Many earnest Christians have been influenced by a few decades of cultural diktat that faith is a matter between themselves and God—that they can be good Christians yet live in a solitary bubble, going to church every so often, but otherwise blissfully conforming to “the realities of everyday life.”

Unfortunately, this attitude has no biblical endorsement. Faith may be personal, but it’s not intended to be private. Jesus called on his people to be “light of the world”--to illuminate the truth of the Gospel not by just word, but by the way we live. We discuss the significance of this call as well as the advice Paul gave Timothy about how best to shine, even when facing inevitable resistance.

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The apostles' commission of the first deacons is our jumping off point for a discussion on leadership and service roles men can take in their church. We share our experience working as teachers, participating on missions teams and serving on pastor search committees. We talk about the need for discernment, the importance of training and whether one should do the same work for church as one does for a living (Steve says no, Robert says yes) or just be prepared go where needed.

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Christians are commanded to "make disciples of all nations," but does that mean aggressively knocking on doors and preaching and proselytizing, or are there better ways to share one's faith? And does everyone have a gift for evangelism to begin with? We discuss the Great Commission, its goal and the responsibilities it presents. Are there better ways to bring others to Christ than the classic apologetics of the "Roman Road," or testimony that veers into TMI? We talk about out experiences with evangelism, what works and what doesn't.

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From the very beginning, Christians gathered to worship, teach and break bread. We explore the concept of Koinonia, generally translated as "fellowship," and how its significance carried forward from the early church. We try to define fellowship in the context of modern Christian social life--is it more than game nights and picnics, or is all that the point? We also discuss the vital component of the Eucharist in Christian worship, and the different traditions we each grew up with.

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Love the Lord your God and love your neighbor. “Upon these two commandments,” says Jesus, “hang the whole Law and Prophets.” This isn’t difficult statement. Jesus is giving us the default standard for the Law--love. The Pharisees were intent of debating every nuance and letter to the point it was the only thing that gave meaning to their relationship with God. Even today, Christians want to use the Bible to justify all sorts of reasons to isolate and hate their neighbors. The Greatest Commandment is the baseline measure. It forces us Christians to ask if we are showing love or just indulging bigotry, or displaying fear and insecurity, or hiding pride and self-righteousness behind scripture. The church answer is always “God loves you.” The follow-up question is how will you let that change you.

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There's more at church than the Sunday service. A Sunday School class offers direct engagement with the scriptures in an informal group. We discuss the value of a good Sunday School class and how best to prepare as a participant. We also talk about our experiences with Bill's Man Up Formula for creating and leading a men's Bible study class. Download or listen or watch this episode on our No Church Answers YouTube channel.

Find the Man Up Formula: How Your Church Can Build an Effective Discipleship Group For Men on Amazon.

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We finished our study of Seth Troutt's Authentic Masculinity: Leaving Behind the Counterfeits for God's Design with a discussion of the roles Troutt puts at the top of the pyramid: Husband and Father. Unlike Son and Brother, these two are roles men chose. Troutt says they are "normative" in God's plan for men, a notion that already might ruffle some feathers. But to do them well, the require the maturity and self-knowledge built through experience. Is the Christian idea of marriage traditional or countercultural? Confining or liberating? Listen and argue.

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After offering his perspectives on masculine virtues, in the second half of Authentic Masculinty: Leaving Behind the Counterfeits for God's Design, author Seth Troutt addresses masculine roles. He defines these broadly, but bottom line, to him a “role” is all about what a man should be doing and how he ought to function in the world. Troutt identifies five specific roles a man will take throughout his life. This week we cover the first three.

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