In 2010, I joined the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, excited that I had found a refuge from the crazy world of Evangelicalism. In 2017, I was seeking for refuge from the OPC and the spiritual abuse I experienced there.
There had been red flags along the way that I didn’t think twice about until after all of the spiritual abuse happened. But what really brought everything out to the light was in 2016 when my family became members of Providence OPC in Temecula, California.
“Trust the Process”
At the time, the church was without a pastor. The former pastor, Jesse Pirschel…
Years ago my family left the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) not only because of the existence of spiritual abuse, bullying, and racism, but because of what little those in power did to address those matters in their pews and in their pulpits.
The sins of commission were painful; the sins of omission and silent complicity were unbearable.
There are good saints still in the denomination, just like in any denomination. …
What can White Christians do in response to anti-Asian racism?
Here are a couple ideas:
1) Educate yourself about Asian American history. Understand the various stories of Asian American identity and the contributions we have made. The PBS documentary “Asian Americans” is a good place to start.
2) Acknowledge anti-Asian racism. This means believing Asian Americans and our stories of racism, pushing against the “model minority myth,” looking at the history of anti-Asian racism, and affirming the data of the recent surge of hate crimes against Asian Americans. Stop AAPI Hate is a good resource.
3) Check in and offer…
Story time. Pull up a chair.
In 2017, I was working for White Horse Inn as one of the leaders of the organization. At the time, I was optimistic that the organization was making strides toward racial justice.
After the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, I waited to see what our editorial team at Core Christianity and White Horse Inn would do to respond. The organization had written on topics related to racism and social justice before, so it was well within the orbit of the organization to respond to this event.
On March 16, 2021 at approximately 5:00 p.m., Robert Aaron Long shot and killed four people at an Atlanta-area spa. Less than an hour later, Long killed four more women at two other spas. Authorities confirmed that six of the victims were Asian women.
After Long was arrested, details began to emerge about his background. Long is an active member of Crabapple First Baptist Church. Up until the day of the shootings, the church’s Facebook page had a video of his testimony and baptism from 2018. He speaks in the video about how he had been baptized in his…
Fashioning Thick-Skinned into a Virtue
In various Evangelical and Reformed Christian circles, being “thick-skinned” is seen as being next in line to the cardinal virtues. To not be easily offended, hurt, or affected by the words and actions of others is placed next to godliness.
Many of us within these circles imbibe this idea and think that the fact that we are not affected by the pain, insults, and lies of others shows our maturity or strength. “I don’t let things really get to me” is a badge of honor many of us wear. “I don’t let them get under…
As an editor for a Christian publication and as someone who has served on the leadership of a Christian nonprofit that specializes in content production, I understand a bit about the backend process of what it takes for an article to go from submission to publication. I also am familiar with the post-publication process, which includes social media, engagement through comments, and, when necessary, editorial correction. In my current role, we do our best to be transparent about any editorial changes that happen after publication. …
Trolling Pastors
There are Reformed and Evangelical pastors that spend more of their time trolling on social media than shepherding their flock. They’ve also convinced themselves (and others) that their trolling is the contextual equivalent of “contending for the faith.”
These same pastors also love to expand their jurisdiction of spiritual authority to anyone and everyone within their reach. They will slide into your DMs, subtweet you, write on their blogs, and if possible, contact your pastor/elders to show you that they have the big guns. …
Several days ago, Christopher J. Gordon, pastor of Escondido United Reformed Church and host of Abounding Grace Radio, published an article titled “Reaping the Woke Church We Have Sown.” In this provocatively titled article, Gordon writes:
The Christianity of our day is full of teachers attempting to fuse Christianity with the larger utopian project of solving all of the world’s injustices, on their terms. The result is a new brand of American church, wedded together with the theology of wokeness. It’s a really bad union.
This is not Gordon’s first foray into the conversation about issues of justice, racism, and…
There are many well known Reformed and Evangelical nonprofits that make use of contracts, NDAs, and agreements that are by definition ungodly.
Inventions Assignment Agreement
One example is an “inventions assignment agreement” that was made as a condition of full-time employment. The agreement states:
“Employee agrees that any inventions (including, but not limited to, work product and intellectual property, regardless of form and medium) made, developed or created by Employee solely or jointly with others during the term of this Agreement, that (1) are made with the Organization’s equipment, supplies, facilities, trade secrets or time, OR (2) that relate, at…
Timothy Isaiah Cho
Associate Editor for Faithfully Magazine and advocate for Christian proactive justice. https://faithfullymagazine.com/author/timothy-i-cho/
