The Age Of Distraction

They say the devil is in the details, but he’s also tightly woven into the distractions and temptations of this present evil age. Pastor Chris Gordon welcomes guest Pastor Eric Watkins back to the AGR studio to look at the dramatic shift in societal values and discuss a few key issues challenging the ministry today. They address sensitive topics like divisive politics, gender confusion and racial tension, and how best to approach these issues from the pulpit. They acknowledge how vital it is to stay focused on the mission of the church and understand that a believer’s true identity can always be found in their relationship with Jesus Christ.

Chapters
00:00 - Intro
01:15 - 5 Things Challenging Ministry
01:30 - Politics In The Church
04:00 - Burnout
05:00 - Pastoral Responsibility
05:45 - What Should Our Focus Be?
07:35 - Lessons Of Acts
08:25 - Age Of Distraction
09:25 - The Human Sexuality Issue
11:25 - Language Confusion
13:00 - True Identity In Christ
16:30 - God’s Good Design
17:20 - The Topic Of Race
21:30 - Racial Diversity In The Church
22:40 - Is Diversity a Requirement?
24:00 - Dutch Immigrants
25:20 - Slow & Steady
27:05 - Do Black Churches Recruit Whites?
28:00 - Defining A Church By Race
29:20 - Blacks In Reformed History
31:50 - Separate But Equal
32:30 - Hope For The Future

More:
Dr. Watkins is the senior pastor of Harvest Presbyterian Church (OPC) in San Marcos, California. He has been a pastor in the OPC since 2001. He has planted two churches for the OPC and very much enjoys the work of church planting. He serves on the Committee on Home Missions and Church Extension for the OPC. He loves the church and loves to see people won to Christ through faithful preaching and evangelism.

His Ph.D. dissertation The Drama of Preaching: Participating with God in the History of Redemption was published by Wipf and Stock in 2017. It focuses on the idea of preaching Christ from the Old Testament in a postmodern context. He is also the author of numerous articles for TableTalk, New Horizons, and Christian Renewal magazines, as well as other scholarly publications. He is also the author of a forthcoming book on Hebrews 11, to be published by Reformation Trust. His research interests are preaching, evangelism, church planting, theology/practice of mission, and postmodernism. He is very much a practitioner as well, and enjoys being “in the trenches” doing the work of the ministry.

Dr. Watkins is a member of the Evangelical Homiletics Society and is a frequent conference speaker.

Degrees:
A.A. Carteret Community College, 1994, B.A. Southeastern Bible College, 1997, M.Div. Westminster Seminary California, 2000, Th.M. Reformed Theological Seminary, 2009, Ph.D. Theological University in Kampen, Netherlands, 2016

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Website: https://hopc.org/
Website:https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2023/november/eric-watkins-testimony-deadhead-greyhound-bus.html
Website: https://www.midamerica.edu/faculty/eric-watkins

Dr. Eric B. Watkins is pastor of Salt and Light Reformed Church in Daytona Beach, Fla., and director of the Center for Missions and Evangelism at Mid-America Reformed Seminary in Dyer, Ind. 

Dr. Watkins' Ph.D. dissertation The Drama of Preaching:  Participating with God in the History of Redemption was published by Wipf and Stock in 2017.  It focuses on the idea of preaching Christ from the Old Testament in a postmodern context.  He is also the author of numerous articles for TableTalk, New Horizons, and Christian Renewal magazines, as well as other scholarly publications. He is also the author of a forthcoming book on Hebrews 11, to be published by Reformation Trust.  His research interests are preaching, evangelism, church planting, theology/practice of mission, and postmodernism.  He is very much a practitioner as well, and enjoys being “in the trenches” doing the work of the ministry.

Dr. Watkins is a member of the Evangelical Homiletics Society and is a frequent conference speaker.