Did I tell you I’m writing a new monthly column? Well, I am. The good folks over at A Deeper Story invited me to come share my thoughts on a faith and politics in a monthly series I’m calling Church & State: The Politics of Faith. It’s an extension of many of the things I write about here at The American Jesus that I hope you will enjoy. But if you don’t, then check out the many other great writers... Read more

Stephen Colbert is a Christian. And he takes his faith very seriously. Which is exactly why I think Colbert does such a brilliant job skewering Christian pop culture. It’s also what makes this clip wonderfully hilarious and spot on. Enjoy. The Colbert Report Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive Read more

(original picture found here) If we’re friends on Facebook, then you may have already read this story. But, for me, it’s too wonderful and grace filled, too creative, and too hopeful of a story not to share with as many people as possible. It’s a wonderful and grace filled story because I think it shows the church at its best, not perfect, but doing everything it can with the means available to it to incarnate the sort of love, compassion,... Read more

After an unprecedented 59,792 votes were cast in this year’s championship matchup Mark Sandlin is officially the 2013 American Jesus Madness Champion!! CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS Mark Sandlin – 34,262        Stephanie Drury – 25,531 And congratulations to Mark Hilditch who correctly predicted Sandlin’s victory and with 118 total points is the 2013 American Jesus Madness Bracket winner!! I owe a sincere word of thanks to Mark Sandlin, Stephanie Drury, and everyone else that got so involved in the tournament... Read more

The 2013 American Jesus Madness Championship is finally here!! It’s a battle of dark horses as Stephanie Drury tries to put an end to the tsunami of support Mark Sandlin has ridden all the way to the championship. Can she do it or will Mark wear the crown? That’s up to you to decide. Remember: as always, voting is unlimited. So vote early and often. Voting will close at midnight tonight. The winner of the championship matchup will be announced... Read more

After an epic battle that featured more than 33,000 votes and stretched throughout the weekend we finally have our matchup for the 2013 American Jesus Madness Championship!! Starting at 9AM EST TODAY Mark Sandlin and Stephanie Drury will face off in a grudge match for the ages. With the huge level of support they’ve both had so far, this is going to be a war. Also, believe it or not, we had one person correctly predict the championship match. Great... Read more

Behold! I saw 4 Horsemen ushering in the Apocalypse! And their names were Scot McKnight, Mark Sandlin, Rachel Held Evans, and Stephanie Drury. After more than 18,000 votes were cast in the Egregious 8 round (that’s over 55,000 votes for the entire tournament so far) we finally have our final four combatants. No matter who wins, everything will come down to an age old battle of the sexes. But since this isn’t The Gospel Coalition, everybody gets a fair shot... Read more

Welcome to the Egregious 8 round! Why “egregious”? Because some obscure basketball tournament already laid claim to “elite” and “egregious” was the first alliterating word that popped in my head other than the lame “excellent.” And, little known fact, along with “shockingly bad” the word “egregious” can also mean “distinguished.” Since we’ve got a little of both in this tournament, I thought it was fitting. So, there’s that. As usual, keep these (once again slightly updated) guidelines for voting in... Read more

Over 37,000 votes have been cast so far American Jesus Madness 2013 and the results for the Salacious 16 are here!! The matches were, overall, much closer than the 1st round. The matchup between between Homebrewed Christianity and Ann Voskamp came down to a last minute rally from Ann Voskamp who squeezed out a razor thin 8 vote win. But we did have a few more blowouts. In particular, Mark Sandlin is proving himself quite the dark horse garnering almost... Read more