Author: Shalem John

The last time Benjamin Juang heard Singaporean megachurch pastor Kong Hee preach was around two decades ago. Juang was in high school when Kong toured Taiwan in the early 2000s to promote a new album by his wife, pop star Sun Ho. Juang brought his classmates to an evangelistic concert organized by the couple, and he bought one of Ho’s albums as a gift for a non-Christian friend. The next time he heard of Kong was a decade later, when Singaporean authorities arrested Kong for siphoning $36 million ($50 million Singapore dollars) from the megachurch he founded, City Harvest Church,…

The United States Supreme Court ruled Friday that parents of public-school children in Montgomery County, Maryland, have a right to opt their kids out of classroom reading times with books the school board labels as LGBTQ inclusive. These books were introduced as part of a new curriculum in 2022 that included more than 20 new inclusivity books for pre-K through eighth-grade students. They promote storylines that teach gender is more a construct than a biological fact. Some examples of books that may be read to students include Pride Puppy about a dog lost at a Pride parade or Uncle Bobby’s Wedding…

Jamal Bryant, a prominent Georgia-based minister, is criticizing four Black denominations that he claims have together accepted a $300,000 donation from Target at a time when many are boycotting the company for scaling back its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.  Bryant, who pastors New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, launched the boycott as a 40-day economic fast against Target during Lent. In April, he announced the fast would continue as a full boycott because the retailer had not met demands, including depositing $250 million into Black-owned banks and restoring its DEI principles. Speaking to his megachurch on…