Everything I’ve Written, by Topic

I’ve been writing here since 2022, and the archive is now over 400 posts. Substack doesn’t make older pieces easy to find, so I’ve sorted everything by topic below. Within each section, posts run from oldest to newest, and series are kept together. A few posts show up in more than one section.

I’ll keep this page updated as I write.

Manhood

• The Church Needs Ambitious Men

• Episode 1 | Holy Ambition

• Are You Serious?

• Responding to a It’s Good to Be a Man Review

• Becoming a Man on Mission

• Nine Principles to Develop a Mission

• Man on a Mission: Physical Fitness

• Little Brother Wars

• Ball-field, Bedroom, and Billfold

• Winning the Battle Against Porn

• A Different Type of Revival

• The Glorious Grind

• Being a Complete Man (1 Kings 19)

• Building Brotherhood

• How Men Destroy Their Households

• Clueless Bastards, Rootless Wanderer

• You Probably Are a Jonathan

• Mature Masculinity

• Offensive Christianity

• Young Kings

• A “Young Kings: A Young Man’s Guide to Dominion” preview

Fatherhood and Family Life

• Father as Emotional Leader

• Daddy is Home

• Smash the Patriarchy

• The Perils of Large Families pt. 1

• How many kids should you have?

• Overcoming the Perils of the Large Family pt. 2

• 50 Actions for Clueless Fathers

• The Wealth of the Generations Part 1

• The Wealth of the Generations Part 2

• The Work of Fatherhood is Its Own Reward

• Having Children, Building a House

• A New Legacy

• When Your Kid is Caught in Porn

• Stop Overthinking It and Just Play With Your Kids

• An Ode to Fatherhood

• Children are a Time Capsule of Your Parenting

• Parenting from Under the Tarp

• Seasons of Fatherhood

• Coca Cola and Comic-Cons

• Seeing My Daughter Before She Grows Up

• Long Days, Short Years

• Foxe and Batman

• The Years You’re Rushing Past Are the Golden Years

• An Ode to Aunts and Uncles

• A Few of the Benefits of Large Families

• Raising Up a Generation of Two-Percenters

• Not One Road for All

• Some Thoughts on Parenting, Part 1: An Approach to Spanking

• Some Thoughts on Parenting, Part 2: The Importance of Story-telling

• Last Things

• Dad, I need you.

• A Day in the Life of the Faithful Christian Household

• The House of Foster Expands

• Little Traditions for Big Families

Dating and Finding a Spouse

• Why women test men

• Thoughts on Dating for 1st Gen Christians

• From Acquaintances to Engaged

• Negative World & the Relationship Marketplace

• Thoughts on Finding a Spouse

• Passing Feminine Social Checks

• Thoughts on Courting and Dating Part 1

• Thoughts on Courting and Dating Part 2

• Practical Wisdom on Pursuing Marriage

• Jack Reacher Won’t Ask Girls to Dance

• How to Avoid the Wrong Woman (and Find the Right One)

• Singleness, Celibacy, and the Crisis of Delay

• The Slow Death of the Well-Suited Couple

• Finding a Spouse in the World We Actually Live In

• Overcoming the Potential Spouse Bottleneck

• Prize, Pursue, or Dance

• Before They Date, Court, or Whatever You Call it

Marriage and Sex

• Premarital Counseling Preparation Questionnaire

• Is Masturbation Sinful?

• A Solution-Based Approach to Couple’s Counseling

• Fornication is a Thief

• How do I get my spouse to change?

• Loving Your Wife as the Weaker Vessel

• The Importance of Mile Markers for a Discouraged Wife

• A Marriage Testimony

• One Flesh, Two Persons

• The Space Between

• Sexual Intimacy and Frequency in Marriage

• A Marriage Like Wine

• Marriage as a Dance

• It’s Good to Be Married

• Puzzles and Marriage

• An Anniversary Reflection

• Keep at it

• The Three Purposes of Marriage

• Shrinking the Woodpile

• Sex Advice for Newlyweds

• A Wife Remembers

• “Just Leave”

• Wife-Led Rhythms in Marriage

• 23 Reflections on Marriage

• Get Legit

Womanhood, Motherhood, and the Home

• The Glorious Work of Home-Making

• Some Thoughts on Modest Dress

• The Cherishing Nurture of a Godly Feminine

• Celebrating Motherhood Once More

• Nine Lessons from Motherhood

• Immoral Women and Discipline

• Should a Woman Work Outside the Home?

