Understanding the Evangelical Narrative

In a world where the promotion of division and discord seem to be the order of the day — often under the guise of religion — it is essential to familiarize ourselves with the sentiments being preached within America's religious buildings, particularly those with a right-wing Christian narrative. To this end, Fanny McFart (and a very small entourage of hangers-on) spent the weekend immersed in a single sermon given by a pastor chosen at random.

And we took notes — lots of notes.

We're going to share the first part of that sermon in this article, and consider the messages delivered.

Before we begin, please note that the paragraphs quoted are not shared in their entirety as the article would have been too long. Nor are they shared to invoke criticism or condemn, but to open a window onto what evangelical pastors are preaching, and help us stand shoes of evangelical congregations. Also note that the headings are to help organize the next and not spoken, and that certain words and phrases are underlined, to help pick out those key phrases which motivate congregations. (And to assist those of you who are visual scanners.)

Start of Part One: excerpts from Allen Jackson’s Sermon “STORMPROOF FOUNDATIONS: A BATTLE in the MIND” dated January 19, 2025, given at World Outreach Church, Murfreesboro, Middle Tennessee.

– The Sermon –

1. Opener

“Put away your bagels, your frosted flakes. You better eat those. Robert Kennedy’s coming for them.* Oh, it’s okay to laugh.” 

*References RFK’s promise to remove junk food from SNAP benefits

2. Fighting Language and Politics 

“In this session, I want to talk a bit more about the battle in our mind. That seems to be where the battles begin, and it's often not okay to talk about it in polite company, even in church world. We're often not sure how to talk about that. It's an important weekend. I believe we're in the midst of a transition of power in our nation.* Amen. Our freedoms have been tenuous for a while. We've lost things that have been staples of our lives, things like free speech, borders, and fiscal responsibility, and it extends beyond any single party. We've had a long litany of this until we have deteriorated to the point that we no longer are confident we can even have a fair election, an election where citizens vote. We're not sure that we can transfer power. The course we're on is unsustainable without a significant transformation.”

*Claps and cheers

3. Truth and Censorship 

“There's good news. There have been some remarkable things said. Truth that's been hidden, denied, or covered up has come into the open. That's really good news. Truth brings freedom. Mark Zuckerberg says, surprise! They've been practicing censorship, but the good news is they want to stop. Almost everywhere you look, there are things taking place that forebode some positive things in our lives. 

4. More Politics 

“This is inaugural weekend. I'm grateful for people who will lead, but the outcome, the sustainability, will have more to do with the people of faith* than it will with the politicians. Otherwise, we'll have a change of administrations and a new slew of executive orders, and we will see a whole new direction emerge. We have to have a change of heart, folks. So we're looking at how to storm-proof our lives.” 

*Active politicization

5. First Reading 

“Paul in Second Timothy is coaching a young man that he's been mentoring. He said, You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you've heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs. He wants to please his commanding officer. Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he doesn't receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. Reflect on what I'm saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.”

I submit to you that the nature of that, the tone of that is difficult. It's kind of hard language. It's not soft or squishy or accommodating. He's using images that invoke effort, risk, threat, and perspiration. Then he gives Timothy an assignment. He said, "You've got to entrust this to reliable men, not to anybody. Find those who are reliable." Then Paul says we have to endure hardship. The image he pulls into it is like a soldier. Folks, a soldier puts their life at risk. I haven't served in the military, but I'm pretty certain I understand some of the fundamentals: you have to forfeit your will. You put yourself under the authority of someone else. Then he said you have to compete according to the rules.”

6. The Gift of Power and Politics 

“But there are some gifts that make it possible. The first is a gift of power. God has not left us to our own strength or our own ability. In fact, the assignment that we've been given requires a power more than ourselves.* We're not going to outthink evil or outwork evil or out-organize evil. Evil is more powerful than we are. There are people that have been held in tunnels below Gaza for more than a year. It's evil. And you're not going to out-negotiate evil. There's a current deal on the table. It's inadequate. It's incomplete. If there isn't an expression of power, real power** believe that it could be delivered, those people will never see the light of day again. We could go on and on with examples. Understand this: evil opposes the purposes of God in your life. If you and I are going to be victorious, we're going to need power.”

