This Fire

NINETEEN-EIGHTY NINE a number, another summer. (Get down) Batman is dominating the box office, the dulcet tones of Kim Boyce are blasting from every car stereo, as the Satanic Panic and fear over the “jungle rhythms” of modern pop and rock music weigh heavy on the parents of America. Today on This Fire we ask the tough questions, and investigate whether the Christian Contemporary Music of the late 1980s POISONED a generation of young minds, as we look back at the June 1989 episode of Fire By Nite - “Let’s Face The Music”. ——— This Fire is taking an in depth look at Fire By Nite - a Christian teen variety show produced at the height of the 1980s Satanic Panic.

This month on This Fire, we’re looking at the May 1989 episode of Fire By Nite: “Why Good People Go To Hell”. A primer on the fear, uncertainty, and doubt instilled in a generation of young Christians who accepted Jesus as their personal lord and savior, but still couldn’t help but wonder “Am I REALLY going to heaven?…You sure about that Clark?”PLUS, terrifying mimes (and pirates) as Christian ballet fantasia Toymaker’s Dream takes Soviet Russia by storm! Think a low budget evangelical version of ‘Shen Yun’, and you’re about 80% of the way there.All this and MORE, on this brand new episode of This Fire!

Join us for a look back at the last 3 years of Fire By Nite musical guests as Steve and Alec finalize the very first THIS FIRE MIXTAPE. We’re sequencing, we’re toasting, we’re roasting, and above all we’re giving up props to the tunes that made 1986-1988 such a watershed time for the CCM industry. If you’re in the mood for an upbeat and SHOCKINGLY free from snark episode of This Fire, you’ve come to the right place!

Tis the season, and you know what that means. Warm glass of eggnog, the yule log burning in the fireplace, and of course ‘This Fire’ playing in your headphones as you try and avoid problematic family members at your holiday get together.And this year Steve and Alec have a doozy for you, as they explore the 1989 Christmas classic: Turmoil in the Toybox 2. Your guide to the DEMONICALLY INFLUENCED toys and games your child might ask for this holiday season…or, well, your nostalgic 40 year old child might ask for this holiday season. Do the kids today still like He-Man?Find out which dolls and board games were on your evangelical parents’ naughty list 36 years ago, with this stroll down Satanic panic lit memory lane! ——— This Fire is (usually) taking an in depth look at Fire By Nite - a Christian teen variety show produced at the height of the 1980s Satanic Panic. This one is a bonus Satanic panic media critique episode! Subscribe NOW wherever you find your podcasts, or at AcquireThisFire.com

When we tell you this episode has everything, trust we mean EVERYTHING. Jesus, Satan, a French speaking Mother Mary, a man and a woman using allegations of ritual abuse to mask the fact that they’re clearly having an affair. That’s right! This week we get back to the root of our evil, and FINALLY polish off seminal Satanic Panic tome: Michelle Remembers, on this extra special SUPER-SIZED episode of This Fire! CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains descriptions of child abuse, sexual assault, murder, and (supposed) Satanic ritual abuse. Listener discretion is advised.

SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!!Its time to learn the RIGHT and WRONG way to beat yourself up, as this month we take a look at the February 1989 episode of Fire By Nite: “Why Feel Guilt?” Youth groups often get accused of breaking kids down, demolishing their self esteem, so that they can be built back up in the image of God (or…maybe just the image of whichever church they were at’s youth pastor). But here, Blaine and crew let us know that it’s not all self flagellation and internalized hatred. Sometimes kids? Things aren’t your fault…except when they are…but sometimes they aren’t!I dunno, it’s all a bit murky. At least we’ve got the dulcet tones of CCM rocker girl Margaret Becker to look forward to! ——— This Fire is taking an in depth look at Fire By Nite - a Christian teen variety show produced at the height of the 1980s Satanic Panic. Subscribe NOW wherever you find your podcasts, or at AcquireThisFire.com

