Thank you, Kristen, for continuing to shine a light on this, in our very important election year. And may I make a shameless plug? If you are reading this, and you live in or near Ottawa County, Michigan, now is the time to use your voice, your time, your contacts, your gifts, your resources to do something about Christian nationalism. We have a full slate of candidates, both D and R, running for County Commission to defeat the incumbent Christian Nationalist majority here. I am running for County Commissioner as a D in Allendale, a normally bright-red district. But I’m getting traction from a broad spectrum of concerned residents who tell me they want a change. In addition, we have moderate R’s running for county-wide offices (Prosecutor, Sheriff, Treasurer) to do likewise. All of these folks are working very hard, at great personal cost, to do what most people reading this Substack say they want.
Research us. Find us on social media. Like and follow our posts. **Tell your friends about us.** Help us if you can. Reading about the problem is good. Action is better. Thanks very much! Becky Patrick
As a young believer, I picked up on the Psalms 31 reference of "be of good courage". and in the back of my mind I thought, "There must be bad courage then as well". Then today when you mentioned the documentary Bad Faith, my mind smiled. Not just because of the years of my good courage/bad courage reference, but it's Saturday and I really had plans on sleeping in. So, in waking up a full 90 minutes before I had planned to, I slowly arose and sleepily told myself, "There must be a reason why" Bad Faith is 88 minutes long. I'm looking to share it with the leadership at our church tomorrow. Thank you so much for all your efforts and writing. Prayers for you continue.
From north of the 49th, thanks again for navigating us through all the complexities of religion, politics and power both historically and in the present. With the coming of the internet and social media, the United States and Canada are even more interconnected on so many fronts. Unlike the past, it seems whatever happens in the United States 🇺🇸 these days, similar things happen the day after in Canada 🇨🇦 the day after 😢!
NP. I just finished it, along with Wright & Bird, Jesus and the Powers, and Lee C. Camp’s, Scandalous Witness; both a bit different in emphasis but excellent.
I just finished reading “Jesus and John Wayne” and was blown away by how all the threads of the past connect to bring us where we are today. I was particularly taken by how the rhetoric of faith has changed to create this perception of Jesus as some type of MMA super fighter. After finishing your book, I wanted to dive-in to a work about how simple hospitality helps usher Jesus presence into our day-to-day life through simple acts like a shared meal with friends and neighbors. (We seem fixated on making the works of faith hard and heroic). I purchased the book “The Simplest Way to Change the World: Biblical Hospitality As A Way of Life” by Dustin Willis and Brandon Clements. Not halfway through the first chapter the authors shared their view of hospitality and how the opening of our homes to friends, neighbors and others is an act of hospitality in an unusual (though familiar) manner: “Instead of an oasis of self-interest, they [our homes] can be transformed into a weapon for the gospel - a four-walled tool to wield in God’s cosmic battle against evil and sin.” To me, hospitality is like grace, it is a gift of love freely given regardless of the merit of the recipient and without expectation of compensation or return for the giver. The idea that hospitality (simple kindness) is considered a weapon, turns my stomach. Making matters worse, the choice by the authors to describe what is essentially an act of love in militaristic terms fundamentally changes the character and nature of the act and ultimately prevents the gospel in the process. Thanks to what I learned from your book, this type of rhetoric now jumps off the page at me, I.e., the scales have fallen from my eyes. Thanks for your work.
Comment #2- Made it through 80% of Bad Faith this morning. #1Paul Weyrich- the kingpin on which the current mechanism of WCN rests on. #2- the facts behind why anti-abortion is held up as a shield on the right. It is the bad shield of bad faith protecting WCN!
Thank you, Kristen, for continuing to shine a light on this, in our very important election year. And may I make a shameless plug? If you are reading this, and you live in or near Ottawa County, Michigan, now is the time to use your voice, your time, your contacts, your gifts, your resources to do something about Christian nationalism. We have a full slate of candidates, both D and R, running for County Commission to defeat the incumbent Christian Nationalist majority here. I am running for County Commissioner as a D in Allendale, a normally bright-red district. But I’m getting traction from a broad spectrum of concerned residents who tell me they want a change. In addition, we have moderate R’s running for county-wide offices (Prosecutor, Sheriff, Treasurer) to do likewise. All of these folks are working very hard, at great personal cost, to do what most people reading this Substack say they want.
Research us. Find us on social media. Like and follow our posts. **Tell your friends about us.** Help us if you can. Reading about the problem is good. Action is better. Thanks very much! Becky Patrick
Send me an email via my calvin address--I'd like to connect.
Thank you Kristin. I will.
As a young believer, I picked up on the Psalms 31 reference of "be of good courage". and in the back of my mind I thought, "There must be bad courage then as well". Then today when you mentioned the documentary Bad Faith, my mind smiled. Not just because of the years of my good courage/bad courage reference, but it's Saturday and I really had plans on sleeping in. So, in waking up a full 90 minutes before I had planned to, I slowly arose and sleepily told myself, "There must be a reason why" Bad Faith is 88 minutes long. I'm looking to share it with the leadership at our church tomorrow. Thank you so much for all your efforts and writing. Prayers for you continue.
From north of the 49th, thanks again for navigating us through all the complexities of religion, politics and power both historically and in the present. With the coming of the internet and social media, the United States and Canada are even more interconnected on so many fronts. Unlike the past, it seems whatever happens in the United States 🇺🇸 these days, similar things happen the day after in Canada 🇨🇦 the day after 😢!
Thank you so much for your work.
Thank you for this. But you forgot one important new work by an excellent evangelical author and journalist, Tim Alberta, especially the 2023.
Notable works: He is the author of two bestselling books:
- "American Carnage: On the Front Lines of the Republican Civil War and the Rise of President Trump" (2019)
- "The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism"
Didn't forget--I don't include every book in every post! I tend to prioritize those that may not be on people's radar.
NP. I just finished it, along with Wright & Bird, Jesus and the Powers, and Lee C. Camp’s, Scandalous Witness; both a bit different in emphasis but excellent.
I just finished reading “Jesus and John Wayne” and was blown away by how all the threads of the past connect to bring us where we are today. I was particularly taken by how the rhetoric of faith has changed to create this perception of Jesus as some type of MMA super fighter. After finishing your book, I wanted to dive-in to a work about how simple hospitality helps usher Jesus presence into our day-to-day life through simple acts like a shared meal with friends and neighbors. (We seem fixated on making the works of faith hard and heroic). I purchased the book “The Simplest Way to Change the World: Biblical Hospitality As A Way of Life” by Dustin Willis and Brandon Clements. Not halfway through the first chapter the authors shared their view of hospitality and how the opening of our homes to friends, neighbors and others is an act of hospitality in an unusual (though familiar) manner: “Instead of an oasis of self-interest, they [our homes] can be transformed into a weapon for the gospel - a four-walled tool to wield in God’s cosmic battle against evil and sin.” To me, hospitality is like grace, it is a gift of love freely given regardless of the merit of the recipient and without expectation of compensation or return for the giver. The idea that hospitality (simple kindness) is considered a weapon, turns my stomach. Making matters worse, the choice by the authors to describe what is essentially an act of love in militaristic terms fundamentally changes the character and nature of the act and ultimately prevents the gospel in the process. Thanks to what I learned from your book, this type of rhetoric now jumps off the page at me, I.e., the scales have fallen from my eyes. Thanks for your work.
Comment #2- Made it through 80% of Bad Faith this morning. #1Paul Weyrich- the kingpin on which the current mechanism of WCN rests on. #2- the facts behind why anti-abortion is held up as a shield on the right. It is the bad shield of bad faith protecting WCN!