With more than 50 years of faithful preaching of the Scriptures and zero public scandals, Pastor Begg had certainly earned my unofficial designation as a “solid” celebrity pastor. However, his recent handling of a cultural matter countered a Biblical worldview, and this was not at all consistent with the reputation that has long preceded him.
Which begs the question that many have raised in recent weeks: What are we, as Believers, now to do with Alistair Begg?
Since publishing the original SITMAC series in 2018, I’ve received several requests to write another installment. Admittedly, I didn’t believe one would be necessary because, as my logic went, by exposing the up and coming protégés of the old guard (see Joel Osteen, TD Jakes, Kenneth Copeland, etc), it should be easy to sniff out other false and extremely problematic preachers and pastors by association. Those birds all seemed to flock together, so writing about yet another member of their coop felt redundant.
What I didn’t consider at the time, however, was the role social media was beginning to play in platforming charlatans who don’t necessarily have ties to the old guard. I also didn’t consider how, thanks to social media, false teachers and problematic brothers (and sisters) no longer need a pulpit or a local church to sow error and confusion before a mass of God’s people.
Prior to episode 902 of the Relatable Podcast with Allie Beth Stuckey, I had extremely little knowledge of Kat Von D.
I’ve certainly heard her name in passing as I’ve consumed pop culture news over the years. In recent weeks, for example, I’d seen various headlines reporting on her recent baptism into Christianity. So, indeed, I’ve definitely heard of her.
Yet, I’m embarrassed to admit that I was so unfamiliar with her claims to fame and professional résumé that I initially confused her with the burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese. In my defense, both women do have “Von” in their names; they’re both undeniably gorgeous, fair-skinned brunettes who often rock a bold, red lip; and they are both closely associated with Marilyn Manson.
In the premiere episode of Season 4 of Truth + Fire: The Podcast, host Veritéetfeu tackles "married single motherhood", a parenting phenomenon where married mothers take on the sole responsibility to care for their children. But is this practically beneficial for the mother, the father or their children? More importantly, is it Biblical?
While browsing through Twitter the other day, I happened upon an interesting post from one of my favorite Christian writers, Samuel Sey.
In it, he declared:
“If a woman doesn’t want to be a mother, she shouldn’t be a wife. My dude, stay away from her.”
Founder and blogger at slowtowrite.com and contributing writer for various other outlets, Sam has done well to pen prolific thought pieces on the state of our culture, and he always endeavors to do so through a Biblical worldview. We also share a platform at Pyrolithos Foundation, where we each publish articles that address cultural issues from a Biblically-conservative perspective. In other words, Sam and I are on the same team; he is indeed my brother in the Lord; and, in most instances, I agree with his commentary.
Yet, admittedly, I found his tweet to be a bit provocative and potentially discouraging.
With more than 50 years of faithful preaching of the Scriptures and zero public scandals, Pastor Begg had certainly earned my unofficial designation as a “solid” celebrity pastor. However, his recent handling of a cultural matter countered a Biblical worldview, and this was not at all consistent with the reputation that has long preceded him.
Which begs the question that many have raised in recent weeks: What are we, as Believers, now to do with Alistair Begg?
Since publishing the original SITMAC series in 2018, I’ve received several requests to write another installment. Admittedly, I didn’t believe one would be necessary because, as my logic went, by exposing the up and coming protégés of the old guard (see Joel Osteen, TD Jakes, Kenneth Copeland, etc), it should be easy to sniff out other false and extremely problematic preachers and pastors by association. Those birds all seemed to flock together, so writing about yet another member of their coop felt redundant.
What I didn’t consider at the time, however, was the role social media was beginning to play in platforming charlatans who don’t necessarily have ties to the old guard. I also didn’t consider how, thanks to social media, false teachers and problematic brothers (and sisters) no longer need a pulpit or a local church to sow error and confusion before a mass of God’s people.
Prior to episode 902 of the Relatable Podcast with Allie Beth Stuckey, I had extremely little knowledge of Kat Von D.
I’ve certainly heard her name in passing as I’ve consumed pop culture news over the years. In recent weeks, for example, I’d seen various headlines reporting on her recent baptism into Christianity. So, indeed, I’ve definitely heard of her.
Yet, I’m embarrassed to admit that I was so unfamiliar with her claims to fame and professional résumé that I initially confused her with the burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese. In my defense, both women do have “Von” in their names; they’re both undeniably gorgeous, fair-skinned brunettes who often rock a bold, red lip; and they are both closely associated with Marilyn Manson.
