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Will the National Council of Churches (NCC) and similar groups ever fully renounce their friendly stance towards Communist regimes and refusal to speak out for persecuted Christians during the Cold War? Only God knows. But this year, the NCC sent out a Christmas card featuring the art of a former Vietnamese refugee who fled communism 30 years ago. IRD was founded 28 years ago in part because the NCC was DEFENDING Communist Vietnam, including even its infamous “reeducation” camps. Many refugees fled specifically to avoid these camps. Did the NCC appreciate the irony of its Christmas card? Or maybe it was even an indirect expression of regret? Here’s my article.
IRD increasingly covers evangelicals who are repeating the same political land theological mistakes that consigned the once Mainline Protestants to the sideline. Here’s my article about a young evangelical author and missionary who is now espousing pacifism and anti-Americanism, under the influence of thinkers like John Howard Yoder and Stanley Hauerwas. What is the appeal of rejecting Christianity’s grand traditions in favor of schismatic fads like the Yoder/Hauerwas perspective, which redefines pacifism as the central tenet of Christianity?
Of course, evangelicals of an earlier generation had their own very different problems, especially many televangelists. You may have read that Oral Roberts, once one of America’s leading broadcast evangelists, died last month. His decades-long ministry was a combination of virtues and craziness. Here’s my article. Many forget that he was an ordained United Methodist for many years, and many distinguished United Methodist clergy attended Oral Roberts University.
You may also have read that New Jersey and New York recently rejected same-sex marriage, in the wake of Maine’s rejection of it. Here’s a recent speech by Alan Wisdom about the urgent need for upholding traditional marriage. And here’s an article by Jim Tonkowich on how no-fault divorce contributed the break-down of traditional marriage.
Finally, Faith McDonnell writes about her impending appearance at a New Wineskins missions conference to speak about the persecuted church globally.
I pray your New Year has started well. Please consider making a monthly pledge to IRD in 2010 to ensure IRD’s continued ministry of church reform and accountability. You can do that here.
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