🗃️ Describe your childhood in three objects

Charisma Magazine. Above Rubies Magazine. World Magazine.

If asked to describe my childhood in three objects, I would deal three magazines like cards on the table. Charisma Magazine. Above Rubies Magazine. World Magazine.

For many years, my father kept several file cabinet drawers of Charisma issues from the 1990s. As a voracious reader, I probably read all of them—Royal Jelly advertisements and more. Charisma proclaims itself the voice of the charismatic movement, but it’s more accurate to say that it’s the voice of the New Apostolic Reformation that emerged in the 1990s.

Charisma Magazine, February 1998

My father would regularly trace the lineage of our church back through the Latter Rain movement to the Azusa Street Revival, but it wasn’t until decades later that I recognized that my childhood church embodied the inheritance of the New Apostolic Reformation movement, which has received considerable attention after its role in the January 6 insurrection.

When my father started a fledgling bible school called The Timothy Center, it was accredited by the Apostolic Council for Educational Accountability, a “creative alternative for academic accreditation” from C. Peter Wagner and his New Apostolic Reformation friends. The characteristic teachings of my childhood—the restoration of the five-fold ministry, prophetic words, speaking in tongues, and spiritual warfare—connect me to both Azusa and January 6.

Only through the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit could we fulfill the mandate preached by Above Rubies, a Christian fundamentalist magazine. Founded by Nancy Campbell, a friend of my pastor’s wife, Above Rubies promises joy through Quiverfull submission.

Quiverfull adherents read the poetry of Psalm 127:3-5 as a mandate. “Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them...” Above Rubies integrates pronatalism, Christian patriarchy, and homeschooling to further the aims of Christian nationalism. We’re seeing the fruits of this movement in Trump’s second election.

Above Rubies Magazine, October 2006

The relentless expectations for women result in sleep deprivation, pre/postpartum depression, and chronic ailments from constant pregnancy, nursing, and childcare. It’s physically impossible to meet these expectations, so women in my church were drawn to supernatural gifts of the Spirit. When you’re asked to do something impossible, you need miraculous help.

World Magazine rounds out my trio of childhood publications. World Magazine represented our aspirations for mainstream evangelical acceptance—an aspiration that culminated in my undergraduate degree from the Harvard of Christian schools. My father taught me that theocracy was the only biblical form of government, but World assured me that Christians believed in democracy, capitalism, and voting for Republicans.

World Magazine, October 2002

It wasn’t enough to raise weapons for a spiritual battle; my family wanted to legitimize their zealotry. We weren’t simply tongues-speaking, prophecy-believing, doily-wearing fundies. We were educated. We could prove that there was an intelligent, sophisticated argument for our fringe beliefs.

Our quest for legitimacy was somewhat undercut by the fact that all three magazines were pushing scams. The Charisma prophets were frauds, the Campbells were exploiting Liberian orphans, and the so-called principled World empire fell for the cult of Trump. Each magazine offers readers an alternate media universe; together they create a Venn diagram of indoctrination.