*No clarification of what this power is

**Clarifies that this power is political

7. Second Reading

“Good news: it's been made available to us. Acts chapter one. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command. You ought to circle that little word, not a hint, a command. Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised. You've heard me speak about it. John baptized with water, but in a few days, you'll be baptized with the Holy Spirit. You need a power beyond yourself. You need an authority beyond yourself. In that same chapter, the last words before he ascended back to heaven, You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth." Well, if we're going to be effective witnesses for the Lord, if we're going to see the kingdom of God come into this generation, it will be because we cooperate with the person* of the Holy Spirit. We have to pray for people who are demonized. All that's a part of our world. We have to take our stand against wickedness. We need a power so the purposes of God can emerge through our lives. Then we've been given the gift of peace. Jesus said this, my peace I give you. I don't give to you as the world gives. Don't let your hearts be troubled and don't be afraid.”

*Note the addition of the word ‘person’ when referencing the Holy Spirit

8. Battle of the Mind

“Jesus left us with his peace. Wow. Awesome.* Until you stop and reflect for a minute and you realize that he was betrayed, beaten, tortured to death, falsely accused. My peace I leave with you. Well, that's a bargain.* So it's certainly not about an absence of conflict. Jesus left his peace with some instructions. He said, don't let your hearts be troubled. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Don't worry. See, we're talking about the battle in our mind. Jesus' peace will enable us to do things that would have been impossible without his peace. It brings a change to how we think. Don't be troubled. Don't be afraid. Well, I'm troubled and afraid. I don't have enough of that peace. I've gotta spend some more time thinking about Jesus. I gotta get closer to him. I gotta love him more than I love the things that I feel are threatened* because that's what's frightening me.”* 

*Sarcasm

*Victimhood

9. Fourth Bible Passage

“In Acts chapter two, it's the day of Pentecost. This is Peter, he stands up in the streets of Jerusalem where and this is his commentary. Let all Israel be assured of this. God made this Jesus whom you crucified, Lord and Messiah. In case you're not tracking, that is very provocative language. Standing in the streets of the city where they had reverberated with crucify him, he said, you crucified the Messiah. You did it.” Those are those are not bridge building words.* Those aren't the seeds of harmony.* He's not trying to establish unity.* Somehow he overcame his fear. Anxiety is not choking him anymore. He had a change of mind. We can have a change of mind, church. I know how we've been. We can have a change of mind.”

*Encouragement of conflict

10. Fifth Bible Passage

“Then we've been given a gift of discipline. I know it's a gift. Look at Hebrews 12. The lord disciplines those he loves. He punishes everyone he accepts as his son. If the lord hasn't disciplined you, you're illegitimate. Discipline's hard work. It takes effort. I don't discipline people I don't care about. Right? You just think, oh, they're stupid.* Not my problem. Pray for their parents. Somebody brought them into the world. Lord help them. Even in Christian arenas, you know, you meet somebody and they're from some different tradition or whatever. They are not my problem. I serve a congregation. If the Lord loves you, he disciplines you. We have to accept the discipline. You can't have the love of God and the blessing of God and the goodness of God and the abundance of God and the health of God if you reject the discipline of God. It's a gift.”

*Name calling

11. Toxic Ideas

There's some ideas in the battle in your mind you'll have to avoid. They're toxic. They will completely derail you. And if you embrace them fully, they will destroy you. I don't have time to unpack pack them in detail, but I'm gonna hand them to you really quickly. What is the degree of tolerance? And this one is confusing culturally because we're told that tolerance is one of the greatest virtues you can have. Tolerating evil is not godly. Amen. You don't have to be angry. You don't need to be belligerent. You certainly don't need to be violent, but being tolerant, making peace with evil, you will give away your future. It's biblical. 

