Reading Time: 9 minutes Hi and welcome back! We had to stop the presses today. My goodness, that Hillsong megachurch is just struggling hard these days, isn’t it? Yesterday, we learned about a third American church of theirs that’s been hit by scandal. Today, let’s review Hillsong’s recent past and newest scandal. And then, let’s wonder why they’re having so much […]
Absolute Power
Posted inReligion
Gospelbound: Authoritarians Think More Control Means Less Churn
Reading Time: 10 minutes The tagline TGC created for Gospelbound claims it offers listeners “firm faith in an anxious age.” Of course, it does nothing of the sort. Instead, it offers the usual authoritarian blahblah from the most toxic elements in their entire end of Christianity. I’ve saved the most alarming of that blahblah for last: their oh-so-very Calvinist plan for churn reduction. They think more control over congregants means less churn from their churches. Today, I’ll show you what that means — and why it’s such a laughable contradiction of the supernatural claims of authoritarians.
Posted inReligion
The Bryan Loritts Scandal Reveals the Principles of Power
Reading Time: 8 minutes Hi and welcome back! Recently, I showed you the latest scandal hitting evangelicals. In this one, it turns out that J.D. Greear hired Bryan Loritts to work in his megachurch. Greear hired him knowing that his new sub-pastor had previously shielded a sex abuser: his creepy brother-in-law Rick Trotter. Now that the truth’s come out, Greear’s eating some crow over […]
Posted inReligion
J.D. Greear’s Inept Response to the Bryan Loritts Scandal Reveals So Much
Reading Time: 9 minutes Accordingly with their traditions, the SBC’s top leaders have consistently mishandled their nonstop scandals — and their President is no exception. Today, let me show you what a careful observer can learn from J.D. Greear’s mishandling of the SBC’s latest scandal, the one involving Bryan Loritts.
Posted inReligion
The Dream MLK Had (Won’t Belong to Evangelicals)
Reading Time: 6 minutes Hi and welcome back! Today being Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Day, I’ve had his famous speech ‘I Have a Dream’ on my mind. It’s really revealed so much that was going wrong in America even during his day. Unfortunately, that wrongness still continues to exist today. MLK’s dream has inspired possibly millions of Americans […]
Posted inGaming
Narcissistic Rage: Of Game Admins and Presidents (LSP #175)
Reading Time: 10 minutes To borrow a phrase and wreck its meter: ‘the time has come,’ the walrus said, ‘to speak of many things: Of shoes and ships…’ And narcissistic rage, of dysfunctional game admins and extremely seditious presidents. In the case of those last two items, these two groups have some very important traits in common: their narcissistic desire for attention, the mind-boggling extremes to which they are both willing to go in order to get it, and their catastrophic rage when it is denied. Today, Lord Snow Presides over how I learned to spot narcissists in a game I once loved.
Posted inReligion
The SBC’s Battle Royale Over Critical Race Theory (CRT)
Reading Time: 9 minutes As one might expect, the top leaders of the SBC are dealing with the fallout of their past in different ways — all to gain power at their frenemies’ expense. And one surprising player has moved to try to take center stage away from their current Dear Leader. Today, let me show you this ailing denomination’s newest Battle Royale — over Critical Race Theory (CRT), human rights, and just how much SBC leaders should pretend to care about anything or anybody but themselves.
Posted inReligion
Evangelical Disobedience in Personal Evangelism (Means a Lot)
Reading Time: 6 minutes Hi and welcome back! We’ve been talking about personal evangelism lately — that person-to-person kind of recruiting that evangelical laypeople do themselves when they’re away from church. Recently, I’ve noticed that evangelical leaders have been demanding this evangelism more and more from their flocks. And by the same token, the flocks seem to obey less and less. […]
Posted inReligion
The Day A.J. Kiesling Noticed Christian Men’s Fear of Divorce
Reading Time: 8 minutes ‘Perfect love casts out fear,’ wrote someone long ago. Going by that standard, today’s evangelical men clearly do not feel perfect love for the women of their tribe. I say that because hooboy, they are scared spitless of divorce.
Posted inReligion
Carl Lentz: Why He Committed ‘Moral Failures’
Reading Time: 9 minutes Yesterday, Hillsong, a massive international megachurch complex, fired one of their lead pastors, Carl Lentz. They cited ‘moral failures’ as the reason for Lentz’ firing. The moment most of us heard that phrase, of course, we knew what it meant. And indeed, Lentz confirmed that suspicion in a follow-up Instagram post. Today, let’s check out the scandal and see where Carl Lentz laid his blame — because of course he did lay blame.