https://www.dailysabah.com/world/europe/spains-pm-sanchez-calls-for-eu-army-stronger-global-role
Donald Trump hates the centre-left Spanish government of Pedro Sanchez. It has refused to cooperate with Trump's agenda and has pointedly condemned US actions against Iran.
I happened to catch Paul Batura from Focus on the Family being interviewed in reference to Memorial Day and he insisted that the whole 'Christian Nationalism' charge and scandal was a farce. He knew of no serious Christians who would own that label - which is completely untrue. Russell Vought and many others immediately come to mind. They embrace it and are proud of it.
https://wng.org/opinions/clean-words-and-clean-witness-in-the-white-house-1764033683
There are so many astonishing articles being written these days - it's impossible to keep up.
This World Magazine article from back in November 2025 continues to amaze me.
The death of Chuck Norris (1940-2026) has garnered significant media attention within Right-wing and Evangelical circles. He was a hero to these factions. As they are desperate to have some Hollywood celebrities on their side, any defection from the mainstream to the Right will earn instant support. There are many B and C-list actors and actresses that have boosted their otherwise ailing careers by associating with the Evangelical movement.
Personally I couldn't care less about Norris but a host of Christian leaders praised the man both in life and now in his death. We are told to esteem his witness. So it is fitting for us to consider it.
Some might be excused for thinking I do nothing more than read bad articles and listen to egregious podcasts and radio shows. What's the point, someone might ask me?
It gives me no joy I can assure you but I am consistently astonished by what is taking place in the Church today - the bad teaching, the twisted ethics, the flawed reasoning, and the corrupt leadership. I encounter people that just drink this stuff in without stopping and thinking - and realizing that what they're being told doesn't add up, isn't Scriptural (despite the claims), and is ultimately misleading. At that point we have to ask 'why'? What is happening?
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy4p42kydx9o
Now that the BBC has put up a paywall, it's hit or miss as to whether or not you'll be able to read this - that is unless you have an account. I don't and as such my BBC reading and website visits has plummeted. I still utilise their podcasts but I wonder how long they will remain available without a subscription?
This article displays in very clear terms how some forms of revivalism have nothing to do with the gospel or the Holy Spirit but are instead tied to culture war and politics. Now I know men like John Stonestreet will argue this is nevertheless a good thing because it gets these people into churches where they will hear the gospel - that is assuming that they will in fact hear the Scriptures preached. I wouldn't count it - even in many so-called conservative churches.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/freeland-ukraine-economic-advisor-9.7033382
Toronto-area MP Chrystia Freeland is in the news once again. Her most recent high profile position was as Trudeau's deputy and she was viewed by many as the 'minister of everything' and almost the de facto prime minister. Having previously served as foreign secretary, and finance minister, her star has been rising for some time. In a sudden move that sent shock-waves throughout Ottawa and beyond, she resigned the cabinet at the end of 2024 - a move which helped to ultimately bring down Justin Trudeau's government the following month.
https://christianconcern.com/comment/the-mission-of-god-includes-politics/
Reading the summaries of this conference, I'm left shaking my head - more distractions, more confusion. The New Testament knows nothing of what they're talking about. They are cherry picking a few texts and reading a lot of assumptions into them.
https://www.evangelical-times.org/are-nonconformists-hypocrites-on-remembrance-sunday/
*You may not be able to read the entire article without a subscription. The Evangelical Times has restricted a lot of its content in recent years.
In the linked article, Mike Judge of Manchester writes:
"Remembrance Sunday is not about endorsing every decision of government, nor about glorifying war. It is about acknowledging sacrifice — the high price paid by those who laid down their lives in the service of others. That principle, of self-giving love, resonates deeply with the gospel we proclaim. “Greater love hath no man than this,” said our Lord, “that a man lay down his life for his friends."
https://cne.news/article/4851-why-one-nation-can-never-serve-two-masters
We read in Matthew 6.24:
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Not long ago I head Charlie Kirk twist this passage and use it to justify nationalism. You have to serve and love your country or not. You can't have divided loyalty. It was a complete distortion of the passage as it actually precludes the very nationalism Kirk was arguing for. Kirk was advocating a divided loyalty that contradicted the words of Christ.
https://theaquilareport.com/a-word-to-the-young-men-who-are-called-christian-nationalists/
I was very pleased to read this piece by Tom Hervey. He rightly takes some contemporary Dominionists to task, assailing their postmillennial errors, and their delusions regarding Christendom-so called.
