One of the biggest lies perpetuated in modern American Christianity is about the end times. Just by paying attention to popular culture and conversation, you would assume that the “Left Behind” theology is the most accepted — and maybe the…
A message to white Christian America: Remember the church at Sardis
I recently finished reading White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity, by Robert P. Jones, the CEO of Public Religion Research Institute. In that book, Jones comments about recent (2018 and 2019) public opinion survey responses from white…
Why are Christians so susceptible to conspiracy?
The internet age has rapidly intensified the ability for conspiracy theories to spread across large populations of people, but why are Christians so susceptible to conspiratorial thought? Increasingly these grand narratives regarding the alleged machinations of nefarious figures are making…
Christians should study Revelation (but not for the reason you may think)
Perhaps you’re like me and remember going to Bible studies ever since you were a teenager. Often on the docket were Paul’s letters, the Gospels, maybe a prophet here and there, but most everyone stayed away from Revelation. When preachers…
Reading Apocalypse in an Age of Revelation: the uncovering of white Christian nationalism
Despite their disturbing, even demonic, histories, both white supremacy and nationalism are back. Now they are fused with Christian zeal, a mixture that has only ever been – and will only ever be – toxic.
An apocalypse of our own
I’ve been reading the Book of Revelation a lot lately. The Apocalypse of John has never done much for me, truthfully. But these days, I’m wondering if we’re in need of an apocalypse of our own. You may have to…
I see what you did there
This past fall I was intrigued enough by the promos for the Fox drama, Sleepy Hollow, to watch. With the first season now ended, here are some reflections on the show and some of the worldview assumptions undergirding it. For…
What if a generation of women in ministry planted new congregations?
It is hard to believe it has been more than 35 years since I was ready to leave seminary in Louisville, KY for what I thought would be my first full-time church pastorate. Although I had grown up in Baltimore…
Emergence Christianity, Baptist life, and Flannery O’Connor
A little over a week ago, I walked into the Gibson guitar factory in Memphis, and gathered with six others to begin our tour. The group was fairly evenly divided by gender, with three men and four women. We asked…