Actor and podcast host Russell Brand says that he has been praying in tongues and asked his followers for their thoughts on praying in public. Brand, who was baptized as a Christian earlier this year, has been publicly processing his faith journey. 

“I’ve been speaking in tongues. I’ve been praying tongues,” Brand said in a social media post Monday, Nov. 25. He mentioned that someone had told him, “I pray in tongues,” and Brand’s reaction was, “Anybody can do that. It’s just babbling incoherent nonsense.”

 “But I’ve been doing it,” he added. And a question that Brand wanted to ask people was, “Do you think it’s ok to pray publicly?” 

Is it okay to pray in public? SPEAKING IN TONGUES?! pic.twitter.com/6N5t88wqyj

— Russell Brand (@rustyrockets) November 25, 2024

Russell Brand: Is Praying in Tongues a ‘Private Thing’?

Russell Brand is an influencer, stand-up comedian, actor and former radio host who now hosts several podcasts, including one focused on spirituality and meditation. He is also a controversial figure who has been accused of spreading conspiracy theories and has received several allegations of rape and sexual assault. Brand has denied the allegations.

Brand is also an outspoken supporter of President-elect Donald Trump. Brand joined Tucker Carlson on Carlson’s live tour of the U.S. and appeared with psychologist and commentator Jordan Peterson at the Rescue the Republic rally in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, Sept. 29. 

The actor was baptized in the River Thames in April, has asked his followers where he should go to church, and has shared that he was reading the Bible and C.S. Lewis. Brand recently drew criticism for performing a baptism while wearing only a pair of tighty-whities.

RELATED: Russell Brand Continues To Baptize People Following Heavy Criticism for Doing So in His Underwear

Brand told his followers Monday that he knows some Eastern Orthodox believers who don’t support public prayer: “They say, ‘Stop it, you little show-off.’” The actor mentioned a passage in one of the gospels about not using prayer to try to get attention. In Matthew 6:5-8, Jesus says:

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Jesus then goes on to teach his disciples the Lord’s Prayer.

“But praying together, and preaching his Word, and bringing people together is so important,” Brand continued, saying that he loves to pray the St. Francis Prayer, which he then proceeded to quote.

On a recent episode of “Deep End With Lecrae,” the Christian hip hop artist interviewed hurdler Daniel Roberts about his faith and his experiences at the Paris Olympics. Roberts took home a silver medal from the 2024 Summer Games.

During his Nov. 14 podcast, Lecrae asked Roberts about his sport, his faith, and his thoughts on the controversial Opening Ceremony in Paris. Roberts, 27, admitted it can be challenging to balance ego and humility as a pro athlete. But he said his constant prayer is “less of me, more of you, God.”

RELATED: ‘God Will Not Be Mocked’—John Cooper, Andy Stanley, and Candace Cameron Bure Outraged Over ‘Blasphemous’ Olympic Opening Ceremony

Olympian Daniel Roberts on Being Bold for Christ

Lecrae, who was at the Paris Games, said lots of people were “disappointed in me” because of the Opening Ceremony, asking how he could support the Olympics. Some Christians, offended by drag queens portraying the Last Supper, called for a boycott of the Games.

When Lecrae asked Roberts whether he felt backlash, the athlete said he didn’t know what had happened until he saw the uproar on social media. Then, he said, he had to ask what God wanted from him in that situation. Roberts decided he didn’t need to “fight back” but just be “bold” about who he represents and why he was there.

When people urged a boycott, Lecrae said his reaction was, “Why would you want to take people out of these spaces where they can be a light in a dark world?”

Chris Bates, a trainer for the U.S. water polo team, prayed for Roberts in Paris. That encounter made the hurdler realize God was “showing me what he could do through me, even when I’m not perfect.” Lecrae and Roberts discussed how God doesn’t need people to complete his purposes, but God decides to fill us with his Spirit and use us.

Daniel Roberts on Running the Race

Roberts, who grew up in a Christian home full of athletic siblings, said his faith became his own around ninth grade. “I always felt some type of presence, some type of pull,” he said, and in high school he “was just ready to really dedicate my life to God.”

Because track and field is an individual sport, athletes can get wrapped up in pride, Roberts said. Confidence is key for success, yet Christ calls us to “be humble and speak good about your competitors.”

RELATED: Being Offended by Offensive Things Is Good, Actually

Roberts tries to “be prepared for any moment God puts me in.” Although he aims to break records and earn more medals, he also realizes “maybe God just wants me to be a professional athlete [and] reach the people that I’m supposed to reach in that moment.”

“The Chosen” has dropped a teaser trailer for its highly anticipated Season 5, set to release in April 2025. The trailer, just over a minute in length, shows Jesus and his disciples seated at the Last Supper, Jesus’ Triumphal Entry, and coins falling into someone’s hand.

