Lonnie Frisbee, Faith at SXSW

Plus, social media wars, ACNA chaos, and other ‘signs and wonders’ from this week

EDITOR’S NOTE: “Signs and Wonders” is a column that shares thoughts on news items that either do not rise to the level of a news story for MinistryWatch or are slightly (even significantly) outside of our normal charity and philanthropy “beat.” My goal is to be punchy, opinionated, and not to worry much about being slightly off brand. If that is not for you, no hard feelings. But if it is…read on.

Lonnie Frisbee Remembered. One of the more interesting and tragic figures of American Evangelicalism was Lonnie Frisbee. He was a key figure in the so-called “Jesus Revolution” of the 1970s, and he helped found two church movements still around today: Calvary Chapel and Vineyard Churches. He influenced John Wimber, Greg Laurie, and many others. He died this week (March 12) in 1993 of AIDS. To read more about Frisbee and the mark he left on American Evangelicalism, click here.

Kazakhstan’s Constitution. I’m paying attention to Kazakhstan this week. They vote on Friday on a new constitution, the third constitution since 1993. Kazakhstan is one of the largest countries in the world by land mass, but it has only about 20 million people. A long-time Soviet satellite, it is an independent nation with a sizable Christian population – about 20%. However, it is a country that has a history of human rights, free speech, and civil liberties violations. Critics say the new constitution will further consolidate power with the country’s chief executive. Christian ministries operating in Kazakhstan include the Kazakhstan Baptist Union, Youth for Christ, Salvation Army, Operation Mobilization, and International Fellowship of Evangelical Students.

Faith at SXSW

South by Southwest, commonly called “South by” and often styled SXSW, is one of the largest tech, movie, music, and culture events in the country. It regularly draws 120,000 to Austin, Texas. I covered SXSW for WORLD and was always able to find some explicitly Christian events going on. Last year, there was a significant faith component to the proceedings. Silicon Valley Christian hosted SVC at SXSW. It was the largest explicitly Christian gathering at South by this year. Last year’s event included a “keynote conversation” with actor Zachary Levi, cultural conversations about Christianity in tech spaces, and music, including musicians Matt Maher and For King and Country. The details on this year’s event are vague, though its Sunday worship service appears still to be on. Christian artists appearing at South by this week include Mission and Sam Llanes.

Social Media Ban Blocked. WORLD Magazine reports that a federal judge on Feb. 27 temporarily paused enforcement of a Virginia law “that limits minors under 16 to one hour of screen time per social media platform per day.”  The law was supported by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the state’s attorney general, and an overwhelming bipartisan majority of the Virginia legislature. Nonetheless, U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles sided with NetChoice, an industry trade group representing YouTube, Google, X, Netflix, and other platforms. The judge said the law violated First Amendment free speech protections. Giles said the 2025 law “burdens more speech than necessary as it requires all persons to verify their age before accessing speech that is protected for everyone.” The state has appealed the ruling.

More ACNA Chaos. The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) appointed Bishop Julian Dobbs to be its acting archbishop back in November. Now, old accusations that Dobbs misappropriated $47,862 have been raised by Bishop Derek Jones, who has left ACNA to form the Anglican Reformed Catholic Church. Dobbs is now suing Jones for defamation. Dobbs says the disputed sum is $3,750, and the money was not misappropriated, but temporarily put into the wrong back account. The mistake was caught and quickly corrected. Dobbs asked a federal court in Alabama to order Bishop Derek Jones to pay compensatory and punitive damages.

Fiction Forays. Did you know I also write fiction? I published a novel back in 2017, and I’m working on a new novel now. The Blacklist, an influential community of screenwriters and novelists, is featuring my novel-in-progress “Up The American” on its site this week. If you want to read the excerpt they are publishing, click here.

Readers in Los Angeles. I have some travel coming up in the next couple of months, and I would love to see you. I will be in Los Angeles in April and Nashville in May. I will be doing reader lunches in both cities. Let me know if you would like to join us. My email is [email protected].

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