Episodes

  • A Vision for a Modern Reformation: From Dechurched to Rechurched
    Apr 28 2024

    We can't go back to the church environments we grew up with, we can only go forward. So what would a healthy modern reformation and a Great Rechurching look like? Rather than wallowing in pessimism and longing to return to the church of yesteryear, Michael Horton, Bob Hiller, Justin Holcomb, and Walter Strickland discuss how the church today can reform and be marked by orthodoxy, love, and resilient joy.

    CHECK OUT THIS MONTH’S OFFERS:

    • The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Jim Davis and Michael Graham, with Ryan P. Burge.

    • Become a Partner to support the work of White Horse Inn as we apply the riches of the Reformation to the modern church.

    • Subscribe to Modern Reformation magazine. Our March/April issue is “The Head & the Heart,” where we feature essays, poems, and articles about how the Bible does not separate the “rational” mind and the “emotive” heart; rather, “In the Bible, the intellect, will, and emotions are all capacities that belong to the whole, integrated person.”

    For more information, visit us at whitehorseinn.org or email us at info@whitehorseinn.org

    Featuring: Michael Horton, Bob Hiller, Walter Strickland, and Justin Holcomb

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    39 mins
  • Equipping You to Minister to the Dechurched in Your Life
    Apr 21 2024

    If you go to church, do you know why you attend? Do you know why your friends and family have casually just stopped going to church? How can we talk about the necessity of the church in a way that is beautiful and life-giving, but goes beyond personal preference? In this episode, Michael Horton, Justin Holcomb, Walter Strickland, and Bob Hiller answer these questions and more as they discuss how Christians can reach out to their dechurched friends, family, and neighbors.

    “When asked how willing they would be to go back to church, 51 percent said they are either somewhat willing or very willing—51 percent! Unsurprisingly, the reasons they would come back also represent a longing to belong. These dechurched evangelicals said they would come back if they made new friends (28%), if they move and want to make new friends (18%), if they became lonely and want to make new friends (20%), if their children want to go (16%), if their spouse wants to go (18%), if a friend invites them (17%), if there is a good pastor (18%), if they find a good community (17%), if they miss their church community (20%), or if they just find a church they like (14%). This group's high orthodoxy scores also inform other reasons they would come back: if they feel the distance from God (20%) or if God tells them to go back in some significant way (18%). The main takeaway here is that many dechurched evangelicals simply need a friend to invite them to church.” - The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Jim Davis and Michael Graham, with Ryan P. Burge, p. 28.

    CHECK OUT THIS MONTH’S OFFERS:

    • The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Jim Davis and Michael Graham, with Ryan P. Burge.

    • Become a Partner to support the work of White Horse Inn as we apply the riches of the Reformation to the modern church.

    • Subscribe to Modern Reformation magazine. Our March/April issue is “The Head & the Heart,” where we feature essays, poems, and articles about how the Bible does not separate the “rational” mind and the “emotive” heart; rather, “In the Bible, the intellect, will, and emotions are all capacities that belong to the whole, integrated person.”

    For more information, visit us at whitehorseinn.org or email us at info@whitehorseinn.org

    Featuring: Michael Horton, Bob Hiller, Walter Strickland, and Justin Holcomb

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    39 mins
  • How the Local Church Can Minister to the Dechurched
    Apr 14 2024

    What happened in American culture and in the church from the 1970s-1990s? What were the conversations and big concerns of that time when White Horse Inn recorded its first episodes? In answering some of these questions, churches can get their bearings as to what trends have impacted those who no longer sit in their pews and what to do about it.

    “The early 1990s was an inflection point for American religion. Between the early 1970s and 1990s, the share of Americans who had no religious affiliation had only risen two points. But from that point forward, the nones would grow by a percentage point or two nearly every year through the following three decades.” - Ryan Burge, “‘OK Millennial’: Don’t Blame the Boomers for Decline of Religious America”

    Michael Horton, Bob Hiller, Walter Strickland, and Justin Holcomb discuss how modern historical events and trends have impacted church attendance today and how to respond.

    CHECK OUT THIS MONTH’S OFFERS:

    • The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Jim Davis and Michael Graham, with Ryan P. Burge.

    • Become a Partner to support the work of White Horse Inn as we apply the riches of the Reformation to the modern church.

    • Subscribe to Modern Reformation magazine. Our March/April issue is “The Head & the Heart,” where we feature essays, poems, and articles about how the Bible does not separate the “rational” mind and the “emotive” heart; rather, “In the Bible, the intellect, will, and emotions are all capacities that belong to the whole, integrated person.”


    For more information, visit us at whitehorseinn.org or email us at info@whitehorseinn.org

    Featuring: Michael Horton, Bob Hiller, Walter Strickland, and Justin Holcomb

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    40 mins
  • The Great Dechurching, with Michael Graham and Jim Davis
    Apr 7 2024

    Justin Holcomb interviews Jim Davis and Michael Graham, authors of The Great Dechurching, to discuss why forty million Americans have stopped attending church in the past 25 years. Many attribute church decline to encroaching secular trends, abuse in the church, or spiritual deconstruction. While all of these trends have spiked in recent years, Davis and Graham, with the help of Ryan Burge, reveal that these factors are not the primary causes for the erosion of church attendance and share what the church can do to turn back those estranged from her.