12. Sixth Bible Passage

Revelation two, Jesus is talking to a church, to a church, and he said you tolerate that woman, Jezebel. She calls herself a prophetess. She pretends to have great religious depth and insight and understanding, but she misleads you into sexual immorality. There's not a lot changed in two millennia. Do not tolerate evil. It has to be overcome. We overcome it with good by asserting that good is more valuable than evil. We have to step into the arena. We've been hiding from it, denying it. We've sacrificed 60,000,000 children. We've seen more people sold into sexual slavery in recent years in our nation than at any point in our history on our watch. We're just being tolerant.* I mean, everybody's entitled to an opinion. No. Some opinions are evil. Amen. Well, who decides? Well, if you choose a biblical worldview, not you. We've submitted ourselves to that. 

*Sarcasm

13. Seventh Bible Passage

There's another toxic idea. Jesus talked about it in Luke 12. He's talking about a businessman, a really good businessman. Year after year, he outpaced the markets. He exceeded all the expectations. Year after year, it got to the point where he finally said, I've got everything I need. I'm just gonna take it easy. And God said to that man, you're a fool. You're a fool. You're living in only one dimension. You're comparing yourself to the other people of this dimension and you're not thinking about a life beyond that. 

It's a battle in our mind. We live in this world, in this present age. The messaging from this present age cascades over us like Niagara Falls. The messaging is so prevalent, so predominant, so frequent, so overwhelming, it can't help but influence us. We compare ourselves to the people that are fully engaged in the dimension of this culture. We wanna achieve what they achieve. We wanna be recognized in the way they’re recognized. We have those aspirations for our children. And then we consider the spiritual aspects of our lives, you know, kind of removed and distant and minimalistic and how can we address that? We don't really get those perspectives out until there's a crisis or a tragedy or something that's beyond our ability to resolve. God said that's a foolish approach to life. Don't be foolish. It's toxic. It will destroy you. You don't want the creator of all things to call you a fool. 

14. Toxic Pride

And then the third toxic idea is pride. And one way of understanding pride is just a complete lack of awareness. You just think you're all that, and you lose all perspective because some achievement or accomplishment or an idea or a thought or an ability or an appearance or something. 

15. Eighth Bible Passage

In Revelation three, it's to a church again. He's writing to a church. This is hard to believe. He's saying you're lukewarm. You're not hot or cold. I'm gonna spit you out of my mouth. You say I'm rich and I've acquired wealth and that I don't need a thing. What you don't know is that you're wretched and pitiful and blind and poor and naked. 

That's pride. I don't need a thing. I can make it happen. I can get it done. I'll work hard. I've got contacts. Watch. People tell me I can't do it and I let them watch. Roar.* And Jesus said, you don't understand. You're blind and wretched and naked and in need of all things, pride. Folks, we can't afford it. We can't afford it. It'll overwhelm us. But that battle in our mind has to a to a concerning extent sidelined the church. It's rendered us inept. I know that's awkward. I've spent my life in the church, so I'm not truly throwing stones. I'm trying to understand where we are and what's happened. We've had more freedom and more liberty and more access to scripture and greater opportunities to to gather in the name of Jesus, all those things than any group of people in the history of the church. 

*Sarcasm

18. Christian Influence

And yet, my lifetime coincides with one of the most precipitous declines of Christian influence in the history of the church. Biblical worldview once defined our educational systems all the way through the highest levels of education. They were places where biblical values were taught, where biblical worldview was put before the students and given to them as the boundaries for their lives, as the formation of their character. We're so far away from that. It was that biblical worldview that helped us understand the evils of racism, understand the evils of so many aspects of our lives. And it is able to us to take corrective actions and to choose better paths. It was the authority of scripture. 

The church has lost the notion, the awareness, the remembrance that that the word of God thunders against sin. And we become meek and quiet and withdrawn, and we're waiting for the politicians to do something. It's not that we've lost the language. We have the language, but we come to our churches and we've lost the imagination of what the vitality of that looks like. I will see if I can show it to you. 

