When Baptist News Global Executive Director Mark Wingfield asked me five years ago if he could publish my piece comparing King George in Hamilton to Calvinism’s God, I had no idea the opportunities his invitation would bring me. One of my favorite…
Evangelicals are mean to kids, beginning at home
Every Father’s Day weekend, complementarian women post on social media about how thankful they are for their husbands’ loving leadership. Photos of confidently smiling men who think the gospel requires them to be the heads of their households grace our…
Finally, an honest conversation about CCM and Gospel music
One recurring story in recent years has been Christian nationalist worship leaders wielding worship as a weapon for dominating their neighbors rather than as a vehicle for liberating them. The insurrection of January 6 unfolded as New Apostolic Reformation charismatics sang worship…
‘Worship warfare’ event in Seattle was planned to be violent
“TODAY WAS WILD!!! A RIOT BROKE OUT IN SEATTLE!!” Those were the exuberant words of revivalist Ross Johnston celebrating on Instagram in all caps as chaos erupted during a worship protest Saturday in Seattle’s Cal Anderson Park. “NO MORE CUTE…
You won’t believe our story of Medicaid waste, fraud and abuse
Three days before what we thought would be my wife, Ruth Ellen’s, final surgery for stage three breast cancer, my mind was racing as I was trying to finish moving out of our old house while confirming plans for where…
When Romans 1 is your answer to every challenge
Almost every political conversation with white evangelicals today eventually comes down to their fear of saying anything positive about LGBTQ people. If you have empathy, they’ll warn it’s a slippery slope toward affirming LGBTQ people. If you suggest women can…
Trump, Harvard and Bob Jones University: The resurrection of racism
Donald Trump’s threat to revoke the tax-exempt status of Harvard University may be novel, but it is not new. It is, in fact, a resurrection of a previous kind of discrimination. There’s one other time in American history when a…
Here’s what we’ve been talking about on ‘Highest Power’
It’s been one month since the launch of my new podcast with BNG, Highest Power: Church + State, which is currently ranking within the top 20% of all podcasts nationally. “I’m thrilled with the podcast and what you’re doing here,” BNG…
Comment from BNG’s editor on our coverage of The New Evangelicals
The day Baptist News Global published a second article detailing alleged abusive behavior by Tim Whitaker of The New Evangelicals, Whitaker returned from a week-long public silence with a new video post on social media. That March 24 video appears…
That time I got an angry call from the subject of an article about anger and abuse
Editor’s note: It is BNG’s policy to correct factual errors as soon as possible after learning about those errors. In the case of Rick Pidcock’s earlier piece mentioned here, we have not been informed of any factual errors or asked…
Allegations against Tim Whitaker and The New Evangelicals show how hierarchy transfers to progressive ministries
Spiritual abuse while protecting a theological and institutional hierarchy is a common story in conservative evangelicalism today. But on Sunday night, the script appeared to flip when news broke that Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment had been…
Why we can’t convince some Christians to love their neighbor
It shouldn’t be this difficult to convince conservative Christians to love their neighbor. But in seemingly every example of someone in power mistreating the marginalized these days, the Religious Right sides with the person in power. The presence those on…