The summer is over—along with all the weddings, vacations, and school breaks that marked that sunny season. Labor Day has come and gone, and that reminds us that it’s time to get back to work. And fittingly, that’s our focus in the month of September: the doctrine of vocation, or what God’s word says about our work.
Get to Work: Grasping the Doctrine of Vocation
Work is written into the very fabric of creation. God worked in the beginning to create the earth in six days before he rested on the seventh. And when you consider it, the story of redemption is the story of two workers—one who failed and the other who succeeded—in the work given to one and then another. Adam was given a job in the Creation Mandate to expand the Garden of Eden—the very place of God’s gracious presence—to the ends of the earth. He failed, and humanity fell both in and with him. Now all of human labor is tainted by sin’s curse, and the groan of thorny toil came up to heaven for millennia outside of Eden. But wonderfully another worker came into humanity’s purview: God the Father gave God the Son the job to redeem Adam’s hopeless race (John 17:4). On the cross, Jesus finished the work that God gave him to do by dying on a cross for sin and rising on the third day (John 19:30).
Since then, united to Christ by faith, a new humanity takes up Adam’s task to expand the Garden through the work of discipleship to all the nations with the Spirit energizing their labors. And all of their seemingly menial labor—scraping spaghetti from a plate, clocking into the office, or swinging a builder’s hammer—is charged with an eternal significance.
But redeemed humanity is in an awkward place. We’re new creations, but we still fight against the presence of the old creation. We have our labor cut out for us, but it’s still . . . laborious. And ready to shipwreck our work is the Scylla of laziness on one side and the Charybdis of workaholism on the other. And where does leisure and rest fit into our lives? We hope to address all of these issues and more this month as we grasp the doctrine of vocation while considering how Jesus’s work transforms our own.
Just the same, September is a special month for Christ Over All. It was three years ago that this work began, and this month we are asking you to help us to continue our labors by making a one-time gift or becoming a regular partner. See more details below—including an update on Christ Over All Merchandise and digital PDFs.
The Four Gospels
This past month we’ve meditated on the four books that focus on the person and work of God the Son: the gospels. These four books—which are perhaps read more than any other books in the Bible—are thrilling in one respect but misunderstood in many others. PhDs in the “Jesus Seminar” of the 1980s and 1980s sought to slice the Gospels apart and literally vote on which sections they deemed authentic. Similarly, Dan Brown’s bestseller The Da Vinci Code in the early 2000s asserted (wrongly!) that there were dozens of gospels that the early church suppressed in order to control the narrative. In the late 2000s the “Red-Letter Christian” movement emphasized the gospels, and the particular words of Jesus, over against the epistles. Most recently in 2025, The Daily Wire’s Jordan Peterson came out with a ten-part video series called The Gospels. And in August, we took up the task of reviewing Peterson’s work and contributing something of our own—to help you understand the one gospel, in four books.
Indeed, focusing on the juggernaut that is Jordan Peterson, consider: What do you get when you combine an extra-textual harmony of the Bible, a Jungian psychologist, and a dozen other “experts”? You get a cocktail of clinical psychology, mixed with some insights into biblical truth. In other words, you’ll have a fun time listening to the banter, but you can’t avoid the hangover. So to address the many misconceptions about the gospels, we’ve published a number of essays to address whether we can trust the Bible (Guy Waters), how we ought think of the other so-called gospel accounts (Andreas Köstenberger), how the gospels and epistles ought be read together (Brian Vickers), and what we would say to Jordan Peterson (Nicholas Piotrowski).
Besides addressing these misconceptions, we also published a constructive overview of each gospel—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—along with a list of recommended commentaries on each one. Paired with these were shorter pieces on how to interpret particular sections from the gospels: the prodigal son in Luke 15, the sheep and the goats of Matthew 25, the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18, the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law in Mark 1:29–31, and the apocalyptic Olivet Discourse in Mark 13 and Matthew 24. Finally, for the skeptic, we’ve published a delightful piece that methodically considers the brute historical facts of the resurrection. If you haven’t take a look at these, I’d encourage you to check them out in the list below (longforms in bold). And if you are still wondering what Jungian psychology is, start with our podcast with Nicholas Piotrowski.
The Reliability of the Gospels: Rock or Sand?
By Guy Waters • Longform Essay • Christianity hinges on history: if the Gospels are not trustworthy accounts of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection, the faith collapses. But are they myth shaped by early belief, or historical testimony grounded in eyewitness experience and apostolic oversight? This question is not peripheral—it is foundational.
4.35 Guy Waters • Reading • “The Reliability of the Gospels: Rock or Sand?”
By Guy Waters • Reading • Christianity hinges on history: if the Gospels are not trustworthy accounts of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection, the faith collapses. But are they myth shaped by early belief, or historical testimony grounded in eyewitness experience and apostolic oversight? This question is not peripheral—it is foundational.
Do Some People Really Believe that a Dead Man Came Back to Life?
By Nicholas Piotrowski • Concise Article • What really happened to Jesus of Nazareth? Is there any reasonable explanation for the Jesus phenomenon other than the resurrection? And if Jesus really did come back from the dead, what does that mean for us?