• How Women Destroy their Households

• Making the Most of the Titus 2 Women God Puts in Our Lives

• Wife-Led Rhythms in Marriage

• April Heart Check-In for Mamas

• The Rhythm of the Household

• The Rhythm of Spiritual Disciplines

• Destructive Mothering

• The Rhythm of the Lord’s Day

• An Ode to Mothers

• The Rhythm of a Woman’s Life

• Long Dresses, Flowing Hair, and a Brash Attitude

• Dare to Love Women

• Welcome to Eyrie

Men, Women, and Patriarchy

• FAQ on Sexuality & Patriarchy

• The Indisposable Legacy

• A Theology of Attraction (slightly updated)

• The Importance of Sexual Dissimilarity

• The Lie of Sameness

• Biblical Patriarchy vs. Unbiblical Patriarchy

• Polygamy is the Fruit of Chaos

• Egalitarianism and Hyper-patriarchy

• The Normalization of Female Sexual Degeneracy

The Christian Life

• Prayer as Warfare

• Teaching Requires Instruction and Example

• The God Who Doesn’t Coddle

• Joy is an Apologetic

• Driven but Content

• Lord, Make Us Meek

• Stop Whining

• Joy to the World

• Hope Fulfilled

• Principles of Everyday Evangelism

• John Craig and the Providence of God

• Every Action Has a Theology

• That Proud and Tight Jackal

• Who We Once Were

• Promises Kept

• Glorious Providence

• Simeon’s Song

• A Christmas for Every Season

• Why do the wicked prosper?

• Clancy and the Father’s Care

• Bold in Prayer, Bold in Life

• Presuming on the Giver of all Good Gifts

• Water is Thicker Than Blood

Sermons and Bible Studies

Genesis and Job

• Job, the Sons of God, and Giants

• The Judgment of an Apostate World (Gen 6)

• The Sethite View and Jude 1 & 2 Peter 2

Ruth

• Life After Death - Ruth 1

• Fields of Kindness - Ruth 2

1 Samuel

• To Obey Is Better

Psalms

• The Church Attendance Pandemic (Psalm 100)

• The Shepherd’s Song Pt. 1 (Psalm 23)

• The Shepherd’s Song Pt. 2 (Psalm 23)

• The Whole World a Choir

• The King of Glory

• Pulled from the Mud

Proverbs

• How Men Destroy Their Households

• How Women Destroy their Households

• Building a Good Name

Haggai

• God-Centered Localism (Haggai 1)

• God-Centered Localism Pt 2 (Haggai 2)

Nahum

• The Comfort of Wrath (Nahum 1)

• God of War (Nahum 2)

• The Doom of Degenerate Nations (Nahum 3)

The Sermon on the Mount

• Sermon of the King

• The Storms will Come

Philippians

• A Cause for Joy, Philippians 1:1-8

• The Apostle’s Prayer, Philippians 1:9-11

• The Unchained Gospel, Philippians 1:12-20

• To Live is Christ, Philippians 1:21-26

• Dual Citizenship, Philippians 1:27-30

• The Church United, Philippians 2:1-3

Colossians: Put Off, Put On

• Put Off, Put On: Part One: Sanctification for Ordinary Saints

• Put Off, Put On: Part Two: Confessional Roots in a Confused Age

• Put Off, Put On: Part Three: The Steady Joy of a Thankful Christian

Titus 2: Christ for the Generations

• Christ for the Generations, Part One: Godly Older Men

• Christ for the Generations, Part Two: Godly Older Women

• Christ for the Generations, Part Three: Godly Younger Women

• Christ for the Generations, Part Four: Godly Younger Men

Theology, the Catechism, and the Sacraments

• Cremation vs. Burial

• Our Practice of the Lord’s Supper

• “Fencing” the Table

• The First Question

• The Second Question

• Rest in Peace

• Notes on Ecclesiology

• Becoming a Settled Christian

Pastors and Church Life

• Life in the Fishbowl

• The Able Man

• Prayer of Confession

• Pastors and the Dangers of Social Media

• The Death by Managerial Ministry

• Money, Ministry, and Ministry Families

• The Dangers of Rapid Ministry Growth via Social Media

• When will enough be enough?

