• WHY DID THE CHURCH OF SATAN SAY THAT SATAN IS KANYE WEST’S FRIEND AND SATAN IS HAPPY WITH THE CHURCHES TODAY?

    WHY DID THE CHURCH OF SATAN SAY THAT SATAN IS KANYE WEST’S FRIEND AND SATAN IS HAPPY WITH THE CHURCHES TODAY?
    Originally Published on This SiteWARNING TO THE CHURCHES… In a recent Twitter post, the Church of Satan said something that really cuts to the core of modern ‘Christianity.’ Responding to Kanye West’s recent “conversion” and subsequent ‘Sunday services’, the Church of Satan tweeted the following message: “Satan is the best friend Kanye has ever had, as he...
  • Hillsong Abuse Settlement Rejected Over NDA

    Hillsong Abuse Settlement Rejected Over NDA
    Victim says she wants accountability more than money.Hillsong Church Australia’s legal settlement with a former student who was groped by a worship leader fell apart on Thursday when the survivor refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement.“I will not give up my voice,” Anna Crenshaw, daughter of Pennsylvania megachurch pastor Ed Crenshaw, told Australian reporters. “This has never been about money for me but about justice and accountability.”According to lawyers, on
  • Conservative Methodists, Unite

    Conservative Methodists, Unite
    After this week’s UMC votes on LGBTQ issues, African Methodists should join American conservatives in the new Global Methodist denomination.That was fast. In the first General Conference since the most conservative congregations disaffiliated, the United Methodist Church liberalized its teachings on marriage, sexuality, and the ordination of LGBTQ clergy.In other mainline denominations, like the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Presbyterian Church (USA), the conservative exod
  • One of Oldest Books in Existence Will Be Sold, Worrying Scholars

    One of Oldest Books in Existence Will Be Sold, Worrying Scholars
    An ancient codex, containing perhaps the earliest complete versions of Jonah and 1 Peter, goes up for auction in June. Will it disappear?One of the oldest books in existence, which contains what is perhaps the oldest complete versions of Jonah and 1 Peter, is going up for auction in June. The sale of the Crosby-Schøyen Codex has scholars excited to talk about its uniqueness—and nervous about whether it could go into private hands and disappear.The Crosby-Schøyen Codex is a pr
  • Advertisement

  • Why Almost Nobody Likes a Politician Shooting Her Dog

    Why Almost Nobody Likes a Politician Shooting Her Dog
    The widespread outrage over Kristi Noem’s book should awaken moral responsibility—not just toward pets but for one another.This piece was adapted from Russell Moore’s newsletter. Subscribe here.Decades ago, before he was a nationally recognized face, Stephen Colbert featured a “Better Know a District” segment on his show The Colbert Report in which he would parody a far-right cable news host as he interviewed members of Congress, trying to get them in awkward situat
  • If Panama Closes the Darién Gap, Would Evangelicals Care?

    If Panama Closes the Darién Gap, Would Evangelicals Care?
    Migrant rights have been off-radar for many Panamanian Christians. But as pressures increase, some are speaking out ahead of this weekend’s general elections.On May 5, Panamanians will vote for a new president. The outcome of this election may have consequences for far more than its 4.4 million residents; it could change the migration reality for the hundreds of thousands of people traveling from South America, Asia, and Africa who pass through the Central American country en route to the
  • ‘Wildcat’ Is as Unsettling as Flannery O’Connor Would Have Wanted

    ‘Wildcat’ Is as Unsettling as Flannery O’Connor Would Have Wanted
    Ethan Hawke has made a movie as scandalous as one of the writer’s short stories.Why not write something that “a lot, a lot, of people like?” Regina O’Connor asks her daughter, the writer Flannery O’Connor, in the middle of the new biopic Wildcat. The same question might be put to the film itself. It’s not a movie that a lot of people will like. But unlike the author’s mother, I mean that as a high compliment. Director and screenwriter Ethan Hawke has mad
  • The Anxious Church