The Apocryphal Gospels and the Four Canonical Gospels: A World of Difference
By Andreas Köstenberger • Concise Article • The four canonical Gospels tower head and shoulders above any alleged rivals and are alone to be trusted as authoritative eyewitness sources of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
A Brilliant Story—From The Surprising Genius of Jesus
By Peter J. Williams • Concise Article • Many rightly understand Jesus as prophet, priest, and king. But through a closer reading of the prodigal son parable in Luke 15, Peter Williams shows us that Jesus is also an incredible genius.
A Recommended List of Commentaries on Each of the Four Gospels
By Ardel B. Caneday • Concise Article • Explore Ardel B. Caneday’s curated selection of the top three commentaries on each Gospel—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—ideal for in-depth study, preaching, and theological insight.
The Gospel According to Matthew: Kingdom & Temple through Sacrifice & Resurrection
By Nicholas Piotrowski • Concise Article • What is the Gospel according to Matthew all about? A royal Son of Abraham and David who builds a worldwide temple. Keep reading to find out what this means, and how this life-changing message arises from the three-fold structure of Matthew’s Gospel.
4.36 Guy Waters, Trent Hunter, & Stephen Wellum • Interview • “The Reliability of the Gospels: Rock or Sand?”
By Guy Waters, Trent Hunter, and Stephen Wellum • Interview • Christianity hinges on history: if the Gospels are not trustworthy accounts of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection, the faith collapses. But are they myth shaped by early belief, or historical testimony grounded in eyewitness experience and apostolic oversight? This question is not peripheral—it is foundational.
The Sheep, the Goats, and the Dividing Line of Father Abraham: Does Matthew 25:31–46 Teach Salvation by Works of Mercy?
By Laurens Pruis • Concise Article • Final judgment in Matthew 25:31–46 hinges not on works themselves, but on covenantal allegiance to Christ—the promised Seed of Abraham—where love and mercy toward his followers reveal genuine faith and secure the blessing of Abraham.
A Critical Review of John Mark Comer’s Practicing the Way
By Jonathon Woodyard • Concise Article • John Mark Comer’s book Practicing the Way is a New York Times Bestseller, but does it faithfully teach on sin, repentance, and salvation?
Who Was “This Generation” in Matthew?
By Carson Griffin • Concise Article • Who is “this generation” in Matthew 24:34? Jesus targets his contemporaries, likening them to the flood and wilderness rebels, and so foreshadows final judgment—urging faith in and obedience to him as the only way of salvation.
Gospel Scholarship Pell-Mell: A Critical Review of Jordan Peterson’s The Gospels
By Nicholas Piotrowski • Longform Essay • This is what happens when the gospels are ripped out of their contexts, psychologized, and discussed by one of the most famous cultural commentators of the day.
4.37 Nicholas Piotrowski • Reading • “Gospel Scholarship Pell-Mell: A Critical Review of Jordan Peterson’s The Gospels”
By Nicholas Piotrowski • Reading • This is what happens when the gospels are ripped out of their contexts, psychologized, and discussed by one of the most famous cultural commentators of the day.
How Did We Get the Four Gospels?
By John Meade • Concise Article • Why did only four Gospels come to be recognized as authoritative, while others faded from use in the early church?
Mark 13 Is Not About Jesus’s Second Coming
By Trent Hunter • Concise Article • Sometimes Bible passages don’t mean what we think they mean. So it is with the Olivet Discourse of Mark 13.
How to Teach a Parable of Jesus: The Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18)
By Jeremy Meeks • Concise Article • Jesus’s parables can be challenging to interpret, and more challenging to preach. Jeremy Meeks sheds light on the practice of preaching the parables as he explains one of Jesus’s most famous: the Pharisee and the tax collector.
Jesus, the Kingdom, and You: Six Interwoven Stories in Mark’s Gospel
By Peter G. Bolt • Concise Article • The Gospel of Mark is more than a text to be dissected. It is a narrative that draws us into itself and changes the course of our lives. Through six interwoven stories, Mark brings us to Jesus, the one who will ultimately change our story.
4.38 Nicholas Piotrowski, David Schrock, and Stephen Wellum • Interview • “Gospel Scholarship Pell-Mell: A Critical Review of Jordan Peterson’s The Gospels”
By Nicholas Piotrowski, David Schrock, and Stephen Wellum • Interview • This is what happens when the gospels are ripped out of their contexts, psychologized, and discussed by one of the most famous cultural commentators of the day.
The Intersection of Two Worlds in the Healing of Peter’s Mother-in-Law (Mark 1:29–31)
By Peter G. Bolt • Concise Article • “Mark does not call his readers to imitate Jesus, but to see what he said and did. He never calls upon his readers to be like Jesus, but to like Jesus, so that we can understand what Jesus has done for us and be drawn towards putting faith in him.”
