C - PEOPLE FILES
- Bruce Caldwell - Kalie Callaway-George - Juli Camarin - Michael Camp - Caleb Campbell - Mae Elise Cannon - Michael Carden - Brian Carn - Simonetta Carr - James Carroll - Angela Carson - Don Carson - Donald Carson - Joe Carter - Fred L Casmir - Captain Cassidy - Tom Catena - Debbie Causey - Jim Caviezel - Bryan Chapell - Bo Chancey - John Chaplin - Morris Chapman - Lucame Charles - Stuart Chase - Javier Chavez - Lauren Chen - Mark Chironna - Ken Chitwood - Paul Chitwood - Eugene Cho - Bob Christerson - Luke Christy - Shane Claiborne - Jonathan Clark - R. Scott Clark -
Bruce Caldwell
The Bible teaches that if you love money more than God, you are in trouble (LUKE 16:13). Either serve God with your resources or disappoint God by acting like the resources are for your private enjoyment. If God has given you wonderful blessings it is, in part, because he is watching to see how you use them. Do you notice the needs of others and try to help them or do you love having the blessing so much that you keep it all to yourself? If you have a great deal more than you need, have you thought about why that is true and what God’s hopes are for you? If God has given you blessings, doesn’t it make sense to try to be a blessing to others? Having money is a good thing as long as you understand that it is a gift from God. Yes you work hard and you save a portion of your money, but even the energy and talent to work hard is also a gift from God. If God has blessed you, be a pipeline of love to others. Use the assets God has given you to serve Him and to serve others. Little blessings are a little test and huge blessings are a huge test.
--Bruce Caldwell; Gospel Global Vision; CORE VALUE 16: ISN’T HAVING MONEY A GOOD THING?
--Bruce Caldwell; Gospel Global Vision; CORE VALUE 16: ISN’T HAVING MONEY A GOOD THING?
kalie callaway-george
Kalie Callaway-George was cofounder of Urban Christian Academy in Kansas City. School was forced to close after affirming LGBTQ inclusiveness.
March 1, 2023: ABC News: Christian school that embraced the LGBTQ community is forced to close its doors
Kalie Callaway-George, UCA’s executive director and co-founder, said this new language "is kind of what started the backlash from our donor base, which we anticipated. It was just that we anticipated a 50% loss in funding and made adjustments for that. We had an 80% loss in funding and that was too much to overcome."
Kalie Callaway-George, UCA’s executive director and co-founder, said this new language "is kind of what started the backlash from our donor base, which we anticipated. It was just that we anticipated a 50% loss in funding and made adjustments for that. We had an 80% loss in funding and that was too much to overcome."
Feb 24, 2023: Kansas City Star: Hole that sucked people in’: Teachers allege Christian school in Kansas City is ‘toxic’
School leaders denied many of the employees’ allegations. Kalie Callaway-George, executive director and co-founder, said in an email she is “grieved to hear that was anyone’s experience” of school leadership.
School leaders denied many of the employees’ allegations. Kalie Callaway-George, executive director and co-founder, said in an email she is “grieved to hear that was anyone’s experience” of school leadership.
juli camarin
Juli Camarin has been writing since a young age. The practice of journaling scriptural insights started during her sophomore year in high school as quiet time devotions. Since then, this habit of studying and writing on the scriptures has become a lifelong learning journey. Juli currently blogs at JCBlog.net, a blog dedicated to exploring God's Word and planting the seeds of life. The internet has been a wonderful platform to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ and her blog is well-read throughout the world. (SOURCE: Amazon)
Juli Camarin
Paul opens the Book of Romans with this powerful statement, “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus..." (Rom. 1:1a). The Greek word for servant is doulos, literally meaning bondservant as described in Deuteronomy. Paul declares himself a lifelong slave of Jesus Christ. His opening statement acknowledges he has submitted himself into the master’s service in response to God’s goodness, kindness, and grace.This is a powerful illustration of the true heart of the gospel. Our response to Christ when gaining insight into His grace should be that of Paul. We willingly enter into relationship with Him as a bondservant. No obligation, no pressure, and not because it’s what we should do, but it wholeheartedly comes in response to an understanding and appreciation of Jesus. Only in this context could Paul exclaim that he, the former persecutor of the Church, was set apart from birth to preach the gospel of Jesus (Rom. 1:1; Gal. 1:15). He saw the depths of God's grace and knew that he was ordained to bring this good news to the world. -Juli Camarin; Set Apart for the Gospel—Romans 1:1 10.1.15
Juli Camarin
The natural mind cannot receive the things of God. Paul says that the sinful mind or carnal mind is hostile to God. It hates the very things of God and cannot please God because it is impossible to walk according to his ways while following the desires of the flesh. Many Christians try and try but experience constant failure because they are not living by the Holy Spirit as their compass and guide. They are living out of their own efforts rather than living a life of faith.
To have true victory in life we must be in tune with the Holy Spirit that was given to us. His office and function is to instruct, help and comfort us on this earth. But just as important He reveals and reminds us what Jesus told us. It is the most blessed gift along with salvation that we received from God. If we are trying live apart from the provision Christ made for us in sending the Holy Spirit, then we will never know God in the way he desires. Jesus thought that this guide was so important that he said in John, "But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you" ( John 16:7 ). So many times we wish that we could have Jesus sitting next to us teaching and instructing us. But Jesus said it was expedient that he return to the Father so that he could send us the Holy Spirit in His place. -Juli Camarin; The Carnal Mind is Hostile to God—Romans 8:7; 11.24.09
To have true victory in life we must be in tune with the Holy Spirit that was given to us. His office and function is to instruct, help and comfort us on this earth. But just as important He reveals and reminds us what Jesus told us. It is the most blessed gift along with salvation that we received from God. If we are trying live apart from the provision Christ made for us in sending the Holy Spirit, then we will never know God in the way he desires. Jesus thought that this guide was so important that he said in John, "But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you" ( John 16:7 ). So many times we wish that we could have Jesus sitting next to us teaching and instructing us. But Jesus said it was expedient that he return to the Father so that he could send us the Holy Spirit in His place. -Juli Camarin; The Carnal Mind is Hostile to God—Romans 8:7; 11.24.09
michael camp
Michael Camp spent twenty-five years in the evangelical movement, as an ordained missionary to Muslims, a development worker in Africa, and a lay leader in independent, charismatic, and Baptist churches. Today, as an author, podcaster, speaker, Rotarian, microbrew enthusiast, and bad golfer, he helps people find a more authentic spiritual path along Jesus' subversive way of peace. Michael is also active in a Rotary Club in Bainbridge Island, WA where he helps facilitate microfinance and development projects in Africa and Asia.
Most people in evangelicalism/fundamentalism have a fear-based faith. They have a fear of falling away, losing one’s salvation, going to hell, not being “biblical,” not remaining orthodox, being influenced by demons, being gay, losing their Christian friends, becoming a heretic, not having a church covering, losing their Christian job, ruining their religious career, or any manner of other fears. “Perfect love casts out fear” and “Anyone who fears has not been perfected in love,” says the New Testament book of I John. People with a fear-based religion have not experienced true, unconditional love. The love they “know” is conditioned on measuring up to please a transactional and two-faced god who demands something in return and is unprincipled in meting out love and forgiveness. People need to break out of this cycle of fear.
