What is A Christward Life?

This website hosts the public thoughts of a pastor-theologian seeking to know, obey, and enjoy the Lord Jesus Christ more and more. I hope to move closer and closer toward Christ and help others do the same. Welcome to a window into a life seeking to move and help others move toward Christ: Christward.

About P. J. Tibayan

Many people struggle to enjoy and live for Jesus but we can't live for what we don't experience. I share my life to help you experience Jesus so that you share in the joy of helping others experience Jesus.

Thanks for visiting my website. My name is PJ Tibayan and saintpj.com is my online home. I write and maintain this website so that you would share life and share Jesus through the content posted here.

Here's a summary of my bio: I grew up in East L.A. County and is frustrated by the lack of healthy churches shaped by Jesus Christ and his gospel. Since experiencing Christ embodied in the local church, I now dream of saturating L.A. with healthy churches. So, I preach Jesus from the Bible and lead Bethany Baptist Church in Bellflower, Southeast L.A. County, where I live with my wife and our five children. To this end I also help lead The Gospel Coalition L.A. and the Shepherd LA Initiative.

I am a Christian, I was saved in 1989.

I am a husband who is happily married since June 2005.

I am a father to 1 son and 4 daughters since 2015, beginning with my son in 2006.

Currently, I’m the pastor-theologian of Bethany Baptist Church in Bellflower, a city in the Southeast region of Los Angeles County.

I also help lead The Gospel Coalition Los Angeles (steering team) and Shepherd LA.

I’ve served on the pastoral staff of Christian Fellowship Bible Church from May 2002 to December 2007 (5 and 1/2 years), directly in charge of preaching to and overseeing the student ministry (College, high school, and jr. high ministry) and later on the leadership training of the church along with being in the regular Sunday preaching rotation.

From January to May 2008, I was a pastoral intern at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington D.C. I spent my time reading, reflecting, writing, and discussing the church (the doctrine of the church, a theology of church ministry, evaluating church polity, practice, and mentalities, etc.). I also had the privilege of being a member at the church with all the joys and responsibilities of a faithful church member, as I learned about biblical church ministry by being immersed in the life of a healthy congregation.

From 2008-2014, I was privileged to pastor CrossView Church in Los Angeles, a church that disbanded in October 2014.

I graduated from The Master’s University with a B.A. in Biblical Studies in 2002 and The Master’s Seminary with a Master of Divinity in 2006. I completed a Master of Missional Leadership from The Resurgence Training Center (2010). I earned a doctorate in biblical theology from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2020 (see reasons for a DMin here).

Theologically I am an evangelical in complete and joyful agreement with the Together for the Gospel Statement (including article 17 which has been forgotten by some), The Confessional Statement of The Gospel Coalition, and The Cambridge Declaration. More importantly, Jesus the Messiah and his gospel are central to my thinking, joy, and purpose for life. Ecclesiologically I am a Baptist. Bethany Baptist  Church’s statement of faith, which is the most binding statement on knowing what I believe (since I'm accountable to this church family), can be found at our church’s website.

See a Southern Seminary video or listen to this 9Marks Pastors’ Talk on BBC.

To contact me you can leave a comment on this blog page.

To know why I blog, check out this post on 6 reasons why pastors should blog.

Find me on: Facebook | Twitter | Bethany Baptist Church

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