As one who has enjoyed content by both Allie Beth Stuckey and Melissa Dougherty, it was nice to see the two women chat it up during a recent episode of Stuckey’s podcast Relatable. In summary, the episode focused mostly on Dougherty’s new book, her journey from New Ageism to Christ and her take on the various false teachings that have crept into the Church. Yet, the episode took an interesting turn in its final ten minutes during a segment entitled, “Prosperity Gospel in the Black Church”.
As Dougherty concluded her thoughts on the “little gods” doctrine, a false, word of faith teaching that ascribes innate divinity to all mankind, Stuckey inquired:
“Can I ask something? It’s gonna be controversial,” she acknowledged. “This seems to be especially prevalent in majority Black churches.
“There’s a lot of prosperity preaching, but [also] a lot of…’You are divine. You are a queen…a goddess…something special.’ I don’t know if you’ve ever talked about the roots of that, or why that is?”
Host Veritéetfeu shares why she didn't vote for Kamala Harris and encourages fellow Christians to remain faithful to Christ no matter their candidate of choice.
In response to the May 11, 2022 Senate vote on the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would have codified abortion nationwide, allowed abortion through the ninth month of pregnancy and for which 49 out of 50 Senate Democrats voted in favor, Pastor Tom Buck tweeted the following:
“In light of today’s vote by Democrats to legalize abortion until the moment of birth, we are rapidly reaching the point that voting for a Democrat should be a matter or church discipline.”
I believe Pastor Buck’s words were meant in jest, but some on his thread found them to be spot on and long overdue.
In 2018, I penned an article making a case against the social justice movement entitled, “Social Justice: Why Jesus Didn’t Pursue It + Why Christians Shouldn’t Fight for It”. It was a well-received piece, namely among my Christian conservative friends, and it served as a resource for those who discerned the burgeoning movement was problematic, but had trouble precisely articulating why this was so. Honestly, before writing that piece I, too, struggled with offering a precise, Biblical case for how something that, on the surface, sounded so good was ultimately quite evil.
Years later, I’ve found myself similarly positioned regarding Christian Nationalism, the latest problematic movement seeking to take root in America and in the Church.
As of today, Caitlyn Jenner has been enjoying her new life as a woman (at least in the public eye) for eight glorious days. She was welcomed with overwhelming support for her bravery, her new social media accounts amassed thousands of followers within only hours, and she's been deemed the new face of fabulousness, with some even speculating she looks better than her ex-wife Kris. Ah! Yes! 'Tis very good being a woman!
Before last week, the only thing I knew about the Duggars was that they had a reality show and "a bunch of kids". (That's honestly how I would refer to to them: "Oh, you're talking about that family with a bunch of kids?!") I also had a faint understanding of their faith...a very, very faint understanding: I thought they were Amish. But, other than that, I really can't say I knew much about them. If I'm honest, I still don't really know much.
Yet I, along with the rest of the world, became privy to some pretty disturbing facts that I would prefer to unlearn, and my opinion of them has been shaping with each new news report, interview and gory tabloid detail.
This Sunday marks the six-month (semi) anniversary for those of you who joined your local church on the first Sunday of the New Year, so I thought I'd post this piece as somewhat of a mid-year check in. My goal is to encourage you in this walk because, as you've probably gathered these past few months, it isn't as easy as one might think.