--Michael Camp; The Spiritual Brewpub; How Faith Deconstruction Workshops Can Help You Reclaim More Historical and Beautiful Beliefs 8.18.23
--Michael Camp; The Spiritual Brewpub; How Faith Deconstruction Workshops Can Help You Reclaim More Historical and Beautiful Beliefs 8.18.23
June 21, 2023:
👉Breaking Bad Faith by Michael Camp uncovers how bad faith—belief in a duplicitous, retributive, and violent god—is entrenched in today’s popular theology and American culture (it’s worse than you think). Using forgotten history, it exposes 12 myths most Christians believe and how entrenched violent retribution is in parts of the Bible and in the majority Christian worldview. It then shows us what matters most: Jesus’ subversive way of peace and restoration beyond religion. You’ll learn contemporary mind-blowing examples how this path works, including many outside of Christianity. A perfect antidote for those deconstructing evangelical faith and encouragement for those yearning for a peaceable, historically honest path.
👉Breaking Bad Faith by Michael Camp uncovers how bad faith—belief in a duplicitous, retributive, and violent god—is entrenched in today’s popular theology and American culture (it’s worse than you think). Using forgotten history, it exposes 12 myths most Christians believe and how entrenched violent retribution is in parts of the Bible and in the majority Christian worldview. It then shows us what matters most: Jesus’ subversive way of peace and restoration beyond religion. You’ll learn contemporary mind-blowing examples how this path works, including many outside of Christianity. A perfect antidote for those deconstructing evangelical faith and encouragement for those yearning for a peaceable, historically honest path.
We need to shed this false lens from which most people view Jesus and his early followers. You see, “Christianity,” the way most people think of it, has almost nothing—or at best, very little—to do with the historical Jesus epic that began in the first century. “Christianity,” and particularly Western Christianity and its variety of popular modern streams of evangelicalism and fundamentalism, is full of mythical, fraudulent, and violent theologies that cloud one’s mind so much that it’s almost impossible to see the beauty of the magnanimous message that Jesus still brings the world. French theologian, Jacques Ellul, called this “the subversion of Christianity,” arguing that there was not just deviation from the core message but “radical and essential contradiction, or real subversion.” [Ellul, The Subversion of Christianity, 3] Russian author of War and Peace and theologian, Leo Tolstoy, said both believers and unbelievers typically are wearing this false lens, being “fully persuaded that they have understood Christ’s teachings a long time, and that they understand it so fully, indubitably, and conclusively, that it can have no other significance, than the one they attribute to it. And the reason for this conviction is that the false interpretation and consequent misapprehension of the Gospel is an error of such long standing.” [Tolstoy, The Kingdom of God is Within You, 32]
caleb campbell
Caleb Cambell is a native Phoenician. In 2006 he came on staff and has served as Lead Pastor since 2015. In 2014 he received a Masters in Ministry degree from Phoenix Seminary and enrolled in the Doctor of Ministry program at Fuller Theological Seminary where he studied Leadership in multi-ethnic, multi-generational churches.
June 12, 2023: Word & Way: With Turning Point Faith, Pastors Use Politics as a Church-Growth Strategy
The effect of Dream City’s now monthly TPUSA events is felt at nearby churches such as Desert Springs Bible Church, where the Rev. Caleb Campbell serves as pastor. At the beginning of the pandemic, Campbell said, his church drew around 700 people on a Sunday. But when Desert Springs suspended in-person worship during lockdown and Campbell began preaching about racial justice following the murder of George Floyd, people began leaving — with many citing political reasons for their exit.
Some of his congregants, Campbell said, ended up at Dream City. By the time the church opened up again, attendance dipped to as low as 100.
“2020 hits and then it’s a deluge — it’s hundreds of people leaving and making sure that I knew about it,” he said. “The ones that haunt me are the ones that I just never heard from again.”
The effect of Dream City’s now monthly TPUSA events is felt at nearby churches such as Desert Springs Bible Church, where the Rev. Caleb Campbell serves as pastor. At the beginning of the pandemic, Campbell said, his church drew around 700 people on a Sunday. But when Desert Springs suspended in-person worship during lockdown and Campbell began preaching about racial justice following the murder of George Floyd, people began leaving — with many citing political reasons for their exit.
Some of his congregants, Campbell said, ended up at Dream City. By the time the church opened up again, attendance dipped to as low as 100.
“2020 hits and then it’s a deluge — it’s hundreds of people leaving and making sure that I knew about it,” he said. “The ones that haunt me are the ones that I just never heard from again.”
mae elise cannon
Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon is the executive director of Churches for Middle East Peace and an ordained minister in the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC). She formerly served as the senior director of advocacy and outreach for World Vision US on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. She is the author of Social Justice Handbook and Just Spirituality, and coeditor of Evangelical Theologies of Liberation and Justice.
During last week's Zoom call, Mae Elise Cannon, of the ecumenical group Churches for Middle East Peace, called out unnamed evangelical leaders who she said have declined to sign, citing concerns including how it would go over with their churches or religious organizations."White evangelical brothers and sisters, where are you?" Cannon said. "There's a few of us on this call today, but let me tell you how many people said 'no.' " --Wyoming Public Media: Evangelical Leaders Condemn 'Radicalized Christian Nationalism' 1.24.21
michael carden
Michael Carden teaches biblical studies and comparative religion at the University of Queensland. He has published a number of essays on Bible, sexuality and religion, including contributions to the anthologies Queer Commenatry and the Hebrew Bible (2001), Redirected Travel: Alternative Texts, Readings and Spaces in Biblical Studies (2003) and Popular Spiritualities: The Politics of Contemporary Enchantment (forthcoming 2004). Michael is also a contributor to the internationally collaborative queer Bible commentary project, The Bible in Translesbigay Perspective.
Michael Carden Files
For Genesis 19, the ideology is homophobia; the existence of the words 'sodomy' and 'sodomite' testify to its sorry career in Christianity. The fate of these cities is held up by religious conservatives to justify the suppression of non-heterosexual people and to fan hatred of same sex eroticism and gender fluidity. The story represents, for Christianity, a tale "of homophobic genocide" signifying the "culture's desire that gay people not be".
Thus, even if the angels had been consenting, it is wrong to read the Sodomite's demand as anything else but an act of abuse of outsiders. The threatened rape of the angels is an attempt to inscribe outsiders as queer and therefore not real men… But in attempting to inscribe the outsider as queer the Sodomites are also attempting to inscribe the queer as outsider. Thus the tensions of homosexual panic amongst the men of Sodom are relieved in a way that confirms their own heterosexuality. Rather than reading the attempted rape of the angels as an instance of homosexual violence I believe it should be more accurately read as an instance of homophobic violence.
--Michael Carden, “Compulsory Heterosexuality in Biblical Narratives and their Interpretations: Reading Homophobia and Rape in Sodom and Gibeah,” Australian Religion Studies Review, Vol. 12 No.1 (1999).
