Rob Reiner’s God and Country

A review of Rob Reiner’s God and Country documentary finds the film is less effective than it wants to be.

A nearly fatal accident at a radio tower jolted a Filipino pastor to decline a nice job offer in the US and preach in his home country.

Leah Payne’s new book on the history of the contemporary Christian music industry explains how American Christianity became what it is today.

Another perspective on Jesus’ most misunderstood disciple, the woman at the well.

Behind the story

From news editor Daniel Silliman: In his newsletter this week, CT editor in chief Russell Moore wrote about how a new book gave him a new perspective on the controversy around CCM legend Amy Grant—his evangelical childhood crush.

“Grant was supposed to be the crush of all the geeky youth group boys like me,” Moore writes, “just as she was supposed to be the role model for all the geeky youth group girls. And, at the same time, she was supposed to reinforce every biblical and/or cultural expectation of ‘biblical womanhood.’”

Careful readers of CT will note this isn’t the first time historian Leah Payne, author of God Gave Rock and Roll to You, has helped CT and its readers think about the complications and quandaries facing evangelical women. She spoke to former CT editor Ted Olsen about Tammy Faye, helped editorial director Kate Shellnutt understand Paula White-Cain, and wrote about Foursquare leader Tammy Dunahoo and the flak that female theologians from Tish Harrison Warren to Beth Moore get online.

We on the news team have learned that Payne has a sharp eye and a gift for showing complexity—exactly the skills to help you think more deeply about your first crush on a CCM star.

In other news

The woman who accused IHOPKC founder Mike Bickle of abusing her when she was 14 years old has written an open letter urging him to confess: “Please throw in the towel; please do what is true and honorable before the Lord.”

The controversial popular psychologist Jordan Peterson is “wrestling with God.” But what does that mean, exactly?

A Rhode Island man was charged with setting fire to a Black church.

An Independent Christian Church has repaired its tower. The building is considered the first house of worship with modernist architecture in the US.