The Gospel of Luke in Brief
By Doug Huffman • Concise Article • How are we to understand the Gospel of Luke? In this article, Dr. Doug Huffman offers an overview of the longest Gospel, showing how Jesus’s triumphant victory over death calls us to proclaim
The Gospel of John: Development, Message, and Themes
By Ardel Caneday • Concise Article • What is the Gospel of John all about? Read on as Dr. Caneday unpacks the message of this fourth gospel: that Jesus, as God’s Son, has come into the world to reveal the Father and bring eternal life to everyone who believes the message he reveals.
Why We Need a “Both-And” Perspective for Reading the Gospels and Epistles
By Brian Vickers • Concise Article • Too often the Gospels and Epistles are pitted against each other. In truth, both reveal the same gospel and must be read together for faithful discipleship.
News and Notes
First, September is our birthday month! Please consider supporting Christ Over All.
Christ Over All was started by a group of pastors, professors, and laymen who noticed that many Christians in the West did not see how Christ’s lordship related to every aspect of life. So they set a goal to address this need by publishing a series of articles and podcasts each month on a given topic, showing Christ reigned supreme in Scripture, theology, church, and culture.
Three years later, the blessings of God on this ministry are remarkable. Despite working with a shoe-string budget and having no full-time employees, by God’s grace Christ Over All has been able to publish around 550 concise articles, almost 100 longform essays, and nearly 200 podcast episodes. During that time, almost 250 authors have contributed to our website, and we have published thirty six unique themes. We give God all the glory for this!
What’s more gratifying than the volume of material produced is hearing personal stories of how people have been helped: there are the pastors who have told us that one of our articles helped them to think through a challenging counseling or church discipline case; and there are the Sunday School teachers who employed our series on Christian Nationalism to navigate that challenging subject. We have also received reports of Christians benefiting from our resources in places like Germany, Australia, Canada, and Africa.
At present, we are poised to expand our number of resources so that we can serve more people near and far. But our small team cannot do this without your help. Our ability to reach others is largely affected by those who give to us in the month of September. If you’ve been helped by our content, would you please join us by giving a large or small donation this month to help us to show more people the extent of Christ’s lordship? We are praying for an army of supporters who would like join us in a regular monthly gift, no matter how large or small. And we are also praying for a few who would be able to give larger anchor-type gifts that would allow us to raise the supremacy of Christ even higher. If you, or someone you know, is looking to support a ministry that is actively challenging the culture and providing resources to extol Christ and destroy all arguments raised against him, please reach out. Or, give through our online website.
May God be pleased support this ministry through your gifts for another three years and beyond.
Second, the Christ Over All Swag Store Is Almost Here.
Many of you have been asking for it, and now it is here—almost. This month, as we celebrate three years, we are putting final touches on an apparel store that will have COA Merch and PDFs for purchase. For those looking for shirts, mugs, stickers, and hats, the swag store will have it all. And what about those who have asked if we can put our monthly themes into one downloadable PDF? That is coming too. Lord willing, both of these new additions (which have been in the works for nearly a year) will be up-and-running by the end of the month.
And to celebrate our birthday, look for a few special deals, too. Sign up for the weekly email or follow us on X, Facebook, or Instagram to learn when these pages go live.
Third, Be Aware of Our Upcoming Months.
We receive submissions from faithful Christians who have thought deeply about our topics. If you have expertise in one of the following topics in bold and are interested in writing for us (in line with our doctrinal distinctives), feel free to shoot us an e-mail.
October 2025: Biblical Theology in the Balance
November 2025: Do the Reading: Selections in Political Theology
December 2025: Christmas Medley, Part 2
January 2025: Abolishing Abortion
February 2025: Engaging Islam
March 2025: Can Anything Good Come from Nashville? An Investigation of Denominational Structures and Stewardship
April 2025: The Cross, Resurrection, Ascension
Fourth, We’d Love To See You Face to Face in the Next Few Months.
On Monday, October 27th, Steve Wellum and Trent Hunter will be speaking in Mauldin, South Carolina at the Pastors Encouraging Pastors Conference. This conference is hosted by Christ Over All author Brad Baugham at Emmanuel Bible Church, and will focus on how the Bible fits together.
Also, David Schrock will be hosting a Simeon Trust Preaching Workshop in Woodbridge, Virginia at Occoquan Bible Church on October 14–16. If you are a pastor, preacher, or aspiring minister of the gospel, this hands-on workshop is well worth the time. Come and study the book of Zechariah with David Schrock, Mike Bullmore, and Erik Raymond. Or, if October doesn’t work, you can join Trent Hunter, David Helm, and Ryan Kelly in Greenville, SC, from January 28–30, 2006, for a Simeon Trust Workshop on Leviticus.
From November 18–20, 2025, all the Christ Over All editors will be at the Evangelical Theological Society in Boston. If you are there, please let us know, and keep an eye out for a late night meetup on Tuesday, November 19.
In 2026, we will be visiting Southwest Florida to join the Founders National Conference in Fort Myers on January 22–24. That week David Schrock will be one of the speakers, and we will have a booth. Sign up here to join us.
That’s all for now. Until next time, let’s keep in mind that Christ is over all, so in all things we ought exalt him.