Thus, even if the angels had been consenting, it is wrong to read the Sodomite's demand as anything else but an act of abuse of outsiders. The threatened rape of the angels is an attempt to inscribe outsiders as queer and therefore not real men… But in attempting to inscribe the outsider as queer the Sodomites are also attempting to inscribe the queer as outsider. Thus the tensions of homosexual panic amongst the men of Sodom are relieved in a way that confirms their own heterosexuality. Rather than reading the attempted rape of the angels as an instance of homosexual violence I believe it should be more accurately read as an instance of homophobic violence.
--Michael Carden, “Compulsory Heterosexuality in Biblical Narratives and their Interpretations: Reading Homophobia and Rape in Sodom and Gibeah,” Australian Religion Studies Review, Vol. 12 No.1 (1999).
Michael Carden
“The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is also an account of mass genocide, and therein lies a danger for inverting the Christian account into one of divine judgement on misogyny and homophobia. The virulence of the Christian myth of Sodom is derived very much from this fact of genocide, giving license to gallows, concentration camp and hate crime.”
--Michael Carden, Genesis, in The Queer Bible Commentary, Deryn Guest, Robert E. Goss, Mona West, Thomas Bohache [Eds.] (London: SCM Press, 1988), p.38.
--Michael Carden, Genesis, in The Queer Bible Commentary, Deryn Guest, Robert E. Goss, Mona West, Thomas Bohache [Eds.] (London: SCM Press, 1988), p.38.
Brian Carn
Prophet Brian Carn is an internationally recognized prophetic voice, student of the Word, author of three top selling books, Recording Artist, General Overseer of City Church International Fellowship (CCIF), and Pastor of Kingdom City Church (KCC) in three locations. He is renowned for his prophetic accuracy, humility and passion. His ministry has been broadcasted all over the world on television stations such as: Daystar, TBN, and The Word Network, where he has been the host of two shows, “Brian Carn LIVE” and “Prophetic Encounters with Prophet Brian Carn”.
Apr 30, 2020: WSOTV: ‘It ain’t real’: Local pastor’s COVID-19 sermons raising eyebrows
Pastor Brian Carn at Kingdom City Church in southwest Charlotte held services after the stay-at-home order was first put in place. After several services, police talked to Carn and say he agreed not to hold church again until the stay-at-home order is lifted.
Pator Carn: “Evidently gas is most definitely as essential need. Gas prices are going up right now, we just wanted to be a blessing to the community and give people as much gas as we could possibly give them."
Pastor Brian Carn at Kingdom City Church in southwest Charlotte held services after the stay-at-home order was first put in place. After several services, police talked to Carn and say he agreed not to hold church again until the stay-at-home order is lifted.
Pator Carn: “Evidently gas is most definitely as essential need. Gas prices are going up right now, we just wanted to be a blessing to the community and give people as much gas as we could possibly give them."
Mar 13, 2021: WCCB: Charlotte Church Gives Away $10,000 Worth Of Gas
“Evidently gas is most definitely as essential need. Gas prices are going up right now, we just wanted to be a blessing to the community and give people as much gas as we could possibly give them,” says Pastor Brian Carn of Kingdom City Church.
“Evidently gas is most definitely as essential need. Gas prices are going up right now, we just wanted to be a blessing to the community and give people as much gas as we could possibly give them,” says Pastor Brian Carn of Kingdom City Church.
simonetta carr
Amy Carmichael Shaped Me as a Mom
Review: ‘Church History’ by Simonetta Carr Church History, a new book by Simonetta Carr, tells dozens of stories about lives like Carmichael’s. It’s primarily a textbook for young readers, with lots of maps, illustrations, timelines, and helpful information about how the church grew. But it will inspire children and adults alike to serve God faithfully and live by his strength in their varied life circumstances. Some of the people who influenced the church moved in the topmost tiers of society; some were born or raised to be emperors or popes. But most of the people Carr covers in Church History were ordinary people who followed God faithfully as he led them through extraordinary circumstances. (Ginger Blomberg/Gospel Coalition 5/25/23)
READ MORE>>>>
Review: ‘Church History’ by Simonetta Carr Church History, a new book by Simonetta Carr, tells dozens of stories about lives like Carmichael’s. It’s primarily a textbook for young readers, with lots of maps, illustrations, timelines, and helpful information about how the church grew. But it will inspire children and adults alike to serve God faithfully and live by his strength in their varied life circumstances. Some of the people who influenced the church moved in the topmost tiers of society; some were born or raised to be emperors or popes. But most of the people Carr covers in Church History were ordinary people who followed God faithfully as he led them through extraordinary circumstances. (Ginger Blomberg/Gospel Coalition 5/25/23)
READ MORE>>>>
james carroll
State Baptist leaders describe success in convention remarks
James Carroll’s presidential address focused on 1 Corinthians 3. “I love Kentucky Baptist churches and believe God wants to continue to use us to reach the commonwealth for Christ and for our mission work around the world,” he said. Carroll noted that “God is building us and building His kingdom through us. We can be confident He is working through us. Nothing will stop Him. As Kentucky Baptists, we have responsibilities.” Carroll then said “eternity will reveal the true value of our labor for the Lord. It’s God’s building — we are coming along to build on the foundation that has been laid.” Carroll urged Kentucky Baptist churches against being obsessed with numbers. “Southern Baptists love to win — by any metrics we seem to be winning, we are the only one to stave off theological liberalism. We are the largest mission sending organization in the world. Our love for winning means sometimes we can make concessions that pull us away from our primary commitment. Numbers can be misleading … an obsession over it can be deadly.” (Chip Hutcheson/The News Enterprise 11/17/23)
Read More>>>>>
James Carroll’s presidential address focused on 1 Corinthians 3. “I love Kentucky Baptist churches and believe God wants to continue to use us to reach the commonwealth for Christ and for our mission work around the world,” he said. Carroll noted that “God is building us and building His kingdom through us. We can be confident He is working through us. Nothing will stop Him. As Kentucky Baptists, we have responsibilities.” Carroll then said “eternity will reveal the true value of our labor for the Lord. It’s God’s building — we are coming along to build on the foundation that has been laid.” Carroll urged Kentucky Baptist churches against being obsessed with numbers. “Southern Baptists love to win — by any metrics we seem to be winning, we are the only one to stave off theological liberalism. We are the largest mission sending organization in the world. Our love for winning means sometimes we can make concessions that pull us away from our primary commitment. Numbers can be misleading … an obsession over it can be deadly.” (Chip Hutcheson/The News Enterprise 11/17/23)
Read More>>>>>
angela carson
Jan 14, 2023: Canton News: Carson selected as Mississippi Christian Living Leader of Year
For the fourth year in a row, Mississippi Christian Living (MCL) has taken nominations for Christian Leaders of the Year, and, this year, Cantonian Angela Carson was selected.
Carson is the founder and executive director of the Canton-based Pine Grove Association, which serves youth, the elderly, the Hispanic community and others.
She is the founder and president of Carson Consulting Services, which offers training, consulting and coaching for nonprofits, small businesses and government entities.
She is a member, secretary and Sunday school teacher at Priestley Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, Canton.
For the fourth year in a row, Mississippi Christian Living (MCL) has taken nominations for Christian Leaders of the Year, and, this year, Cantonian Angela Carson was selected.
