Profundity and Absurdity
The two aging gladiators met on a makeshift wooden platform outside the Rhea County Courthouse in Dayton, TN. The most famous courtroom scene in American history did not even take place in a courtroom. The …
Christianity
The Crossroads of Culture and the Church: Brian Tome
Brian Tome and Crossroads Church came under renewed scrutiny in January 2026 after Tome sent a letter to congregants regarding a terminated staff member. The staff member had been caught video recording women at the …
Exvangelical: Moses had horns, the Bible tells me so
Look at those horns on Moses! I teach art and art history at a religious, evangelical university. Every year, we have a fun discussion when it comes to pieces like Michelangelo’s Moses or Claus Sluter’s …
Jesus and My Mental Illness: Faith Through the Psychiatric Ward
I was forty-three years old when I was first admitted to the psychiatric ward. Born again in 1978, I had been a Christian for eighteen years. But knowing Jesus does not guarantee instant freedom from …
What Might The Pentecostal/Charismatic Future of Evangelicalism Mean?
I got my first taste of Spirit-filled higher life theology from the long-serving, recently deceased pastor of First Baptist Church, Atlanta, Charles Stanley. Stanley’s The Wonderful Spirit-Filled Life and its accompanying sermon series were released …
The Theological Ignorance of the Religious Right
Something has been bothering me for a very long time. I have been a member of various churches for more than 45 years, and each congregation would have considered itself theologically conservative. Some have been …
Exvangelical: Are we the good guys?
“I thought we were the good guys.” Samantha Laruso (Mary Mouser) shares her disillusionment with her dad, Daniel (Ralph Macchio) in the first episode of season three of the Netflix series Cobra Kai. Her hopes …
Spiritual Maturation and When Kings Matter More Than Prophets
Growing up in a small Pentecostal church in rural Arkansas provided me with a biblical education that emphasized the more spectacular elements of Scripture. Fire from heaven. Giants falling. Kings rising and collapsing. The Old …
Meeting God with anger during our long Lent
I stand in front of the priest, waiting. Grinding a thumb into a container full of black dust, she reaches up and makes two marks on my head, one down, the other over. “Remember you …
Exvangelical: Not a journey, but a day
I’ve been in the world for thirty years,And I must have traveled a million miles.Walked by rivers where the green grass grows thick,And entered the frontier where the red dust rises.Purified potions in vain search …