Went to the end of the world. Came back.

Found my way to Salvation Mountain

A controversial Tennessee pastor claims his house was shot up because of his bold preaching. That's not what happened.

Greg Locke's former head of security told @danielsilliman.bsky.social the 2024 shooting at Locke's former house was partly why he resigned because of how Locke used the story "for his own self-aggrandizement." Daniel reported out the real reasons behind the event: julieroys.com/2024-shootin...

My latest for @julieroys.bsky.social: investigating the meaning of 67 bullets shot into a controversy-loving pastor’s house julieroys.com/2024-shootin...

The thing about new technology is you never really know what it’s for until people start using it.

Lots of pastors accused of sexual abuse turning to defamation suits in defense. Interesting to see one lose decisively in court julieroys.com/disgraced-pa...

Part of the evil of secrets, it seems to me, is how they co-opt people into a coverup and make the truth seem like a betrayal.

The Indiana house is looking at a bill this week that would change public notice requirements and cut money from local newspapers:

Headed to Chicago for the American Society of Church History

Philip Yancey posted a piece about sexual sin on his blog in 2017—around the time he now says he started an extramarital affair. “No amount of immediate pleasure can silence the nagging sense that naked intimacy should involve more than body parts,” he wrote.

Deceased. Disgraced. And making a comeback? The Ravi Zacharias Library launched this week, selling more than 160 recordings of his talks and lectures for $3.50, $7 and $10.

This morning's writing assistant

Haven't yet had the words to share my big news, but here goes: Last month, I left @christianitytoday.com after 13 years as an editor and reporter and started a new role at Praxis, an org that works with entrepreneurs motivated by their faith to address major social issues: www.praxis.co/about

What Christian leaders in Venezuela have said since Saturday: - trust God - trust the Venezuelan people - pray - maybe stay off social media? - don't spread bad information - we can hope for change - opportunistic politicians are scary - be a peaceful presence

Weird church crime: A bell was stolen from a United Methodist church in Hodgdon, Maine (pop. 1,290) ... and then returned two weeks later.

An interesting fundraising email julieroys.com/ihopkc-raisi...

Local news at its finest

A detail from my latest reporting: Greg Laurie’s Calvary Chapel church secretly settled a suit over a former minister’s alleged pedophilia around 2016. They didn’t call police. Did they call the pastor at the church where the former minister worked in 2016? I asked. The pastor refused to say.

For anyone else who felt like they just got into the Christmas spirit, only to have the lectionary drop a massacre on them a few days later, a poem from Anthony Hecht:

Not sure I trust self-reported giving—are people as generous as they think they are?—but interesting, nonetheless

“I have been completely consistent in my life in seeking to know what I need to know,” Al Mohler said under oath in October 2024, “and not wanting to know beyond what I need to know.”

The Anglican Church in North America, rocked by questions of its commitment to accountability, will put its archbishop on trial over accusations of sexual immorality.

Today in the life of my Appalachian church, lunch with the old guys included discussions of: Local politics A fire that happened How the church is helping homeless folks The history of the term “habeas corpus”

The PCA suspended the pastor of a prominent church for being harsh, unkind, domineering, slanderous, demeaning and “quarrelsome/pugnacious.” So his church voted to leave the PCA.

When you get into the court docs and find the censors haven't left you much to work with

Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you.”

Today in the email newsletter: Confession is good for the soul. And also, on some occasions, an effective way to execute a coverup.

Doing deacon things at my Appalachian church

Twenty people have been prosecuted for church-related COVID-relief fund fraud, out of about 3,000 federal prosecutions to date.

The end of the civil war in Syria means, among other things, new research that could dramatically expand our understanding of everyday life in the Bronze Age and the birth of the alphabet:

An investigation by Haitian authorities found the boys in the Mennonite missionary's care slept with their pants tied with shoe strings to try to keep the man from pulling them off in the night. One recalled that he tied the string so tight it cut into his waist.

I'm a sucker for it obviously but love these New Yorker photos of newsrooms

No revival visible in the poll numbers—but the steadiness is actually notable

A 10th-century Bible produced by women in Germany:

As I sd to my friend, because I am always talking,—John, I sd, which was not his name, the darkness sur- rounds us, what can we do against it, or else, shall we & why not, buy a goddamn big car, drive, he sd, for christ’s sake, look out where yr going.

I wonder what people mean by "spiritual action."

These sweatshirts are causing controversy in Albuquerque, where Tim Keller (not that one) is running for reelection as mayor. But what are the chances these were made by fans of the other (real) Tim Keller?

My first story for @julieroys.bsky.social: Two lawsuits became four, four became six, then six a dozen. Now megachurch pastor Greg Laurie, his Riverside, California-based Harvest Christian Fellowship, and two former ministers of that church are facing 12 different lawsuits from 12 different men.

Today in the life of my Appalachian church, an elder gave me 16 lbs of hog fat he needed to get rid of. I guess I’m going to render it and make soap?

Classic case of Supreme Court-scrambled discourse today. The central question cuts across ideological lines: can the govt subpoena lists of donors? But the question actually argued is procedural. When is appeal allowed? Meanwhile the public debate is just, “how do you feel about the plaintiffs?”

Story about me on the site now julieroys.com/former-senio...

New gig announcement:

Fact of the day: The first Holy Land map printed in a Bible was printed backwards, so the Mediterranean Sea appeared to be to the east.

As it is said, “Today, if you hear their voices, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

Who first said “Tell the truth and shame the devil”? I finally tracked down the original quote in a sermon from the 1500s …

The movie Roofman was fun. But friends, that was not a Presbyterian church.

Regular volunteers are something to behold.

Really loved the movie Train Dreams. Maybe my favorite this year. Like Terrence Malick's Tree of Life, but simpler and beautiful for it.

Today in the life of my Appalachian church, a baby was passed through two full pews. A third was overcome with jealousy.