Carson is the founder and executive director of the Canton-based Pine Grove Association, which serves youth, the elderly, the Hispanic community and others.
She is the founder and president of Carson Consulting Services, which offers training, consulting and coaching for nonprofits, small businesses and government entities.
She is a member, secretary and Sunday school teacher at Priestley Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, Canton.
don carson
May 19, 2023: Christian Post: ‘He changed my life’: 5 remembrances of Tim Keller
TGC Co-Founder Don Carson was also quoted in the statement, comparing Keller to an Old Testament prophet: “Tim didn’t hesitate to address the culture and the nation and to call for justice as well as for contrition.”
TGC Co-Founder Don Carson was also quoted in the statement, comparing Keller to an Old Testament prophet: “Tim didn’t hesitate to address the culture and the nation and to call for justice as well as for contrition.”
donald carson
Jan 25, 2023: Catholic News Agency: Alabama governor adds another layer of protection to religious freedom
Donald Carson, communications director for the Diocese of Birmingham, applauded the governor’s action.
“Catholics in the Diocese of Birmingham, which covers central and northern Alabama, are blessed to live and work in this state with such strong affirmation of religious freedom,” Carson told CNA.
Donald Carson, communications director for the Diocese of Birmingham, applauded the governor’s action.
“Catholics in the Diocese of Birmingham, which covers central and northern Alabama, are blessed to live and work in this state with such strong affirmation of religious freedom,” Carson told CNA.
joe carter
Joe Carter is a senior writer for The Gospel Coalition, author of The Life and Faith Field Guide for Parents, the editor of the NIV Lifehacks Bible, and coauthor of How to Argue Like Jesus: Learning Persuasion from History’s Greatest Communicator. He also serves as an associate pastor at McLean Bible Church in Arlington, Virginia.
Joe Carter
"The denial of cheap grace in our words and the acceptance of cheap grace in our actions is one of the most fundamental aspects of American Christianity.
Like other disgraced leaders, Zacharias knew, “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good” (Prov. 15:3), These Great Men know God is watching, but they also know he is gracious and merciful. They trust Jesus as a benevolent Machiavellian: since the ends justifies the means, as long as they do good, God will overlook their sins.
Cheap grace is why we allow such leaders to not only get away with their sin but to also justify it. We cite their accomplishments and say, “But if their sins were acknowledged, would this good thing have happened?” We know they did wrong, but we look at what they achieved for God’s purposes.
Perhaps we find it easier to justify such behavior when we are not the ones being abused, molested, or raped.
For pastors and other ministry leaders, the lesson of Zacharias is not that “men like that” are prone to horrific crimes and moral failures. The lesson is that if we want to become Great Men who do great and mighty works for the kingdom, we are just as vulnerable to such sin as any celebrity."
--Joe Carter; Gospel Coalition; Report: Ravi Zacharias Engaged in Sexual Abuse 2.12.21
Like other disgraced leaders, Zacharias knew, “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good” (Prov. 15:3), These Great Men know God is watching, but they also know he is gracious and merciful. They trust Jesus as a benevolent Machiavellian: since the ends justifies the means, as long as they do good, God will overlook their sins.
Cheap grace is why we allow such leaders to not only get away with their sin but to also justify it. We cite their accomplishments and say, “But if their sins were acknowledged, would this good thing have happened?” We know they did wrong, but we look at what they achieved for God’s purposes.
Perhaps we find it easier to justify such behavior when we are not the ones being abused, molested, or raped.
For pastors and other ministry leaders, the lesson of Zacharias is not that “men like that” are prone to horrific crimes and moral failures. The lesson is that if we want to become Great Men who do great and mighty works for the kingdom, we are just as vulnerable to such sin as any celebrity."
--Joe Carter; Gospel Coalition; Report: Ravi Zacharias Engaged in Sexual Abuse 2.12.21
Fred L Casmir
Brandon Olson
Dr. Fred L. Casmir grew up in a working class neighborhood during an extraordinary time of propaganda and dictatorships. Hitler came to power when Dr. Casmir turned five years old. He remembered witnessing Nazi marches, the barricades on the cobblestone roads, and policemen with rifles. Chaos and turmoil seeped into his life as a young boy, which compelled him to grow up fast. But his faith in the Lord guided him through these tough times.
Hitler wanted to restore Germany’s identity after their loss in World War I. Casmir vividly remembers, “In the beginning, the Nazi Party tried to maintain a Democratic image, but they were only a one party system.” With new art forms such as dance, drugs, and jazz circulating across the world during the Roaring 1920s, it became a perfect time for Hitler to employ his propaganda for his vision of total law and order in Europe.
Hitler’s Nazi Party continued their propaganda campaign to gain political popularity. Manipulation employed by the Nazi Party spread throughout Germany. They dressed well, and provided food and income for the poor, which enabled them to build false relations with the German people. Dr. Casmir notes, “Adults saw their lives change for the better. When there is insecurity, where a country does not have a direction, it’s dangerous. Under that guise, freedom is an abstract concept.” Dr. Casmir became looped into this abstract concept of freedom against his will. By the time he turned ten, it became mandatory for all children to join the Hitler Youth under the false Democratic Nazi Party.
Dr. Casmir eventually became a leader in the Hitler Youth . He rose in the ranks quickly and led three hundred boys. They had strict rules to not listen to BBC radio, or risk being branded a traitor, and then executed. During his time, he saw people burned to death and he survived two air raids by the time he turned fifteen years old. Threats on his life loomed everywhere. However, God’s Spirit indicated another path for him. So he “did something that was very odd. Not Nazi-like. [He] became confirmed in the Lutheran Church.”
Dr. Casmir was drafted at age 16. Berlin was the capital of Nazi Germany and was the target of heavy bombing raids by the Allies. As a result of the bombings, he “was twice buried under buildings.” He fought the Russian forces in a Luftwaffe founding unit, “during the last bloody months of the war in 1945.”
Soon, under God’s direction he escaped Germany before the Russians could capture him.
“Had I been arrested as a Hitler Youth leader in Berlin, [after fighting] the Russians East of Berlin, [I would have been sent to the] deadly Russian work camps.” But, “that was another one of God’s interventions…Through a series of miraculous interventions by God I escaped the final Russian encirclements, ending up in Northern Germany where I surrendered to British forces.”
Dr. Casmir managed to flee and surrender into the British zone of occupation. He later ended up at his uncle’s home in Frankfurt, in the American zone. After WWII ended, he continued to live with extended family in Western Germany, separated from his parents in Communist East Germany.
Dr. Casmir then met an old Catholic high school friend who introduced him to a Bible study with members of the Church of Christ. He remembers, “[we] both attended Bible classes in their home. He stopped, I kept on and was baptized. After that I was invited to go to the US, and studied to prepare for the ministry.”
--Brandon Olson; Pepperdine Beacon; Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Communication Fred Casmir Describes the Important Role of Faith in His Escape From Nazi Germany 12.3.22
Hitler wanted to restore Germany’s identity after their loss in World War I. Casmir vividly remembers, “In the beginning, the Nazi Party tried to maintain a Democratic image, but they were only a one party system.” With new art forms such as dance, drugs, and jazz circulating across the world during the Roaring 1920s, it became a perfect time for Hitler to employ his propaganda for his vision of total law and order in Europe.
