This is the seventh lesson in Dr. James J. Cassidy's Reformed Academy course, The Gospel of John: A Study in the Truth. This lesson covers the following topics:

00:00 Jesus Prays as the True High Priest

03:13 Jesus Prays for His Own Glorification

06:56 Jesus Prays for the Preservation of the Elect Based on the Pactum Salutis

24:26 Jesus Prays for the Church's Sanctification

27:13 Jesus Prays for the Church's Unity

Register for this free on-demand course on our website to track your progress and assess your understanding through quizzes for each lesson. You will also receive free access to dozens of additional video courses in covenant theology, apologetics, biblical studies, church history, and more: https://reformedacademy.org/course/gospel-of-john-a-study-in-the-truth-chapters-11-21

Your donations help us to provide free Reformed resources for students like you worldwide: https://reformedforum.org/donate/

#truth #gospel #reformedtheology #biblestudy

We welcome Matthew Adams, senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Dillon, South Carolina, to discuss his book Act Like a Man: Understanding the Biblical Call to Masculinity, published by Christian Focus. Adams argues for a vision of manhood grounded in Scripture and formed by the Holy Spirit rather than by cultural capitulation, reactionary posturing, or online personality-driven models of masculinity.

The conversation considers why the doctrine of Scripture and the work of the Spirit must come before any faithful account of biblical masculinity. Adams unfolds five marks of manhood—righteous living, sacrificial love, dependent leadership, courageous zeal, and humble servanthood—using David's life as both a positive and negative example that ultimately points to Christ. The episode also addresses contemporary challenges in the church, the need for fathers and elders to disciple younger men, and the importance of presence, faithfulness, and generational responsibility in the home and covenant community.

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Resources mentioned

• Act Like a Man: Understanding the Biblical Call to Masculinity by Matthew Adams
• Christian Focus Publications
• Reformed Forum Events
• Reformed Academy

Participants: Camden Bucey, Matthew Adams

This is the sixth lesson in Dr. James J. Cassidy's Reformed Academy course, The Gospel of John: A Study in the Truth. This lesson covers the following topics:

00:00 Faithful Witness under Persecution

03:24 The Disciples' Sorrow and Jesus's Provision

08:01 Pentecost and the Giving of the Spirit

11:13 The Church's Witness and the Spirit's Work of Conviction

18:28 The Inspired and Infallible Word of God

23:49 Sorrow Turned to Joy

Register for this free on-demand course on our website to track your progress and assess your understanding through quizzes for each lesson. You will also receive free access to dozens of additional video courses in covenant theology, apologetics, biblical studies, church history, and more: https://reformedacademy.org/course/gospel-of-john-a-study-in-the-truth-chapters-11-21

Your donations help us to provide free Reformed resources for students like you worldwide: https://reformedforum.org/donate/

#truth #gospel #reformedtheology #biblestudy

Camden Bucey and Ryan Noha sit down at Reformed Forum headquarters in Libertyville, Illinois, for a special ministry update. They discuss upcoming events, new and forthcoming Reformed Academy courses, publishing projects, international translation efforts, and ways listeners can pray for and partner with Reformed Forum.

This update includes information about the OPC General Assembly, the Rome Scholars and Leaders Network, the PCA General Assembly meetup in Louisville, the Greenville Seminary summer seminar on apologetics and evangelism, the Birmingham seminar on discovering Christ in all of Scripture, the 2026 Reformed Forum Theology Conference, and the Christ the Center 1000th episode celebration in Austin, Texas.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome and purpose for this update
• 1:14 Upcoming events and the OPC General Assembly
• 2:48 Christian identity and OPC history course
• 4:05 Rome Scholars and Leaders Network
• 5:55 PCA General Assembly meetup in Louisville
• 7:18 Greenville Seminary seminar and Defending Our Hope
• 10:08 Birmingham seminar on Christ in all of Scripture
• 11:43 2026 Reformed Forum Theology Conference
• 14:23 Christ the Center 1000th episode celebration
• 25:37 Reformed Academy: 39 free courses and active students
• 27:52 Reader's guides from international cohort courses
• 30:13 Why guided reading matters
• 33:32 Reformed Academy community and group study
• 35:20 Courses in production and the need for support
• 38:07 Upcoming Reformed Academy recordings
• 40:02 Companion books and translated resources
• 41:40 Partnership, prayer, and Reformed Forum's mission
• 44:02 Closing and how to stay connected

Participants: Camden Bucey, Ryan Noha

We welcome Matthew Vogan to discuss The Nature of the Church by John Brown of Wamphray, a concise seventeenth-century work on Presbyterian ecclesiology republished by Grange Press. Brown, a Scottish Covenanter exiled to the Netherlands, wrote with deep conviction about Christ's headship over the church, the visible and invisible church, church government, discipline, unity, and the distinction between church and state.

