SIGNS & WONDERS

Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Biola University, St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital

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.

Intercollegiate Studies Institute. I continue to be impressed by the quality of the journalism over at The Dispatch. If you’re not a reader, I recommend a recent article on the Intercollegiate Studies Institute as an on-ramp. This deeply reported piece documents the rise and fall of an organization that was once a bastion of conservative thought. Its “Intercollegiate Review” was a must-read for me when I was in college. But ISI has drifted into Dissident Right ideology and even its former president, Chris Long, has distanced itself from the group. You can read about it here.

Biola University Gets Passing Grade. Conflict entrepreneur Megan Basham recently lobbed criticism at Biola University, saying it has gone “woke” and is “teetering toward” progressivism.

My own opinion of Biola is nuanced. I think that Biola has had problems. Some of those problems spring from a tenure system for faculty that will, from time to time, keep faculty members too long before firing or disciplining them. That’s why I’m generally opposed to tenure systems for Christian colleges. I also think Christian colleges should require faculty to re-affirm its statement of faith every year.

Photo via Google Earth

But most of those problems are in the rear-view mirror, though Basham, Alicia Childers, and “Theology Mom” Krista Bontrager seem to only now be discovering them. If they had said what they are saying about Biola five years ago, I would put more stock in their positions.

Much more credible to me are Biola faculty members Sean McDowell and Thaddeus Williams who shot back with a video defending the school. I’ve known Sean McDowell for years, I trust his judgment on these matters without question.

One of the points Williams, McDowell, and their guests make is that most of Biola’s critics have little understanding of the environment in which Biola has operated over the past decade or so. California has proven to be a very tough environment for Christian colleges, and yet Biola has served faithfully there for more than a century. Under President Barry Corey’s leadership, it has built new programs and attracted solid, biblically orthodox faculty. If Basham and company were interested in more than click-bait, they would realize that the real story here is how Biola has revitalized itself over the past decade, and how that revitalization continues. My bottom line: MinistryWatch gives Biola a “Give With Confidence” rating.

Brad Edwards. Christianity Today has released its annual list of the best books of the year. It’s a great list, but I took particular note of Brad Edwards’ book “The Reason for Church.” I have been a fan of that book since before it came out. (One of the perks of my job is that I often get pre-publication copies.) I had Brad on the podcast back in June. You can listen here.

Beware St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. Lots of Christians give to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. Their ads are heartwrenching, and they often air on Christian television. But Christians who care about being faithful stewards should avoid St. Jude’s. We don’t include it in our MinistryWatch 1000 database because it is not a Christian organization. But we have written about it. You can read that article, a deep dive into how St. Jude’s raises money and where that money goes, here.

Social Media Ban. Australia is about to ban social media for kids under the age of 16. It’s the first major country to do so, and I think it’s a good idea. At a minimum the world should be watching to see what happens. To read more on this ban, and why and how Australia took this step when the rest of the world has been so reticent to do so, click here.

Giving Tuesday at MinistryWatch. A hearty thank you to those who contributed to MinistryWatch on Giving Tuesday. We are still totaling the numbers, but it looks as though we received at least $14,000 on Giving Tuesday, making it our best Giving Tuesday ever.

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