Hitler’s Nazi Party continued their propaganda campaign to gain political popularity. Manipulation employed by the Nazi Party spread throughout Germany. They dressed well, and provided food and income for the poor, which enabled them to build false relations with the German people. Dr. Casmir notes, “Adults saw their lives change for the better. When there is insecurity, where a country does not have a direction, it’s dangerous. Under that guise, freedom is an abstract concept.” Dr. Casmir became looped into this abstract concept of freedom against his will. By the time he turned ten, it became mandatory for all children to join the Hitler Youth under the false Democratic Nazi Party.
Dr. Casmir eventually became a leader in the Hitler Youth . He rose in the ranks quickly and led three hundred boys. They had strict rules to not listen to BBC radio, or risk being branded a traitor, and then executed. During his time, he saw people burned to death and he survived two air raids by the time he turned fifteen years old. Threats on his life loomed everywhere. However, God’s Spirit indicated another path for him. So he “did something that was very odd. Not Nazi-like. [He] became confirmed in the Lutheran Church.”
Dr. Casmir was drafted at age 16. Berlin was the capital of Nazi Germany and was the target of heavy bombing raids by the Allies. As a result of the bombings, he “was twice buried under buildings.” He fought the Russian forces in a Luftwaffe founding unit, “during the last bloody months of the war in 1945.”
Soon, under God’s direction he escaped Germany before the Russians could capture him.
“Had I been arrested as a Hitler Youth leader in Berlin, [after fighting] the Russians East of Berlin, [I would have been sent to the] deadly Russian work camps.” But, “that was another one of God’s interventions…Through a series of miraculous interventions by God I escaped the final Russian encirclements, ending up in Northern Germany where I surrendered to British forces.”
Dr. Casmir managed to flee and surrender into the British zone of occupation. He later ended up at his uncle’s home in Frankfurt, in the American zone. After WWII ended, he continued to live with extended family in Western Germany, separated from his parents in Communist East Germany.
Dr. Casmir then met an old Catholic high school friend who introduced him to a Bible study with members of the Church of Christ. He remembers, “[we] both attended Bible classes in their home. He stopped, I kept on and was baptized. After that I was invited to go to the US, and studied to prepare for the ministry.”
--Brandon Olson; Pepperdine Beacon; Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Communication Fred Casmir Describes the Important Role of Faith in His Escape From Nazi Germany 12.3.22
captain cassidy (Cassidy McGillicuddy)
Captan Cassidy
White evangelicals don’t want any reminders that they no longer represent the cultural standard of America, nor are even its Designated Adults. What they want is quiet, effortless mastery and recognized superiority, not having to share and play nicely with the other children on the playground.
Even if it destroys their witness, to use the Christianese, they can’t let go of their tribalism. Jesus’ direct orders be damned! Bible blahblah is all well and good, but this is real life we’re talking about. Like everyone else, white evangelicals know that when real life starts happening, they have to step into the real world to deal with it. -Captain Cassidy; Only Sky 10/31/23
Even if it destroys their witness, to use the Christianese, they can’t let go of their tribalism. Jesus’ direct orders be damned! Bible blahblah is all well and good, but this is real life we’re talking about. Like everyone else, white evangelicals know that when real life starts happening, they have to step into the real world to deal with it. -Captain Cassidy; Only Sky 10/31/23
tom catena
March 10, 2023: Religion News: ‘Spiritual exemplars’ change the media narrative about religion
Here are a few of those we profiled:
Tom Catena is the only doctor for a population of nearly a million people in the Nuba Mountains, in Sudan. He is an evangelical Catholic whose first stop every morning at 6:30 a.m. is Mass before he heads to rounds and surgery.
Here are a few of those we profiled:
Tom Catena is the only doctor for a population of nearly a million people in the Nuba Mountains, in Sudan. He is an evangelical Catholic whose first stop every morning at 6:30 a.m. is Mass before he heads to rounds and surgery.
debbie caUSEY
Jan 31, 2023: Christian Post: Andy Stanley to host conference for Christian parents of LGBT-identified kids
With a stated goal of helping “parents demonstrate the unconditional love of Jesus,” the Unconditional Conference includes a scheduled lineup featuring Stanley, Embracing the Journey co-founders Greg and Lynn McDonald, former megachurch pastor John Ortberg, North Point Ministries’ Debbie Causey, and LGBT advocate Justin Lee.
With a stated goal of helping “parents demonstrate the unconditional love of Jesus,” the Unconditional Conference includes a scheduled lineup featuring Stanley, Embracing the Journey co-founders Greg and Lynn McDonald, former megachurch pastor John Ortberg, North Point Ministries’ Debbie Causey, and LGBT advocate Justin Lee.
jim caviezel
June 2, 2023: Media Matters: Fox’s Jeanine Pirro appears on Christian nationalist program FlashPoint to warn of “takedown of religion” in America
In addition to the Christian nationalist figures such as Wallnau and Kunneman appearing at FlashPoint Live’s June 8-9 event in Ohio along with Pirro, the lineup includes actor Jim Caviezel, who recently openly embraced the QAnon conspiracy.
In addition to the Christian nationalist figures such as Wallnau and Kunneman appearing at FlashPoint Live’s June 8-9 event in Ohio along with Pirro, the lineup includes actor Jim Caviezel, who recently openly embraced the QAnon conspiracy.
bo chancey
Dec 1, 2021: Union Leader: Manchester Christian Church to change its name, reach out to rural areas
Manchester Christian Church, the non-denominational church whose internet services flourished during last year’s COVID-19 shutdown, is changing its name and targeting rural New England for expansion, its pastor said.
The name change — to One Church — will be official on Jan. 1, said Senior Pastor Bo Chancey.
Manchester Christian Church, the non-denominational church whose internet services flourished during last year’s COVID-19 shutdown, is changing its name and targeting rural New England for expansion, its pastor said.
The name change — to One Church — will be official on Jan. 1, said Senior Pastor Bo Chancey.
bryan chapell
2010: Preaching: The 25 Most Influential Pastors of the Past 25 Years
A quarter-century has brought great changes to the preaching landscape, and today’s list of contributing editors includes names that would have been unknown to most pastors 25 years ago: Rick Warren, Bryan Chapell, James MacDonald, Robert Smith, Dave Stone, James Emery White and Ed Young Jr. (though his pastor dad would have been a good candidate for the original list—and is now among our senior consulting editors).
A quarter-century has brought great changes to the preaching landscape, and today’s list of contributing editors includes names that would have been unknown to most pastors 25 years ago: Rick Warren, Bryan Chapell, James MacDonald, Robert Smith, Dave Stone, James Emery White and Ed Young Jr. (though his pastor dad would have been a good candidate for the original list—and is now among our senior consulting editors).
john chaplin
July 13, 2023: NPR: Republican presidential candidates vie for the influential evangelical Christian vote
But not every clergy member who showed up supports the six-week abortion ban when many don't even know they're pregnant. John Chaplin (ph) is a local pastor with the United Church of Christ. He calls the legislation disturbing. JOHN CHAPLIN: It's as if the legislators are taking their own personal religious views and trying to transfer it onto the general public when the general public, 61% of Iowans, favor safe abortion.
