The Newsboys, whose history stretches across five decades, well represents the character of that genre: its worldliness, its covetousness, its ecumenism, its theological corruption, its hypocrisy, its moral degradation. 

Don’t think that the Newsboys are an exception, that they are somehow part of a radical fringe of Contemporary Christian Music. No, they are mainstream. They well exemplify the entire thing.

It will become obvious in this report that at least one of the Newsboys had no real faith in Christ, at least two were theological heretics, and two were moral reprobates of the first order.

The Newsboys was founded in 1985 in Australia by Peter Furler and George Perdikis, joined soon by John James and Sean Taylor. The band came to America in 1987 and signed with Refuge Communications. The Newsboys lineup has changed frequently. Members past and present include Phil Yates, Corey Pryor, Jonathan Geange, Vernon Bishop, Kevin Mills, Phil Joel, Bryan Olesen, Paul Colman, Jody Davis, Duncan Phillips, Michael Tait, Jeff Frankenstein, and Adam Agee. 

In a 1996 interview, Peter Furler said: “Our first three or four records weren’t very deep, but neither was our experience in the faith” (CCM Magazine, February 1996). Novices have no business in “ministry.” 

Newsboys began to achieve recognition in 1992 with their fourth album, Not Ashamed, which sold 400,000 and received a Grammy nomination. In 1995, their fifth album, Going Public, won a Dove Award for “Rock Album of the Year” and produced four “No. 1 hits.” In 2006, the single “Shine” was rated in the top 10 of the “Greatest Songs in Christian music” by CCM Magazine. The band has had six certified gold albums. 

In 1991 Steve Taylor began to partner with Newsboys as producer and lyric writer. From 1991 to 1996 their albums were produced by Taylor. He provided vocals for the song “Yo Ho Hero” in 2008 and co-wrote all the songs for the album In the Hands of God in 2009. Taylor also sang on one song.

In 2003 and 2004, the Newsboys entered the praise and worship field with albums entitled Adoration and Devotion, and co-authored a book of devotions with Jim Laffoon. 

Newsboys has collaborated on multiple projects with VeggieTales. 

The mainstream position of Newsboys is evident by the following list of CCM bands and artists that have performed with Newsboys since 2000: Audio Adrenalin, Rapture Ruckus, Steven Curtis Chapman, Natalie Grant, Selah, Anthem Lights, David Crowder Band, Kutless, Red, KJ-52 NewSong, Brother’s Keeper, Sonicflood, Beanbag, Third Day, Hawk Nelson, Krystal Meyers, ZOEgirl, TobyMac, Michelle Tumes, Freddie Colloca, Stellar Kart, Fireflight, Tenth Avenue North, Francesca Battistelli, Natalie Grant, Britt Nicole, Thousand Foot Krutch, Plumb Cotton Dixon, Ryan Stevenson, Jeremy Camp, Family Force 5, Citizen Way, DC Talk, Capital King, Ryan Stevenson, Hollyn, Sidewalk Prophets, 7eventh Time Down, Blanca, Derek Minor, Mandisa, Rend Collective, Ledger, Michael W. Smith (2019), Kevin Max, We Are Messengers, MacPowell, Jeremy Rosado, Cochren & Col, Adam Agee, Mercy Me, and David Leonard.

The Commercialization

The following is from the investigative report “Newsboys Scandals Show Christian Music Has Few Moral Guardrails,” Christianity Today, July 17, 2025:

“‘The Newsboys is a brand,’ said John. J. Thompson, founder of the Christian-music magazine True Tunes. ‘Wes Campbell created a show, and the show is the priority.’ Once just the band’s manager, Campbell registered the trademark for the Newsboys in the US in 1994. Since 2009, when founding member Peter Furler left, Campbell has also been sole head of the company. As owner, he has worked to keep the Newsboys going despite major disruptions. 

