Christina Fox, Author at Women.pcacdm.org

Growth by the Strength of God

JULIANNE ATKINSON |GUEST “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:1-4). I used to go fishing with my grandparents in the lagoons and ocean near their house in Savannah. We would choose bait specific to the fish that we wanted to catch. I’d squirm as I put the raw shrimp on the hook. What I really preferred was to squeeze the squishy, glittery plastic worms that caught the light of the sun like a fish’s scales. Whatever bait we used looked just like what the fish preferred to eat, smelled like what smelled good to them, and moved as they expected. Yet inside the bait is a terrible and deadly hook. Sin can act in a similar way. It’s like a shiny bait that catches our eye and makes us think we’ll be fulfilled and satisfied. Nestled inside the glittery facade is a sharp barb that leads to deep pain. The longer we live, the more we can see the devastation that sin wreaks in our lives. As the Puritan theologian John Owen soberly puts it in his book, The Mortification of Sin, we need to “be killing sin or it will be killing you.”[1] The more we let it get a hold of us, the deeper the hook embeds itself. We find it increasingly hard to remove. And we reap serious consequences. As believers, we know these things about sin and its effect in our lives, but what do we do about it?...

Growth by the Strength of GodChristina Fox2025-07-04T19:16:36+00:00

True Freedom in Christ

BARBARANNE KELLY | CONTRIBUTOR As Americans we’re rather fond of freedom. Every July our communities are clothed in red, white, and blue, and fireworks pierce the sky in jubilant displays of national pride and celebration. “Give me liberty or give me death!” was the rallying cry at the birth of our nation and we repeat it again whenever we feel our freedom slipping away. At best our freedoms are enjoyed together with the mutual responsibilities that make living in community possible and pleasant. At worst, they descend into demands for unfettered individuality—the freedom to do whatever I want without restriction—when our personal Declaration of Independence is reduced to “Don’t tell me what to do!” As Christians however, we are blessed with a different kind of freedom, a freedom that goes spirit-deep and lasts eternally. Our freedom is found in our Lord Jesus Christ. But what exactly is the nature of this freedom? What are we free from, and, conversely, what are we free to? The answers lie in the very name and title of our great Savior: the Lord Jesus. His earthly parents named Him Jesus because He would save His people from their sins (Matt. 1:21), and His title is Lord, because we owe Him our loving obedience (John 14:15; Eph. 1:20–22). Give Me Liberty and Give Me Death There is no true liberty apart from God. He is our Creator and we live in the world that He made. The freedom enjoyed by our first parents was a limited freedom, as creatures before their Creator, and depended upon their perfect obedience to him...

True Freedom in ChristChristina Fox2025-07-10T16:54:24+00:00

Colossians 3 and Lessons Learned from My Wedding Day

BETHANY BELUE | CONTRIBUTOR It was a beautiful fall day when my husband and I stood in front of a sanctuary, with family and friends gathered around, and entered into a covenant of marriage. As our nerves jittered and our hearts pounded, our pastor pointed out words from four verses that the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Colossae. Almost nine years later, these words continue to remain in my heart and have overflowed into my marriage and family. Colossians 3:12-15: Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Our pastor encouraged us with four truths from this passage as we entered into this binding covenant. Love as you have been loved, forgive as you have been forgiven, encourage as you have been encouraged, and serve as you have been served. Love, forgive, encourage, and serve. These are words I’ve always wanted to offer in my relationships, but the Lord has specifically used the way they were taught from this passage to show me more of my need for Jesus and how it is only through Him that we can offer these things to others. Love as you have been loved It’s hard to love others. Over the last nine years of marriage, I’ve realized how much I really don’t have what it takes to love another person without the help of Jesus...

Colossians 3 and Lessons Learned from My Wedding DayChristina Fox2025-07-04T19:05:42+00:00

Wasteful Thinking

SUSAN BENNETT|GUEST We have been hearing a lot lately about cutting wasteful spending from our nation’s budget to reduce the debt burden on taxpayers. But waste isn’t easy to trim—whether it’s extra pounds, finances, or even our thinking. Wait, what? Wasteful thinking? Who said anything about that? Yet, a person’s wasteful thinking can be just as burdensome as out-of-control spending or eating. The problems that arise when we neglect our thought life are huge—and sadly, some have eternal consequences. Paul tells us in Romans 1:21, “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Here, Paul speaks of those whose hearts were untouched by God’s Spirit, still walking in darkness rather than light. But even those of us called out of darkness into God’s marvelous light are called to strive in our salvation. One of the most common battles in this struggle is wasteful thinking. As a biblical counselor, I’ve seen how real this is. Wasteful thinking can lead to discouragement, discontentment, divisiveness, and despair. Sometimes it becomes so deeply entrenched that it feels like the person has no control over their thoughts. This burden weighs heavily—not just on them, but on those who love them....