    CHECK OUT THIS MONTH’S OFFERS:

    • The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Jim Davis and Michael Graham, with Ryan P. Burge.

    • Become a Partner to support the work of White Horse Inn as we apply the riches of the Reformation to the modern church.

    • Subscribe to Modern Reformation magazine. Our March/April issue is “The Head & the Heart,” where we feature essays, poems, and articles about how the Bible does not separate the “rational” mind and the “emotive” heart; rather, “In the Bible, the intellect, will, and emotions are all capacities that belong to the whole, integrated person.”


    For more information, visit us at whitehorseinn.org or email us at info@whitehorseinn.org

    Featuring: Justin Holcomb, Michael Graham and Jim Davis

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    1 hr and 1 min
  • Preaching the Resurrection Amidst the Mockery of the World
    Mar 31 2024

    On this Easter Sunday, we join Paul at the Areopagus in Acts 17. Hosts Michael Horton, Justin Holcomb, Walter Strickland, and Bob Hiller dive into Paul’s apologetic approach as he speaks to his pagan audience and how on Easter we will, like Paul, be mocked by some for preaching the resurrection of the dead, while others will want to hear more about its hope and promise.

    CHECK OUT THIS MONTH’S OFFERS:

    • Knowing the Bible: Acts Study by Justin Holcomb

    • Subscribe to Modern Reformation magazine, and don’t miss this month’s issue, “The Head & the Heart.”

    • Become a Partner to support the work of White Horse Inn as we apply the riches of the Reformation to the modern church.

    For more information, visit us at whitehorseinn.org or email us at info@whitehorseinn.org

    Featuring: Michael Horton, Bob Hiller, Walter Strickland, and Justin Holcomb

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    42 mins
  • Preaching That Frees Us from the Law
    Mar 24 2024

    In Acts 13:16-41, we encounter the newly converted Paul preaching at the synagogue in Antioch. In this episode, Michael Horton, Bob Hiller, Walter Strickland, and Justin Holcomb discuss what happened between Stephen’s death and Paul’s conversion, and what uniquely transformed Paul from a law-abiding Pharisee to preaching “[freedom] from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.”

    CHECK OUT THIS MONTH’S OFFERS:

    • Knowing the Bible: Acts Study by Justin Holcomb

    • Subscribe to Modern Reformation magazine, and don’t miss this month’s issue, “The Head & the Heart.”

    • Become a Partner to support the work of White Horse Inn as we apply the riches of the Reformation to the modern church.

    For more information, visit us at whitehorseinn.org or email us at info@whitehorseinn.org

    Featuring: Michael Horton, Bob Hiller, Walter Strickland, and Justin Holcomb

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    39 mins
  • Preaching That Endures the Anger of Mobs
    Mar 17 2024

    In Acts 7, we see Stephen’s sermon before the Sanhedrin. What did he say that enraged those he was speaking to and how can we model his posture of forgiveness in the face of persecution? Hosts Michael Horton, Walter Strickland, Bob Hiller, and Justin Holcomb trace Stephen’s redemptive historical tour de force that ultimately culminates in his martyrdom and ask how we can model our own lives and ministries after his example.

    CHECK OUT THIS MONTH’S OFFERS:

    • Knowing the Bible: Acts Study by Justin Holcomb

    • Subscribe to Modern Reformation magazine, and don’t miss this month’s issue, “The Head & the Heart.”

    • Become a Partner to support the work of White Horse Inn as we apply the riches of the Reformation to the modern church.

    For more information, visit us at whitehorseinn.org or email us at info@whitehorseinn.org

    Featuring: Michael Horton, Bob Hiller, Walter Strickland, and Justin Holcomb

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    42 mins
  • Preaching Repentance to the Religious and Irreligious Alike
    Mar 10 2024

    Why was Jesus sent to the Jews first? How does the church relate to Israel now? In Acts 3:12-26, Peter continues to unravel for the “Men of Israel” how Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises made to the Patriarchs, Moses, and the Prophets. In this episode, Michael Horton, Bob Hiller, Justin Holcomb, and Walter Strickland discuss Peter’s second sermon, how Christianity and Judaism became their own distinct religions, and how the preaching of the gospel calls for the religious and irreligious alike to repent and have faith in Christ.

    CHECK OUT THIS MONTH’S OFFERS:

    • Knowing the Bible: Acts Study by Justin Holcomb

    • Subscribe to Modern Reformation magazine, and don’t miss this month’s issue, “The Head & the Heart.”

    • Become a Partner to support the work of White Horse Inn as we apply the riches of the Reformation to the modern church.

    For more information, visit us at whitehorseinn.org or email us at info@whitehorseinn.org

    Featuring: Michael Horton, Bob Hiller, Walter Strickland, and Justin Holcomb

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    36 mins