The CREC and the Pentagon

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2025/05/21/hegseth-starts-evangelical-prayer-services-pentagon-his-tennessee-church-pastor.html

The Confederation (now Communion) of Reformed Evangelical Churches was launched in 1998. At the time Doug Wilson was well known but only within Reformed circles. He was primarily associated with his books on marriage, education, and child rearing. A few years later (in the early 2000's) the Federal Vision controversy would explode making him somewhat notorious. But again, this was all largely limited to the Reformed spectrum.

Malachi Martin and Rich Church, Poor Church

Back in the 1990's I used to pick up some Malachi Martin works on occasion. He provides insider information about the Jesuits and the Vatican and while I've never agreed with him, I've always found him to be interesting.

I stumbled on his 1984 work 'Rich Church, Poor Church' in a pile of discount books and since it was only $1.50, I decided to pick it up. It was a work I had never encountered before.

The Less than Great Hal Lindsey

https://religionnews.com/2024/12/05/the-late-great-hal-lindsey/

As I've mentioned numerous times, I grew up with Hal Lindsey. Like so many other American households of the 1970's, our shelves contained his works. I grew up reading The Late Great Planet Earth and Satan is Alive and Well on Planet Earth. I later read his 1980's: Countdown to Armageddon and was convinced that the Rapture would likely happen by 1988.

Blair, the Roman Beast, and The Mark (I)

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-64729442

Published in early 2023, this is a disturbing story on many levels. William Hague and Tony Blair are certainly evil men and their arguments and justifications for biometric identification are not to be trusted. The truth is after witnessing the events of the past decade or so, and given the growing instability within society, coupled with the sheer massiveness of modern populations, those sitting atop the state are nervous and fearing the spectre of chaos and the threat of pandemonium. They want mechanisms in place that allow them to exert and maintain control.

Alberta's Chronicle of Evangelical Demise

I heard Tim Alberta interviewed on Fresh Air back in November of 2023. His interview grabbed my attention as I remain eager to hear Evangelical voices critical of what's been happening to the Church in the Trump era.

And so out of curiosity I picked up his book - The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in An Age of Extremism and was immediately 'pulled in' as they say. It was really a very interesting read and his compilation of reporting narratives and interviews was compelling. During the early stages of the book I became convinced that I would want everyone I knew to read it. But then at some point the book shifted and began to lose its way, leaving me with very mixed feelings.

Rome vs. Geneva

I've been unable to find the source for the quote but there's a statement made by someone in the 18th or 19th century about how the civilisational clash is between Rome and Geneva. The point being, the Geneva in question is not the Geneva of Calvin but of Rousseau and Voltaire. In other words Geneva represents not the Reformation but the Enlightenment.

Trumpism and the Infiltration of the Church

I'm hardly the first to muse on the irony of how the Right expressed constant concern over Obama and how the Left made him into a messianic figure. I took it as a fiery expression of zeal for someone that was not George Bush - people have already forgotten how much he was despised near the end of his term. Regardless, whatever happened with Obama surely pales in comparison to the way Trump is viewed by his most devoted followers. And devotion is the correct word as many have crossed the line and for them Trumpism is far more than a political platform or a style - it's a religion.

A Snap-shot of Dominionism in Rural Pennsylvania

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/06/christian-movement-new-apostolic-reformation-politics-trump/674320/

This story received some press in rural Pennsylvania. It certainly caught my eye as I'm very familiar with the area, located near the Venango County airport and the small community of Franklin. And as expected the reporting is somewhat sketchy on the exact theology of these people. But in truth Christo-Trumpism, the growing hybrid religion (of Right-wing Trumpite extremism with elements of Christianity) is able to both defy and transcend traditional labels and categories. Whether Catholic or Charismatic, Confessional, Evangelical or something else, it doesn't matter all that much. The religion is (in the end) a form of hyper-nationalism with a mythology and messiah to accompany it. We've seen this sort of thing before - these monsters are born of collapsing societies.

From Patriarchy to Apostasy

https://julieroys.com/rift-author-cait-west-talks-breaking-free-christian-patriarchy/

Once again this is a sad but increasingly common story. It's a case of not only abuses but wrongly framed and absolutized doctrines and ethics that are unable to function in light of the dynamics of Scripture and in the real world. The end result is frustration and overreaction.