Wasteful ThinkingChristina Fox2025-06-30T17:03:30+00:00

Idolatry of Authority and the Supremacy of Christ

KC JONES|GUEST [4] I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. [5] For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. [6] Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, [7] rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. [8] See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. [9] For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, [10] and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. (Colossians 2:4-10) It should not surprise us on this side of the Garden that the forbidden tree from which Adam and Eve took and ate the fruit was known as “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Gen. 2:17). Knowledge has always been prized and coveted by mankind because of the inherent belief in all of us that it contains power. And, like Adam and Eve, we crave such power because we believe we can and should be in control of our own lives and perhaps over everything else in the universe. A People Deceived Paul warns the church at Colossae of this temptation. He writes, “See that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to Christ. For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in Him, who is the head of all rule and authority” (Col. 2:8-10). This deception is of the same nature as that which the serpent used to lure and entice both the first man and woman to twist the words of their master and disobey His command. First, the serpent planted a seed of doubt by simply asking a question, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Gen. 3:1). The woman replies by correcting the serpent, yet she adds her own variation as well, “’We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die’” (vs. 2b-3) Eve’s alteration suggests that even before the rest of the story unfolds, she believes God’s rule is up for personal interpretation. She inserts herself as a figure of authority, adapting and using language to meet her own desires....

Idolatry of Authority and the Supremacy of ChristChristina Fox2025-07-09T18:27:16+00:00

Road Trips

SHARON ROCKWELL | CONTRIBUTOR I love road trips. Recently we were traveling in a remote area where we saw a road sign that read simply “Rough Road Ahead.” It wasn’t long before I felt the impact of a road that was in such poor condition that I knew we were in for a long, bumpy ride. I slowed down sensing that I could easily get caught in the potholed surface. We bottomed out a couple of times. I slowed down even more, dodging divots, sometimes slipping, and praying for smoother surfaces ahead as I tried to maintain control. Road Signs for Life Wouldn’t it be helpful if we had road signs for life that signaled when we were in danger, and needed to prepare for a bumpy ride? In fact, such instructions for life are recorded in Proverbs 4. Here Solomon, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, provides instructions for his son to obtain wisdom, which will guard him for life. In a later passage we learn that “the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord” (Prov. 9:10). True wisdom comes from a reverential view of God’s authority and greatness. We respond to learning about God and His ways by living in accordance with His commands. It all comes down to choices. You can choose the path that serves God, or the path of the wicked. Wisdom is the principal treasure to be acquired. With it, “When you walk, your step will not be hampered, and if you run you will not stumble” (Prov. 4:12). Solomon uses an ‘Attention’ sign to signal us to listen to his words, meditate upon them, and hide them in our hearts. “Be attentive to my words, incline your ear to my sayings” (Prov. 4:20). This prepares us for a life seeking a godly path rather than our own path. Solomon’s words are “life to those who find them and healing to all their flesh” (Prov. 4:22)....

Road TripsChristina Fox2025-06-21T19:28:20+00:00

The Stewardship of Suffering

AMY SHORE | GUEST Winter crept into my heart early this past year. Weariness gave way to selfish wallowing and introspection as I reflected on hard realities during the holiday season. December 31st, I found myself unable to breathe. A beautiful sand dollar, a Christmas gift from a friend, lay shattered on the kitchen floor. I fell to my knees in despair alongside this visual representation of my current brokenness. January 1st, a morning filled with missed calls and urgent messages: my dad had suffered a heart attack and was undergoing surgery. Then came January 21st when I faced the devastating reality of his death. I couldn’t catch my breath. The Learning Journey “Learning to live in the reality of His presence is the essence of our prayers and our pilgrimage.”[1] For the past year and a half, well before my father passed, I’ve been chewing on that quote from Susan Hunt around the journey to know God better amidst fear and frailty. I long to live more fully in that reality. You may have heard the saying, “God never gives us more than we can handle.” My pride wants this to be true because it means I can pull myself up by my own bootstraps. I’ve tried. My bootstraps snapped....