17. Pastor Pulls on a Bathrobe and Sits 

I'm gonna skip the slippers. You can see the earlier session. I can tell you biblically that the shoes you choose will make all the difference. For real. How you choose the foundation of your life will make all the difference. I'm feeling better already. I have a better chair than you. Mine rocks. 

18. Politics

I'm not gonna put on helmets today, but I brought some hats. I've got a red one. I've got one to remind me to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Don't forget that. I’ve got one that says we have to make education great again. (More laughter) That's true. But, you know, if you ask me for a picture of the Christian that I've spent my life around beyond our congregation, just in general, I've been with, uh, spent my life in that arena. Uh, I think this is the posture from which we wanna serve the lord. 

*A red MAGA hat that sets the congregation laughing

There's a lot of things that keep us in this chair. Elections keep us in this chair. I've heard it a lot since November. I'm tired of the elections. I'm tired of the commercials. I'm tired of the bickering. I'm tired of the back and forth. I'm tired of it filling the conversations when I'm with my friends. Okay. We've had the election. They got elected. Let them go fix the problem. I wanna go back to my life. I wanna stop paying attention. That idea that it's somebody else's problem and they have to fix it keeps me in the chair. Folks, nobody in Washington DC is gonna bring a lasting solution to our problems. That will begin in the character that is formed around our kitchen tables and the men and women we decide to be and the discipline we bring to our children and how we want our communities to look. 

You know, we all feel pretty good because we're sending somebody to Washington that's made a lot of money to go work on efficiency in the gov. We want the government to save some money. Amen. But we don't want it to take anything away from us because the money we get and the blessings we get, those aren't extravagant. Those are necessary expenditures. 

And while we sat in our chairs, we've sacrificed millions of children. While we sat in our chairs, our schools have crumbled. The moral content, the ethical content. Forget the lower schools. Look at the most elite places in our nation. The place is celebrated as being the best of the best. They don't have the courage to condemn antisemitism when it's raging in the squares on their campuses. (More talk about chairs, and DoorDash) And what has happened to us while we sit in our chairs? We've mortgaged our children's futures. We have. We're afraid to send them to schools. We're afraid for them to go to universities. If you have any awareness at all, we understand we're handing them a financial mess that is so overwhelming that apart from the mercy of God, it's not survivable. Folks, we're on an assignment. I'm pretty certain that the armor of God doesn't begin with a bathroom.

19. Call to Action

But I do believe that my best response to that is to get out of the chair. And if you'll just walk the aisle of the church and repeat this prayer with me or meet me at the altar when I'm done with the lesson today, I can help you into the kingdom of God. And, actually, that's true. I could do that.* But I don't believe that's an adequate presentation of what we're called to. That's not what Paul was describing to Timothy in that passage we begin read at the beginning of this when he's talking about enduring hardship like a good soldier or competing according to the rules, not just arbitrarily or what's comfortable or convenient. 

*Grandiosity perhaps?

Somewhere along the way, I've talked to you about it. I decided I wanted to be Jesus' friend. I don't wanna just be there for the party. I don't just wanna be there to take down the prizes and receive the gifts. I wanna be involved. Amen. I wanna be included. I wanna be trusted. What did Paul say to Timothy? Entrust these things to reliable people. In the halls of heaven, I wanted to be considered that I might be a reliable resource for what god would be doing. I want you to imagine that. I want God to imagine that he can trust you with understanding or insight because you'll put the effort into it that's necessary to get to the outcome. You'll stop reciting the verses that try to secure something that requires nothing. It's offensive to me to imagine that we would ask God to send his son or Jesus to endure all he did so that all I have to do is mutter some simple prayer and then leave my life on my own terms.

Church, I believe we have the greatest opportunity of my lifetime in front of us. I believe that. I believe with what God has done, we have an opportunity to see our children and our grandchildren have a different future. But it's gonna require a different response from the church. Not the pagans, from the church.*

*Unclear who the pagans are 

20. Victimhood

We're not gonna be treated fairly. People will complain and criticize and say we did too much of that or not enough of this, or we had too many cheese doodles or not enough cheese doodles or the wrong color cheese doodles. That's the nature of the journey. They killed our boss. They stoned the prophets. 