“The Newsboys transitioned from James to Furler in 1997, moving Furler up as frontman, and from Furler to Tait in 2009, with Furler literally handing his microphone to Tait during a live performance. When Tait stepped down, it didn’t take Campbell long to find a new face for the Newsboys. He brought on another singer, Adam Agee, a CCM veteran who previously played in Christian rock bands Stellar Kart and Audio Adrenaline, which Campbell has also managed since 2012. ...

“Campbell has been involved in the management of a roster of other Christian musicians--including Tasha Layton, Cochren & Co., Rhett Walker, and 7eventh Time Down—through a management company he cofounded. ...

“The model allows a single successful band to live in its own ecosystem. Campbell cultivated the Newsboys’ close connections with nonprofits and formed two limited liability companies, Thriving Children Advocates and Thriving Charity Advocates. They function as broker agencies between the Newsboys and nonprofit organizations seeking to sponsor events or promote child-sponsorship programs at concerts. 

“Campbell also developed and maintained the brand’s relationships with labels and publishing companies. He oversaw the band’s close affiliation with the God’s Not Dead film franchise, including the group’s appearances in three of the five movies. Campbell benefits from the success of the Newsboys’ music on radio and streaming platforms and with church-licensing providers. He holds songwriting credits on over 40 Newsboys songs and publishing rights on others” (“Newsboys Scandals Show Christian Music Has Few Moral Guardrails,” Christianity Today, July 17, 2025).

When asked whether the band members saw his moral deterioration, John James replied that commercialization is blinding:

“I think they did but sometimes, you know what? We can see stuff but sometimes we don’t want to admit it. Because you’ve got to understand that we’re a part of a big machine. It’s our career. It’s our livelihoods. Actually you’ve got many families involved. Many people involved. Their livelihoods, their careers. It’s a big moneymaking machine” (“Newsboys: Ex-lead Singer John James Speaks about His Fall and Restoration,” Cross Rhythms, Jan. 26, 2007).

The Culture of Fear

The apostle reproved the church at Corinth for taking one another to law.

“I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers. Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren” (1 Co. 6:6-8).

This clear and most solemn scriptural exhortation is widely ignored in Contemporary Christian Music circles. Rather than a culture of humility, spirituality, and godliness, it is a culture of a secular business character.

“Christianity Today spoke with others within CCM who said they feared speaking out would lose them business or lead to lawsuits. Sheena Hennink, a concert promoter in Canada, said a lawyer representing the Newsboys sent her an intent-to-sue letter in response to an Instagram video she posted explaining why she canceled a series of concerts following Tait’s departure” (“Newsboys Scandals Show Christian Music Has Few Moral Guardrails,” Christianity Today, July 17, 2025).

The Worldliness

Newsboys has always had a foot in the world.

The very music itself is of the world. In complete disregard to the Bible’s unequivocal command “be not conformed to the world,” Newsboys were “influenced by everyone from the Police, Cure, and Rolling Stones” (Jesus Rocks the World: The Definitive History of Contemporary Christian Music, vol. 2, p. 101). Their music “has run the gamut from punkish rock to a turn at rap and Euro-flavored techno pop.” 

“Initially they played for the rowdy patrons of the local clubs and pubs, who threw beer bottles at them if they didn’t meet their standards” (Ibid., vol. 2, p. 100). This is not Christian ministry; this is ungodliness.

Newsboys concerts feature all of the trappings of amoral secular rock and roll: darkened theater, spotlights on the musicians, smoke, screaming into mics, tossing long hair, pulsating guitars, pounding drums, emotions raging and mind in neutral (a complete lack of sober mindedness), dancing, prancing, moshing, stage diving, crowd surfing. There have been numerous accidents relating directly or indirectly to moshing at Newsboys concerts (“To Mosh or Not to Mosh,” CCM Magazine, February 1996).

