By Ben Zornes What Was the Story About? Though great beings both good and evil––elves, men, dwarves, ents, Valar, Ainur, balrogs, dragons, orcs, and wargs––inhabit the mythology of Middle Earth, the most important character is Sam the Gardener. The whole epic tale––which Tolkien began as a bedtime story for his children––sweeps us up into matters […]
Over at the How to Build a Tent podcast, Matt Williams is encouraging listeners to start businesses in 2020, and he plans to dedicate a good portion of his shows this year toward helping people succeed in their new ventures. The goal—to start a business that brings in $250 of revenue per month—is purposefully small, […]
Here are the ten most popular articles from the CrossPolitic Blogazine in 2019. These articles garnered a lot of attention this year and they highlight key aspects of the work at CrossPolitic. Enjoy the review of 2019! 10. The Future is Familial. This article traces the cultural trends toward being unmarried and how the family […]
Since December 9, 2018, our church’s senior pastor Wang Yi has been imprisoned on charges of “inciting to subvert state power” and “illegal business operations.” On December 26, 2019, he was secretly tried at the Chengdu Intermediate People’s Court. On December 30, the court announced that Pastor Wang Yi was sentenced to 9 years in […]
By Jesse Sumpter Hollywood does not understand the Grinch’s heart problem. The famous song has it correct: Mr. Grinch’s heart is an empty hole. But the last two movies about the Grinch have redefined his problem, placing the problem somewhere else. In this way, both movies fundamentally gut the story of its magic. In the […]
We are so grateful for all our listeners, and this is our small attempt at showing our gratitude. For the month of December we are offering One free month of Fight Laugh Feast Club Membership! When you select your club membership, at the bottom of the page click the “Sign up Now” button (email us […]
By Jesse Sumpter Sadly, No Quarter November is starting to wind down. On the other hand, you have all those great Doug Wilson books and now you need to decide which order to read them in. Here is a recommended order to do that. As you look at this list, you will see that some […]
By Rhett Burns Chick-Fil-A announced this week it is restructuring the company’s charitable giving. Instead of donating to more than 300 organizations, the company will give to three partners focusing on three specific issues: education, homelessness, and hunger. Among those organizations no longer receiving funds from Chick-Fil-A is the Salvation Army and the Fellowship of […]
By Levi Secord How does a pastor who gave up on public education a long time ago, and who homeschools his children, end up in an intense meeting with the superintendent of the local school district? That’s a good question that requires a long answer. A couple of months ago, our neighbor who served on […]
When I was a child, our church would gather late every summer with dozens of area churches for a large tent revival on the campus of the local Baptist college. In the sweltering August heat, we’d sing southern gospel hymns, listen to hellfire and brimstone preaching, and laugh at the corny puppet show put on […]
By Stephen Wolfe This is the second of a two part series. The first part is found here. Trust Paul Miller’s presentation of civic trust in his ERLC report is useful for exposing the tribalism of the evangelical elite. The report bizarrely prescribes distrust in order to remedy distrust—committing a sort of performative contradiction. At […]
Original post is here. IntroductionSo amid all the other circus events, this last weekend, Christian Twitter erupted with shrieks of horror when Pastor John MacArthur told a conference audience that his thoughts on Beth Moore could be best summarized as “Go home.” In response, the current SBC President JD Greear assured Mrs. Moore that she […]
By Stephen Wolfe When Donald Trump won the election in 2016, many evangelicals pondered the fate of their NeverTrump evangelical leaders. After months of pleading with and morally denouncing evangelical support for Trump—often in the opinion pages of national newspapers—their fellow evangelicals voted overwhelmingly for Trump. In the end, these “influencers” had little influence; these […]
By Jesse Sumpter Everyone loves a good origin story. That is why we have so many movies about the origin of a particular character or hero. In many ways, almost all stories are origin stories: these stories explain who the character is and how he got to be the person that he is. We like […]
By Ben Zornes The Failed Plot of Subversivism Quote, “We like to be subversive,” unquote. The Russo Brothers stated this in an interview about their blockbuster mega-movie Avengers: Endgame. This they did. The reason they like being subversive is because they are ordained ministers of Postmodernism. The story they tell springs from the fallow soil […]
By Emma Perley Social media affects everyone, either directly, like through your smartphone or computer, or indirectly, like how live news affects a nation. In America, it is available to everybody. If you don’t have a smartphone, you probably own a computer or satellite TV. Worst case, you can walk over to the library and […]
A few weeks ago, I wrote the following in this space: We should also stop conflating the church and the natural family as if the former may be substituted for the latter. While there is some overlap, and family works as a metaphor to describe the church, these are two separate spheres that God has […]
Guest Post By Stephen Wolfe Evangelical Christianity is incompatible with the prevailing ideology of Western society—modern liberalism. This is why evangelicals are increasingly pushed to the margins of public legitimacy and respectability. This marginalization however is principally and firstly not from physical coercion. Evangelicals are not rounded up by official authorities and sent to the […]
By Rhett Burns The Atlantic recently published an essay chronicling the childless American city, noting that New York City has shrunk for the first time in four decades in a non-recession year. The cost of living, particularly housing, has priced families out of the city. In their absence, American cities have become “entertainment machines” for […]
By Jesse Sumpter In the midst of the theological and cultural battles in our time–Revoice, Woke theology, Feminism–a wonderful resource to draw from is J. Gresham Machen (born July 28, 1881). His battle with Liberalism a hundred years ago offers important lessons for those who are fighting today’s Liberalism. Here are three key lessons to […]