Tuesday's Catch: The Fantasy Ideology of the American Insurrectionists and More

The Fantasy Ideology of the American Insurrectionists In order to understand the insurrection, we must view it not as a unique historical event but as a the latest, dangerous manifestation of what can be considered a fantasy ideology.

It's Civil War among American Charismatics and Pentecostals, but Few Reporters Are Covering It Last week’s riot at the U.S. Capitol has ignited a civil war among many Christians. Whereas white evangelicals are being creamed in the media for their (nearly) unwavering support of President Donald Trump, their Pentecostal/charismatic cousins have hardly been mentioned. The latter is an evangelical subset little known to the media, and many of its adherents remain fiercely pro-Trump. Why is this important, besides the fact that Pentecostalism is the fast growing form of Christian faith in the world? Well, for starters, its most famous leader here in America, the Rev. Paula White-Cain, is Trump’s personal pastor.

Humoring the President Was Not Harmless The madness in Washington last week was not created ex nihilo. It is the due result of five years of humoring deception, of falsely believing that truth could be brought about by lies. It is what happens when you embrace a president who is dishonest in the little things, and the big things, and just about everything. It is what happens when you “call evil good and good evil” for the sake of political convenience or power (Isa. 5:20).

The Roman Road from Insurrection This week we watched an insurrection of domestic terrorists, incited and fomented by the President of the United States. We saw the attack on our Capitol, the desecrating of the seat of our democracy, the harming of innocent human lives, and the murdering of a Capitol Police officer. We saw a mob threatening to lynch the Vice President of the United States and Members of Congress—all in an attempt to stop a constitutional process and to overturn an election by the American people.

Russell Moore Warns Against Capitol Conspiracy Theories: ‘We know who was there’ The riots at the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6 were not the result of antifa or any other type of conspiracy, says Dr. Russell Moore. While it is understandable that people might be confused about what happened, Moore emphasized that believers must love the truth, be reasonable, and not have an “unhealthy craving for controversy.”

Pope Francis Backs Women's Roles in Catholic Services Pope Francis has formally changed the law in the Roman Catholic Church, allowing women to administer communion and serve at the altar. But the ordained priesthood will still be the preserve of men, he stressed in the decree. It is official recognition of roles already performed by women in some Catholic services, especially in Western countries.

Pope Says Women Can Read at Mass, but Still Can’t Be Priests Pope Francis changed church law Monday to explicitly allow women to do more things during Mass, granting them access to the most sacred place on the altar, while continuing to affirm that they cannot be priests.

Keeping Your Church Young and Vibrant To stay healthy and maintain its mission, any entity must be constantly reinventing itself, tweaking its systems, sloughing off the old and dead, birthing the new. Renewing, renovating, refining, rediscovering. Choose your term.

Are Church Leaders Losing Gen Z? Gen Z, or those born roughly between 1995–2010, has been called the least religious generation and an unreached people group who is abandoning church. If their level of engagement with faith leaders is any indication, these premonitions may be right.

Car Concerts Offer Choirs A Way To Rehearse And Perform For members of Luminous Voices, a professional choir ensemble in Alberta, Canada, rehearsing and performing safely during the pandemic has meant getting into their cars, driving to an empty parking lot and singing with each other's voices broadcast through their car radios. This "car choir" solution is one that college music professor David Newman — an accomplished baritone himself in Virginia — came up with so that ensembles could sing and "be" together.

COVID Didn’t Break Your Small Group Ministry COVID has done a lot of things in 2020. The pandemic has caused people to lose their jobs and pivot their business trajectories. It has created economic uncertainty for many and fueled political polarization. COVID has caused people to rethink what they do and how they do it. It’s done a lot of things, but COVID didn’t break your small group ministry.

This Christmas, Go Old School I ran across Greg Atkinson's article after Christmas. However, it is worth a read. It is never too early to start planning for next Christmas.