Books, Coalitions, Etc

I meant to write one of those “looking ahead” posts. Plans, projects, what I think might be waiting for us in 2026. But the last stretch has been full of wedding prep and the regular interruptions of life. So this is that post. Or close enough.

Because of some personal tragedies and a season of severe health problems (mostly under control now), I’ve been backing out of the online world more and more over the last couple of years. These days I usually write one thing and post it everywhere. Occasionally I’ll do an interview or record a podcast. If I can bring a kid with me and it’s not too far, I’ll do a conference now and then. That rhythm probably isn’t changing.

The one real new development is that I’m now working on writing projects with my wife as we prepare to launch a small family publishing business. Small on purpose. Modest goals. Our focus will be marriage, sex, family, and household building. Most of it nonfiction. I’m also working on a first draft of an American fantasy-mystery story for kids. Whatever podcasting we do will grow out of that shared work, not the other way around.

The first book we plan to publish is It’s Good to Be Married. Large sections are already finished. Emily and I are both deep in research, trying to make something that actually serves people instead of just adding to the noise. We’d love to be ready for preorders by midyear. We’ll see.

Backing up a bit on why I moved out of certain parts of online culture. It wasn’t only because of personal strain, though that was real. I also came to see that my first responsibility is to my church, not to strangers with profile pictures. And third, the associations I’d made, ones I’d hoped might become something like a serious coalition around biblical anthropology and ecclesiology, weren’t going to become that. It became clear I’d be throwing good time after bad. What a waste. So, I stopped trying to steer a drifting vehicle and put my hands back on the work in front of me.

I haven’t hidden that I still hope something might eventually work out with the PCA. But whether that ever happens depends on a lot of things.

First, some people seem to think I can just pull a trigger and move us into the PCA on my own. Maybe their church works that way. Ours doesn’t. Any move like that would involve our elders and, in the end, our members.

Second, I need to be honest. I’m not very optimistic right now. When I publicly documented the functional female officers in ways that were hard to wave away, I received an impressive number of nasty messages from people who call themselves conservatives. On top of that, I’ve become increasingly aware of how certain church courts are being handled. There are presbyteries that are corrupt, or at least presbyteries willing to let corrupt commissions practice lawfare. It’s worse than people realize. Maybe I’ll drop all the receipts before the General Assembly.

Anyhow, the main thing that draws me to the PCA is its system of church courts. But it’s hard to sell that as a strength when it’s this compromised.

So for now, I’m keeping a toe in the water. We won’t be diving in in 2026 or even next year unless there’s a serious and visible turn.

Instead, we’re going to keep building an organic network of like-minded churches. Maybe that grows into something like the Boniface Fellowship idea I’ve mentioned before. Maybe not. One concrete step in that direction is that we’re starting a pastors’ conference at the end of April. Beyond that, the focus is simple. Do what’s best for our church. East River first.

I will say this. If you’ve been in the online reformed/evangelical world, I think a lot of the public “coalitions” that formed during COVID have already failed and are badly fractured. And I believe by the end of this year you’re going to see most of the “new voices” on the right will crash out. It’s too bad. A few will pull back and rethink things. But it’ll be hard because their rise was tied to not holding anything back. Can they break the habit?

At the same time, I think the great rehab will mostly succeed. A lot of men who compromised themselves during the woke and COVID years are going to recover their platforms, not because they truly repented, but because they’re better at coalition-building and public relations than the men who actually tried to hold the line.

It really was an opportunity and it has mostly been squandered.

That said, I’ve also met a lot of excellent people over the last few years. Men who didn’t bend, who stayed out of the spotlight, and who have quietly built strong, faithful ministries most people have never heard of. So all is not lost. It never is.

The future is local. Focused. Tangible.

And with that, that’s it for now.

Time to put on a tux and watch my wife cry tears of joy as our son steps into the glorious fray of marriage.