But not every clergy member who showed up supports the six-week abortion ban when many don't even know they're pregnant. John Chaplin (ph) is a local pastor with the United Church of Christ. He calls the legislation disturbing. JOHN CHAPLIN: It's as if the legislators are taking their own personal religious views and trying to transfer it onto the general public when the general public, 61% of Iowans, favor safe abortion.
morris chapman
April 18, 2023: Baptist Press: SBC leaders, former presidents react to death of Charles Stanley
“Charles Stanley was a godly man and I loved him for his godliness and kindness. He was an anointed preacher whose love for the unsaved was unparalleled. He sought to reach the world for Christ and prayed often for a spiritual awakening to come to America. To join him in his prayer room next to his study at the First Baptist Church, Atlanta, and hear him pray and praise the Lord was a deeply spiritual experience. He will be missed, but we can all rejoice that he has gone home to be with Jesus about whom he preached ‘the Crucified and risen Christ.’ May our thoughts about him lead us to renew our faith until we, too, go to be with Jesus.”--Morris Chapman, former SBC president
“Charles Stanley was a godly man and I loved him for his godliness and kindness. He was an anointed preacher whose love for the unsaved was unparalleled. He sought to reach the world for Christ and prayed often for a spiritual awakening to come to America. To join him in his prayer room next to his study at the First Baptist Church, Atlanta, and hear him pray and praise the Lord was a deeply spiritual experience. He will be missed, but we can all rejoice that he has gone home to be with Jesus about whom he preached ‘the Crucified and risen Christ.’ May our thoughts about him lead us to renew our faith until we, too, go to be with Jesus.”--Morris Chapman, former SBC president
lucame charles
Haitian church in Indianapolis opens larger doors as community grows
Pastor Lucame Charles, a founding member, said many Haitians here are struggling financially and there is a shortage of professionals to help sustain the community. A package delivery driver, Charles said during an interview at his home after a shift one late morning, that people send much of their earnings, meager as they might be, back to families in Haiti. This means churches do not have enough from congregants’ contributions to help locals who need support with language, cultural assimilation and financial problems. Plus, he added, when some Haitians arrive, they follow their own ways instead of learning their new home’s system. Division due to different religious beliefs also creates friction. “It rains for everyone regardless of your belief, whether you are a Vodou believer or Christian,” Charles said. “Despite all our differences in our beliefs, we are people first. (Dieu-Nalio Chery/Haitian Times 10/17/23)
Read More>>>>
Pastor Lucame Charles, a founding member, said many Haitians here are struggling financially and there is a shortage of professionals to help sustain the community. A package delivery driver, Charles said during an interview at his home after a shift one late morning, that people send much of their earnings, meager as they might be, back to families in Haiti. This means churches do not have enough from congregants’ contributions to help locals who need support with language, cultural assimilation and financial problems. Plus, he added, when some Haitians arrive, they follow their own ways instead of learning their new home’s system. Division due to different religious beliefs also creates friction. “It rains for everyone regardless of your belief, whether you are a Vodou believer or Christian,” Charles said. “Despite all our differences in our beliefs, we are people first. (Dieu-Nalio Chery/Haitian Times 10/17/23)
Read More>>>>
Lucame Charles
“It rains for everyone regardless of your belief, whether you are a Vodou believer or Christian. Despite all our differences in our beliefs, we are people first. When immigration is taking people to deport them, they don’t ask if you are a Christian or a Vodouist. We are all in the same basket. We must stop destroying each other as Haitians.”
--Pastor Lucame Charles; Jesus Christ Worship Center 10/17/23
--Pastor Lucame Charles; Jesus Christ Worship Center 10/17/23
stuart chase
Stuart Chase was ordained to the eldership on Sunday, 8 May 2016. Stuart has been employed since August 1998 as church administrator, and serves on the eldership while continuing his employment in that capacity. Stuart is married to Dominique and they have two daughters (Neka and Skylar-Jayne) and a son (Deklan).
Stuart Chase
"Solomon begins by exhorting his son to listen to him, for this is a matter of the utmost importance. If he heeded Solomon’s warning, he would both “keep discretion” (i.e. live a life in keeping with God’s ethics) and “guard knowledge” with his lips (i.e. speak in a way that honours God’s truth).
The “forbidden woman,” on the other hand—that is, any woman who is not your wife—speaks with lips that “drip honey” and “her speech is smoother than oil.” She is not interested in truth; what she promises appeals only to the senses. She promises physical pleasure. She knows what to say in any given moment. She knows how to seduce. But the son who has “wisdom” and “understanding” (v. 1) will realise that “in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword” (v. 4). All she can deliver is bitterness and stabbing conviction.
Ultimately, she leads astray and takes those she seduces to death. “Sheol” is a reference to the grave and is synonymous in this context with “death” (v. 5). The sexual expression that she offers satisfies in the moment, but ultimately it leads to death.
Verse 6 is perhaps better translated in the NKJV: “Lest you ponder her path of life—her ways are unstable; you do not know them.” The KJV may be even closer to the point: “Lest you ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, so that you cannot know them.” (I have slightly updated the archaic language of the KJV to make the point, I trust, a little clearer.) She cannot afford to allow her client to think about God—because when we think about God, we steer clear of sin—so she adapts in order to keep him distracted. --Stuart Chase; Associate Pastor; Brackenhurst Baptist Church; Alberton South Africa; Let’s Talk about Sex (Proverbs 5:1–23); 5.20.18
The “forbidden woman,” on the other hand—that is, any woman who is not your wife—speaks with lips that “drip honey” and “her speech is smoother than oil.” She is not interested in truth; what she promises appeals only to the senses. She promises physical pleasure. She knows what to say in any given moment. She knows how to seduce. But the son who has “wisdom” and “understanding” (v. 1) will realise that “in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword” (v. 4). All she can deliver is bitterness and stabbing conviction.
Ultimately, she leads astray and takes those she seduces to death. “Sheol” is a reference to the grave and is synonymous in this context with “death” (v. 5). The sexual expression that she offers satisfies in the moment, but ultimately it leads to death.
Verse 6 is perhaps better translated in the NKJV: “Lest you ponder her path of life—her ways are unstable; you do not know them.” The KJV may be even closer to the point: “Lest you ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, so that you cannot know them.” (I have slightly updated the archaic language of the KJV to make the point, I trust, a little clearer.) She cannot afford to allow her client to think about God—because when we think about God, we steer clear of sin—so she adapts in order to keep him distracted. --Stuart Chase; Associate Pastor; Brackenhurst Baptist Church; Alberton South Africa; Let’s Talk about Sex (Proverbs 5:1–23); 5.20.18
javier chavez
July 24, 2023: Christian Index: Gainesville pastor Javier Chavez visits Peru’s National Congress
Javier Chavez, senior pastor of Amistad Cristiana International in Gainesville, Ga., and a missions team from Fort Worth, Texas’s Birchman Baptist Church accepted an invitation from the National Congress of Peru for a private audience with the Third Vice President Alejandro Muñante.
The meeting took place Friday morning, July 21. Discussion topics included religious liberty, protections for the unborn, and family values.