    The Anxious Church
    Why the church has struggled to address mental illness well and how we can care better.Nearly five years ago, a high-profile pastor—one who had shared bravely and publicly about his battle with depression—took his own life. In the days after his death, a call circulated widely on social media platforms for clergy with mental health issues to be removed from their posts.I understand the motivation. The argument was made out of a concern to prevent similar tragedies. But as a pastor wh
  • Advertisement

  • United Methodists Strike Ban on LGBTQ Clergy

    United Methodists Strike Ban on LGBTQ Clergy
    After years of disagreement and the departure of thousands of churches, the change passed without debate.United Methodists meeting for their top legislative assembly Wednesday overwhelmingly overturned a measure that barred gay clergy from ordination in the denomination, a historic step for the nation’s second-largest Protestant body.With a simple vote call and without debate, delegates to the General Conference removed the ban on the ordination of “self-avowed practicing homosexuals
  • Finding a (Real) Christian College

    Finding a (Real) Christian College
    A professor explains why examining a school’s doctrinal statement isn’t enough.When I speak at churches around the country, the conversation after my talks often turns to the state of Christian higher education. I’m a professor at a Christian institution, and Christian parents and grandparents want to know where high school graduates can go to have their faith deepened rather than undermined. These concerns have only become more pressing given the ongoing rise in young people w
  • Particular Wrongs Need Particular Remedies

    Particular Wrongs Need Particular Remedies
    Every sin requires Christ’s atonement. But the Bible shows God punishing—and repairing—different sins differently.Christian theology consistently holds together truths that seem to want to fall apart: Jesus is fully God and fully human. People are sinners and created in the image of God. The church is local and universal.And yet, despite what we affirm, in practice, Christians are often unable to walk and chew gum at the same time. Instead of holding two truths in tension, we
  • Taylor Swift Can Do Whatever She Wants

    Taylor Swift Can Do Whatever She Wants
    But true liberty, in art and in life, is created by constraints.Taylor Swift answers to no one.Not music industry executives: Her songs returned to TikTok in the middle of a licensing dispute between the app and her label.Not mayors: When she graced their cities during her Eras tour, they declared days in her honor.Not the international community: A Singapore-exclusive stop in Southeast Asia sparked a row between the city-state and nearby Thailand and the Philippines. The Japanese embassy issued
  • Holy Handouts: Venezuela’s Maduro Woos Evangelical Voters with Gifts and Cash

    Holy Handouts: Venezuela’s Maduro Woos Evangelical Voters with Gifts and Cash
    As the presidential election approaches, the incumbent government seeks to win support with aid to churches and pastors.In many countries, politicians try to win over religious voters by highlighting areas of shared interest between their agenda and the faithful’s priorities. In Venezuela, candidates are offering pastors cash.With less than three months until Venezuela’s presidential elections, incumbent Nicolás Maduro is expanding two initiatives specifically aimed at the eva
  • World Vision Brought Clean Water to More Than 1 Million Rwandans

    World Vision Brought Clean Water to More Than 1 Million Rwandans
    How the world’s largest nongovernmental provider of the resource is delivering on its promise.For years, whenever Regina Mukasimpunga sat in church, she found it hard to concentrate on anything other than the chore awaiting her when service let out: fetching water.The never-ending task dominated the life of the rural Rwandan community, forcing residents to leave the house with jerry cans before the sun came up to take long walks in the darkness in the hilly terrain to reach a spring. Ther
  • Billy Graham Preached at His Crusades. His Singers Believed They Were Preaching Too.

    Billy Graham Preached at His Crusades. His Singers Believed They Were Preaching Too.
    A late historian explores how crusade hymns told both the classic story of gospel salvation and the evolving story of evangelical worship music.Crowds of over 50,000. Famous special guests. Hundreds of cities in the US and around the world. Beloved, catchy songs. For many, these might sound like readouts from the Taylor Swift Eras Tour hype machine. But exchange the glittery girl power for the gospel in baritone, and you have one of the most successful musical touring acts in the postwar world:
  • Care for the Environment Is Biblical. It’s Also a Witness to Environmentalists.

