Recently, people have been talking about evangelism in crowded spaces with no way to exit—evangelism to captive audiences, in other words. The evangelists in question do it on purpose, of course. They even gloat about how much they love the fact that nobody can leave the venue. But their gloating Read more
In the past, we’ve talked about evangelicals’ modern fixation on inerrancy—the doctrinal belief in the Bible as a divinely-ghostwritten, error-free, literally-true document. We’ve even talked about how inerrancy functions as the ultimate high-control authority source for dysfunctional hardline groups. But today, I want to show you why believers in inerrancy Read more
As we wrap up our look at Alpha Course, one fact stands out above all others: This isn’t a very persuasive series. We’ll bring everything home now by summarizing the entire thing, then evaluate it for effectiveness. (This post first went live on Patreon on 7/28/2026. Please support my work—see Read more
We’ve finally arrived at the very end of Alpha Course, the UK-based evangelism series that stands unrivaled as the most popular one of its kind. To cap off their series, our hosts are going to try to make church membership and attendance completely essential to one’s experience of Christianity. But Read more
In Alpha Course 15, we learn all about divine healing: Why it happens, how to interpret a lack of healing, and the enormous effect these miracles have on evangelism and one’s own personal faith. But along the way, the hosts accidentally reveal that miracles don’t really happen—and that they’ll do Read more
Recently, Russell Moore wrote an opinion post for Christianity Today. In it, he discussed apologetics as a failed strategy for evangelism—and debates as pointless. Instead, he wants Christians to focus on their experiences and feelings. And in the end, he reveals that experiences and feelings are really all they have. Read more
As the decline of Christianity continues ever onward, let’s visit some beloved evangelical myths about how and why a small church grows—or withers on the vine. This goes far past what we talked about recently regarding church economics! The reality is far more pedestrian, of course, but it’s also something Read more
When last we met up, we talked about a YouTube video concerning an abuse scandal that Bethel Church helped cause. Mike Winger, who created the video, painted the scandal as a purely Charismatic evangelical problem. But as we soon found out, his own denomination (Calvary Chapel) has the same scandals Read more
On January 17, Mike Winger released a nearly six-hour-long video about the Shawn Bolz scandal erupting in Bethel Church right now. Winger thinks that the Bolz scandal indicates huge problems within Charismatic evangelical culture. But he’s wrong. The rot goes completely to the core of hardline, right-wing conservative Christianity itself—including Read more
In recent weeks, the right-wing Christ-o-sphere has been alight with outrage over Bethel Church’s protection of an alleged sexual predator and confirmed false prophet, Shawn Bolz. Last time we met up, we talked about how laughably inept Bolz is at what he calls prophecy. But there’s a far darker side Read more