Javier Chavez, senior pastor of Amistad Cristiana International in Gainesville, Ga., and a missions team from Fort Worth, Texas’s Birchman Baptist Church accepted an invitation from the National Congress of Peru for a private audience with the Third Vice President Alejandro Muñante.
The meeting took place Friday morning, July 21. Discussion topics included religious liberty, protections for the unborn, and family values.
MARK CHIRONNA
Oct 15, 2020: Los Angeles Sentinel: Prophetic Voices from Holy Prophets Join Apostle Dr. Beverly “Bam” Crawford at the 25th Annual L.A.M.P.S. Virtual Conference
Bishop Mark Chironna, an influential leader with a global reach of 175 nations
Aug 10, 2015: Youtube: Dr. Mark Chironna 8-9-15 Wisdom's Promise
Dr. Mark Chironna teaching that the wealth, residing inside each of us, is manifested outside of our comfort zones at Church On The Living Edge in Orlando, FL.
Apr 2, 2015: Youtube: Mark Chironna Ministries 2015: Dr Mark Chironna hosts Bishop Liston Page, Dr James Goll part 2
Dec 22, 2014: Youtube: Mark Chironna Message About Your Destiny In Christ
Mark Chironna Message About Your Destiny In Christ
Sept 13, 2014: My Word Like Fire: Mark Chironna’s New Age/Quantum Mysticism at Bethel Redding Conference
Bethel leader Bill Johnson contributed a chapter to the book, as did his wife, Beni Johnson.
Bishop Mark Chironna, an influential leader with a global reach of 175 nations
Aug 10, 2015: Youtube: Dr. Mark Chironna 8-9-15 Wisdom's Promise
Dr. Mark Chironna teaching that the wealth, residing inside each of us, is manifested outside of our comfort zones at Church On The Living Edge in Orlando, FL.
Apr 2, 2015: Youtube: Mark Chironna Ministries 2015: Dr Mark Chironna hosts Bishop Liston Page, Dr James Goll part 2
Dec 22, 2014: Youtube: Mark Chironna Message About Your Destiny In Christ
Mark Chironna Message About Your Destiny In Christ
Sept 13, 2014: My Word Like Fire: Mark Chironna’s New Age/Quantum Mysticism at Bethel Redding Conference
Bethel leader Bill Johnson contributed a chapter to the book, as did his wife, Beni Johnson.
ken chitwood
Oct 21, 2022: Religion News: Best In Religion Journalism: Religion News Association Presents Its Annual Awards
Among the highlights:
And finally: Ken Chitwood for Excellence in Nonfiction Religion Books for "The Muslims of Latin America and the Caribbean," Sojourners magazine for Excellence in Magazine Overall Religion Coverage and KALW’s “The Spiritual Edge” for Outstanding Religion News Story in a Radio Broadcast and Outstanding Religion Podcast.
Among the highlights:
And finally: Ken Chitwood for Excellence in Nonfiction Religion Books for "The Muslims of Latin America and the Caribbean," Sojourners magazine for Excellence in Magazine Overall Religion Coverage and KALW’s “The Spiritual Edge” for Outstanding Religion News Story in a Radio Broadcast and Outstanding Religion Podcast.
paul chitwood
April 18, 2023: Baptist Press: SBC leaders, former presidents react to death of Charles Stanley
“God used the ministry of Charles Stanley to call forth numerous ministers, missionaries, and resources for Kingdom advance in the United States and around the world. He was unwavering in his work to push back lostness so others could hear the gospel. We thank God for Dr. Stanley’s example as we continue this most important work, and we look forward to the day when we will join him in worshiping before the Lord’s throne.”--Paul Chitwood, president, International Mission Board
“God used the ministry of Charles Stanley to call forth numerous ministers, missionaries, and resources for Kingdom advance in the United States and around the world. He was unwavering in his work to push back lostness so others could hear the gospel. We thank God for Dr. Stanley’s example as we continue this most important work, and we look forward to the day when we will join him in worshiping before the Lord’s throne.”--Paul Chitwood, president, International Mission Board
eugene cho
Eugene E. Cho is an American evangelical pastor. He is also the founder and former Senior Pastor of Quest Church – an urban, multi-cultural and multi-generational church in Seattle, Washington. After 18 years, Eugene stepped aside at Quest in 2018. In July 2020, he became the third President and CEO of the Christian advocacy group Bread for the World. He is also the founder and visionary of One Day’s Wages (ODW) – a grassroots movement of people, stories, and actions to alleviate extreme global poverty. The vision of ODW is to create a collaborative movement that promotes awareness, invites simple giving (one day’s wages) and supports sustainable relief through partnerships, especially with smaller organizations in developing regions. Eugene is the author of two acclaimed books, Thou Shalt Not Be a Jerk: A Christian’s Guide to Engaging Politics (2020) and Overrated: Are We More in Love with the Idea of Changing the World Than Actually Changing the World? (2014)
Eugene Cho
What do you are the most common misconceptions Christians have about engaging politically in America?
Three things come to mind. One: we choose to disengage from politics. When I was young, I would tell myself, because I was told by other leaders, to just focus on spiritual things like church, quiet time and Bible study. That was spiritual, and engaging policies was not spiritual. It was of the world. There are still folks who for whatever reason — it could be because of what I would consider a dangerous theology, they could be apathetic, maybe they’re just exhausted — they’ve chosen to disengage altogether.
And then there are those who, whether we can see it or not, have let politics become the most important thing. Our politics informs our theology, as opposed to our theology informing our politics. And I think when we care so much about politics, whether we know it or not, it can grow to be idolatrous. As a result, we see everything through those filters. We justify all our actions based upon our political ideology. And then there’s a third group of folks. They’re folks who are engaged in politics but have become byproducts of what I would call Cultural Christianity. It doesn’t always parallel the life and words and sacrifice and grace of Jesus. It’s become its own entity, enamored by power. I think that’s also very dangerous. Preachers can be guilty of this. I can be guilty. Politicians can be guilty. We dabble a little Jesus and sprinkle him on top of things. As a result, it causes a grave disservice to the witness of Christ in our world. I think we’re seeing some of that. A lot of people are being disillusioned by the witness of Christians.
-Eugene Cho; Relevant; ‘Christians, Stop Being Political Jerks’ 6.1.23
Three things come to mind. One: we choose to disengage from politics. When I was young, I would tell myself, because I was told by other leaders, to just focus on spiritual things like church, quiet time and Bible study. That was spiritual, and engaging policies was not spiritual. It was of the world. There are still folks who for whatever reason — it could be because of what I would consider a dangerous theology, they could be apathetic, maybe they’re just exhausted — they’ve chosen to disengage altogether.
And then there are those who, whether we can see it or not, have let politics become the most important thing. Our politics informs our theology, as opposed to our theology informing our politics. And I think when we care so much about politics, whether we know it or not, it can grow to be idolatrous. As a result, we see everything through those filters. We justify all our actions based upon our political ideology. And then there’s a third group of folks. They’re folks who are engaged in politics but have become byproducts of what I would call Cultural Christianity. It doesn’t always parallel the life and words and sacrifice and grace of Jesus. It’s become its own entity, enamored by power. I think that’s also very dangerous. Preachers can be guilty of this. I can be guilty. Politicians can be guilty. We dabble a little Jesus and sprinkle him on top of things. As a result, it causes a grave disservice to the witness of Christ in our world. I think we’re seeing some of that. A lot of people are being disillusioned by the witness of Christians.