After he left the band, John James described the concert lifestyle, and it was anything but godly:

“The success, the fame, the money, the screaming girls, the autographs. It’s like, how do you deal with that? How do you process that? You’re in this schizophrenic lifestyle where you’re surrounded by thousands of fans that are wanting to touch the very sweat that falls from your brow. They’re wanting your autograph. They’re wanting to reach out and grab you. ... I don’t care who you are, you put ANYBODY in that sort of environment for long enough and unless you have countermeasures to help you process and deal with that, man it’s gonna mess you up big time!” (“Newsboys: Ex-lead Singer John James Speaks about His Fall and Restoration,” Cross Rhythms, Jan. 26, 2007).

This is not a description of biblical Christianity. It is worldly apostasy.

The Newsboys’ 1998 album, Step Up to the Microphone, was promoted both in Christian (via Star Song) and in secular markets. The latter was done through Virgin Records which produces for the filthy groups such as Rolling Stones, Spice Girls, and Sex Pistols. Danny Goodwin, Vice President of A&R for Virgin, describes their philosophy of music: “Our position is, whether these artists are Christians, Jews, Moslems, black, white, Albanian or whatever, they’re making great music. And that’s what Virgin does--we’re in the market to sell what we call quality music to the largest number of people we can” (CCM Magazine, August 1998, p. 25).

Many CCM musicians are comfortable working hand-in-hand with people who produce and distribute the vilest God-hating rock and roll, whereas the Bible says, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” (2 Co. 6:17), and, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Eph. 5:11).

Obedience to these divine commands would cause CCM to fold like a house of cards. 

The Theological Corruption

When Peter Furler lived in Brentwood, Tennessee, where the Newsboys were based, he held a position at the charismatic Bethel World Outreach Center, which is affiliated with the Pentecostal Every Nation Ministries (“Peter Furler,” Zoominfo). Peter Wagner lists Every Nation as part of the New Apostolic Reformation that seeks to restore the offices of prophet and apostle to the churches.

Furler loves the writings of Frederick Buechner, a neo-orthodox theologian who was trained at the ultra-liberal Union Theological Seminary under heretics such as Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich, who rejected Christ’s divinity, virgin birth, and bodily resurrection. Tillich called the Christmas story a “legend” in the December 1977 issue of The Lutheran. Buechner was “inspired to ordination” by George Buttrick while attending Buttrick’s Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church. In his book The Christian Fact and Modern Doubt, Buttrick wrote: “Literal infallibility of Scripture is a fortress impossible to defend. ... In retrospect it seems incredible that the theory of literal inspiration could have ever been held” (pp. 162, 167). Literal inspiration is not a theory; it is a doctrine taught by the Lord Jesus Christ, who said “the Scripture cannot be broken” (Joh. 10:35).

Michael Tait, who replaced Furler as lead singer of Newsboys in 2009, played the lead part in the 2003 !Hero rock opera tour, which depicted Jesus as a cool black man. In !Hero, the Last Supper is a barbecue party and “Jesus” is crucified on a city street sign. (Other CCM artists who performed in !Hero were Mark Stuart of Audio Adrenaline, Rebecca St. James, John Cooper of Skillet, Matt Hammitt of Sanctus Real, T-Bone, and GRITS.)

The Ecumenism: False Christianity and the One-World Church

The Bible prophesies a false Christianity that rejects sound Bible doctrine, loves fables, and lives by its own lusts (2 Ti. 4:3-4). It has “a form of godliness” but denies the power thereof (2 Ti. 3:5). It entertains “damnable heresies” (2 Pe. 2:1). It is filled with merchandising (2 Pe. 2:3). It is given over to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils (1 Ti. 4:1) and false Christs, false gospels, and false spirits (2 Co. 11:1-4). It turns the grace of God into lasciviousness (Jude 1:4). It causes the way of truth to be evil spoken of (2 Pe. 2:2).

False Christianity is a field sown with tares (Mt. 13:24-30). It is a tree filled with heretical birds (Mt. 13:21-32). It is a loaf of meal being leavened throughout the age “till the whole was leavened” (Mt. 13:33). 

