at the hands of EPC leadership. On Sunday, January 26, 2025, the church voted to disaffiliate with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. The vote passed 106 in favor, 13 opposed, with 89% approval. The conflict is over. Join Nate, Peter, and Kyle in Part Two of this special edition of The Parrhesian Podcast, as they...
2025-02-201h 17
The ParrhesiansResisting TyrannySend us a textIn this special edition of the Parhessian Podcast, Peter, Kyle, and Nate take on the mantle of The Layman as they discuss the recent Presbytery of the Alleghenies meeting held on Saturday, September 21, 2024. Sadly, there are many concerning issues to report. The POA not only continued its abuse of power, but there is evidence of evangelical dark money flowing into the denomination, sympathy for open borders, erosion of ordinational standards, continued disregard for constitutional fidelity, and more. In fact, the situation has become so bad, that it appears as th...
2024-09-251h 26
The ParrhesiansConformationSend us a textBaptizing babies in the church always leads to the necessity for confirmation. Confirmation is a process by which young men and women learn what it means to be a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and what it means to be a member of the church. This time-honored approach to training and confirming our youth in the faith is known as catechesis. Catechesis (a biblical word that simply means “to teach”) is the church’s ministry of grounding and growing all the people of God in the great doctrines of our faith an...
2024-09-091h 18
The ParrhesiansInfant Baptism and American RevivalSend us a textIn this episode of The Parrhedsian Podcast, Peter, Kyle and Nate discuss how a return to the practice of infant baptism may actually be the key to Christian revival, not only in America, but also in the church and in the home. https://theparrhesians.com/
2024-08-2756 min
The ParrhesiansPracticeSend us a textAs Coach Herm Edwards once said (famously)...“You play to win the game.” But you can’t win the game (with all due respect to Allen Iverson) if you don’t practice. Practice is important, it’s important for sports, it’s important for music, it’s important for almost every endeavor in life, including our life in Christ. Christians must practice their faith, and that means engaging in any number of spiritual activities, including the practice of spiritual disciplines. But practices and disciplines are not necessarily the same thing. Why is tha...
2024-08-1447 min
The ParrhesiansThe Sin of SamenessSend us a textWhen it comes to the church today there is too much sameness. Sameness is a real problem. But what does that mean? What is too much sameness? First, we need to clarify that sameness is not the same as conformity. Conformity isn’t a problem; the problem resides in the pattern after which the church is being conformed. Is the church today being conformed to Christ or to the pattern of this world? The Bible commands us to not conform to the pattern of this world but to be transformed by the renew...
2024-07-281h 37
The ParrhesiansFreedomSend us a textWe just recently celebrated the 4th of July, and our country finds itself in an election year where everyone seems to be saying that the fate of democracy is on the line. What better time to think Christianly about the subject of freedom. What is freedom? Where does it come from? How do you possess it? How does the Bible define it? These are all good questions to ask, so join, Nate, Peter, and Kyle as they talk about freedom. https://theparrhesians.com/
2024-07-101h 12
The ParrhesiansBack to BasicsSend us a textTimes of disruption and seasons of change are hard to manage. Our resting state prefers stability and so we dislike disruption. But sometimes disruption creates unique opportunities for innovation, as Clayton Christensen described in his celebrated theory on Disruptive Innovation. Other times disruption creates opportunities to take stock, reflect, and return to the fundamentals. That’s what Coach Vice Lombardi did when the Green Bay Packers lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1960’s championship. Their dream of becoming NFL champs was severely disrupted at the end of the game, but Lombardi di...
2024-06-1153 min
The ParrhesiansThe Theopolis ReportSend us a textIn this Special Edition of the Parrhesian Podcast, Nate, Peter and Kyle discuss the POA’s report on the Theopolis Institute and Dr. Peter Leithart.Your link to the report: https://theparrhesians.com/2024/05/30/the-theopolis-report/https://theparrhesians.com/
2024-06-111h 33
The ParrhesiansChurch Conflict with Special Guest Eric PhillipsSend us a textRev. Eric Phillips is the pastor of Mt. Carmel Presbyterian Church and long-time friend and colleague of Nate Devlin. Pastor Eric is finishing his Doctor of Ministry degree at Covenant Seminary in St. Loiuse, MO. His area of research is on pastoral leadership and in this Special Edition of the Parrhesian Podcast, Eric interviews Nate on the subject of conflict in the church. Join Nate and Eric and find out why it is important to engage the conflict faithfully and courageously.https://theparrhesians.com/
2024-05-171h 36
The ParrhesiansThe Essential ChurchSend us a textIs the church essential or non-essential? Does the Bible really teach that the church should occupy a place of primacy in our lives? Is the church really fundamental to our Christian identity or is it really just supplemental? In 2020 the Covid-19 pandemic caused society to shut down. And when society shut down, questions arose about what institutions in our culture were actually essential and which were non-essential. Many states in our country determined at the outset of the pandemic that the church was in fact non-essential and mandated closures.
2024-05-1343 min
The ParrhesiansRacism and the EPCSend us a textThe Evangelical Presbyterian Church recently released a document entitled “A Pastoral Letter of Racial Lament and Hope.” The paper is a pastoral word to the denomination regarding racism and the EPC’s response to this very real and serious problem. The paper was disseminated to churches in the EPC for review as well as response. The Stated Clerk of the EPC offered comments about the paper here. Peter Chace, Kyle Bennett, and Nate Devlin all read the paper and found it to be significantly problematic. They believe the paper reflects much of the wis...
