The Minnesota Assassin and an Institute of Radicalization
Christ for the Nations in Dallas
For decades, a high-rise 0ff-white building has cast a periodic shadow over Interstate 35 just south of downtown Dallas. While it’s recently been painted, for years the building looked disheveled and forlorn. That building and several adjacent ones house Christ for the Nations (CFNI), a “Bible college” founded by an extremist Pentecostal pastor named James Gordon Lindsay who was part of a movement called the New Order of the Latter Rain. That movement is now called the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), according to New York Times columnist David French (“The Problem of the Christian Assassin, NYT, June 19, 2025). Jeff Sharlet, a professor at Dartmouth College who frequently writes about religion, took a photo in the lobby of the main building of a sign saying, “Everyone ought to pray at least one violent prayer each day.” The college maintains that they don’t believe it's okay to act violently but that Christians have to pray vigorously against “the culture.”
Although I’ve never gone inside CFNI’s buildings, I have encountered its students on many occasions here in Dallas. At timea, some of their students and possibly even some faculty have staffed the ranks of the counter-protestors at Pride events. They shout vile words at parade attendees, or blast bile over loud speakers until city ordinances regarding decibil levels cause the police to act. The church I attend tries to engage protestors, including those that are CFNI-affiliated, in theological discussions so that parade participants can enjoy their day. A time or two I’ve had people come up to engage with them who’ve looked at me and said, “Oh, you’re taking care of this,” and go off to join the festivities. A couple of years the church convened a bad kazoo band to drown out their hatred. Several members of the Pride community offered to buy us beers once the protestors went on their way.
One of the strangest encounters I had with CFNI students was at the March for Our Lives protest against gun violence. They were there to challenge those marchers against gun violence by advocating on behalf of weapons. One of their signs quoted Matthew 10:34-36:
Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.
One “literal” interpretation, of course, is that this is a passage describing a mass murder by Jesus using a sword, and by sword, the Bible means an AR-15 (see also an “iron rod” in the book of Revelation). Even though the sword here is clearly metaphorical—following Jesus may result in family divisions—but the passage is just one Biblical example that the whole idea that Jesus was a “family values” advocate is absurd. But I digress.
After the murders in Minnesota, CFNI issued a statement saying that what the alleged killer did is antithetical to what they believe.
We are absolutely aghast and horrified that a CFNI alumnus is the suspect. This is not who we are. This is not what we teach. This is not what we model. We have been training Christian servant leaders for 55 years and they have been agents of good, not evil.
Anti-abortion churches and organizations like CFNI have been painting a mental picture for more than 50 years of fertilized eggs and embryos as fully formed babies, in images and language. The hateful rhetoric shouted outside abortion clinics can easily fuel extremist actions, as we’ve seen in the not so distant past. Never mind that the Christian Bible cannot be used as a basis to oppose abortion. (See TexasChristians.org/Bible.) If the mission is to avenge the “babies,” violence is a natural calling for some folks.
I commonly ask proselytizers what teaching of Jesus most speaks to them, and normally get blank stares and struggles to give me an answer. At some point in talking with a CFNI student, I asked about Matthew 25:31-46, a passage I’ve written about before where Jesus lays out what sins result in being categorized as blessed or cursed with cursed resulting in “eternal damnation.” Those sins are not feeding the hungry, or caring for the sick, or inviting in or welcoming immigrants, and not visiting the imprisoned (and presumably making sure they’re treated humanely). He, or course, could quote Paul, but I asked him why he was protesting at a LGBTQ+ event even though homosexuality is not mentioned at all by Jesus, and notably it’s not among the sins in Matthew 25:31-46.
When telling me he was unaware of the Matthew 25:31-46 passage, he got defensive and said, “I don’t have the whole Bible memorized.” A perfect example of someone who spends a lot of time telling people they’re going to hell who doesn’t really know what Jesus actually said about it. He was adamant that the only legitimate translation is the King James Version.
Looking over the CFNI course offerings, I can now see why. They have a course on the book of Revelation, a story in coded language that is really about the Roman Empire. They have several Paul offerings. The only New Testament course is one on John, none of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) where the bulk of stories of Jesus’s teachings are found. This isn’t atypical. The vast majority of Evangelical churches, in my experience, minimize or limit Jesus to calling out his name. Loudly, and maybe in tongues.
I wish I could say the Minnesota Assassin was an anomaly, but he’s not. He’s just a member of Christianity’s extremist wing, among many steeped in the vision of fertilized eggs as fully formed babies. That image combined with bad theology fueled his murderous rampage.