Is Rich Wilkerson Jr. A False Teacher?
Category 5 Verdict: Wolf in wolf clothing. Preface Part of how this Discernment ministry operates is taking in reader questions about prevalent teachers. Rich Wilkerson Jr held the lead for the most active requests at the start of this research. You can make a request here and see our answered verdicts here. Bio Richard Preston Wilkerson Jr. was born March […]
Is Carl Lentz a false teacher?
Category 5 Verdict: Carl Lentz is both unqualified and an obvious false teacher. Preface Part of how this Discernment ministry operates is taking in reader questions about prevalent teachers. There were multiple requests to investigate Carl Lentz, and due to him leading the field of requests, this investigation into his teachings was undergone. You can […]
The State of the American Church 2020
In 2018, around Resurrection Sunday, I pondered the question as to whether Christianity was at an all time low in the United States. This was an effort to provide a broader perspective on the history of the church within American history. In 2018, however, the church’s trajectory was hard to predict. I concluded then: Christianity […]
Is Michael Todd a false teacher?
Category 5 Verdict: Michael Todd preaches the Prosperity and Popularity Gospels. His potential danger is one of Joel Osteen levels. Preface At the request of one of our readers, we have been asked to investigate whether Michael Todd is a false teacher. You can make a request here, and we will honor it. It is a […]
Is Larry Osborne a false teacher?
Verdict: Larry Osborne is not a false teacher. We welcome the debate on how to model the church and respectfully disagree with Osborne. Our biggest concern with Osborne were exegetical errors. Preface At the request of one of our readers, we have been asked to investigate whether Larry Osborne is a false teacher. You […]
Watch: Paul Washer denounce Popularity Gospel
We referenced this video in our previous article on Hillsong’s carnal marketing, but it’s worth a watch in any case because of how accurately describes the problems with the Popularity Gospel. Here’s a quote from the video: “If you use carnal means to attract men, you’re going to attract carnal men. And you’re going to […]
The Dark Side of the Seeker Sensitive Church Part Two: The Vision Problem
[Preface: This is a submission by Malcom Nicholson, originally published on his blog. This post fits in with our mission to combat the Popularity Gospel and is a deep dive into its nefarious origins. This is part two of a series we will be featuring weekly.] Part One can be read here Many of the problems […]
The Dark Side of the Seeker Sensitive Church Part One There are no Seekers
[Preface: This is a submission by Malcom Nicholson, originally published on his blog. This post fits in with our mission to combat the Popularity Gospel and is a deep dive into its nefarious origins. This is part one of a series we will be featuring for the next four Mondays.] For 16 years I was […]
Skillet’s John Cooper laments about Popularity Gospel with Graham Allen
Graham Allen, host of the Dear America Podcast over at Blaze Media, had the lead singer John Cooper of Skillet. They had a fascinating conversation, ultimately describing the phenomenon I call the Popularity Gospel. It began with Graham Allen explaining how he believes the 501c3 is the worst thing to happen to the church because […]
Origins of the term ‘Popularity Gospel’
As much as my work has contributed to the coining of the phrase Popularity Gospel, I stumbled across an interview that used the phrase, while I was developing my understanding of the phenomenon. Mattie Montgomery was the frontman vocalist for the Christian metalcore band For Today. He published a book earlier this year titled Scary […]