The Stewardship of SufferingChristina Fox2025-06-21T19:25:35+00:00

Entering into the Joy of Others

LISA UPDIKE | GUEST Ecclesiastes 3 tells us that there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven, a blessed ebb and flow of challenge and loss, peace and rest. Joy and sadness. Births and deaths. Serving and receiving. And though we intellectually understand that we will have trouble in life, it still can catch us off guard. When the time of trouble persists, we cry out like the psalmist did, “How long, Lord?” We wonder, “Does the Lord even see me?” If we are in a particularly long, hard season we may wonder why the Lord is richly blessing others and not us. Well, at least that’s what I do. My guess is that I am not alone. For the past several years my life has been really hard, sometimes heartbreakingly so. Two of my children are going through some painful circumstances causing distance between us. My heart aches over our difficult relationship. In another sphere of life, my mother is aging and often in pain. She is lonely for my dad whom she lost five years ago to Alzheimer’s. It’s so painful to see her suffer, though she does so with grace. On top of these things, this past fall we were blindsided with grief when my husband’s youngest brother took his life. We had no warning. So. Much. Grief. And I hate to say it, but there is a lot more to this list. I’m telling you; my husband and I have been hurting. A lot. Still, we were hanging in there. We were growing and learning to cling to Jesus. But then there was just one more tragedy and it tipped the balance. It seemed more than we could bear. Was God actually kicking me when I was already down? I knew better, but at 4:30am when the phone rang, I knew it couldn’t be good news. My heart sank as I reached for the phone. The vet told me she was so sorry, but our dog had passed. You see, she had been rushed to the emergency vet the night before. We thought she was going to recover, but just like that, she was gone. My husband and I held each other and cried. This just seemed like too much. In our sadness, she had been such a comfort. Now she was gone. Hadn’t we had enough grief? Why this too?...

Entering into the Joy of OthersChristina Fox2025-06-12T18:05:51+00:00

From Suffering to Strength: Gospel Ministry that Changes Everything

24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. (Col. 1:24-29) It’s easy to think gospel ministry is reserved for those on a stage or under a spotlight – pastors, missionaries, or the formally trained. But nothing could be further from the truth. Gospel ministry is life. Every believer is called to gospel ministry, wherever God has placed us. Whether you're raising children, serving in retirement, leading Bible study, or showing Christ’s love at your job, you are part of this glorious mission. Colossians 1:24–29 shows us just how glorious (and gritty) that calling can be. If the preeminence of Christ in creation, the Church, and in reconciliation sets the stage for Paul’s ministry (Col. 1:15-23), then Colossians 1:24–29 reveals how that truth transforms everything about the way he serves. For Christian women seeking to live faithfully in their homes, churches, workplaces, and communities, Paul’s example is both a challenge and a comfort. Rejoicing in the Burden: Paul’s Attitude in Ministry (v.24) Some might believe the hardships we face are a detriment to ministry. How can God possibly use me to further His kingdom if I struggle with depression, have a rebellious child, or battle anxiety every day? Paul knew suffering; beyond his thorn in the flesh (2 Cor. 12:7), his life was marked by hardship. Yet, he tells the Colossians he rejoices in his suffering for their sake. In other words, he considers his personal distress as a way of carrying on Christ’s work, and the challenges he faces can and will be used by God to spread the gospel. For that reason, he rejoices in his suffering. We have a choice when faced with hardship. We can either become bitter and pull away from the service God has called us to, or we can choose joy—a settled satisfaction in Christ and in His provisions—and be open to how God might use us amid our hardship or perhaps even because of it. Don’t wait until life feels “together” to serve. God uses us right in the middle of the mess to point others to Jesus...

From Suffering to Strength: Gospel Ministry that Changes EverythingChristina Fox2025-06-12T17:46:48+00:00

Marriage Advice I Wish I’d Learned Sooner

KIM BARNES | CONTRIBUTOR Soon after I graduated from college and moved to a new town, I started attending the PCA church that I eventually joined. One of my early visits was especially memorable. At the conclusion of the service, three couples were invited up front: the senior pastor and his wife, the associate pastor and his wife, and an elder and his wife. All three couples were celebrating 30 years of marriage. I was in awe. As a young single woman hoping to be married, I thought this was exactly the kind of church I wanted to join—one that celebrated longevity in marriage and included examples of faithful partnerships. When I look back at that day and consider how impressed I was by those couples and how wise I thought they were, it's a little strange to now be in the position of being married longer than 30 years myself. I don't feel as wise as I imagined those couples were, but I do have things to share that would surprise a younger me. Sometimes You Should Go to Bed Angry Many quote Ephesians 4:26, "Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger" as a biblical mandate to resolve all conflict before calling it a night. I think that misunderstands Paul's imperative. There are times in marriage when you should probably go to bed angry. Sometimes what you need is a good night's rest, instead of hashing things out while you're both angry and tired. God's mercies are new every morning. Sometimes sleep provides the clarity that midnight conversations cannot. Acknowledge that you love each other despite the anger, promise you're committed to working things out, and trust that morning may bring new perspective....

Marriage Advice I Wish I’d Learned SoonerChristina Fox2025-06-12T17:41:09+00:00

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