Teen Mania Ministries. From the very start it’s been a through-line of our survey of Fire By Nite, and one that will be there til the bitter end of FBN’s run in 1994. In light of a certain recent docuseries, we felt there was no better time to have our first (but certainly not last) conversation focusing on Teen Mania’s influence on the broader Gen-X/Millennial Youth Group culture; and what better place to start than with someone who back in the 1990s was a regular attendee of Acquire the Fire and Teen Mania affiliated events - our sister from another mister (and very first guest) Molly!Join us for a candid conversation about growing up, and growing out, of the evangelical world in the 90s, set against the backdrop of Ron Luce’s expanding empire of teen warriors for Christ. ——— This Fire is taking an in depth look at Fire By Nite - a Christian teen variety show produced at the height of the 1980s Satanic Panic. Subscribe NOW wherever you find your podcasts, or on AcquireThisFire.com

We’re back with another break from our regularly scheduled programming as we take a look at the state of pop music in 2025, and how the CCM industry has struck back, influencing the very mainstream it used to so desperately ape. With the dulcet tones of KLOVE all over the Billboard Hot 100, Steve and Alec are here to make sense of it all and figure out why all of a sudden mainstream audiences are so enthusiastically embracing the not quite country, not quite hip-hop, not quite pop mélange that has become a staple of Christian contemporary music over the past decade. PLUS, we take a look back at our This Fire mixtape in progress, and compare the Fire By Nite featured CCM hits of the 80s, to what’s going on in the scene today. Which era comes out on top? You’ll have to listen and see! All this and more, on this accidentally SUPER-SIZED bonus episode of This Fire!

We’re channel surfing this week as we take a break from our usually scheduled programming, and find ourselves in late October of 1988, as we watch The Geraldo Rivera Special: Devil Worship - Exposing Satan’s Underground. While Fire By Nite was serving up the Satanic panic to teens already in the fold, we discover what the panic looked like to a mainstream audience, broadcast in PRIMETIME on NBC. Folks - this special was seen in the homes of over 19 million Americans when it broadcast. So if all of a sudden your otherwise secular parents took away your heavy metal music and D&D monster manuals in late 1988? There’s a pretty good shot this special was the reason why!

On today’s episode of This Fire, we’re switching things up a bit, and profiling the blondest grifter on the block. That’s right it’s our new White House Faith Office head, Paula White! Join us as we chart Paula’s rise to political prominence. From her humble beginnings preaching out of a tent, all the way to her political zenith as a hyper-wealthy property gospel televangelist that now finds herself working out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue…or should we call it: The Paula White House? PLUS, learn how Paula was INSTRUMENTAL in laundering billionaire playboy Donald John Trump’s own personal brand into the Christian zeitgeist, setting the stage for the political hellscape we see before us today! All this, and we’re not even asking you to sow a financial seed in ANY amount. Aren’t we generous?

Looking for an escape from your relatives this week? Why not spend the holiday with This Fire, as Steve & Alec go on a little bit of a detour, and take an in depth look at the legendary Satanic Panic book: Turmoil in the Toybox. That’s right! It’s finally time to expose the demonic influence of He-Man, Star Wars, GI Joe, the CareBears…(wait, that can’t be right. The CareBears?), The Smurfs…ET…..ok, so they literally just hated everything going on in 1980s pop culture. Got it. So join us! On this nostalgic look back at the ruined childhoods of evangelical children in the 1980s, on this very special holiday episode of This Fire!

Turns out nightmares really do come true! As a certain puppet of the Christian Nationalist movement heads back to the White House, in this special Election 2024 episode of This Fire. We talk about the reaction to the news from our local evangelical churches, look at some of the expected cabinet appointments, and oh! Steve has a shocking admission that you won’t want to miss. They say misery loves company, so why not sit down with the Fox Bros. and process what comes next…

It’s July 1988, and fear of “Satanic Ritual Abuse” is reaching fever pitch, and has broken evangelical community quarantine and into the mainstream. Talk show hosts from Oprah to Geraldo are inviting on “Former Satanists” to tell their audiences the “truth” about the “dangers” of rampant Satanism, taking over America. And against this backdrop, Blaine Bartel and crew adapt these lurid (and largely made up!) stories about abuse, murder, and animal sacrifice for their teenage audience, as Fire By Nite officially tackles the Satanic Panic of the 1980s. You’ve waited long enough, its finally time for This Fire to tackle Satanism Unmasked, part 1!