• Of Podcasts and Pastors

• Beware of Vagabond Ministers

• On Sermon Prep

• What It Takes to Do Bi-Vocational Ministry Well

• A Streamlined Alternative to Small Groups

• Discipline: The Love That Trains and Confronts

• The Churchly Love of Excommunication

• Girls, Gold, and Glory

• Raising Up Pastors

• Truth Said Over and Over Again

• Into the Breach

• Faithful, Not Frantic

• Old Forms, Living Faith

• How Influencer Culture Destroys Pastors

• That’s Not the Problem of Our Day

• A Common Danger in House Churches

• The Three Stages of a Pastor-Congregant Relationship

• From Pastoral Apprentice to Pastor

• Unpopular Church Conflict Advice

• More Thoughts on Church Life After COVID

• Build Something That Outlives You

• Professions of Faith and Hanging Out Around Fire-pits

• The Wounding Healer

• Drive the nail, turn the screw, tell them about Jesus.

Tactics of Manipulative Ministers and Members

• Tactics of Manipulative Ministers

• Tactics of Manipulative Church Members, Part 1: Grievance Farming (Or, why silence isn’t always innocent)

• Tactics of Manipulative Church Members, Part 2: The Representative (or Ambassador) Tactic

• Tactics of Manipulative Church Members, Part 3: The Insider (Or Reverse Ambassador) Tactic

• Tactics of Manipulative Church Members, Part 4: The Survivor—or the Afflicted

• Tactics of Manipulative Members, Part 5: The Projector

• Tactics of Manipulative Members, Part 6: The Quarantiner

• Tactics of Manipulative Members, Part 6: The Diverter

The Overlooked Skills That Make or Break a Pastor

• The Overlooked Skills That Make or Break a Pastor, Part 1: Keeping Critical Distance in Familial Conflict

• The Overlooked Skills That Make or Break a Pastor, Part 2: Choosing Your Quirks Well

• The Overlooked Skills That Make or Break a Pastor, Part 3: Selectively Ignoring People and Problems

• The Overlooked Skills That Make or Break a Pastor, Part 4: Keeping Outside Counsel

• The Overlooked Skills That Make or Break a Pastor, Part 5: Forming Judgments the Best You Can

The Call to Ministry

• Am I called?

• Father Hunger and a False Call

• “If you can do anything else besides ministry, do it” is hogwash.

East River Church, Ohio Valley Mission, and Denominations

• So what’s your status in the CREC?

• Keeping Promises and Confessional Fidelity

• Once Again into the Fray

• Building a Network of Sanctuary Churches

• Resigning Our Membership in the CREC

• Boniface Fellowship Update

• Why I Stepped Away from Boniface Fellowship (For Now)

• The Original Vision of East River Church

• Why East River Is Pursuing a Bivocational Model

• Counting the Cost in the PCA

• Dealing with Shepherdess in the PCA

• Remaining Semi-Independent for a Little While Longer

• Yet Another Resettling

• Ohio Valley Mission

• Let the Referees Squeal

• Make Missions Local Again

• More Ohio Valley Mission Content

• Some Thoughts on Modern Reformed Denominations

• Focused by Design

• Denominations and Such

The State of American Christianity

• The Dangerous Allure of Reactive Externalism

• The Unreality of Internet Christianity

• Avoiding a Lopsided Christianity

• Against Happy Clappy Christianity

• Recovering an Earthy Christianity

• Reformed Hipsters and the Normie Revolution

• Avoiding the “Niche Christianity” of the Reformed World, Part One

• The Age of the Micro-Cults

• We probably aren’t friends

• The Therapeutic Gospel Revisited

• Minds Spinning like a Kite in a Hurricane

• Moving On from the Pandemic Era

• Blue Collar Confessionalism Preview

• The Sons of Boomerdom

• Christmas Myths

• American Christianity as Cul-de-Sacs

• The Vindication Thirst Trap

• A Reflection on Using AI

• The Return to Realness

• The Pietistic Jesus-Juker

• Thoughts on Boomer Christianity

• The Internet Destination Church

• We’re Forgetting the Pandemic. And That’s a Problem.