In the premiere episode of Season 4 of Truth + Fire: The Podcast, host Veritéetfeu tackles "married single motherhood", a parenting phenomenon where married mothers take on the sole responsibility to care for their children. But is this practically beneficial for the mother, the father or their children? More importantly, is it Biblical?
While browsing through Twitter the other day, I happened upon an interesting post from one of my favorite Christian writers, Samuel Sey.
In it, he declared:
“If a woman doesn’t want to be a mother, she shouldn’t be a wife. My dude, stay away from her.”
Founder and blogger at slowtowrite.com and contributing writer for various other outlets, Sam has done well to pen prolific thought pieces on the state of our culture, and he always endeavors to do so through a Biblical worldview. We also share a platform at Pyrolithos Foundation, where we each publish articles that address cultural issues from a Biblically-conservative perspective. In other words, Sam and I are on the same team; he is indeed my brother in the Lord; and, in most instances, I agree with his commentary.
Yet, admittedly, I found his tweet to be a bit provocative and potentially discouraging.
“If you were a public school teacher, but a position at a sound private Christian school opened up, would you take the $20k pay cut?”
This gem of a question came across my Twitter feed one random day in April of this year, but it took me back to three years ago, when I was presented with a very similar opportunity.
In early March of 2020, I’d interviewed for a job at a “solid, private Christian school”. Things went pretty well, and I was invited back for a second interview. However, the global pandemic would put things on hold, and, understandably, I wouldn’t hear back from the school for nearly two months.
I would finally get a response from the school in late April, when they wrote to inform me they’d decided to continue seeking other candidates. I was blindsided by the news, as I hadn’t yet had my second interview. But, trusting the Lord’s providence, I accepted their decision and thanked them for their consideration. To be fair, they said they’d keep me in mind for a future opening, but I honestly counted it as HR-speak and didn’t expect to hear from them again.
Then, out of the blue, I received an email from them in July of 2020.
At the age of 65 with millions in the bank, Scott Adams has reached a point in his life where he just doesn’t give a hoot!
Creator of the popular, albeit now widely canceled, ‘Dilbert’ comic strip and the author of nine books, Adams has what he calls “[bleep] you money”. During a 2019 interview with VLAD TV, Adams shared that he has four times over the amount of money needed to be financially set for the rest of his days. While he has no desire to quit working, he admitted that with the amount of money he has, he very well could, and he could tell his bosses, or anyone else with financial control over him, exactly how he feels on his way out.
This perhaps explains Adams’ now viral, racist tirade during which he called Black Americans a “hate group”.
I haven’t read much from The Gospel Coalition (TGC) since 2018. That was the year I began to realize that rather than build up, their content slyly compromises the Gospel message and undermines the growth and maturation of the Church.
With this context in mind, I wasn’t surprised to learn of TGC’s most recent nonsensical appeal to the Church. In “Why Our Church Canceled Christmas Service”, Pastor Fletcher Lang, founder of the Boston Center for Biblical Counseling, lists several reasons his church won’t be gathering for worship this Sunday, which this year falls on Christmas Day.
The thing is, neither of Pastor Lang’s reasons is Biblically sound, his sharing this information isn’t edifying to the Body, and I am concerned his take is yet another sign of a dangerous trajectory churches have been on since the 2020 Covid closures (which TGC supported, and I was against, of course). So, as I have with other TGC offerings, I am writing to express a few concerns with Pastor Lang’s article here.
Frankly, I don’t expect much of celebrities in the way of proclaiming Christ, rightly dividing His Word or espousing a consistently Biblical worldview. But since Tia is a professing Christian and known for her “good girl” image, it’s important to address her rhetoric and test her fruit for the sake of those tempted to eagerly pick up what she’s been dropping lately. This is especially necessary in a culture that increasingly preaches that women are “victims of the patriarchy” and that “self-love” is a virtue…a Biblical mandate, even. Indeed, they will find a way to bring this ideology into the Church.
The debate over student loan forgiveness has been a surprisingly controversial topic among Americans and Christians alike. In this episode, host Veritéetfeu picks up where her article Student Loan Forgiveness: Considerations for Conservative Christians leaves off to discuss the realities, reactions, and the rhetoric surrounding this topic.