2024-05-021h 41
The ParrhesiansThe System Is DownSend us a textYour system is perfectly designed to get you the results you are currently getting. As Christians, we are called to think Christianly, but every once in a while Christians should think a little bigger, especially about the systems that we create or the conditions in which we live. The world is full of unspoken and unseen systems that help govern the world and our lives. As Christians, what do we think about the system around us, such as education or human sexuality? What do we think about culture or tradition? Hospitality or ci...
2024-04-1554 min
The ParrhesiansThinking ChristianlySend us a textBeing a Christian in our world today is hard. It is made all the more difficult when Christians fail to think in a distinctly Christian way. Join Peter, Kyle, and Nate as they discuss Harry Blamires book The Christian Mind, what it means to think Christianly, and why Christian thinking is so important. https://theparrhesians.com/
2024-03-2635 min
The ParrhesiansWhat is Parrehsia?Send us a textKyle, Peter and Nate finally explain what Parrhesia is and why it matters today.https://theparrhesians.com/
2024-02-1513 min
The ParrhesiansThe Coup DocumentSend us a textKyle, Peter and Nate have a few thoughts about the coup document below:God’s plan for the congregation to take back Beverly Heights EPCWe the congregation of Beverly Heights EPC have become aware of a plan by our current pastor, Nate Devlin, and a small group of leadership including the elders, to move our church alliance from the Evangelical Presbyterian Church to another denomination/ group called Theopolis. While the basic teachings of this group seem solid, there are other teachings that that are in conflict with our ba...
2024-02-1551 min
The ParrhesiansPassing it OnSend us a textKyle Peter and Nate discuss what it means to pass on the faith to the next generation.https://theparrhesians.com/
2024-02-1547 min
The ParrhesiansWhat is a Pastor?Send us a textIn this Special Edition of the Parrhesian Podcast, Nate, Peter and Kyle discuss a recent article in Christianity Today entitled Above Reproach? Fewer Americans See Pastors as Ethical and the erosion of pastoral confidence in the culture.https://theparrhesians.com/
2024-02-1553 min
The ParrhesiansWhat Is the Point of My Salvation?Send us a text“People's lives come to ruin not because they pursue intrinsically evil states, but because they prize lower goods to the neglect of higher goods.” Byron I. Bitar, Classical Christian Worldview: Ethics Worship is job number one. But that viewpoint is not shared by the therapeutic church, which endeavors to make us feel good, nor by the missional church, which seeks to repopulate the church and perpetuate itself. The worshipping church, however, seeks to glorify God and have a people formed after the image of Christ. Such format...
2024-01-2353 min
The ParrhesiansHow Did it Go Wrong?Send us a textIf evil pervades the church, you should not shrink back from breaking with the church organization, and you should not rest until Zion is revived. ~ Abraham Kuyper (1883) In this Special Edition, episode 2 of the Parrhesian Podcast, Nate, Peter and Kyle discuss the challenges within the local church, opposition they’ve faced in their home church, and why they are seeking to leave the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.https://theparrhesians.com/
2024-01-111h 09
The ParrhesiansHow Will it End?Send us a textIf evil pervades the church, you should not shrink back from breaking with the church organization, and you should not rest until Zion is revived. ~ Abraham Kuyper (1883) In this Special Edition, episode 3 of the Parrhesian Podcast, Nate, Peter and Kyle discuss the challenges within the local church, opposition they’ve faced in their home church, and why they are seeking to leave the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.https://theparrhesians.com/
2024-01-1153 min
The ParrhesiansHow Did This Start?Send us a textIf evil pervades the church, you should not shrink back from breaking with the church organization, and you should not rest until Zion is revived. ~ Abraham Kuyper (1883) In this Special Edition of the Parrhesian Podcast, Nate, Peter and Kyle discuss the challenges within the local church, the opposition they’ve faced in their home church, and why they are seeking to leave the Evangelical Presbyterian Church denomination.https://theparrhesians.com/
2024-01-1154 min
The ParrhesiansWhat is Parrhesia anyway?What is Parrehsia? Join Nate, Kyle, and Peter as they describe what Parrhesia is and why it is so vital for our church and our world today.
2024-01-0453 min
The ParrhesiansA Theology of FriendshipSend us a text"True religion, in fact, is a kind of friendship: it is friendship of character with God. In short, friendships of character bond us to God and to each other now and forever, and perfect our nature." Byron I. Bitar, Classical Christian Worldview: Ethics Does the church rightly understand friendship? Does it possess an adequate theology of friendship? Or is the church confused about friendship? Has the category of friendship been coopted in the church by the “gay Christian” agenda? Theologian Wesley Hill claims in his book Spiritual Friendship: Finding Love in th...
2023-12-2737 min
The ParrhesiansCritical Theory and its DiscontentsSend us a textIn December 2022, Peter Chace, Kyle Bennett, and Nate Devlin sat down to record Season One of The Parrhesian Podcast. Sadly, those recordings were buried under the tyranny of other pressing matters in church and life. They were buried but not forgotten. The recordings resurfaced this week when Christianity Today published its 2024 Book Awards. Book of the Year was awarded to Christopher Watkin’s Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture. When the book was released last year, it prompted a lively (critical?) conversation among the Parr...
2023-12-191h 01