• The Great Rehab

• If It Has Whiskers, It’s Not a Baby

• The Fall and Rise of American Christianity

• Just Asking Questions

• Just Noticing Patterns

• The Ordering Principle

• My Current Approach to AI

• Life Formula Pushers

• The Madness of Crowds and Bigfoot

• Onward

• Unrefined Observations

• Am I “Jew-Pilled”

Localism, Ownership, and Place

• Six Areas of Focus for Christian Localism

• The Symbiotic Relationship of the Home, State, and Church

• That Rattling Sound Under Society’s Hood

• Reformation for the Real World

• Delocation by News

• Local Missions

• The Christian’s Dual Citizenship

• Make Missions Local Again

• An America First Missionary

• Reformation in 2025

• You Don’t Have to Live Like a Refugee

• Now What?

• A Manifesto for Local Missions

• The Three Things to Think About Before You Relocate

• Yeah, but what about the Epstein files?

• Ten Things I’ve Been Thinking On

• Qualified Localism in a Neo-feudal World

• You Will Own Things, and Actually Care

• Ownership Isn’t Consumerism

• Community isn’t a “Product”

• Investing in Main St America

• Localism and the Tirocinium Militiae

• Main Street Matters

• The Return of County Before Country (and Barnes & Noble)

• Owning a Home, Not Just a House

Wisdom, Discipline, and Leadership

• Steaming Piles of Productivity

• The Discipline of Sleep (paid subscribers)

• Getting Better at Saying “No”

• The Spiritual Obligation of Physical Fitness

• Getting Unstuck When You’re Overwhelmed

• The Hasty Man

• Where is your focus?

• Escaping the Tyranny of Regrets

• Episode 4 | Becoming Wise

• Drunk with Alertness

• Sanballat is Calling

• Blessing by Way of Failure

• Your Most Valuable Asset

• A Commencement Speech

• A Kite in God’s Hurricane

• The Crooked Finger

• A Handful of Feathers

• The Mountain

• Setting Your “No” Goals for ‘26

• What Do I Think About the Latest Online Skirmish?

• Stuck in a Scab-Picking Loop

• Any Benefit Mentality and Redeeming Time

• The Power of Little Habits

• A Framework for Taking Actions

• Tick, Tick, Tick

• The Dog Who Caught the Car

• Momentum Stealers

• Visionaries, Delusionaries, and Growing as a Leader

• Lived-in Lives are Always Messy.

• You Must Become Smaller

• Enough

• The Quest for Stability

Speech, Conflict, and Social Media

• How Emotional Reasoning & Referentialism Undermines Communication

• Nauseating Flattery

• How to develop a discipline of restrained speech

• The Blessing of a Good Insult

• One Simple Trick

• My Social Media Strategy

• Why won’t they listen?

• Coming Out on Top of Internet Debates

• The Sweet Science

• A Content Production Strategy

• On Naming Names

• He loved too much to lie

• On Discernment, Justice, and the Work of Hearing Both Sides

• Straight Talk in a Crooked Age

• Keep Out / Come In

• Social Media Distortion Dilemma

• A Lesson from Father Bill

• Disavowing the Outrage Machine

• Poking Fun at Ourselves

Grief and Loss

• Nostalgia is a Killer

• Surviving the Death of a Child (a preview)

• My Mother and Why We’ve been MIA

• Surviving the Death of a Child, Part One: Where Is Her Heartbeat? (paid subscribers)

• Surviving the Death of a Child, Part Two: Why, God? Why? (paid subscribers)

• Surviving the Death of a Child, Part Three: Training Wheels

• Surviving the Death of a Child, Part Four: Public Pain

• The Before and the After

• The Pain Which Nobody Understands

• Dark Portals

• Pascal Watson Foster is with the LORD

• Words for Those Who Recently Miscarried

• Don’t Look Away

Personal Essays

• On Where I’m From

• In Water, In Blood, In Grace

• Leaving Las Vegas

• Surviving the Fringe

• My Home, Our Home

• Morris the Cat

• Alone on a Levee

• Just Enjoying Things

• Where the Mourning Dove Calls

Stories and Fiction

• Spilled Milk and Hand-turkeys

• Grandpa’s Ranch

• An Unremarkable Man

• The Tree House

• The Hamburger

• Chris Sabo

• The Pendant

Clearwater

• Clearwater, Chapter 1: The House at the Edge of the Woods

• Clearwater, Chapter 2: You’re not Bert. (paid subscribers)

• Clearwater, Chapter 3: Back Quadrant 12

• Clearwater, Chapter 4: Pinky Swear

• Clearwater, Chapter 5: The Standoff at Empire Stone Works