I would never conversationally tell anyone that I’m a writer. I write sometimes, sure. But I know brilliant men and women who are incredible communicators. I’m a wife, a mom, and a full-time biblical counselor at a local church, in that order. I spend an enormous amount of time meeting with hurting families, troubled women,... Continue Reading

This is a call for forbearance and love, with a long-term view of growing in holiness. Whether we are correcting sins towards minorities or towards women, we should expect that it will take many years (perhaps multiple generations) to fully see the fruits of repentance. Courage is required to stand against long-standing sins, but patience... Continue Reading

On his blog, Lifeway President and CEO Thom Rainer observes that many churches have already dropped the traditional 11 a.m. Sunday service because they supposedly no longer fit the needs of their congregations. He asked several church leaders why they no longer hold services at 11 a.m. and found five common answers.   If times were a-changin’... Continue Reading

Moving on to the charge of misogyny in the PCA, as I said at the beginning, I know there is misogyny in Reformed churches. However, some of the examples being given are not actually misogyny. Two main ones that have been referenced recently are using masculine pronouns or names for God and male-only ordination. While... Continue Reading

Margo Maris has compiled a list of victims’ needs from her work with them over the years (p.26). 1. To be believed by the Church 2. To hear stated that it is not the victim’s fault. For officials to believe that it is the behavior of the perpetrator that is wrong, not the fact that... Continue Reading

We are wasting too much time, energy, and money in our churches. Often we are doing more things and becoming less effective. It’s time for busy churches to become simple churches.   Most churches keep their members so busy they don’t have time to do ministry. Indeed, I spoke to a lay elder of a... Continue Reading

Rev. Joel E. Kim has served Westminster Seminary California as Assistant Professor of New Testament since 2005. As a teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) he and his family attend New Life PCA in Escondido after serving for a number of years at New Life Fullerton (PCA). He and his wife, Sharon,... Continue Reading

The other day I got a phone call from one such pastor who said: “Help! Talk me off my metaphorical ledge!” That morning he’d gotten an angry text message from someone who blamed him for wrecking an upcoming family vacation because he didn’t approve of a Sunday school topic, he had an email faulting him... Continue Reading

Under the system of the authoritarian Great Leader, which functions more like a cult ideology than a presidency, the worship of another God is not condoned. There have been several arrests of Christian missionaries, including Jeffrey Fowle, who, in 2014, was detained for five months after leaving a Bible in a public bathroom, and Kenneth... Continue Reading

On March 28, 1788 Haynes left the Torrington congregation and accepted a call to pastor the west parish of Rutland, Vermont, where he served the all-white congregation for thirty years—a relationship between pastor and congregation rare in Haynes’s time and in ours both for its length and for its racial dynamic.   A Model of... Continue Reading