Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe ‘The life of man upon the earth is warfare, and he is born to trouble, as surely as the sparks fly upward.’ — Job 5,7 We live in a fallen world. We can speak of a perfect world — and that is assuredly our goal and our destination, as Christians —, but the realities of this world cannot be ignored — Christians are not exempt from living in the world. From the very beginning of our species — when wicked Cain rose ...
Jul 17, 2024•2 hr 21 min•Season 2Ep. 78
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe This week’s episode is a crossover with the Renaissance of Men podcast from Will Spencer. In a wide-ranging discussion (over more than six hours), we covered everything from the reasons we started the Stone Choir podcast and the state of the LCMS to (in the second part) World War II and conspiracy theories. This will be all you are ever likely to hear. Within hours of publication, Will pulled the content and dis...
Jul 10, 2024•2 hr 26 min•Season 2Ep. 77
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe When confronting sin, the Christian must distinguish between the private and the public. The private or secret sin should generally not be published (and is subject to Matthew 18), but the public sin is generally already published (and is not subject to Matthew 18). The primary goal of confronting private sin is to retain or to regain the erring brother; the primary goal of confronting public sin is to rebuke th...
Jul 03, 2024•2 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 76
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe In any conflict, there are at least two sides. In the life of man upon this earth, there is constant conflict with and against the world, the flesh, and the devil. As Christians, it is incumbent upon us — particularly as Christian men — to know what are our duties in this life; for a soldier, he must know his orders and where to execute them. If we are to oppose Satan and his forces, then we must know where he i...
Jun 26, 2024•1 hr 41 min•Season 2Ep. 75
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe Marriage is fundamental not only to individual men and women, but also to society writ large. Without marriage, there are no families; without families, there are no nations. The first relationship between two human beings was marriage — of Adam and Eve in the Garden. Without marriage there is no future for the human race. And yet we often gloss over the actual nature of marriage — partly in deference to modesty...
Jun 05, 2024•2 hr•Season 2Ep. 74
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe Love and duty are matters of concentric circles — to the closer is the greater duty and the greater love owed. In the previous episode in this series, we covered the facets of self-sacrifice love (agape) and charity (caritas); in this episode, we cover familial and brotherly or fraternal love, emotional (amor) and intellectual (dilectio) love, and piety (the historical, proper sense) and paternal love — three pa...
May 22, 2024•1 hr 49 min•Season 2Ep. 73
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe Love is a multifaceted thing. Sometimes this complex nature can be masked in English by the use of the umbrella term “love” (or even by the exclusion of concepts that really fall under that umbrella — e.g., “friendship”). In this first episode in our (planned) three-episode series on love, we discuss agape (i.e., self-sacrificing or sacrificial love) and caritas (i.e., charity), their interrelationship, and some...
May 15, 2024•1 hr 44 min•Season 2Ep. 72
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe Leadership is a natural aspect of the interrelationships of men. Any given group of men, left to its own devices, will form into a hierarchy, with a leader at the top. The modern world would have us deny this reality, because it runs directly counter to Egalitarianism. To men, God has given many gifts, but He has given them unequally — this is part of His design, and we are not permitted to deny or to ignore it....
May 01, 2024•1 hr 57 min•Season 2Ep. 71
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe Christian men exist in two kingdoms (the right and the left ‘hands’ of Christ) and three estates (family, Church, and State). Many modern men neglect the fullness of this reality via excessive focus on the Kingdom of the right hand of Christ (i.e., the Church). Further, and perhaps worse, many pastors believe that their role in the right-hand Kingdom entitles them to honors, respect, or other deference with rega...
Apr 24, 2024•1 hr 33 min•Season 2Ep. 70
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe Knowledge is not what saves us, but faith cannot be devoid of content, for one must have faith in something. Part of being a Christian is, unsurprisingly, knowing the content of the Christian faith. Or, perhaps, this would be surprising to many, given the state of knowledge and belief among those claiming to be Christian — even among the best (in terms of knowledge and right belief) of those claiming to be Chris...