21. More Call to Action

Nevertheless, we go. Amen. I wanna put the invitation before you. There are people to be sworn in over these next few weeks. They're taking temporary assignments. I'm grateful for their willingness to do it. I believe with God's mercy, they could bring some changes that would help. I don't know. I think more of that's in God's hands. But I know this for certain, whatever changes are brought, they're unsustainable unless the church becomes different, which means we'll have to raise our hands and say we'll walk in a new way with new courage and new boldness. We're taking Jesus to work with us. We're taking him back to our schools, so they say you can't. He's going with me. I don't intend to maintain business as usual. The status quo is not the objective. Kindness is not the eleventh commandment. It is a fruit of the spirit. Jesus said I didn't come to bring unity. He said I came to bring division. The truth is our assignment. 

– Closing Prayer –

Team Fanny’s thoughts…

The first quarter of Pastor Allen Jackson’s sermon blends political rhetoric with spiritual messaging, and apocalyptic urgency. He frames his message around the idea of a "battle"—both in the mind and in the world—emphasizing the need for power, faith, and endurance to combat (perceived) threats. His bible readings use militaristic language ("soldier," "battle," "fight") and create a sense of urgency and mobilization, suggesting that faith needs to be personal and political. He intertwines bible passages with politics, mentioning censorship, elections, and international conflicts, which reinforces the belief that Christians must engage to shape the nation’s future. The sermon suggests that political and social change depends on spiritual intervention, while the addition of the word person suggests the Holy Spirit will appear in human form. Perhaps this helps explain why evangelicals feel a deep sense of Christian mission, and why they aren’t offended when President Trump describes himself as the Chosen One.

As the sermon progresses, Pastor Jackson continues the theme of spiritual warfare and discipline, emphasizing that peace and power come through struggle rather than comfort. His interpretation of biblical passages states hardship is a sign of God’s love. However, the use of sarcasm and confrontational language suggests tension between faith and a call to resistance. The portrayal of Peter’s boldness in Acts, coupled with a rejection of unity-building, implies that standing firm in faith may require conflict rather than compromise. This perspective can be used to empower those who feel victimized and embattled.

Moving on, Pastor Jackson reinforces a rigid and combative approach to faith, warning against "toxic" ideas like tolerance and pride, while positioning strict adherence to a biblical worldview as the only safeguard against destruction. He frames tolerance as a dangerous concession to evil. Similarly, he states that material success and self-reliance are distractions from spiritual devotion, and depicts pride as a blindness to one’s dependence on God. The message portrays more recent years as corrupt, and the church complacent. While this may inspire some to deepen their faith, it risks fostering an "us versus them" mentality.

And finally, Pastor Jackson’s closing remarks blend grievance, urgency, and a call to action. The imagery of sitting in a chair serves as both metaphor and critique—suggesting complacency and moral decay. His rhetoric positions political engagement as civic duty but and divine assignment. The blend of humor, grandiosity, and lament creates an emotional ebb and flow, making the message both accessible and forceful. His call to move into active discipleship implies that Christianity must assert itself in political and public life, even at the cost of division. By framing opposition as inevitable and victimhood as righteousness, the sermon might empower believers, but it feeds the sense of cultural siege, encouraging a belief that the congregation are warriors in a battle that demands unyielding conviction.

We at Fanny McFart magazine were shocked. Pastor Allen Jackson’s ability to interweave Christianity with politics (while deliberately blurring lines) helps explain why the Christian Nationalist movement is becoming so prevalent. Now, a disclaimer –– this sermon was given within America’s bible belt, so maybe we ‘got lucky’ and found an easy example. We’re hopeful this style of preaching isn’t the norm throughout America’s evangelical entirety. We’ll be checking. 

Why? 

Because we must. 

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