“Listen carefully,” Jesus says as the trailer opens, showing him and his disciples seated at their final meal together. “Because I’m going to tell you what is about to happen.”

Editor’s Note: This article contains spoilers for “The Chosen.”

RELATED: Dallas Jenkins Reveals ‘Very First Line That Was Ever Written’ for ‘The Chosen’

‘The Chosen’ Releases Powerful Season 5 Teaser Trailer 

Dallas Jenkins, writer, creator, and director of “The Chosen,” announced in October that Season 5 will be released in theaters this coming April. Earlier this year, Season 4 of the hit series was released in February and March, breaking ground as the first streaming TV show to be released in theaters in its entirety.

While Jenkins has shared the news that Season 5 will not be released all at once, he has not given specific details yet about what that process will look like, nor has he shared the initial release date. Jenkins has simply said that Season 5 will release in “early April” and be available “all the way through the Easter season of 2025.”

Season 4 concluded with an emotional scene showing Jesus mounting a donkey as he and his followers head towards Jerusalem. Elizabeth Tabish, who plays Mary Magdalene, said it was “one of my favorite scenes to film because we were all together, and we didn’t have to do very much.”

RELATED: An ‘Honor’ and a ‘Cost’–‘The Chosen’ Cast Reflects on the Final Scene From Season 4

In a 2023 livestream celebrating the conclusion of filming Season 4, Jonathan Roumie, the actor who plays Jesus, said at the time that filming that season was the most difficult for him out of all of the seasons up to that point. Roumie and Jenkins agreed that Season 4 was “deeper” and had a greater emotional weight than previous seasons.

It seems likely that weight will only increase as the story follows Jesus to his death. Season 5 takes place over Holy Week, and Tabish described the taxing nature of Roumie’s task. “Just being friends with Jonathan [Roumie] and knowing what he’s going to have to go through, performing this, and seeing the weight of this role on him,” said Tabish, “is just devastating, you know?”

Since 1985, the Newsboys have been topping the charts of contemporary Christian music (CCM). But many Christian artists are deconstructing and becoming “exvangelicals.” Apologist Sean McDowell sat down with two Newsboys, Michael Tait and Jeff Frankenstein, to discuss how deconstruction has played out in Christian music.

“Is there something wrong with the contemporary music scene and evangelicalism as a whole that we need to address?” asked McDowell.

As Some CCM Artists Lost After Deconstruction, the Newsboys Have Kept God at the Center—On and Off the Stage

Michael Tait, previously of DC Talk, has been the lead singer of the Newsboys since 2009, and Jeff Frankenstein has been on keys for the Newsboys since 1994. Especially in the 80s and 90s, contemporary Christian music soared in popularity.

Since that time, however, many contemporary Christian artists have gone through deconstruction with varying outcomes. McDowell referred to the “former people of DC Talk or the co-founder of the Newsboys saying he’s an atheist, and Jars of Clay going a certain leftward direction.”

The three attempted to uncover the root of deconstruction and how it has affected Christian music artists.

“Man is innately flawed. Man has free will,” Tait said. “We can sometimes be tempted to go off and doubt and wonder.” He spoke of his own conversations with God, especially when he’s asking God questions, adding, “Sometimes you have to search in the Word for the things that are hidden for us.”

Frankenstein shared his own experience of not feeling free to doubt and ask questions growing up. He empathizes with those who are now asking questions. “As Christians, we’ve made a lot of grave errors when we react to hearing about other believers deconstructing,” he shared. “We’ve started with judgment first, instead of approaching the situation with compassion.”

Deconstruction stems from “a lot of different things” Frankenstein explained. “I think the 80s and 90s culturally was such a different time” where kids were “forced to be a certain way where you weren’t given that free will to decide for yourself.” He spoke of the implications of Christian hypocrisy.

A person’s walk with Christ “isn’t setting you free, just by rules and regulations,” he argued. “Maybe you haven’t seen the true spirit of God.” Frankenstein said that people today are often isolated, without others seeing “the person you really are” and with unchecked information from social media feeding their minds.

Tait mentioned how important confession is in his own life. He admits that he’s “messed up” and then “gets back up.” Some who are going through deconstruction “fall into that dead place of craziness; they never come out of it.”

The Christian music industry is a business where profits are made by selling albums and tickets. McDowell wondered about the temptation to “value competence and giftedness over character and depth.”

“There’s a pattern that you see happen where this pure thing that you brought to the table now has to be marketed and manipulated and put into the system with these gatekeepers,” explained Frankenstein. “It loses its innocence.”

In an opinion piece published on Wednesday (Nov. 20) by The Wall Street Journal, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy shared that their new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) plans to target the government’s funding of Planned Parenthood.

Earlier this month, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he appointed Musk and Ramaswamy to lead DOGE, a new department Trump will create after taking office. Trump said that DOGE will advise his administration in its pursuit to “dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies,” actions Trump claims are “essential to the ‘Save America’ movement.”