Apr 17, 2024•2 hr 7 min•Season 2Ep. 69
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe All that we have comes from God. As we covered in the episode on jealousy, we are, in fact, to be jealous, to be protective, of the things that are ours. However, this must be balanced against the fact that much of what we hold we hold in trust. There are things which are solely ours and there are things which are ours for the sake of serving God and neighbor. Ultimately, we are stewards of this Creation, and we...
Apr 10, 2024•1 hr 40 min•Season 2Ep. 68
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with Whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” All that we have and all that we are flows from God, and yet, as covered in previous episodes, God acts in time via means. Your height and your intelligence, God transmitted to you via your ancestors, via your nation; your material prosperity, God transmitted to ...
Apr 03, 2024•1 hr 44 min•Season 2Ep. 67
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with Whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” The modern world would have us believe that jealousy is a purely negative matter — we all know the tropes. Scripture teaches something entirely different. God tells us that one of His names is Jealous . To be jealous of the things that God has given us is not onl...
Mar 27, 2024•1 hr 23 min•Season 2Ep. 66
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe When the world demands that we speak falsely about the faith, we are required to speak the truth; when the world demands that we speak truthfully about the faith, but neglect certain truths, then it is those very truths the world tells us to ignore that we must profess all the more loudly. Satan, although he is the father of lies, does not always lie; where it is possible to do so, it is often far more effective...
Mar 13, 2024•1 hr 45 min•Season 2Ep. 65
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe Technology is a part of our daily lives. In fact, technology has been a part of the daily life of man from the beginning. Whether that technology is relatively simple — a garden hoe or a flint knife — or incredibly complex — a nuclear reactor or a quantum computer — it is, nevertheless, technology, which is to say that it is a material application of science (i.e., knowledge) to achieve a human end. Technology m...
Mar 06, 2024•1 hr 47 min•Season 2Ep. 64
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe Repentance consists of contrition and faith. Contrition is sorrow for sin, the terrors of conscience that are attendant the realization of the nature of sin and God’s wrath toward it; faith, in this case, is the entirety of the Christian life — the ‘and then what’, which follows regeneration. But more than this, to be truly repentant is to turn from one’s sins and move toward God. In the Greek (μετανοια), repent...
Feb 28, 2024•1 hr 55 min•Season 2Ep. 63
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe Once taken, a man’s reputation is nearly impossible to restore to him. In the 8th Commandment (and many other places in Scripture), God enshrines and makes abundantly clear that He hates slander and the man who spreads it. And yet Scripture goes further: Not only must we not slander our neighbor, but we must rebuke the one who does so. Scripture calls the one who hears slander but does not rebuke the slanderer e...
Feb 14, 2024•1 hr 53 min•Season 2Ep. 62
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe Galatians 3:28 is, perhaps, the most abused verse in modern churches (a term that should, arguably, be in quotes), and this is not without reason. Satan attacks where he knows there is purchase to be found or headway to be made. In entirely unambiguous terms, Galatians 3:28 affirms the very real existence of race, hierarchy, and sex (i.e., that we are created either male or female) — the very things that the mod...
Feb 07, 2024•2 hr•Season 2Ep. 61
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe By the time Josiah, King of Judah, noticed that pagan worship practices had crept into the land of Judah — and even into the Temple itself —, apostasy, wickedness, and idol worship were rampant. The Temple was filled with altars to and symbols of false gods, the area around the Temple and around Jerusalem was filled with centers of false worship, and the valley adjacent to Jerusalem even saw the sacrifice of chi...
Jan 31, 2024•2 hr 36 min•Season 2Ep. 60
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe Gnosticism is one of the oldest religions of man. When Satan tempted Eve in the Garden, it was with an invitation to learn secret — explicitly forbidden, in this case — knowledge. From the mystery cults of Ancient Greece and Rome to modern Pentecostalism, Mormonism, and any of dozens of other cults, Gnosticism has always been a major font of false religion and corruption. Christianity is not a mystery religion; ...