-Eugene Cho; Relevant; ‘Christians, Stop Being Political Jerks’ 6.1.23
brad christerson
July 7, 2023: Washington Post: Born-again Christians are less Southern Baptist than they used to be
“In most charismatic and a lot of American evangelical circles there’s a really big focus on Israel being key to Jesus coming back,” said Brad Christerson, a sociologist at Biola University who co-wrote with Richard Flory a 2017 book, “The Rise of Network Christianity,” that features Bickle’s ministry. “They pray for the salvation of the Jews, for protection over the city and nation and for End-Times prophecy regarding Israel to be fulfilled.”
“In most charismatic and a lot of American evangelical circles there’s a really big focus on Israel being key to Jesus coming back,” said Brad Christerson, a sociologist at Biola University who co-wrote with Richard Flory a 2017 book, “The Rise of Network Christianity,” that features Bickle’s ministry. “They pray for the salvation of the Jews, for protection over the city and nation and for End-Times prophecy regarding Israel to be fulfilled.”
luke christy
April 28, 2023: Laurinburg Exchange: Methodist churches share thoughts on disaffiliation decisions
“If there are those that wish to remain United Methodist and their church is disaffiliating and they are looking for another church,” Reverend Luke Christy of Peachland United Methodist Church explained, “There are lighthouse churches in the areas that are there to support them through that transition and to either adopt them into their church membership or to find another church that is suited for them.”
“If there are those that wish to remain United Methodist and their church is disaffiliating and they are looking for another church,” Reverend Luke Christy of Peachland United Methodist Church explained, “There are lighthouse churches in the areas that are there to support them through that transition and to either adopt them into their church membership or to find another church that is suited for them.”
shane claiborne
May 4, 2023: Word & Way: Faith Leaders Ask Biden to Mark Mother’s Day With Prayer Day Against Gun Violence
Signatories on the letter include the Rev. Jesse Jackson of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, Bishop Vashti McKenzie of the National Council of Churches, Rabbi Jill Jacobs of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, Shane Claiborne of Red Letter Christians and the Rev. Liz Theoharis of Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice.
Signatories on the letter include the Rev. Jesse Jackson of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, Bishop Vashti McKenzie of the National Council of Churches, Rabbi Jill Jacobs of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, Shane Claiborne of Red Letter Christians and the Rev. Liz Theoharis of Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice.
jonathan clark
For Wolfe, the future is a strong nation, and a strong nation happens to be the Christian one. The church’s witness of a future Kingdom, the faithfulness of God, and the “weak things of the world shaming the strong” barely register. Wolfe’s only response to opposition is a Nietzschean-like challenge: Does a Christian man (yes, male) have the strength of will to impose his vision of Christian life and law onto a vacuum of secularist life? There is only one answer he will accept. And anyone who disagrees with him has submitted to the contradictions of an Enlightenment-infused liberal agenda and is close to embracing the progressive excesses of the left.
Wolfe’s work could function all too well as a theological and philosophical foundation for some of the worst impulses in our all-too-human hearts. It lays the foundation for Caesaropapism, a renewing of racial divisions within society and church, blurred lines of church and state authorities, overly ambitious civil laws, and brute power politics. Wolfe is himself careful to avoid invoking the “nationalism” of the 1930s and ’40s, content to defend a “phenomenological nationalism,” or, “the lived experience” of associating with one’s own. Nonetheless, Wolfe writes a manifesto that in the wrong hands could do great harm.
As I read The Case for Christian Nationalism, I admit to empathizing in places. Often I even agreed. To the average college student, I am the bad guy: white, straight, male, upper-middle class, a Christian pastor. I know that the Gender Studies department on my campus teaches a vision of humanity that is, by my Christian lights, anti-human. Wolfe correctly senses these errors. But he goes the wrong way in search of a solution. He dignifies sinful natural impulses to generate a will to power, and he tries to match a leftist power narrative with a Christian nationalist one—an eye for an eye, or rather, a blow for a blow. For Wolfe, the meek not only cannot inherit the earth—they ought not. They simply don’t deserve it.
This is no way forward for Christians. Our faith depends on the power of weakness. The meek shall inherit the earth. God will use the weak to shame the strong. I trust this, not because I deduce or intuit it or even because my tradition confesses it, but because God’s Word tells me. That is enough for my family—and for my nation.
---------Jonathan Clark; Reformed University Fellowship in Colorado Springs, Colo.; Jan 18, 2023
Wolfe’s work could function all too well as a theological and philosophical foundation for some of the worst impulses in our all-too-human hearts. It lays the foundation for Caesaropapism, a renewing of racial divisions within society and church, blurred lines of church and state authorities, overly ambitious civil laws, and brute power politics. Wolfe is himself careful to avoid invoking the “nationalism” of the 1930s and ’40s, content to defend a “phenomenological nationalism,” or, “the lived experience” of associating with one’s own. Nonetheless, Wolfe writes a manifesto that in the wrong hands could do great harm.
As I read The Case for Christian Nationalism, I admit to empathizing in places. Often I even agreed. To the average college student, I am the bad guy: white, straight, male, upper-middle class, a Christian pastor. I know that the Gender Studies department on my campus teaches a vision of humanity that is, by my Christian lights, anti-human. Wolfe correctly senses these errors. But he goes the wrong way in search of a solution. He dignifies sinful natural impulses to generate a will to power, and he tries to match a leftist power narrative with a Christian nationalist one—an eye for an eye, or rather, a blow for a blow. For Wolfe, the meek not only cannot inherit the earth—they ought not. They simply don’t deserve it.
This is no way forward for Christians. Our faith depends on the power of weakness. The meek shall inherit the earth. God will use the weak to shame the strong. I trust this, not because I deduce or intuit it or even because my tradition confesses it, but because God’s Word tells me. That is enough for my family—and for my nation.
---------Jonathan Clark; Reformed University Fellowship in Colorado Springs, Colo.; Jan 18, 2023
r scott clark
R. Scott Clark was educated at the University of Nebraska (BA), Westminster Seminary California (MDiv), and St Anne’s College, Oxford University (DPhil). He was a minister in the Reformed Church in the United States (1988–1998) and has been a minister in the United Reformed Churches in North America since 1998.
He has taught church history and historical theology since 1995 at Wheaton College, Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, Concordia University, Irvine, and Westminster Seminary California.
He has taught church history and historical theology since 1995 at Wheaton College, Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, Concordia University, Irvine, and Westminster Seminary California.
R Scott Clark
The writers of the New Testament knew nothing of the theory that the ascended Lord Jesus is not now, in his ascension, exercising his “full divine will as King over all the earth.” Indeed, the New Testament says the very opposite: “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36). According to Peter, Christ is not waiting for a future earthly millennium to exercise his “full divine will as King over all the earth.” He is doing it now. -R Scott Clark; The Heidelberg Blog; The Gospel According To John (MacArthur)—Part 14 9.11.23
