Transforming Culture

The Church as Embassy

It's our final week of Transforming Culture, season four! Thank you for being on this journey with us, and know that we appreciate you! If you want more MBC content throughout the year, consider listening in to our Teaching Archive podcast - where we post sessions from our MBC summer and retreat seasons for you. This week on the Transforming Culture podcast, we're closing our season with one of our favourite sessions of last summer - not only because our Bible teacher, Sean Sheeran, is a gifted and generous speaker, but also because the topic really hits home when it comes to MBC's mission and vision: we want to create biblically rooted, resilient families, and we believe that is best accomplished through the local church! So, when Sean said he wanted to talk about the church as a type of outpost or embassy, we were thrilled. Enjoy!  ----- ----- ----- Speaker Bio: Sean first attended Hespeler Baptist Church as a non-Christian at age 17. Through the preaching of the gospel and the friendship of Christians, God showed him of his need to repent of his sin, believe in Jesus Christ and be saved. From there Sean attended Heritage Bible College, graduating with a Bachelor of Religious Education. In 2011 Sean was ordained with the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches of Canada. Sean has been serving as lead pastor since September 2013. In 2023 he received his Master of Divinity from Heritage Seminary. He is married to Meredith and they have four children. ----- ----- ----- Resources: Churches: The Embassies and Geography of Heaven [https://www.9marks.org/article/churches-the-embassies-and-geography-of-heaven] (Jonathan Leeman) Storm in the Desert [https://www.9marks.org/podcast/a-storm-in-the-desert/](podcast mentioned during this episode) The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self (Carl Trueman) What is the Mission of the Church (Kevin DeYoung) Missions is Church Planting - Or It’s Not Really Missions (Mike McKinley) Evangelism: How The Whole Church Tells About Jesus (Mack Stiles) ----- ----- ----- Show Credits: Transforming Culture is a production of Muskoka Bible Centre. Producer: Luke LaRocque Editing, Sound Design and Mixing: Charles West Audio and Technical Support: The Summer 2025 A/V team Theme Song: “Citizens” by Jon Guerra Graphic Design: Christina te-Bokkel Hotz

Thinking Biblically About Death and Dying

Welcome to episode 8 of Transforming Culture, Season 4. It's our second last episode of this season, and was a bit delayed by additional editing... but we're here now! This week on the podcast, we're tackling a difficult, but crucially important topic: death, and specifically what it looks like to approach Medical Assistance in Dying, or MAID, from a biblical perspective. Thankfully, we have an incredible Bible teacher with us this week to share his thoughts and experiences. I'm so glad that Dr. Jonathan Griffiths offered to tackle such a sensitive and intense topic, so that we can be equipped to talk about it with friends, family and neighbours. ----- ----- ----- Speaker Bio: Dr. Jonathan Griffiths serves as the Chancellor of Heritage College & Seminary, Executive Director of the Timothy Trust, and a council member of The Gospel Coalition Canada. His syndicated daily radio program, Encounter the Truth, reaches hundreds of thousands of listeners in Canada and the United States on Moody Radio and other networks. He studied theology at the University of Oxford and holds a PhD in New Testament Studies from the University of Cambridge. He is author of a number of books including Gathered for Good (released in early 2025), Strangers & Exiles, and God Alone. Jonathan takes a keen interest in politics, economics, and current affairs. He is married to Gemma, and together they have three children.   ----- ----- ----- Show Credits: Transforming Culture is a production of Muskoka Bible Centre. Producer: Luke LaRocque Editing, Sound Design and Mixing: Charles West Audio and Technical Support: The Summer 2025 A/V team Theme Song: “Citizens” by Jon Guerra Graphic Design: Christina te-Bokkel Hotz

Why Are There Infinite Genders

It's week seven of our fourth season of Transforming Culture - it's hard to believe we're in the home stretch of the podcast. For me, it's a joy to come back to these sessions in the fall after hearing them recorded in the summer - our Bible teachers are incredibly gifted speakers and it's a joy for us to share these sessions with you! This week on the podcast, we have Steve West, sharing about gender. When Steve and I first got together to talk about the session title for this week, we really had a back and forth about what it should be called. No, you're not reading a typo: the title is really "Why Are There Infinite Genders?" Steve is asking you to consider what that means, and I'm excited for his session to clarify. Enjoy! ----- ----- ----- Speaker Bio: Dr. Steve West is a professor at Heritage College & Seminary in Cambridge, Ontario, and the pastor of Madoc Baptist Church. In addition to his work in Canada, Steve has a heart for training international pastors and church leaders, and has taught courses in multiple countries on five continents. He has authored a variety of books and articles, and spoken on a number of college and university campuses in North America.   ----- ----- ----- Resources: The Body God Gives (Robert Smith) Embodied (Preston Sprinkle) Strange New World (Carl Trueman) ----- ----- ----- Show Credits: Transforming Culture is a production of Muskoka Bible Centre. Producer: Luke LaRocque Editing, Sound Design and Mixing: Charles West Audio and Technical Support: The Summer 2025 A/V team Theme Song: “Citizens” by Jon Guerra Graphic Design: Christina te-Bokkel Hotz