Jan 24, 2024•2 hr 13 min•Season 2Ep. 59
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe Judaizing has been a problem in the Church from the beginning. Even St. Peter fell prey to the Judaizers and their attempt to import into Christianity the false beliefs of Judaism. Today, Judaizing takes a number of forms. In this episode, we will cover circumcision, the use of “Yahweh” (and “Yeshua”), and several related matters. As Christians, we must always ask ourselves both what the source of the thing is a...
Jan 17, 2024•2 hr 7 min•Season 2Ep. 58
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe Man is, by nature, religious. The Atheist or the agnostic is no less religious than the Buddhist, the Muslim, or the Christian. The question is not whether or not a man is religious, but which God or gods he worships. As Christians, it is incumbent on us not just to recognize this reality, but also to recognize how it plays out in our world, in our culture, and in our own lives. We may believe that because we at...
Jan 10, 2024•1 hr 59 min•Season 2Ep. 57
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe Unlike the Old Testament Israelites, New Testament Christians are not required to observe any particular set of feasts, festivals, or commemorations — Scripture does not lay out a Church Year that we are required to follow. However, the Christian standard is not ‘What is required?’, but rather: ‘What is profitable?’ When we ask, instead of what we must do, what we should do for the sake of unity, instruction, an...
Dec 20, 2023•1 hr 42 min•Season 1Ep. 56
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe What do we mean by “Church” or “church”? When we use this term (or these terms, when writing permits distinguishing them with the capital letter), we really mean a handful of distinct things — it is important to keep these clear. In today’s episode, we go over the Church (universal), the church (institutional), and the church (local, congregational). For the Christian, there is great comfort in recognizing the r...
Dec 13, 2023•1 hr 33 min•Season 1Ep. 55
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe We are told to ‘test the spirits’, and this is a blanket admonition. You should test the things we say on this podcast against the Word of God; you should test the things your pastor says against the Word of God; you should test the things you believe against the Word of God. Yes, there are things that belong to natural revelation — to wisdom that can be gained from exploration of God’s Creation —, but, where Sc...
Dec 06, 2023•2 hr 40 min•Season 1Ep. 54
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe Whether our gifts are many or few, great or small, God has most assuredly prepared beforehand opportunities for us to use those gifts to serve our neighbors. We, in fact, have a duty to use what God has given us for the good of our neighbor. All that we have we hold in trust as stewards, for all comes from God and all belongs to God. It is through our good works that we demonstrate, both to ourselves and to the ...
Nov 22, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 53
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe Of all the idols of modern man, Capitalism may be one of the most challenging to overcome. Not because the wickedness of Capitalism is not manifest, for it is (and we will demonstrate this in today’s episode), but because it has been sold as the only alternative to Communism — a system so wicked that no Christian can possibly support it. Yet the choice is not binary, and those who would claim that it is seek to ...
Nov 15, 2023•1 hr 59 min•Season 1Ep. 52
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of me.” In the same way also, He took the cup after supper, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying: “Drink of it, all of you; this is My blood of the new testament, which is s...
Nov 08, 2023•2 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 51
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe Dispensationalism is a modern heresy. (No, we are not going to bury the lede.) Taking shape, primarily, in the 1800s and 1900s, Dispensationalism posits a distinction between God’s plans for ‘Israel’ and the Church — this is contrary both to Scripture and to the historical teachings of the Church. God is no polygynist — He has but one bride. Today, the churches, particularly in the US, are rife with Dispensation...
Nov 01, 2023•2 hr 34 min•Season 1Ep. 50
Hosts Corey J. Mahler coreyjmahler.com @CoreyJMahler Woe aka Eschatologuy @treblewoe The Reformation was not the beginning of the problems in the Western Church, nor in the Church more generally. Over the centuries before the beginning of the Reformation, generally accepted as 31 October 1517, the Church faced a number of heresies, divisions, and other problems. Yet God has always seen her through these tumultuous waters. Today, we find ourselves yet again in need of reformation, for the existin...
Oct 25, 2023•2 hr 25 min•Season 1Ep. 49
