Friday morning was the funeral for evangelist Billy Graham, one of the most famous men in the world. Two thousand people attended the invitation-only event. On the guest list were presidents, cardinals, celebrities, and megachurch pastors—an A-list of significant and accomplished people. Friday morning was the memorial service for Irene Morrison. A couple hundred people…
We did it! Aileen and I successfully got one of our children through childhood and into adulthood. Today Nick, our oldest, celebrates his eighteenth birthday. He is now an adult, and a pretty good one, too. Pretty good? Nah, far better than that. He’s amazing. He is intelligent and witty and mature and well-read and…
Every few weeks I like to share an example of one of our services at Grace Fellowship Church. I hope that by doing this others will follow suit! I love to learn how other churches worship and often find myself both challenged and encouraged as I see how other congregations worship God in their unique…
We are often called upon to help. We, who are a bit more seasoned, a bit more experienced, a bit more knowledgeable about God, his ways, and his Word—we are called upon to answer questions, to resolve concerns, to solve dilemmas. And rightly so. The younger should rely upon the wisdom of the older; the…
Why aren’t men reading women writers? Jen Pollock Michel recently asked the question and it’s rather a good one. Though she provided an early answer (which you can read here) she was clear that her foremost desire was to provoke discussion. Since I spend so much time thinking about Christian books, I thought I’d take…
This weekly column is devoted to discussing some of the themes that were common topics of discussion among Christians the week before. This week began with many discussions of the film Black Panther, but very quickly turned to Billy Graham upon the news of his death at age 99. Billy Graham I landed in Sydney,…
This is the fifth and final article in a series penned by Joel Kim, President of Westminster Seminary. In each entry he is reflecting on the Olympics from a Korean-American perspective. I want to thank Tim Challies for the opportunity to use this platform to share my thoughts. I’ve enjoyed my time and I hope…
My friends and I recently visited Yanghwajin Foreign Missionary Cemetery in Seoul. As the name indicates, this is where 145 foreign missionaries to Korea and their family members are now buried and remembered. Among them are the families of Henry G. Appenzeller, Horace G. Underwood, and William D. Reynolds. Reynolds was a professor at Pyongyang…
Where do the Olympic athletes representing other countries worship in South Korea? Christian leaders in South Korea have called upon churches to make the Winter Olympics a “Missions Olympics,” encouraging congregations and pastors to be active in evangelizing to the thousands of athletes and officials visiting South Korea. For instance, the many fans of skating–whether…
In advance of my upcoming trip to Australia and New Zealand, I’ve been studying all I can find on the early history of Christianity in those two nations. Australia was settled by the British first, of course, and served as a kind of staging point for missionaries to reach New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.…
I am, for the most part, an organized person. I actually wrote a whole book on productivity in which I laid out the system I used (and still use) to remain organized and, hopefully, effective in what I do. I have begun my days in roughly the same way for many years now, and have…
“The Pyongyang Olympics” is how some are referring to the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games. This can be a humorous play on words, drawing our attention to the similarity of the two names. But for most, the phrase sums up the attention that North Korea has received at the Olympics. Like the recent Wall Street Journal…
I have preached the truth a hundred times to others and a thousand times to myself: You can’t sin without consequence. That’s not the way God has structured his world. It’s not the way God has structured his people. For Christians, the ultimate consequences have been fully paid by Jesus Christ, but this does not…
I recently rediscovered Sojourner Songs, a volume of poems by Ben Palpant. Once again I was struck by the quality of the poetry and the joy of reading it. Here’s a favorite example titled “Shall I Bare My Arms?” What can I offerfor the expiationof a lifetime’s sin? Shall I bare my armsand count the…
As we come to Opening Ceremonies of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games, I am sharing what will be the first of several articles by Joel Kim, President of Westminster Seminary California. Kim is a Korean-American who was born in South Korea before immigrating to America, and has a special interest in Korean Christianity, both its…
There was a time in my teens—a brief time, thankfully—when I dabbled in horror books and movies. In what is probably not an atypical experience for teenagers, I developed a strange interest in the macabre and found pleasure in getting frightened. This led me to explore a few terrifying novels and films before I decided…
This weekly column is devoted to discussing some of the themes that were common topics of discussion among Christians the week before. I often have a lot to work with, but last week there was just one major theme I picked up on, so will provide information on that while also offering a quick personal…
My challenge at a recent conference was to prepare a message that described our church’s experience of finding true Christian unity in a context of wide ethnic diversity. To ensure I was speaking on more than my own behalf, I invited my church to join together for a roundtable discussion. Over a few hours (and…
There are many benefits to living in Toronto, but perhaps none so exciting and fascinating as living in the world’s most diverse city. Over the past few decades the world has come to Toronto so that today more than half of its residents were born in a different country and those who identify as Caucasian…
As one week gives way to another, I like to provide a roundup of the themes that were prominent among Christian readers and writers in the week that was. This week people were discussing John Piper’s thoughts on female seminary professors while also discussing Rachael Denhollander’s remarkable victim impact statement from the sentencing of Larry…