Intensives are, in many ways, the heart and soul of Grimké Seminary. They are times of rich learning, soul-filling fellowship, and transformative preaching and worship. We would love to have you join us next spring as the Lord calls you further up and further into ministry. We offer a wide variety of degrees for students at all levels of academic education and a full-orbed theological education taught by experienced Pastor-Theologians. Visit grimkeseminary.org today to start your application.

Our DMin offers advanced training for Pastor-Theologians toward the good of God’s people. If you've been putting off higher education and want to grow in your ministry, consider joining us this spring for the launch of our next DMin Cohort.

Here’s another reminder that the Sound of Music is a film conservatives should watch with their families annually. The whole movie is about the complementarity of the sexes, highlighting masculine and feminine strengths and weaknesses, and how the sexes become something greater together than either naturally tends to be in isolation. Captain Von Trapp’s firmness turned to harshness following the loss of his wife. Meanwhile, Maria’s romanticism caused her to be “flighty as a feather” until she found a man she could follow. When Maria walks down the aisle to be married, the organ plays the reprise of “How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria?” with the implication that Von Trapp has a problem that needs solving, too. The solution is a godly marriage, which heals their ills, restores joy to the home, and blesses the whole family. (There are similar lessons in Rolf’s boyish idealism and Liesl’s naïevte, though their doomed relationship was not to be.) Besides all of this, the film paints a positive picture of patriotism against the backdrop of Nazism. It shows the glory of music. And it has nuns who engage in just war tactics. What’s not to love?

France should’ve listened to Raspail. They were warned 50 years in advance.

More than 300 pastors in Virginia are working loudly to prevent our state from seeking the destruction of the most vulnerable in our state. Fear God, Senator. "Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. (Proverbs 24:11)

I definitely do academic work on my home gym mirrors with a glass marker. Was a total game changer when I started doing it.

The death penalty is a good thing and contributes to societal well-being, biblical ethics, good faith civic participation, and is a warning to those who would do evil.

Pastor, understand that every businessman in your congregation just started Q4. This is the last sprint, but a unique sprint. * Budgets are being drafted; spend it or lose it * Depending on the RFP-to-close pipeline, deals need to be signed soon; some deals are already being pushed to Q1 * Headcount decisions for teams are being made for 2027 * Yearly bonuses are being finalized * The 2027 funnel is being populated—TOFU ftw * Once Thanksgiving hits, every client is sporadic to get in touch with—Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's are nightmares for scheduling * Q4 board meetings are happening * Unspent vacation (should) needs to be spent * Tariffs are still very real * 5- and 10-year Treasury numbers (and housing) are telling everyone to strap in * AI adoption is a major headache If the businessmen in your congregation suddenly seem a little more stressed out and less available, there are reasons.

Says the guy who plays Odysseus. You can’t make this stuff up.

The @Christ_OverAll line up for next month's theme on the pastor and public square is top flight. @dmichaelclary @tim__stephens @james_d_baird @rhett_burns @merelyjwright @greg_scott @TrentHunter @truepravda And more . . . Tell your friends, especially the pietistic ones.

Working through Xenophon's "Education of Cyrus" with pastors to help them hone their leadership skills is a distinct joy. Don't sleep on Xenophon.

I keep going back to Covenant College because it is associated with my denomination and emblematic of the missed opportunity. Covenant comes from the Reformed tradition—the same one that produced Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc—and is associated with the PCA, the most prominent evangelical denomination in this tradition. Yet Covenant is objectively academically mediocre and not a draw to most of the best students from even the PCA (students who want a liberal arts education). It has a few “conservative” professors (again, more of the David French variety), but its center of gravity is closer to Russell Moore (whom it recently hosted for a flagship lecture), and some are clear left-wing activists. Covenant is not a serious competitor to eg Davidson College, which is also traditionally Presbyterian (albeit with the more liberal PCUSA) and in the same region, but academically elite. Davidson is older and richer, but Covenant doesn’t even try to compete on the vectors that could give it an advantage, especially an intentional divergence from mainstream academic leftism and robust exploration of alternatives that build on the Reformed tradition. If Covenant did this, it might become a magnet for top Reformed (and broadly evangelical) students and academics who could choose elite schools but are put off by the pervasive leftism of mainstream academia. It could quickly become a center of compelling Reformed thought across academic disciplines—a successor of sorts of elite universities that were built on but abandoned this tradition. Far from requiring compromise of Covenant’s Reformed identity, this would follow a doubling down on the distinctives of the Reformed academic tradition. But instead Covenant has accepted a path that is generically evangelical, academically complacent, and actively averse to many of the cultural and political trends that could actually draw people to it. This pattern is far too common among Christian colleges, and the missed opportunity is a real tragedy—for Christian students and academics, for the growing political right (which would benefit from stronger Christian influence), and for America.

I'm speaking at Liberty University on October 19th.

Ellul predicted this. 1. Technique advances by its own law (efficiency, self-augmentation). 2. The state that uses it becomes a technical organism (system). 3. People are “fitted” to it by propaganda and convenience until they feel free inside it, and trade their freedom and privacy for “safety.” 4. The result is not only a surveillance state but an operational totalitarianism that can look democratic, all made possible by technology and propaganda.

I do not do lapel pins or pocket squares, because classic American menswear needs no such accoutrement. Shun sartorial innovation.

Dear Virginia, Now is the time to stand for truth, life, marriage and against the law-makers seeking to legislate evil. Take five minutes to read this open letter. virginiapastors.org/

Biblical literacy is a huge problem. Basic literacy is a bigger problem. The skill of “how to read a book” is quickly becoming a lost art.

Nor’easters on the East Coast make my heart jump. Reminds me of my Atlantic open water swimming days in my late teens and early twenties. The most fun I have ever had in or on the water, without a question. 100–200 yards off the beach, waves triangling everywhere, no regular wave pattern, under tow that wants to bury you on the bottom, rip currents that follow zero pattern—10 out of 10 recommend.