    Care for the Environment Is Biblical. It’s Also a Witness to Environmentalists.
    Do activists often invest their work with religious significance? All the more reason for Christians to be discerning co-laborers.I love nature documentaries, especially those narrated by David Attenborough. Whether watching with my children or on my own, I love seeing the majesty of the snowy Alps or kelp forests.But I’ve noticed that in recent years, nearly every somber vignette of a species struggling on the edge of survival ends with a call to action. Viewers are beckoned to take respo
  • India Says It Has a Border Crisis. Christians Say the Solution Will Divide Them.

    India Says It Has a Border Crisis. Christians Say the Solution Will Divide Them.
    The government plans to close its porous border with Myanmar to boost security, separating ethnic groups that straddle the boundary.Ngamreichan Tuithung runs a Christian boarding school that sits right at the border of India’s Manipur state and Myanmar. Amazing Grace Mission School is based in Wanglee Market, a small Indian town, and serves around 150 students from Myanmar and 6 from India.Since Myanmar’s 2021 coup, the school has become a safe haven for parents wanting to send their
  • What Antisemitic Campus Chants Tell Us About This Angry Era

    What Antisemitic Campus Chants Tell Us About This Angry Era
    The rage of the mob is a poor substitute for real community.This piece was adapted from Russell Moore’s newsletter. Subscribe here.As Columbia University and other elite campuses erupt into protests against the United States’ diplomatic and military support of Israel’s war against Hamas, US Sen. John Fetterman denounced the antisemitic speech of some of these protesters, remarking on the social platform X, “Add some tiki torches and it’s Charlottesville for these Je
  • After Schism, United Methodists Vote to Restructure Denomination

    After Schism, United Methodists Vote to Restructure Denomination
    The plan would organize UMC churches in four global regions, with each given more leeway around same-sex marriage and other theological issues.The top legislative body of the United Methodist Church passed a series of measures Thursday to restructure the worldwide denomination to give each region greater equity in tailoring church life to its own customs and traditions.The primary measure, voted on as the UMC General Conference met at the Charlotte Convention Center in North Carolina, was an ame
  • Let the Cultural Christians Come unto Jesus

    Let the Cultural Christians Come unto Jesus
    The world is realizing anew that our faith has tangible benefits. This is an opportunity for the gospel.As Christianity continues to decline in the West, the broader world has begun to notice something’s missing. There seems to be a growing awareness that—for all the scandals and failings of the church—the loss of a Christian culture leaves us all worse off, and that there are benefits to being a Christian and to living in a Christian society.For example, Derek Thompson recentl
  • Your Church Drummer Has More and Less to Do These Days

    Your Church Drummer Has More and Less to Do These Days
    How the keeper of the beat is adapting to shifts in worship music.It was a church drummer’s worst nightmare. In the middle of a service, David Wagner was playing “Heaven Invade” with his worship band when his in-ear monitors stopped working.Wagner posted a clip on Instagram of what happened. It includes the audio that should have been coming through in his monitors: a mix of the sound from the band, some added reverb, and of course, the click track—a repetitive tapping so
  • The Church Shouldn’t Be an Echo Chamber

    The Church Shouldn’t Be an Echo Chamber
    Let us not give up meeting together—even when we disagree.Recently, a woman at my church approached me with a question borne out of genuine curiosity. She asked, “You’re a female theologian. Why did you choose to come to our church when women aren’t allowed to preach here?”Since much of my work as a Bible scholar is public, it is no secret that I support women’s full participation in ministry, including in church leadership. So I wasn’t surprised that so
  • Christian Athletes Know How to Build Platforms for Jesus. Can They Brand Themselves?

    Christian Athletes Know How to Build Platforms for Jesus. Can They Brand Themselves?
    NIL deals in college athletics present new challenges—and opportunities—for colleges and students.When Deverin Muff played Division I college basketball at Eastern Kentucky University, student athletes weren’t allowed to earn money off their name, image, and likeness (NIL)—their personal brand.Now he’s a professor at the university, and some of the players in his classes have agents. An NCAA policy change in 2021—heralded by Muff and other Christian athletes a
  • Eco-anxiety Is Crippling Gen Z. How Can We Move Forward?

