The Southern Baptist Convention released a large-scale study on worship leaders in SBC churches last week, and while the results may be alarming, they should not be surprising. Anyone who’s been paying attention for the last four decades should recognize…
What’s so upsetting to evangelicals about Kristin Du Mez?
“Do you know where we are?” I asked my 16-year-old son as we turned onto the main road that goes near my parents’ house. “No,” he replied. “My awareness of the city is like disconnected bubbles. Gramma’s neighborhood is one…
Reflections on Death of the Pastor’s Wife
The morning after receiving word that his wife, Mica, had died by a gunshot wound to the head, pastor John-Paul Miller declared with excitement to his congregation, “I wrote a new parody for you all today!” Cheers erupted as Miller…
In Dearborn, the latest evidence of the new Crusades
Police in tactical gear pushed their way through the crowd of Christian Crusaders in Dearborn, Mich., Tuesday as January 6 insurrectionist Jake Lang and pastor Lorenzo Sewell led the flag-waving, shofar-blowing worship warriors into battle against their Muslim neighbors. Dressed…
Would Jesus zap children with shock gloves?
We now have reached the stage in MAGA’s descent into depravity where they respond to criticism of ICE vigilantes shooting people by opting for the more humane practice of electric shock. On Aug. 11, the Associated Press reported that Immigration and Customs…
Don’t be surprised white evangelicals still support Jesse Watters
Given that white evangelicals have spent the last decade largely ignoring the sexual abuse being perpetrated by their pastors and politicians and even calling such allegations a hoax, it’s no wonder they’d celebrate sexually abusive pundits as well. According to…
Beware of evangelists on airplanes
What could be worse than “Snakes on a Plane”? How about “Preachers on a Plane.” This is the latest trend going viral in white evangelicalism’s spiritual warfare campaign. And as Samuel L. Jackson would say, “Enough is enough!” Attention to…
Complementarians should learn from moral clarity of Congress
Congress has a 9% confidence rating among Americans, according to recent data from Gallup. And yet, it’s more ethical than mainstream evangelicalism’s institution of complementarian marriage. Discussion about addressing sexual ethics on Capitol Hill has grown over the past few months…
Men-only gyms seek to protect Christian men from lust
White conservative Christian men are rising up all over the nation to take their place at the top of their families, churches and communities. We’re witnessing their rise to power through the Rededicate 250 events where men like Mark Driscoll called on…
How Christian nationalism shows up in patriotic worship services
“What a Sunday!” Houston First Baptist Church’s social media team celebrates on Facebook. “From worship to fellowship, Pocket Constitutions to patriotic tunes, we’re grateful for a church family that gathers with thankful hearts and points people to Jesus. Happy birthday,…
Louisiana pastor beats a man and thinks he’s following Jesus
In surveillance video that’s since gone viral, Pastor Tony Spell of Life Tabernacle Church in Baton Rouge, La., is seen outside his church when he reacts suddenly to a young man standing across the street. He runs across the multi-lane…
There is no safe space in John Piper’s cruel theology
Jesus orchestrated the brutal murder of your teenage friend and her mom. So says John Piper in a recent “Ask Pastor John” podcast episode titled, “Sovereignty and My Murdered Friend.” The podcast begins by acknowledging it’s a “very heavy episode” before…