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Kevin DeYoung

Kevin DeYoung

Writer

Oct 2, 2025

About

In 2002 Kevin was ordained as a minister of Word and Sacrament in the Reformed Church in America, and the newly married DeYoungs moved to northwest Iowa, where Kevin served as the associate pastor at the First Reformed Church of Orange City. Two years later, he was called to be the senior pastor of University Reformed Church in East Lansing, across the street from Michigan State University. In 2015, Kevin and his congregation moved from the RCA into the Presbyterian Church in America. In 2017 Kevin accepted a call to serve as Senior Pastor of Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, NC.

Kevin received his Ph.D. in early modern history at the University of Leicester (UK). In addition to his pastoral duties he teaches as an Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary (Charlotte).

Kevin has written, edited, and contributed to more than twenty books—among them academic books like The Religious Formation of John Witherspoon, popular level books like Just Do Something, Crazy Busy, Taking God at His Word, and The Hole in Our Holiness, and children’s books like The Biggest Story and The Biggest Story Bible Storybook. His books have been translated into more than a dozen languages.

Kevin is also a popular columnist, blogger, and podcaster and a frequent speaker at ministry conferences, colleges, and seminaries in the United States and around the world.

Kevin and Trisha have been blessed with nine children, five boys and four girls.

Posts (10)

Dec 16, 2022 ∙ 12 min

How to Tell the Real Christmas Story

Every Christian loves the story of Christmas. We love to hear about the angels and the shepherds. We love the think about noble Joseph and humble Mary. We love the wise men and the star of Bethlehem. We love the whole nativity scene. Most of us know the story so well we smile just to hear the name Quirinius (whether its pronounced correctly or not). It’s a great story because it’s a familiar story. It’s a true story. And Christmas is wonderful because it’s not the beginning of the story. In...

Jul 24, 2022 ∙ 24 min

Oneisiphorus: The Loyal Friend

Oneisephorus: the Loyal Friend 2 Timothy 1:15-18 Kevin DeYoung O God of our fathers, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we rejoice to know You as our God and our Father, the God who was and is and is to come, the one true and living God, and so we pray that you would speak now to us, through Your Living Word, in Jesus’ name. Amen. Our text this morning comes from 2 Timothy, chapter 1. Please turn in your Bibles to 2 Timothy chapter 1, verses 15 through 18. Our series is called Unsung Heroes,...

Apr 25, 2022 ∙ 27 min

Jacob: Blessings at Bethel

Jacob, Blessings Back to Bethel Kevin DeYoung Father in heaven, help us now once again as we come to Your Word. We bow before You, not simply because we think this is how sermons begin but because we really need Your help. I need Your help if I’m to speak clearly and humbly and with power and unction from on high, and we all need Your help if we are to listen and these are to be words that fall upon good soil. So teach us just what we need to hear in these minutes together. We pray in Jesus’...

Feb 28, 2021 ∙ 4 min

Faith Over Fear

“Faith over fear.” It’s one of those Christian slogans that is undeniably true, and, at the same time, less helpful than it may seem. To be sure, our lives as Christians ought to be marked by faith not fear. Over and over, the Bible tells us not to be afraid (Josh. 10:25; Isa. 44:8). We should fear not, for the Lord will help us (Isa. 41:13). God gave us a spirit not of fear but of self-control (2 Tim. 1:7). Jesus himself repeatedly exhorts his people not to be afraid (Matt. 8:26; 14:27;...

May 10, 2019 ∙ 4 min

10 Reasons Why Racism is Wrong

I’ve grown up my whole life hearing that racism was wrong, that “prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior” (to use one of the first definitions that popped up on my phone) is sinful. I’ve heard it from my parents, from my public school, from my church, from my college, and from my seminary. The vast majority of Americans know that racism is wrong. It’s one of the few things almost everyone agrees...

Feb 25, 2019 ∙ 3 min

Feminism: Did Jesus Value Women?

We often hear that those who don’t affirm modern feminism are “anti-woman.” Christians are no exception. We sometimes get tagged with this epithet, and once the label sticks we’re either total sellouts (the women) or knuckle-dragging Neanderthals (the men). In light of this claim, it’s remarkable to consider how the author and perfecter of our faith, Jesus Christ, interacted with women in his own day. I don’t exaggerate when I say that Jesus’s approach to women was nothing less than...

Feb 6, 2019 ∙ 3 min

Can I Make an Idol of My Family?

One of the acceptable idolatries among evangelical Christians is the idolatry of the family.” That’s what I tweeted last week. To be honest, I didn’t think much about it. I’ve said similar things in sermons for the past decade, and I’ve tweeted similar things before. But this time—I was later told by friends who track with Twitter more closely than I do—the statement took on a life of its own as this one sentence was liked 1,600 times and bandied about on social media for the next few days....

Dec 4, 2018 ∙ 5 min

What I Learned on a Fast from Technology

Kevin DeYoung shares his thoughts on how his life changed with just a week of limiting his use of technology. This article was originally titled “What I Learned on my Week-Long Digital Fast.” just finished a week-long digital fast. Parts of it were difficult, and other parts were surprisingly easy, but most of all it was refreshing to be away from my screens and away from the internet as much as possible. As part of my pastoral ministry class at RTS I assigned a digital fast for all 30...

Dec 2, 2013 ∙ 3 min

Truths People MUST Hear When They Come to Your Church

If a person walks through the door of your church, what are the essential truths they must hear? I’m talking about the basics, about the things that every Christian should know backwards and forward, the things we should hear in church all the time. Granted, people do not remember all they should remember. It’s possible the fault lies with the hearers as much as the speakers. But still, that’s only more incentive to make certain thing crystal clear. We must not assume our people know what...

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