This false Christianity slithered onto the scene in the days of the apostles and has grown throughout the centuries. A major aspect was the formation of the Roman Catholic Church over the early centuries. Another major turning point was the onslaught of heresies and unbelief in the 19th century: unitarianism, textual criticism, theological modernism, Darwinism, Christian cults, Tractarianism, Marxism, and psychology. In the 20th century came the explosion of ecumenism and the New Evangelicalism that has been effectual in a great blending and merging. Rome joined the ecumenical movement with the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. 

 

Today false Christianity is in full bloom. It is “the church” that the ecumenical crowd talks about. Most individuals, churches, and organizations today that call themselves Christian are part of the false Christianity. 

It is being built by such things as the ecumenical philosophy that unity is more important than doctrinal purity, by the false interpretation of Christian’s high priestly prayer in John 17, by the unscriptural principle of “essentials and non-essentials,” by contemporary Christian music, by charismaticism’s emphasis on experience, and by the “renunciation of separatism.”

All of the Contemporary Christian Music bands and artists are ecumenical one-world church builders. I don’t know of one that publicly and unequivocally contends for the faith once delivered unto the saints (Jude 1:3), marks false teachers (Ro. 16:17), and preaches and practices biblical separatism (Ro. 16:17; 2 Co. 6:14; 1 Ti. 6:20-21; 2 Ti. 2:16-18; 3:5; Tit. 3:10-11). 

We have documented this extensively in The Directory of Contemporary Christian Musicians, available as a free eBook from www.wayoflife.org.

The Newsboys are a prime example.

In 1997, Newsboys’ Phil Joel joined Roman Catholic Kathy Troccoli and 40 other CCM artists to record Love One Another, a song with an ecumenical theme: “Christians from all denominations demonstrating their common love for Christ and each other.” The song talks about tearing down the walls of denominational division. The broad range of participants who joined Troccoli in recording “Love One Another” demonstrates the ecumenical agenda of Contemporary Christian Music.

In July 2012, Newsboys was one of the bands featured at the 14th annual Lifest in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Christian rock’s one-world church building enterprise was in full steam at this event. Other popular groups and artists participating were Switchfoot, Underoath, Building 429, Norma Jean, Steven Curtis Chapman, Tammy Borden, Love & Death, Casting Crowns, and Disciple. 15,000 enthusiastic fans gathered to celebrate ecumenical unity through the sensual power of rock & roll. Participants could choose from three worship service venues, including a Catholic Mass led by Bishop David Ricken, who officially approves of the “Marian Apparitions” at the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in northern Wisconsin. The apparition appeared to Adele Brise in 1859 and said, “I am the Queen of Heaven, who prays for the conversion of sinners,” plainly identifying itself as a demon, since the only Queen of Heaven mentioned in Scripture is an idolatrous goddess that was condemned by the prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 7:18). That Christian rock is intimately associated with such things is clear evidence of its apostasy.