This conversation explores why Brown's work remains timely for pastors, elders, seminarians, and church members today. Rather than treating church government as a secondary or merely practical matter, Brown presents the church as a visible spiritual society established by Christ, governed by his Word, and ordered for the edification of his people.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 1:15 The Nature of the Church by John Brown of Wamphray
• 4:30 John Brown's life, ministry, exile, and Covenanter context
• 8:40 Matthew Vogan's introduction to John Brown
• 9:36 Brown's 32 theses and the Westminster Confession
• 10:54 A majestic view of Christ's church
• 12:33 The scope of Brown's ecclesiology
• 15:12 The church as a visible spiritual society
• 21:43 Church and state under Christ's authority
• 27:08 Scripture and Presbyterian church government
• 30:53 Brown's polemics against Erastianism, prelacy, and independency
• 35:00 Ministerial authority and edification
• 39:17 The church's spiritual government
• 42:14 The spirituality of the church
• 44:59 Key insights from Brown's work
• 46:06 Communion within the visible catholic church
• 52:21 Further reading: Durham, Gillespie, Rutherford, and Bannerman
• 53:55 Final thoughts on The Nature of the Church
• 55:00 Scottish football and closing conversation
• 56:57 Reformed Forum resources and conclusion

Participants

• Camden Bucey
• Matthew Vogan

Resources mentioned

• Grange Press
• The Nature of the Church by John Brown of Wamphray
• Trinitarian Bible Society
• Christ the Center 682: David Dickson's Sermons on Lamentations

This is the fifth lesson in Dr. James J. Cassidy's Reformed Academy course, The Gospel of John: A Study in the Truth. This lesson covers the following topics:

00:00 The True Vine Discourse (vv. 1–17)

17:07 Abiding in the Vine amidst the Hatred of the World (vv. 18–27)

Register for this free on-demand course on our website to track your progress and assess your understanding through quizzes for each lesson. You will also receive free access to dozens of additional video courses in covenant theology, apologetics, biblical studies, church history, and more: https://reformedacademy.org/course/go...

Your donations help us to provide free Reformed resources for students like you worldwide: https://reformedforum.org/donate/

#truth #gospel #reformedtheology #biblestudy

We welcome Dr. Michael Mock to discuss his D.Min. dissertation on John Calvin's pastoral counseling through his correspondence. Drawing from Calvin's letters, Mock shows how the Reformer cared for people amid grief, anxiety, marital conflict, abuse, persecution, and suffering with theological depth and compassion. The conversation challenges the caricature of Calvin as cold or detached, highlighting his attention to the whole person—mind, heart, and will—and his confidence in God's providence, prayer, Scripture, and the ministry of the local church. Calvin's letters reveal a model of soul care that remains deeply relevant for pastors, elders, and church members today.

On today's episode of Theology Simply Profound, Rob and Bob continue to walk through the Book of Daniel by developing some themes in Daniel with the Book of Revelation.

This is the fourth lesson in Dr. James J. Cassidy's Reformed Academy course, The Gospel of John: A Study in the Truth. This lesson covers the following topics:

00:00 A Word of Comfort for Anxious Disciples

05:44 Christ's Departure and Return: Preparing Our True Home

09:14 Seeing the Father in the Face of Jesus Christ

13:15 Jesus Gives His Spirit to the Church

Register for this free on-demand course on our website to track your progress and assess your understanding through quizzes for each lesson. You will also receive free access to dozens of additional video courses in covenant theology, apologetics, biblical studies, church history, and more: https://reformedacademy.org/course/go...

Your donations help us to provide free Reformed resources for students like you worldwide: https://reformedforum.org/donate/

#truth #gospel #reformedtheology #biblestudy

In this special on-location episode of Christ the Center, Camden Bucey visits Gießen, Germany, to explore a remarkable work of confessional Reformed renewal. Through conversations with Johann, Lukas Strauß, and Philip Paul, listeners are introduced to the Academy for Reformed Theology, a growing seminary that serves students across German-speaking Europe through a hybrid model of in-person intensives, online instruction, and close partnership with local churches. The episode also traces the recent formation of a new continental Reformed denomination in Germany, the challenges of church planting in a highly secular and heavily taxed society, and the need for pastors who can preach, plant, and patiently build confessional churches from the ground up by God's grace.

What emerges is a deeply encouraging portrait of ordinary, faithful labor. The conversation highlights the need for indigenous theological leadership, German-language Reformed resources, and strong ecclesial communities where believers are not left to grow in isolation. Lucas reflects on discovering Reformed theology and using podcasting and social media to introduce it to German listeners, while Philip describes the theological journey that led his family to move for the sake of a confessional church home. Taken together, these conversations offer a vivid glimpse into the opportunities and difficulties of gospel ministry in Germany today—and a compelling call to pray for theological training, church planting, and lasting Reformed witness.

Links

• Academy for Reformed Theology (Akademie für Reformatorische Theologie)
• Bund Bekennender Evangelisch—Reformierter Gemeinden (or BBERG) — the Confederation of Confessing Evangelical Reformed Churches in German-speaking Europe
• Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary

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Chapters

• 0:00 — Introduction from Gießen, Germany
• 3:36 — The Academy for Reformed Theology—history and mission
• 7:23 — How the seminary serves students across Germany and Switzerland
• 13:14 — Why part-time theological training matters in Germany
• 16:53 — A new confessional Reformed denomination in Germany
• 21:43 — What church planting requires: men, people, and finances
• 25:59 — How the seminary is funded and how students manage study and work
• 28:51 — Why Germany needs indigenous Reformed pastors and literature
• 34:53 — Bullinger, suffering, and providence
• 38:56 — Lukas Strauß on becoming Reformed and serving through media
• 49:18 — Podcasting, social media, and explaining Reformed theology in German
• 58:17 — Why Reformed believers in Germany need real church connection
• 1:02:23 — Philip Paul on law, theology, and moving for church
• 1:18:09 — From Calvinism to covenant theology and paedobaptism
• 1:32:46 — Elder service, church commitment, and counsel for German Christians
• 1:39:13 — Reasons for gratitude and prayer for Reformed churches in Germany