The first time I met John was in the summer of 1989 when we both participated as eighteen-year-olds in the summer outreach of Youth with a Mission in New York. John and I were to share a room for the entire month of July, and that’s how we got to know each other. We were both ‘on fire’ for Jesus and had the biggest plans: we were going to change the world for Jesus. He in Asia, me in... Read more
Imagine Jesus as the senior pastor of a megachurch, grappling with numerous complaints about his leadership style and decisions. This could offer a thought-provoking parable on modern church leadership. I had a terrifying dream last night. In my dream, Jesus has just finished the Last Supper and is about to go to the Garden of Gethsemane with his eleven disciples. At that moment, Mary Magdalene grabs him by the cloak. “Rabbi, I need to speak with you now. Things are... Read more
Dive into a fresh and gripping faith-based drama this week! Penned by columnist Matt Vlaardingerbroek, “The Anointed” chronicles the challenges and triumphs of John, a passionate young pastor from the suburbs of New York. Leading a humble Pentecostal congregation, John believes he’s received a message from God that he’s destined to become the most successful pastor in the US. How will John’s ministry fare as he aims to lead a potential mega-church with thousands of attendees? Follow John’s journey through... Read more
This article explores the evangelical movement’s necessary transformation from a phase of youthful certainty to a mature state of ‘limping courage,’ a term inspired by Jacob’s transformative struggle with God. It advocates for a form of faith characterized by vulnerability, honest acknowledgment of doubt and weakness, and a humble yet brave stance in the face of life’s paradoxes and uncertainties. Revisiting Evangelical Origins and the Need for Maturation In the initial four articles about the evangelical movement and its trauma,... Read more
This fourth article in a five-part series discusses the evangelical movement’s stagnation in its youthful phase due to trauma, hindering its maturation to real fatherhood. It advocates for the movement’s evolution from a simplistic youth phase to a complex fatherhood stage, highlighting the necessity of embracing uncertainty, reassessing understandings of God, and fostering an environment of love, comprehension, and inclusive faith. Evangelical Movement’s Origins and Traumas In the first three articles about the evangelical movement and its trauma, we looked... Read more
What a shocking prayer! Praying for violence… or is there more to the story? The original title for this article was “Please God, Strike Us Evangelicals on Our Hip.” It was indeed more inclusive but simply too lengthy. Rest assured, this is not a plea for violence. Rather, it’s about drawing a parallel between Jacob and Evangelicalism. Jacob was destined to be a patriarch, but his trauma from interactions with his secular and liberal brother, Esau, left him mired in... Read more
In this second part of our five-article series, we dive deep into a serious crisis facing evangelicals. It’s like they’re stuck in their teen years when it comes to faith, something the apostle John talked about in his letter. This article talks about how even the good things in the evangelical movement – like being energetic, holding tight to God’s word, and not being afraid to fight for what they believe – have a downside. Sadly, these very strengths can... Read more
This article kicks off a five-part series that dives deep into the challenges faced by the evangelical movement in America. Stuck in its metaphorical ‘teen years’, this series spotlights the need for the evangelical community to mature spiritually. In this opening piece, we address the evangelical movement’s struggle with its ‘teenage’ identity, urging a collective push towards spiritual maturity by confronting our historical traumas and fears. It’s a call to move from simplistic black-and-white thinking to a faith that embraces... Read more
All my life, I have been on a quest to find them: Bible-Believing Christians. However, to this day, I haven’t found a single one – not in myself, and not in others. And I do meet many kind, devoted, and faithful Christians in my travels as a professional Bible story teller. It’s somewhat like bird watching. Occasionally, there’s a rumor that a Bible-Believing Christian has been spotted somewhere, but upon investigation, it turns out to be just a regular... Read more
This article raises concerns over the increasing secularisation among the young people in evangelical churches, noting a trend where the current 18 to 29-year-olds, the Mosaic generation, seem to disconnect from the church’s narrative, seeking answers elsewhere for their life questions. The author emphasises the challenge faced by the churches in maintaining the relevance of the Biblical story in an age where young people encounter numerous narratives daily and have developed a filtering mechanism to decide which stories resonate... Read more
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