Technology and the Home

Welcome back to Transforming Culture! This week, we have Paul Carter on the podcast, and he's sharing with us about Technology and the Home. Paul is a great resource for conversations like this - he's had to be all over the rapid technological transformation of the church in the last five years, and we have appreciated his leadership in mentoring and caring for believers across the country. He's been a long-time friend to MBC, and we're always so thrilled to have him share with us!  ----- ----- ----- Speaker Bio: Paul is the happy husband of Shauna Lee and father to 5 children. He is a self-described “Bible Geek” and has a passion for helping people build their lives on the solid rock of Jesus and His Word. In his role as Lead Pastor at Cornerstone Baptist Church, he oversees the weekly worship as well as the overall ministry direction and content. He is blessed to provide guidance to an enormously talented and committed group of staff and volunteers. He sits on the Executive Counsel for The Gospel Coalition where he is a regular author and blogger and is the host and Bible teacher for the Into The Word podcast and radio program. ----- ----- ----- Resources: Family Unfriendly: How Our Culture Made Raising Kids Much Harder than It Needs to Be (Timothy Carney) Superbloom: How Technologies of Connection Tear Us Apart (Nicholas G. Carr) The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in Its Proper Place. (Andy Crouch)  The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness (Jonathan Haidt) The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom (Jonathan Haidt) The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous (Joseph Patrick Henrich) The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World. (Christine Rosen) Generations: The Real Differences between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents  (Jean M. Twenge) ----- ----- ----- Show Credits: Transforming Culture is a production of Muskoka Bible Centre. Producer: Luke LaRocque Editing, Sound Design and Mixing: Charles West Audio and Technical Support: The Summer 2025 A/V team Theme Song: “Citizens” by Jon Guerra Graphic Design: Christina te-Bokkel Hotz

Praying Through This Political Moment

We're back with an incredible first-time guest to the podcast, who also happened to be a first-time teacher to MBC this past summer, Bobby Scott. Bobby was a wonderful addition to our MBC line-up, and was full of wisdom, humour and grace as he taught us about prayer throughout his week of ministry with us. Speaking of prayer... Bobby happens to be from Los Angeles, and I guess I should have seen it coming, but he is definitely a Dodgers fan. I was praying for a Blue Jays World Series win, and he and I had some fun back and forth over email during the last two weeks as the Blue Jays and Dodgers went at it in the World Series, Although the Dodgers came out on top, Bobby showed himself to be a gracious fan, even in victory, and it shows his quality as a person even more! Enjoy this episode talking about a tough subject!  ----- ----- ----- Speaker Bio: Bobby Scott is a pastor at Community of Faith Bible Church, and a Council member of The Gospel Coalition. It is his consuming desire to be used by God to strengthen the urban church, and he believes this objective will be best met by building families, motivating singles to live radically for Jesus, and developing a ministry upon the teaching of the word of God. He enjoys writing posts for The Gospel Coalition, Desiring God, 9Marks, and other blogs. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Naomi. They have six adult children.   ----- ----- ----- Resources: Should Pastors Endorse a Candidate? [https://www.9marks.org/article/should-pastors-endorse-a-candidate/] (Bobby Scott) How the Nations Rage [https://www.logos.com/product/157120/how-the-nations-rage-rethinking-faith-and-politics-in-a-divided-age?utm_source=google&utm_medium=advertising_cpc&utm_campaign=google_search-keyword_dsa_logos_row&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=18467616662&gbraid=0AAAAADlggz3QUVgSpXspsgfwNUCFDTANt&gclid=CjwKCAiAwqHIBhAEEiwAx9cTeWSWZVb4WABr4uSA4D3swANItoT25PQQOmFqzT3kxpbd9FalWes-rhoCLaUQAvD_BwE&ff_showPdpAddSubx=true] Jonathan Leeman How Can I Love Church Members with Different Politics? It Happens After Prayer (HB Charles) ----- ----- ----- Show Credits: Transforming Culture is a production of Muskoka Bible Centre. Producer: Luke LaRocque Editing, Sound Design and Mixing: Charles West Audio and Technical Support: The Summer 2025 A/V team Theme Song: “Citizens” by Jon Guerra Graphic Design: Christina te-Bokkel Hotz