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…
There are lots of ways to qualify what constitutes a “good” Christian book. We might consider the quality of the author’s writing, the originality of the author’s approach, or, most importantly, the faithfulness of the author’s use of Scripture. By those measures, we who speak English and read Christian books here in the twenty-first century…
I have often wondered how Billy Graham feels about having a rule named after him. And it’s not just any rule either, but one that has generated all kinds of controversy both within the church and outside of it. Having a name synonymous with marital faithfulness must be a joy; having a name synonymous with…
As one week gives way to another, I attempt 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 Cathy Newman’s embarrassingly terrible interview of Jordan Peterson, the #MeToo movement inside and outside of Christian circles, and the supposedly “sickening…
One of my ongoing studies is of the qualifications of an elder. My church has called me to be an elder (or pastor, if you prefer) and the Bible makes it very clear what a man must be if he is to hold this office. Most broadly, he must be above reproach—he must live in…
As we grow in grace and become ever-more conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, we wondrously, inevitably find that sin is loosening its grip on us. Sins that once tormented us are now mere irritations; temptations that once consistently overwhelmed us now arouse little interest or enthusiasm. We find to our delight that God…
As one week gives way to another, I attempt to provide a roundup of the themes that were prominent among Christian writers in the week that was. This week people were discussing a pastor who had been called out for sins committed 20 years ago and they were expressing sympathy for the girl he victimized.…
This year I visited museums—many, many museums. I spent time in world-class exhibits in Canada, Germany, Israel, Italy, and Switzerland. I encountered significant historical artifacts and gazed at world-renowned works of art. I stood face to face with Augustus of Prima Porta, gazed at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and looked with admiration at…