SIGNS & WONDERS

Advent calendars, RIP Bryce Craig, Christians and immigration, Boy Scouts no more

EDITOR’S NOTE: “Signs and Wonders” is a column that shares thoughts on news items that either do not rise to the level of a news story for MinistryWatch or are slightly (perhaps even significantly) outside of our normal charity and philanthropy “beat.” My goal is to be punchy, opinionated, and not to worry much about being slightly off-brand. If that is not for you, no hard feelings. But if it is…read on.

 Non-Profit News. A researcher with Pace University says the growth in non-profit news organizations has created fears that accepting advertising dollars could jeopardize the nonprofit status. However, she says that fear is mostly unwarranted. Katherine Fink is associate professor of Media, Communications, and Visual Arts at Pace University, and she wrote for The Conversation that “IRS records indicate that the most common reason for revocations was the failure of nonprofits to file their 990 forms annually.

“Not doing so for three years in a row triggers an automatic revocation, which can be reversed if nonprofits get back into compliance by belatedly filing their overdue paperwork. Revocations for all other reasons, including excessive unrelated business income, have impacted less than 0.1% of nonprofits, according to my analysis of IRS records.

“In other words, two common concerns about advertising expressed by the nonprofit news leaders I interviewed – the potential tax burden and the risk of running afoul of the IRS – appear to have been unfounded.”

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Advent Calendars Out of Control. Were you raised with Advent Calendars? I was not, but my wife was, and they were beloved traditions in a lot of families. An Advent Calendar counts down the days to Christmas.

Photo by Elena Mozhvilo / Unsplash / Creative Commons

But Ellen Cushing, writing for The Atlantic, says Advent Calendars are “out of control.” She wrote, “The Macy’s website currently offers many dozens of advent calendars, ranging in price from just under $20 (chocolate) to $955 (an assortment of goodies from the Swedish luxury brand Byredo). Williams-Sonoma has more than 20, including two cross-branded with the Netflix show ‘Bridgerton.’ Burger King and Kraft Natural Cheese each do an advent calendar, as does Red Bull, though I gotta say, that one looks suspiciously like a normal 24-pack of cans.”

To which I respond, “Deliver us from evil.”

Solving Immigration. Perhaps the most contentious issue in American politics today is immigration. But interesting data from Ryan Burge suggest (to me, anyway) that it doesn’t have to be. Religious Americans — whether liberal or conservative — agree on much more than the politicians do. For example, when asked if the USA should “build a wall,” 82% of evangelicals said yes. But so did 59% of Mainline Protestants. Even non-white Christians registered a near majority. On the subject of the so-called “Dreamers,” solid majorities in every category want the USA to “provide permanent resident status to children of immigrants who were brought to the United States by their parents (Dreamers), and grant a pathway to citizenship if they meet the requirements and have committed no crimes.”

My own position on immigration is what I call “tall walls and wide gates.” It seems that most Americans agree. But politicians would rather run on the issue than solve the problem.

RIP Bryce Craig. I had the privilege of publishing a book (co-written with Marvin Olasky) with P&R Publishing about a decade ago. That publication put me on a roster that included Tim Keller, Peter Lillback, and J. Gresham Machen. Pretty distinguished company, and typical of the work of P&R. I was therefore sad to hear of the death of its long-time president Bryce Craig. He died Nov. 23. Bryce was the grandson of P&R’s founder Samuel G. Craig. The younger Craig led the company from 1982 to 2025. According to a statement from P&R, “His faithful service, caring spirit, and deep commitment to Christ and his church not only shaped the mission and ministry of P&R but made a profound and lasting impact in the lives of many around the world.” It certainly made an impact on mine. A cause of death was not announced, but he had been suffering from ALS, Lou Gehreg’s Disease. To read an interview with Bryce Craig and the remarkable history of P&R, click here.

Boy Scouts and the Military. According to NPR and many other sources, “The century-old partnership between the U.S. military and Scouting could be coming to an end.” The reports say U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is planning for the military “to sever all ties with Scouting America, saying the group once known as the Boy Scouts is no longer a meritocracy and has become an organization designed to ‘attack boy-friendly spaces.’” I have written a lot about Scouting over the years, and it has been sad to see what has happened to this once great organization. You can read MinistryWatch’s coverage of Scouting, as well as our coverage of a Christian alternative called TrailLifeUSA.