America’s Schools Can’t Afford Evangelical Control Suppose evangelicals were told, “Merry Christmas! You get your entire bag of culture war issues inserted into public schools!” I mean the entire old, sleazy bag of evangelical dreams: prayer in the name of Jesus, Bible classes in the curriculum, intelligent design in biology classes, Christianized American history, reciting the pledge of allegiance to the Christian flag, singing Christian songs at Christmas like “Away in the Manger” and “Silent Night,” and the posting of... Read more

Donald Trump Is the Personification of Evil I am an evangelical Christian. I am a Baptist. I am a preacher. Many of my fellow evangelicals have opined Donald Trump is “God’s anointed.” Self-professed prophets among my fellow evangelicals have claimed Trump is the most Christian-friendly president in our nation’s history. Lance Wallnau famously claimed when he realized if Trump won the 2016 election he would be the 42nd president of the United States. He says God told him to read... Read more

  Yes, I’m still thinking about Mother’s Day. One day a year doesn’t seem to be enough. Besides, Mother’s Day doesn’t have a day in the Christian calendar. Therefore, I honor mothers, but don’t preach a Mother’s Day sermon. Happy Mother’s Day to Mother Eve to Mother Mary! If I did depart from the lectionary, God forbid, I would preach God is our Mother. My text would be Isaiah 65:5 – 13: Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble... Read more

The “Eve” Excuse Is Back The biblical story of Adam and Eve never loses its allure. When Adam takes the forbidden fruit from Eve and eats it, God calls Adam to account. The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The “Eve Excuse” has been in our politics at least twice recently. Senator Robert... Read more

Responding to College Protests Against Israel My heart is heavy because I have trouble convincing a young college student not to support Hamas against Israel. I am in shock at the sympathy being offered to Hamas after the mass atrocities Hamas committed on October 7. The outrage from American college students and some of my fellow liberals against Israel is hard for me to comprehend. The reality of Jewish students feeling endangered on a United States university campus leaves me... Read more

“Baptizing Eunuchs and Blowing Open the Door” The mention of Ethiopia always stirs my imagination. Perhaps a Sunday school teacher had a thing for Ethiopia and went on and on about it in my youth. Maybe it was my mama insisting I eat all my food, because as she would say, “There are children starving in Ethiopia that would gladly eat all that good food.” Then, there’s this OT text: “Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of... Read more

When Praise Turns to Rant   An evangelical preacher, during Sunday worship, declares, “Before I turn to the Word, I’m gonna do a diatribe.” This diatribe was laced with vitriol, secular politics, anti-Covid conspiracy news, and a serious mistrust and dislike for liberals. This is the opposite of praise. Look at Psalm 22. This is the hard-nosed, authentic, tough praise of the people of God. True praise includes lament. The key to the meaning of praise lies in the person... Read more

Kari Lake Entertains “Strapping on a Glock” As Answer to USA’s Problems Arizona GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake urged her supporters to “strap on a Glock,” a popular handgun, to prepare themselves for an “intense” election period ahead. “The next six months is going to be intense,” Lake said during a rally Sunday in Mohave County. “We’re going to strap on our seatbelt. We’re going to put on our helmet — or your Kari Lake ball cap. We are going... Read more

John 20:19-31   There’s a country song that insists “Somebody done somebody wrong.” The church has done “some-bodies” (lots-of-bodies) wrong over the centuries. The emphasis here is on “bodies” because our culture likes to pride itself on the body even while the culture war has harshly judged bodies that are not male, straight, and rich. The new culture war is against trans people. Do you think that we ever realize how many people have their identity, dignity, their very hold... Read more

Marjorie Taylor Greene has a new calling as a doom and gloom preacher. After a small earthquake struck New York and New Jersey on Friday, Greene sent a warning on X, formerly Twitter: “God is sending America strong signs to tell us to repent,” she wrote. “Earthquakes and eclipses and many more things to come. I pray that our country listens.” Earthquakes and eclipses activate the hormones of end-time believers. There are from 2 – 5 solar eclipses each year... Read more