Musk is the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX. Ramaswamy is the founder of the pharmaceutical company Roivant Sciences and recently ran for president of the United States as a Republican. He ended his campaign in January and endorsed Trump.

RELATED: Greg Laurie to Elon Musk, Richard Dawkins, and Other ‘Cultural Christians’: Take the Next Step

Trump has described DOGE as an agency that will “provide advice and guidance from outside of Government, and will partner with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government [that has] never [been] seen before.”

Trump has given Musk and Ramaswamy a deadline of July 4, 2026, to complete the task DOGE has been given.

DOGE announced on Wednesday that one of the ways it plans to reduce spending is to cut off government funding to “groups like Planned Parenthood.”

Planned Parenthood, a non-profit organization founded by Margaret Sanger in 1916, is the America’s largest provider of reproductive health services and abortions. According to Planned Parenthood’s 2022-2023 annual report, the organization performed 392,715 abortions during that time span. This was a 5% increase from the previous year and a 20% increase from the prior 10 reports.

Abortions make up over 97% of Planned Parenthood’s services.

Planned Parenthood reported over $2 billion in income for 2022-23, $699.3 million of which came from taxpayer funding through the means of Government Health Services reimbursements and grants. The Charlotte Lozier Institute noted that taxpayer funding given to Planned Parenthood has increased by 46% since 2010.

DOGE Aims To Cut Planned Parenthood’s Taxpayer Funding

Musk and Ramaswamy shared in their op-ed that they plan to follow the “Supreme Court’s guidance” in reversing a “decadeslong executive power grab.”

One way they plan to so, they said, is focusing on “delivering cost savings for taxpayers.” The DOGE leaders continued, “Skeptics question how much federal spending DOGE can tame through executive action alone. They point to the 1974 Impoundment Control Act, which stops the president from ceasing expenditures authorized by Congress.”

Both before and after his Cleveland Browns won a wild, wintry football game Thursday night (Nov. 21), veteran quarterback Jameis Winston quoted Scripture and thanked God on national television.

Before the Browns faced their AFC North rival Pittsburgh, reporter Kaylee Hartung asked the QB how a victory would feel. “The horse is preparing for battle, but victory comes from the Lord,” replied Winston. “So I’m dependent on the Lord.”

RELATED: Browns’ Jameis Winston Credits ‘Unwavering Faith, Ultimate Belief [and] Dependence on the Lord’ for Underdog Win

The Browns, who entered the game with a 2-8 record, secured a 24-19 victory at home against the previously 8-2 Steelers. Despite giving up a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter, Cleveland scored a go-ahead touchdown with 57 seconds left.

How did they expect the Steelers to beat this man, on this night? He was blessed to play in the snow he didn’t have to play in it. “day by day. 1 play at a time”. That horse certainly was prepared for battle. Jameis may not win, but he never loses.
pic.twitter.com/iGZ08tT38v

— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) November 22, 2024

Jameis Winston: ‘The Lord Has Blessed Me’

Jameis Winston, who won the Heisman Trophy in 2013 at Florida State and was drafted No. 1 overall by Tampa Bay in 2015, had never played in conditions below 40 degrees at kickoff. He woke up excited Thursday and Face-Timed his wife and boys, he said, telling them he was “definitely eating the snow today.”

Before kickoff, when asked about the challenging conditions, a smiling Winston said, “I am so happy and grateful that the Lord has blessed me to play in some snow. To be in true football weather, in Cleveland, Ohio, at Huntington Bank Field today, to give him the glory. It’s a beautiful day.”

After the victory, Winston joined the Thursday Night Football desk to talk about his team’s performance. When asked how he maintains confidence despite moving around in the NFL, the All-Pro QB referenced Proverbs 3:5.

“One of my favorite [Bible] verses [is], ‘Trust in the Lord with your whole heart, and lean not on your own understanding,’” said Winston. “I may not know what’s going on, but…I’ve got faith that I can make something happen at any single time.”

The Thursday Night crew called Winston a “national treasure,” saying they appreciate his authenticity and enthusiasm.

Jameis Winston: ‘I Don’t Believe in Coincidences’

Last month, Jameis Winston became the Browns’ starting QB after Deshaun Watson suffered a season-ending injury. Before leading Cleveland to an Oct. 27 upset of the Baltimore Ravens, Winston spoke about his “unwavering faith, ultimate belief, [dependence] on the Lord.”

RELATED: Deshaun Watson Gets Baptized in the Jordan River

After Thursday night’s win, Winston thanked the hardy fans and praised his teammates’ gritty performance in the elements. The QB said he was especially proud of Browns running back Nick Chubb, who recently returned from a serious knee injury sustained against the Steelers 14 months ago.