    Eco-anxiety Is Crippling Gen Z. How Can We Move Forward?
    Christians can disciple each other toward action, prayer, and hope.I’m 26 and mostly full of enthusiasm for the future. But when I think about the heat waves, floods, and humanitarian crises that I’ll likely experience in my lifetime, I feel a sense of dread. And even more so when I think about the future of my children and my children’s children. I wonder if they’ll get to experience all the beauty of God’s creation that I so cherished while growing up.As a young f
  • Hold Your Clapbacks

    Hold Your Clapbacks
    C.S. Lewis recommended discernment over diatribes in exactly the moments we’re most eager to indulge in critique.I’d just finished reading one of C. S. Lewis’s lesser-known books, Studies in Words, when I happened upon a recent New York Times report on evangelical support for Donald Trump. The former president’s summer of legal woes is off to an early start, and many have asked whether the present trial (or another) will lose him support ahead of Election Day. The answer&
  • Was Paul a Slave?

    Was Paul a Slave?
    The surprising argument that Saul of Tarsus was born into bondage.Of the many letters the apostle Paul wrote, few survived. We have a good deal of his communication to churches as a whole—letters to groups of believers in particular cities. This makes sense. Such letters were read publicly and often; they were copied and disseminated and celebrated as Scripture soon after the ink had dried.Paul sent a number of letters to individuals as well. To read his biblical writings is to sense that
  • Died: Mandisa, ‘Overcomer’ Singer and American Idol Star

    Died: Mandisa, ‘Overcomer’ Singer and American Idol Star
    The Grammy-winning artist was found dead at her home in Nashville at age 47.
    Grammy Award-winning contemporary Christian singer Mandisa Lynn Hundley, a former Lifeway Christian Resources employee and top-10 American Idol finisher, was found dead Thursday at her Nashville home, her publicist announced on social media.No cause of death was given.“We can confirm that yesterday Mandisa was found in her home deceased. At this time we do not know the cause of death or any further details,”
  • Kenyan Pastors Are Praying for Haiti. They’re Also Shaping the Police Mission to Save It.

    Kenyan Pastors Are Praying for Haiti. They’re Also Shaping the Police Mission to Save It.
    President William Ruto commissioned church leaders to meet with Haitian law enforcement, military representatives, and a gang leader to discuss Kenya’s security mission.Kenya’s leaders aren’t saying much publicly about the security force they plan to send to gang-embattled Haiti. But they’re talking a whole lot with God.Last month, as armed groups escalated their insurgency in Port-au-Prince and plunged Haiti deeper into a historic humanitarian crisis, pastors advising Ke
  • ‘Bluey’: A Heavenly Vision of Life Together

    ‘Bluey’: A Heavenly Vision of Life Together
    The popular kids series reminds parents that playfulness is next to godliness.When my oldest daughter, Elaine, was four, I watched her chase a soap bubble around the yard, utterly spellbound, and it struck me as a tiny window into how God must have felt as he watched Adam and Eve encounter each of the animals in Eden. Likewise, when I discovered that my youngest, Olivia, had held a full conversation with me while cutting our kitten’s whiskers under the table, I felt attuned with God’
  • You Can’t Reach People for Christ While Holding Their Culture at Arm’s Length

    You Can’t Reach People for Christ While Holding Their Culture at Arm’s Length
    A veteran missiologist shares a lifetime of lessons on bringing the gospel into unfamiliar settings.In an important new book, missiologist Darrell Whiteman tells a revealing story about a missionary who had been preaching in a particular community. Without realizing it, the missionary gave offense by wearing expensive shoes in a place where people couldn’t afford shoes of any type. For Whiteman, this anecdote illustrates how much missionaries need to learn—and how many presumptions t

Follow @Christianity_AU on Twitter!