In January 2015, Newsboys was one of the headliners of the “We Will Stand” concert. The theme was unity: “CCM United: one message, many voices.” The concert title was from Russ Taff’s song “We Will Stand,” which says, “You’re my brother/ You’re my sister/ So take me by the hand/ together we will work until He comes.” The concert featured “33 of the greatest CCM artists in history” (“We Are United,” thefishomaha.com). These included Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant, Newsboys, Don Moen, Mark Schultz, Sandi Patti, Travis Cottrell (Beth Moore’s worship leader), Steven Curtis Chapman, Steve Green, Dallas Holm, Russ Taff, The Imperials, Don Francisco, First Call, Michael Omartian, Francesca Battistelli, Kari Jobe, Jaci Velasquez, Laura Story, Petra, 4Him, Point of Grace, Carman, and Nicole Mullen. We Are United was the brainchild of Stan Moser, one of the fathers of Contemporary Christian Music. Board members of the Gospel Music Trust Fund, one of the major beneficiaries of the concert, include Bill Gaither and National Quartet Convention President Les Beasley. Billed as “the greatest night in the history of contemporary Christian music,” it demonstrates unequivocally the one-world church character of this movement. It’s not a biblical unity in truth and righteousness, but an abominable “unity in diversity.” Roma Downey played a prominent role in the concert. Downey is the Roman Catholic co-creator (with her husband) of the History Channel’s popular “The Bible” miniseries and The Son of God movie. She called Pope Francis “a new pope of hope” (“Roma Downey,” Christian Post, April 4, 2013). She says, “I have prayed to Mary and loved her my whole life” (“The Bible: An Epic Mini-Series,” Catholiclane.com, Feb. 28, 2013). She promotes the use of the rosary as a meditation practice by which she prays to Mary as the Queen of Heaven. The Catholic Mary is sinless and can hear and answer the prayers of every petitioner, thus having the divine attributes of mediatorship, omnipresence, and omnipotence. But Roma Downey’s heresies exceed Rome’s papacy, sacramental gospel, and communion with a demon masquerading as Mary. Roma graduated from the University of Santa Monica with a graduate degree in Spiritual Psychology, which is described at the school’s web site as “the study and practice of the art and science of human evolution in consciousness.” The benefits of Spiritual Psychology include “experiencing enhanced spiritual awareness through knowing yourself as a Divine Being” and “learning to relate to yourself with greater compassion and awareness of yourself as a Divine Being having a human experience.” 

Roma Downey’s false gospel, false christ, and false spirit are welcome within the broad tent of CCM, and Bible-believing churches that play around with contemporary worship music are building bridges to this most dangerous world.  

The Nasty Fruit

False Christianity has bad fruit. It is the fruit of lusts and heresies and fables, and this is evident in the Newsboys.

In 1997, John James left Newsboys because of his moral reprobation. “At the time, the Newsboys said James was returning to Australia to preach. That was not the truth. The truth, as James later said publicly, was that he was getting drunk before noon, spending hundreds of dollars on cocaine, and wrecking his marriage with serial infidelity. He left the Newsboys because he couldn’t hide the disaster of his life anymore” (“Newsboys Scandals Show Christian Music Has Few Moral Guardrails,” Christianity Today, July 17, 2025). 

In January 2015, Newsboys co-founder George Perdikis came out publicly as an atheist. He had not been involved with the band since the late 1990s, but in his testimony Perdikis made it clear that he had never been a man of faith in God’s Word. He said that he was only ever really interested in rock & roll and living as he pleased. He says, 

“I always felt uncomfortable with the strict rules imposed by Christianity. All I wanted to do was create and play rock and roll ... and yet most of the attention I received was focused on how well I maintained the impossible standards of religion. I wanted my life to be measured by my music, not by my ability to resist temptation. I left the band in 1990 and went back to Adelaide. There, I got married, taught guitar, played pubs and clubs, built homes, and had two beautiful daughters. As I carved out a life for myself away from the church, I began my own voyage of inquiry into what I believed. My perceptions started to transform when I became interested in cosmology in 1992. I soon found myself fascinated by the works of Carl Sagan, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Lawrence Krauss, Brian Cox, and Richard Dawkins. I learned so much and was blown away by all the amazing scientific discoveries and facts. When my marriage dissolved in 2003, I turned my attention to human psychology. By 2007, I renounced Christianity once and for all and declared myself an atheist” (“Co-founder of Newsboys: ‘Now I’m an Atheist,’” standupforthetruth.com, Jan. 22, 2015). 

To believe that Carl Sagan and Richard Dawkins are men who deal in scientific facts is evidence of the grossest sort of spiritual blindness, which, according to Scripture, is driven by the desire to walk after one’s own lusts (2 Pe. 3:3). 

Having never been born again, having given the Lord Jesus Christ mere lip service rather than heart surrender and true faith, this Christian rocker is like the dog that returns to his vomit. 

