Today’s Briefing

Pastor Mike Todd’s book inspired a new rom-com, Relationship Goals.

Brad East argues that Jesus did not serve grape juice.

The spiritual benefits of learning how to draw.

The church has a problem of Sunday school dropouts.

To address the current cultural obsession with gender, Christians need relationships, not rumination.

Join Jen Wilkin and Russell Moore on February 13 at 12:00 p.m. Central Standard Time for a member-exclusive livestream exploring biblical illiteracy, the reasons intentional engagement with Scripture is so important, and ways to cultivate deeper, more sustainable Bible study habits. Members can register to join at MoreCT.com/Event. Not a member? Get 25 percent off your first year and gain event access at OrderCT.com/Subscription.

Behind the Story

From international editor Angela Lu Fulton: Beginning in 2018, I co-led a women’s group at my international church in Taipei, Taiwan, called Women of the Word (or WOW). About a year later, I heard about a book with the same name by Bible teacher Jen Wilkins. My co-leader and I decided to go through the book, unsure whether the participants would be willing to put in the time commitment of reading a chapter a week before showing up. Yet its discussion of studying the Bible seriously resonated with many of us, despite our differing backgrounds—some of us were from the US, some were Taiwanese who studied in the West, and some had never left the island.

We then decided to embark on Jen Wilkin’s Bible studies, starting with the intimidating Book of Judges. I was even less certain whether we could get people to read the passages and fill out the weekly questions before coming. But we were surprised to see a core group of women getting increasingly invested in the studies as well as studying the Bible itself. Once we finished Judges, we decided to start another Wilkin study and continued to do so until I moved away from Taipei in 2022. It was incredible to see how our group grew in our love for Jesus and the Word during that time.

I recommend reading Jen Wilkin’s articles at CT, including her pieces on the value of aging, the importance of studying the Bible, unpaid women’s ministry leaders, the basics of Bible reading, and false teaching.