Welcome to the 131st episode of Equipping You in Grace. On today’s episode, Dave Jenkins talks with Dayton Hartman about his book Church History for Modern Ministry: Why Our Pastor Matters for Everything We Do (Lexham Press, 2016).
What you’ll hear in this episode
- The danger of chronological snobbery and how Christians engage in it today.
- Why Christians should study church history.
- How the creeds serve as orthodox guardrails for theologians and pastors.
- The difference between creeds, confessions, and catechisms.
- How the early church’s values of gospel, community, and mission-shaped Dayton’s local church.
- The importance of mentorship in ministry.
- How preachers and teachers of the Word should address the presuppositions of our hearers and help shape their worldview with Scripture.
- Why contextualization and apologetics in preaching are so important to the Christian life and ministry.
- Why Christians should recover the vision of Abraham Kuyper and others on cultural engagement.
- How pastors can help Christians navigate the present and help them prepare for the future.
- Dayton’s recommended list to begin to study church history.
- Asking good questions from sound theological convictions.
- The art of asking good questions and church history.
- Studying Church History and humility.
About the Guest
Dayton Hartman is lead pastor at Redeemer Church in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. He has a Ph.D. in church and dogma history from North West University (South Africa), and serves as an adjunct professor at both Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and Columbia International University. He is the author of Church History for Modern Ministry: Why Our Past Matters for Everything We Do. Learn more at daytonhartman.com.
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Thanks for listening to this episode of Equipping You in Grace!
Dave Jenkins is happily married to his wife, Sarah. He is a writer, editor, and speaker living in beautiful Southern Oregon. Dave is a lover of Christ, His people, the Church, and sound theology. He serves as the Executive Director of Servants of Grace Ministries, the Executive Editor of Theology for Life Magazine, the Host and Producer of Equipping You in Grace Podcast, and is a contributor to and producer of Contending for the Word. He is the author of The Word Explored: The Problem of Biblical Illiteracy and What To Do About It (House to House, 2021), The Word Matters: Defending Biblical Authority Against the Spirit of the Age (G3 Press, 2022), and Contentment: The Journey of a Lifetime (Theology for Life, 2024). You can find him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, or read his newsletter. Dave loves to spend time with his wife, going to movies, eating at a nice restaurant, or going out for a round of golf with a good friend. He is also a voracious reader, in particular of Reformed theology, and the Puritans. You will often find him when he’s not busy with ministry reading a pile of the latest books from a wide variety of Christian publishers. Dave received his M.A.R. and M.Div through Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary.
