Remember that time the pastor reenacted a scene from Die Hard?
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on December 17, 2024. “Christmas at the movies!” the pleasant, feminine voice sings as the smiley-faced popcorn, coffee, candy bar and soda cartoon characters come waltzing into the auditorium before getting interrupted with an explosion, heavy metal music, and a man yelling, “Don’t need that ring-a-ling, ding-a-dong, ding-a-ding […]
We don’t need more ‘context’ to understand Josh Butler’s article on sex and the church
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on March 6, 2023. In the wake of The Gospel Coalition publishing a male-centric sexual fantasy about Christ penetrating the church, we are getting a clearer picture of how their alliance is characterized by carelessness and control in an attempt to build author platforms by cultivating and protecting […]
Why aren’t we talking about the theology that drives white Christian nationalism?
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on February 21, 2023. Poll after poll and webinar after webinar lays out the data on white Christian nationalism. The facts of this threat to both democracy and faith are well-documented. What’s missing from nearly every public discussion is the toxic theology that fuels white Christian nationalism. Behind the […]
What does complementarianism have to do with Domestic Violence Awareness Month?
This article originally appeared on October 6, 2022 at Baptist News Global. “Please don’t tell my husband I said anything. These men think they can bully women into submission.” I hear statements like this from Christian women in complementarian marriages quite often. But while many of these women are aware of the weight they bear, they […]
‘So you’ve been deconstructing, huh? What do you believe now?’
This article originally appeared on August 23, 2022 at Baptist News Global. There is perhaps no greater trend in American Christianity than deconstructing the theology and ethics of white evangelicalism. Books, articles, podcasts and even music are being created daily to explore the reasons why so many people are leaving the faith they’ve known. And there […]
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 […]
What will Twitter’s $44 billion purchase do to theological discourse?
This article originally appeared on April 27, 2022 at Baptist News Global. Imagine if the online theological discourse that led to the rise of Donald Trump and the conservative determination to use political power and misinformation to push their agenda on others was owned by a man rich and powerful enough to buy and control it for $44 billion. That is essentially […]
How the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy became a litmus test
This article originally appeared on March 14, 2022 at Baptist News Global. “Do you affirm the doctrine of inerrancy as articulated in the Chicago Statement?” demands Denny Burk, professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, tweeting his line in the sand to defend what he thinks are attacks against historic orthodoxy by the ever-so-dangerous Beth Allison Barr. Bringing up […]
While we’re talking about guns in America, let’s talk about our fear-based theology that also drives gun sales
This article originally appeared on July 19, 2021 at Baptist News Global. The sound of skidding tires filled the air as the car spun around, the window rolled down, and an arm reached out. It wasn’t until the third shot that I realized that I was staring down the barrel of a gun. With nowhere to […]
The role of seminaries in guiding ex-evangelicals like me through deconstruction
This article originally appeared on June 24, 2021 at Baptist News Global. Over the past decade, evangelicals have had to come to terms with the fact that people are leaving the church in droves. According to a recent Gallup poll, just 47% of Americans are members of a church, falling from 70% in 1999. This decline in […]
‘Postcards from Babylon’ documentary tells a better story
This article originally appeared on January 14, 2021 at Baptist News Global. White conservative evangelicalism had just survived its perceived nightmare of the Obama presidency. They were certain that contraception mandates, cake-baking mandates, transgender people being free to use the restroom for their gender identity, and ultimately the legalization of same-sex-marriage were threats to their religious […]
Uncategorized
This article originally appeared on September 17, 2019 at Worship Overflow. You may have noticed over the past few articles I’ve posted that they’ve each been listed as “Uncategorized.” At first glance, this may appear to be due to laziness on my part. But in a weird way, it has actually been a healing exercise for […]