Complementarians should learn from moral clarity of Congress
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on July 28, 2026. 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 following the resignations of […]
Here’s another reason Calvinism is morally bankrupt
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on September 4, 2025. Note: This article includes detailed discussion of child sexual abuse in the context of why God allows suffering in the world. Now the TheoBros are using the gospel to spread indifference about the rape and murder of 10-year-old girls. This week’s example of […]
John MacArthur met his own definition of a false prophet
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on July 14, 2025. How should we respond when someone who uses theology to promote ignorant, misogynistic, racist, power mongering authoritarianism dies? To use biblical language, we might call these people false prophets, ravenous wolves, deceivers, anti-Christs, evil men, seducers, lovers of self, foolish and unlearned men, just […]
Why we can’t convince some Christians to love their neighbor
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on March 14, 2025. 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 the right have in […]
Steve Lawson preached fire and brimstone except for himself
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on September 23, 2024. “Megachurch pastors in Dallas are starting to drop like flies,” I wrote back on June 25 after Tony Evans and Robert Morris stepped away from ministry at prominent megachurches. Apparently “starting” was the keyword because over the next three months, the number of Dallas pastors […]
Who are the billionaires and celebrity pastors supporting Megan Basham?
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on August 15, 2024. Megan Basham may have been given the 2024 Boniface Award for “fearless and faithful” journalism by the Association of Classical Christian Schools for taking “a stand for the Christian viewpoint … without bitterness and in a godly and grace-filled way.” But her latest book, Shepherds […]
Association of Certified Biblical Counselors needs to look deeper than Bill Shannon to understand what ails them
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on November 7, 2023. The Association of Certified Biblical Counselors has removed Bill Shannon, women’s pastor and counseling pastor at John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church, from their approved counselors list due to credible allegations of protecting abusers and harming women. The accusations were cosigned in September by Hohn Cho, […]
A new metaphor could change the views of white evangelical conservatives
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on August 29, 2023. Commemorating the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington is an opportunity to reflect not only on the vision of Black liberationists, but also on how conservative white evangelicals’ resistance to change is continuing through an entitlement to power rooted in insecurity. Al Sharpton, […]
Why Women Talking has women talking and complementarian men fuming
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on February 14, 2023. As much as conservative evangelicals love to hate Hollywood, sometimes Hollywood plays the role of the prophet, exposing the brutal power dynamics of complementarianism’s “male headship.” Such is the case with Brett McCracken, senior editor and director of communications at The Gospel Coalition. His article about […]
There’s a straight line from eugenics to ‘biblical family values’ to white supremacy and the anti-abortion movement
This article originally appeared on July 5, 2022 at Baptist News Global. Pro-life conservative evangelicals erupted into unanimous jubilation at the news of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. But while united in their celebration, they are divided in their vision for the future of the pro-life movement and unaware of its past. Karen Swallow […]
What has John MacArthur actually said about race, slavery and the Curse of Ham?
This article originally appeared on June 20, 2022 at Baptist News Global. “This whole genealogical effort could lead to a new genre of bumper stickers, I think, like ‘My forefathers were Philistines’ or like ‘Goliath was in my family’ or ‘I come from a long line of Hittite kings’ or here’s a good one, ‘My […]
The tangled web of evangelical opposition to abortion while believing in original sin, eternal conscious torment and the mysterious age of accountability
This article originally appeared on May 10, 2022 at Baptist News Global. Few topics enflame conservative evangelicalism’s self-righteous ire like the topic of abortion. We’ve all seen social media posts from friends that depict or describe abortion procedures in the most graphically violent ways in order to shock us. Who could possibly be in favor of violently […]
The Way Down is about the weight of power being wielded by a hierarchical God
This article originally appeared on November 18, 2021 at Baptist News Global. It was an overcast morning near Smyrna, Tenn., as a small Cessna private jet abruptly descended toward the earth. Seven people on board, who had been looking forward to a trip to Palm Beach, Fla., were now taking their final breaths. And as the […]
The five pillars of conservative evangelical Calvinism that are incompatible with love
This article originally appeared on November 12, 2021 at Baptist News Global. The majority of my adult life has been spent within the conservative evangelical Calvinistic world of Desiring God, Grace to You, Ligonier and The Gospel Coalition. Having grown up in the rules-focused world of the independent, fundamental Baptists, these ministries provided a much-needed relief […]
American Christianity in China also imports gender bias and Calvinism
This article originally appeared on April 9, 2021 at Baptist News Global. Imagine if America’s coalition of conspiracy theorist, cowboy Christianity had colonized its way into the world of international politics and sexual abuse cover-ups under the guise of spreading the gospel. Research scholar Mary Li Ma believes this isn’t an imaginary scenario, but a very real one […]
Interview: “The Bible Says What!? Episode 91: :The Invisible Forward Moving Power with Rick Pidcock”
“The Bible Says What!? is an atheist vs. Christian style podcast that captures my one on one conversations with religious leaders from across the globe.”
American Gospel: Christ Crucified is stuck in a time warp
This article originally appeared on December 28, 2020 at Baptist News Global. Based on the heated responses I’ve received to my review of the first American Gospel: Christ Alone documentary, I began to realize I should review producer Brandon Kimber’s second film, American Gospel: Christ Crucified. Kimber had read my first review and reached out to me, and despite […]
Interview: “MacArthur Loves His Bible But Not His Neighbor” – Rick Pidcock Unmasks Toxic Evangelicalism
This is an excerpt from an interview on the Voices in the Wilderness podcast. It was originally posted on September 25, 2020.
I’m a stay-at-home dad who’s learning the power of relationships
This article originally appeared on September 23, 2020 at Baptist News Global. I’m a stay-at-home dad for five kids under the age of 10. One of the most common responses to my recent piece about how John MacArthur doesn’t love his neighbor has been people attacking me for being a stay-at-home dad. Who am I as a stay-at-home […]
Six ways ‘American Gospel’ is small-minded and abusive
This article originally appeared on August 14, 2020 at Baptist News Global. I grew up so terrified of God’s wrath that I drove through a stoplight while staring at my speedometer, afraid I’d lose my salvation for breaking God’s law in Romans 13 by going 36 mph in a 35-mph zone. When my grandfather died, I […]
How John MacArthur loves the Bible but not his neighbor
This article originally appeared on July 28, 2020 at Baptist News Global. As he walked across the stage July 26 to the large, wooden pulpit, the auditorium that seats 3,500 people was filled with non-masked, non-socially distanced conservative evangelicals with another 1,000 people gathered outside who all jumped to their feet for a standing ovation. The […]