“For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire” (2 Pe. 2:20-22).

Perdikis concludes his testimony by saying, “The truth is--from someone who knows what went on then and what goes on now--the Newsboys aren’t as holy as they profess.”

That Perdikis is doubtless correct in this observation is obvious by the Newsboys’ history.

In June 2025, Michael Tait left Newsboys under a cloud of moral reprobation. 

In June 2025, Newsboys denounced Tait “amid sexual misconduct, drug abuse allegations” (The Washington Post, June 6, 2025).

“Christian rock group Newsboys is distancing itself from former lead singer Michael Tait following allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use, saying the band was ‘horrified, heartbroken and angry’ over the revelations. In a June 5 Instagram post, the Nashville, Tennessee-based group responded publicly to the claims, expressing support for the alleged victims and revealing that Mr. Tait had confessed to leading a ‘double life’ before his departure from the band earlier this year. ... A nearly three-year investigation by The Roys Report, a Christianity podcast, identified three men who accuse Mr. Tait of sexual misconduct, including incidents that allegedly occurred while the band was touring with Christian music festivals in 2004, 2010 and 2014. The men say they were each 22 years old when they first met Mr. Tait, who was roughly two decades older. The allegations include claims of unwanted sexual contact while the men were under the influence of alcohol, as well as an incident involving an offer of illegal drugs aboard the band’s tour bus. ... ‘The accusations, according to The Roys Report, had circulated privately in Nashville’s Christian music community for years and were widely regarded by some in the industry as an open secret.’”

The Newsboys’ response is probably a deception, since Tait’s debauchery was “an open secret.” Surely they knew that he drank and used drugs and suspected he was a homosexual. Surely it was more than mere “suspicion,” and if it was suspicion only, why didn’t they investigate? 

On June 10, 2025, Tait confessed the following on Instagram:

“Recent reports of my reckless and destructive behavior, including drug and alcohol abuse and sexual activity are sadly, largely true. For some two decades I used and abused cocaine, consumed far too much alcohol, and, at times, touched men in an unwanted sensual way. I am ashamed of my life choices and actions, and make no excuses for them. I will simply call it what God calls it--sin.”

A subsequent report by The Guardian cited seven men who testified of unwanted sexual advances by Tait (“He stole a piece of our souls,” The Guardian, June 13, 2025). Two men believe they were drugged and sexually assaulted. The Guardian said their sources claimed Tait’s alleged drug use and abusive behavior were the “biggest open secret in Christian music.” 

“The Guardian has interviewed 25 people in the Christian music industry, most of whom say they had prior knowledge of allegations that Tait had engaged in abusive behavior. The men who have come forward and shared their alleged experiences--two agreeing to go on the record with their names, while the rest spoke on the condition of anonymity--were aged 13 to 29 at the time of their alleged experiences. All grew up in evangelical churches where Tait’s music was the premier soundtrack of their youth groups, summer camps and mission trips. Having taken the message of Tait’s songs to heart, they were naive about sex and drugs throughout their youth. All were starstruck when meeting their childhood hero, but quickly saw their image of him as a role model of Christian piety dissolve as they were taken on a bumpy ride of rock’n’roll debauchery. ... According to four people who were interviewed, some of them on the condition of anonymity, Tait would allegedly invite them to parties at his house in Nashville, encouraging them to drink alcohol and use drugs before making sexual advances” (The Guardian).

Michael Tait is one of the biggest names in contemporary Christian music. Since 1988, he has been a major part of three prominent bands (DC Talk, Tait, Newsboys). He has sold millions of songs and albums. In December 2023, he performed in Carnegie Hall with Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith, two of the biggest names in CCM. He contributed to the popular books Jesus Freaks, Under God, and Living Under God. 

Christian rock is worldly music. In the fourth chapter of his epistle, James pronounced Ichabod and Tekel (1 Sa. 4:21; Da. 5:27) over the entire field of Christian rock with the following words:

“Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4).