Paul Joiner

Lament: Connecting Pain to the Lord Who Redeems

by Paul Joiner “Lament enters the complicated space of deep disappointment and lingering hurt. It boldly reaffirms the trustworthiness of God. But, first we need to learn how to lament.” (Mark Vroegop, The 4 Basics of Lament) “In this world, you will have trouble.” (John 16:33) There is something in the culture we live inContinue reading “Lament: Connecting Pain to the Lord Who Redeems”

Into the Deeps of Our Hearts

by Paul Joiner “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” (Psalm 42:1) If we are going to experience the transforming power of the gospel, it has to go to the deepest parts of our being. It was onceContinue reading “Into the Deeps of Our Hearts”

Reading the Bible: Hebrew Poetry

By Paul Joiner A core practice for gospel transformation is daily bible reading. As a congregation, we use the Seeing Jesus Together Journal. It teaches us a method of meditating on God’s Word and moving our time with Jesus into community with each other. So, we are going to have a series of blog postsContinue reading “Reading the Bible: Hebrew Poetry”

2022 General Assembly Update

Each year, you send me and other elders to our denominational national meeting — the General Assembly. This year our two Teaching Elders (Jeff and Paul) were able to attend. In the past, we have often sent Ruling Elders as well. One of the benefits of Presbyterianism is a practical connection to other churches. WeContinue reading “2022 General Assembly Update”

Why a Bible Reading Plan

As part of our rollout of Seeing Jesus Together, we will utilize a Bible reading plan. For some of you, this is an old habit. But for some of you, this will be new. So let me make a case for the benefits of a Bible Reading Plan. It disciplines us. Structure is good. ItContinue reading “Why a Bible Reading Plan”

ZPC Year End 2021

“The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” (Exodus 14:14) How do we fix this? This seems to be the modern starting place for any problem. The hidden assumption is that we can fix any problem. So…how do we fix this? “The Lord will fight for you, and you haveContinue reading “ZPC Year End 2021”

Review: The Wisdom Pyramid

We need help navigating the torrent of ideas. You have probably felt the increasing tension over everything. It doesn’t take much to create a Twitter storm. Its not just in the buffered world of social media where conflict explodes. We walk on eggshells in our conversations constantly trying to assess what tribe someone belongs toContinue reading “Review: The Wisdom Pyramid”

10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask

Regret and fear are the two primary emotions parents face when their student approaches college. Regret over all the things that they have not prepared them for. And fear over all the things they have not prepared them for. The world of college is a world of new ideas and new experiences. The number ofContinue reading “10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask”

What are your thoughts on insurgency?

In a world broken by sin, we will always have sinful rulers. In fact, that is all that we will ever have in our earthly kingdoms. Because of that, there are times when resisting those authorities is necessary. We are not there. Not even close. This is not a time for a just war. ThisContinue reading “What are your thoughts on insurgency?”

The Importance of This Election

Politics are important. We have the unique privilege in America of having a voice and a vote. Across the history of humanity, the ability of the average citizen to employ their will to effect politics is amazingly unique. So politics are important. The people of the Lord Jesus are “aliens and sojourners” (1 Peter 2:11)Continue reading “The Importance of This Election”