Gothardism Under the Microscope and a Christian Parent's Response (II)

Were the Beall's disturbed by watching their little five year old disappear into the bowels of a big institutional facility? They should be. It isn't natural. It's actually highly disturbing and historically anomalous but people have been conditioned to think it's normal. As a Christian not only is it an abdication of parental duty and calling, it is just plain crazy to hand over your precious and innocent covenanted child to authorities that are going to spend all day, five days a week, for at least a dozen years – during your child's most formative period in life, attempting to undermine all the most fundamental things you believe in.

Gothardism Under the Microscope and a Christian Parent's Response (I)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/interactive/2023/christian-home-schoolers-revolt/

The new Amazon Prime documentary on The Duggars (Shiny Happy People) is apparently one of the most popular shows of the year, even breaking all kinds of viewing records. What a sad thing. This is what they've brought on themselves – an on the larger Church.

The Ripples of Evangelical Collapse

Looking at a social media photo of members of our wider family circle (a network of relations connected by marriage) – I'm struck once again by the rapid fall of American Evangelicalism. The photo is of a mother, her daughters and their 'spouses'. One of the daughters stands boldly and unashamedly with another woman.

Revisiting Revisiting Constantine

https://proto-protestantism.blogspot.com/2015/03/constantine-defended-and-revisited.html

Recently, I decide to re-read this book and the article I wrote about it in 2015. The book I'm referring to is "Constantine Revisited: Leithart, Yoder, and the Constantinian Debate" edited by John Roth (Wipf and Stock 2013). This book was written in response to Peter Leithart's "Defending Constantine" (IVP Academic 2010).

As I wrote in 2015, the book made many good points against the Leithart thesis, but most of the contributors missed the mark and some don't even belong within its pages.

Cheap Grace and Peace with the World

I happened to catch a news story the other day about Amy Grant and how she has completely caved to the Sodomite ethos that now dominates this culture. She is hosting her niece's lesbian wedding at her house. We've certainly come a long way from the early days of CCM. That now seems innocent, wholesome, and even steadfast.

Feeling Better About America

Visiting a church last Sunday I wasn't terribly surprised when there was mention of the Dobbs v. Jackson case and the overturning of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Evangelicals are celebrating this ruling and several others that have come down at the conclusion of the Supreme Court's recent 2021-2022 term.

A Fundamentalist Elegy

As we're in the process of revisiting area churches, I had occasion to attend a rural Fundamentalist congregation about forty-five minutes from where I live. I had last visited there 3-4 years ago and the level of decline just in that relatively brief period of time was remarkable.

Texas, Florida, and Anti-Sodomy Laws: Some Theological Dangers and Warnings

Many Evangelicals will undoubtedly celebrate the recent legislative moves in Texas and Florida and both governors (one Catholic and one Evangelical) are certainly viewed as allies or even champions in the Christian Right's culture wars.

Revelation 18: The Merchant Princes of Babylon, Their Sorceries, Mammon and Medicine

Revelation 18.23 refers to the sorceries of fallen Babylon. It could be a reference to Babylon in general or more specifically to the merchants of Babylon. Ultimately it doesn't matter as the mercantile-mammon driven activity of its 'great men' are part and parcel representative of the Babylonian system as a whole along with its larger list of deceptions and evil.

Is the Church Under Threat in 2021?

There is a lot of anxiety at present, fears that the blowing winds of social and political change will find the Church in a place of danger. Freedoms known by Christians for generations are in jeopardy and there is a nervousness about the future and what Christians should do.

A Final Appeal: The First Reformation Applied to the Contemporary Context (Part 1)

Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (XVII)

The time is now.

These essays have attempted to survey Church history and re-cast it in a narrative frame at odds with the often tight, packaged, and frankly sometimes disingenuous renderings provided by denominational partisans and the advocates of Christendom – or the fiction that is often referred to as Judeo-Christian civilisation. This revisiting and questioning of common Protestant and Evangelical narratives of Church History is essential if one is to understand and navigate the present context.