​Back in June of this year, I wrote an article titled “Finding the Right Church,” which sought to answer the question: What constitutes a solid biblical church? The article was intended to help believers find a church which strives to be biblical in their polity, organization, and corporate worship. However, a church can be a biblical church and still not be a healthy church. One impacts the other. A church can be biblical without being healthy, but a church cannot be healthy without being biblical. Thus, if you missed my article on “Finding the Right Church,” I would recommend starting there, then reading this article.
 
So then, what does a healthy church look like? What are the marks one should look for when seeking to find a church home? There are eight signs which mark out the healthy church from the unhealthy church. 

I just got off the phone with a former church member of mine who now lives in another state, and who is struggling with finding a solid biblical church. And so, of course, a topic of our conversation was what does a solid biblical church look like? When looking for a new church or if you are wondering if you are currently attending a solid biblical church, what are the marks we should look for? Between being active-duty military for a time and moving off to seminary, first in Canada, then in the United States, my wife and I have moved around quite a bit during our 33 years of marriage (eighteen moves, four states, and two countries). Many of which required looking for a new church to join in membership. So what do I look for in a church? What constitutes a solid biblical church? —eight key features.

​Living in a world of conflict can be tough. Because we live in a fallen world, a world riddled with sin, conflict within relationships is inevitable. Conflict cannot be avoided. The best we can hope for is to pray that the Holy Spirit, through his Word, will help us deal with and resolve conflict in a biblical and God-honoring manner.
 
But what do we do when we find ourselves in a situation where we have been sinned against, or at least we believe we have been wronged by someone else, and that someone else either refuses to acknowledge their sin or possibly does not even realize they’ve sinned against you? We’ve all been there. How often have we been the one who has offended someone else, and when confronted with our offense, we’re not really sure we agree? We’re not really sure we’ve done anything wrong. 

As we look around at the state of the western church, the modern family, and society, we continue seeing that these spheres are struggling, at best, and in rapid decline, at worst. This is true even within the Reformed Christian world. I continue to be shocked and surprised by the number of organizations and institutions which were once stalwarts of conservative Reformed orthodoxy, which are now gradually sliding towards egalitarianism. Though these organizations and institutions would adamantly deny this is the case, many of them now have record numbers of women professors teaching courses to potential pastors. Of course, the counter argument would be: “Yes, but these women are not teaching theology proper, but are teaching peripheral courses such as OT Hebrew, NT Greek, Church History, Counseling, Worship, etc.” But how does one teach Biblical Counseling without including theology? How does one explain the historical development of the doctrine of Justification without including and expounding upon the finer points of theology which were debated within the Church? They may not be teaching “theology proper” but it’s only a matter of time.
 
I have also been surprised by the number of conservative and Reformed publications which now produce issues with a great many of the theological articles being written by women. “Yes,” but they’ll say, “they do not hold the position of pastor and they are not teaching theology within the church setting.” But it’s only a matter of time. God’s Word does not say, ‘I do not permit a woman to teach [men directly within a church setting, but they can do so in any other setting] or to exercise authority over a man [within a church setting, but they may do so within any other setting]’ (1 Tim. 2:12). God’s Word does say, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man”—period. Whether that teaching is being done within a Sunday school class or a seminary classroom, a theology book, an article, or Bible commentary, makes no difference. To teach the authoritative Word of God with authority is to exercise authority over the one being taught.

Photo by Susan Q Yin on Unsplash
We often struggle with knowing God’s will for our lives. What does God want me to do? Where does he want me to live? What career does he want me to pursue? Who does he want me to marry? How does he want me to handle this situation? Does he want me to adopt children? Should I become a missionary? Should I become a pastor? As a pastor, should I stay at this church or look for a new one? And the list goes on and on. Every day we are faced with a million different decisions we need to make. Some big. Most are small. But it’s the big ones that keep us up at night and cause anxiety or shingles. So then, what are we to do about it? How do we determine God’s will for our lives? This is an important question because many will be paralyzed in life, waiting for the clouds to part and a voice from heaven telling them which car to buy. But is that what we should do? Should we just think, wait, and pray about a decision until God gives us a neon sign? How can we know God’s will for our life?