Curran Bishop

Husband, father, pastor, biker, cyclist, historical theologian, carpenter, wooden boat enthusiast, Geocacher...

[Curran Bishop @CurranBishop]

"I would wish you the best of luck, but I believe luck is a concept invented by the weak to explain their failures" --Ron Swanson

[Curran Bishop @CurranBishop]

Floor nominations sound democratic, but in practice they often favor celebrity. With 2,000 voters and 170+ names, recognition wins.

Committee nominees have been vetted by presbyteries and examined through process. That’s not machine politics—it’s Presbyterianism.

#pcaga2026

[Curran Bishop @CurranBishop]

@Walmart Then I try to offer feedback at https://t.co/MKSwoAVQjn & get "Sorry, we encountered an unexpected error. Please try again." Nice. #GoTarget

[Curran Bishop @CurranBishop]

@Walmart ...Why can't items just be shipped from the warehouse where https://t.co/ddorzpyzb9 says they're available? This prob w/ https://t.co/ddorzpyzb9 is part of why I'm doing most of my shopping from Target. They allow me to ship most items and don't threaten to swap/drop 'em

[Curran Bishop @CurranBishop]

@Walmart ... 2nd time around, many items "not available" at my store, so I had to specify no substitutions. Now, looks like some of my items will just be dropped from my order when they aren't available at the local store... #GoTarget

[Curran Bishop @CurranBishop]

@Walmart I just doubled the time it took to place my order b/c after I'd specified I wanted my items shipped, they switched to "pickup." Removed them all from my cart & repeated; happened again... #GoTarget

[Anthony Bradley @drantbradley]

Catholics are doing this with 400 high school guys. Meanwhile, evangelicals keep boys in rooms with snacks, games, and skits. Teen guys want real challenge and real service, not entertainment. Stop treating them like children. Put them to work serving others.

[Matt Smethurst @MattSmethurst]

The real message of Christmas is “the most countercultural thing that modern Western people could ever hear.”

—@TimKellerNYC

[Brad Edwards @cbradedwards]

Wow, thank you so much @TrevinWax.

[David L. Bahnsen @DavidBahnsen]

“The liberal society — that is, a society organized to safeguard equal rights and limit the powers of both governments and majorities through institutions of law and consent — has never been best understood as a utopian proposition. It is much better understood as a coping mechanism for those seeking virtue in a fallen world. It calls on us to constrain our expectations of politics, so that we might reach higher in every other facet of our lives.”

~ Yuval Levin

[Trevin Wax @TrevinWax]

One of the more important articles in the Fall 2025 issue of @mereorthodoxy https://t.co/SBjWG2OI78

[Derek Radney @derekradney]

To be deep in history is to cease to be a particular type of Protestant, namely, the individualist kind born out of the Modern Democratic Egalitarian project that is the United States where Baptists and non-denominational churches appear obvious and common sensical.

[Derek Radney @derekradney]

I strongly encourage my fellow PCAers here on X to reflect carefully on the insights of this article.

[Derek Radney @derekradney]

Good preaching (that fuels worship & forms ppl in maturity) requires nuance, for many important truths & exhortations stated absolutely & without exception will crush some ppl in particular situations.

That isn't cowardice or pulling punches. It's wisdom & love.

[Derek Radney @derekradney]

This has implications in two directions, not just one. Trying to enforce narrower boundaries and breaking them is divisive.

[Derek Radney @derekradney]

Helpful response to RE Justin Ellis by @HowieDonahoe on how focusing on threats can distract from accomplishing the mission

[Derek Radney @derekradney]

"What this means is that digital space, by its very nature, tends to be corrosive of the values that shape us as presbyterians. ...

The problem facing us in this moment, then, is whether spaces of presbyterian formation can endure in a digital moment."
by @jake_meador

[Derek Radney @derekradney]

I enjoyed this conversation, and I share the ways both Wood and @collinhansen appreciate Keller. I also agree with several of the criticisms Wood makes of Keller’s overall work (i.e. children not mentioned as an end of marriage).

But, I continue to believe Wood gets Keller wrong in an important way because of Wood’s own interest in political theology. It simply doesn’t make much sense to criticize Keller for seeing politics through evangelism.

I think it is more accurate to say Keller spoke about politics in the process of doing evangelism. Third-wayism or winsomeness were not about politics but about faithfulness to the gospel way and witness. So we shouldn’t read him as if he was doing political theology.

[Jason Kovacs @jasonkovacs]

The pastor’s calling is unique. Most people can separate work, church, and friendships but for pastors, they all overlap. When there’s conflict in one, it ripples through them all. That’s why shepherding requires deep grace. It’s never just a job; it’s a whole life.

[Derek Radney @derekradney]

Contextualization is love. It asks, How can I best explain the truth in a way that will persuade this person? What do they believe or want that I can build on to convince? What obstacles do I need to address before *this* person will believe?

Over-contextualization fails to love because it selfishly puts approval or status above the good of neighbor.

Under-contextualization fails to love because it self-righteously confronts without considering this particular neighbor’s challenges to believing.

[Timothy Keller (1950-2023) @timkellernyc]

The PCA is great, and no one should think of abandoning it.