Marshall's podcast used to be a bit more substantive and I would listen to learn things about the Right-wing Catholic take on certain controversies. But lately the show has turned more often than not into a kind of dog and pony show, an ongoing advertisement for his books. Often he's spending most of his time attempting to pseudo-referee live social media interactions - which are clearly rigged. Most of the time I don't bother to listen and more than a few times I've just turned him off. He's currently pushing his new book on patriotism and so I thought I would give it another try and listen to an episode.
https://forward.com/culture/761623/theobro-antisemitism-nazi-christianity-reformed-podcast/
There is so much that could be said about Mahler, Wilson, and Webbon but in this case I was simply saddened by the fact that some of the legitimate discussions and debates surrounding the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint (LXX) are now likely to be tainted by this absurd and wicked line of discussion.
https://www.euractiv.com/section/defence/news/italian-defence-minister-questions-relevance-of-nato/
Meloni has one face for Brussels and Washington, and another that she has revealed in her history. Has she changed? Has she mediated? Has she learned that it's one thing to campaign as an opposition party and another to actually govern? Maybe. The jury is still out.
While reading coverage of the Romanian election (with the second round slated to take place on 18 May), I was absolutely floored reading this from a pastor in Romania:
The Russian invasion of 80 years ago is not forgotten. "They distorted everything; they raped our mothers, wives, and daughters. They are less than 200 km from my home. Do I, myself, have to kill somebody? Or to watch how my family is destroyed? Will I be able to preach again from the pulpit ever in my life? Or to run away? To leave everything behind? To leave my flock behind? I am not ready for this, I don't have the strength. I am not Dietrich Bonhoeffer... I am just a simple Christian pastor who serves his Lord in Eastern Europe."
How many times in recent weeks and months have I heard BBC programmes covering the election warning about the lessons of history being forgotten and the threat of Right-wing revisionism? And then to find this?
https://www.patriotacademy.com/the-patriot-experience/
I am sorry to report that I have found this filth being promoted on Christian websites. If you click the 'about us' tab you'll find they believe they're promoting a Biblical Worldview.
Contemporary Dominionists are using the Thomistic concept of Ordo Amoris in order to justify their nationalism - which is idolatry. Since Vance made his statements, there have been a rash of articles offering support and praise for both him and the concept - many of them issued from Reformed pens.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/24/trump-pete-hegseth-extremism
Hegseth first appeared on my radar under the first Trump administration as one of the voices defending American war crimes. The post-9/11 world has been a veritable golden age for US Special Forces and the growing lack of restraint coupled with psychopathic behaviour has led to some serious concern within the Pentagon. It's something I wrote about in 2020:
https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2020/01/trump-1079-military-schisms-legality-of.html
I recently heard one of the weekly Scripture-twisters on Christian radio attempt to defend Trump's immigration policies by appealing to Acts 17 when Paul on the Areopagus states that:
24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
25Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
26And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
The right-wing lobbyist in question argues that since God set the 'bounds of their habitation' that therefore nations (and apparently nationalism) are legitimate and so therefore a draconian border policy (including deportations to Guantanamo Bay) is not only permissible but perhaps even some kind of duty or moral imperative.
https://baptistnews.com/article/people-are-dying-in-africa-but-the-world-doesnt-notice/
https://www.democracynow.org/2023/1/13/european_migrant_crisis_rescue_volunteers_trial
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/7/12/dead_calm
Over the past decade, tens of thousands of refugees have died attempting to get to Europe. Many are war widows and orphans attempting to escape impossible situations. They're coming from as far away as Afghanistan and Sub-Saharan Africa. Many have fled the wars in places like Libya and Syria.
