The Social Gospel Distraction

Pastor Chris Gordon and Pastor Eric Watkins continue their conversation about major distractions in the ministry. They call out the social justice movement as a direct opponent of the mission of the church, and look historically at how injustice and oppression helped spur the spread of Christianity. They expose the harms of some social media and discuss shocking statistics on the damage the virtual world is having on many users, young and old. Their conversation reminds us that even though times are difficult, we have important, face-to-face work to do here and that after the darkness, the light of Christ always shines through.

Chapters

00:00 - Intro
01:00 - Critical Race Theory
04:00 - The Bible Deals With Justice
05:30 - Show Me, Don’t Tell Me
06:40 - Psalm 68
07:30 - The Gospel Is Justice & Mercy
08:30 - Help Those In Need
09:30 - It’s Just A Theory
10:00 - The Responsibility Of Compassion
10:52 - Environmental Wokeism
11:40 - The Gen Z Reaction
12:30 - The Failure To Improve Without God
13:40 - The Rise Of Christianity
15:00 - The Privilege Of Reaching The Needy
17:01 - Societal Division & Social Media
19:23 - The Dominance Of Social Media On Our Youth
20:51 - The Pastor’s Challenge
23:20 - The Division In Peoples’ Lives
24:50 - The Lacking Fellowship In Social Media
25:35 - The Safety Of The Church
26:55 - The Sacrifice Of Paul

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://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.