Dr Paul Allen

Cover via Amazon Last weeks gay-marriage flop-flip with World Vision did not come out of left field. ( Monday  they announced that a monogamous homosexual relationship was in-step with Christian faithfulness, and  on Wednesday  they said ‘ummm…nevermind; sorry about that’).  But this was a  schisim  that was a long time coming, and illustrates a profound danger inherent in mercy ministries that are not built upon a theological foundation. It was about a year ago when Richard Stearns , the World Vision president,   spoke at Q . There he urged the attendees to stop engaging in cultural battles, and in context the taboo issues were abortion and gay marriage. In fact, he said younger Christians “need to stop shaking their fist at the culture” and then later, “no one ever died from gay marriage…they die from poverty.”  The implication being that what really matters is not one’s doctrine of marriage (or of life, or of Scripture), but one’s track record with the poor.  Stearns

Have you ever wondered why religious bookstores, Christian schools , and other religious organizations are allowed to discriminate based on religion in their hiring? Why is it legal for a radio station, or a charity, or a halal butcher to only employ those of like faith? The answer goes back to a legal right enshrined by World Vision , and a right that World Vision last week considered leveraging to advance the same-sex agenda in the United States . World Vision is one of the world’s largest aide organizations, and annually distributes hundreds of millions of dollars worth of material support globally. Many believers know them through their Story Concert Tour, or through their child sponsorship programs. Last week World Vision made the news when they  announced  that they were changing their employment policy to declare that a person can be a committed evangelical Christian, and yet be involved in a homosexual relationship (they then  reversed their decision  24 hours later). Thi

Only two days after announcing it would hire Christians in same-sex marriages , World Vision U.S. has reversed its ground-breaking decision after weathering intense criticism from evangelical leaders. "The last couple of days have been painful," president Richard Stearns told reporters this evening. "We feel pain and a broken heart for the confusion we caused for many friends who saw this policy change as a strong reversal of World Vision's commitment to biblical authority, which it was not intended to be." "Rather than creating more unity [among Christians], we created more division, and that was not the intent," said Stearns. "Our board acknowledged that the policy change we made was a mistake … and we believe that [World Vision supporters] helped us to see that with more clarity … and we're asking you to forgive us for that mistake." "We listened to [our] friends, we listened to their counsel. They tried to point out in loving wa

Image by Getty Images via @daylife The following are a handful of Christian relief organizations who are responding to the earthquake and tsunami disasters in Japan . You can join in the effort by praying for them and by giving financially. Churches Helping Churches Churches Helping Churches (CHC) is working with  CRASH Japan  to establish a base camp near Sendai to distribute relief supplies to the community. They are appealing to their church network to take a special offering for Japan on the weekend of March 26–27. (A video will be available on their site for those who wish to show it in their services.) Food for the Hungry Food for the Hungry ( FH ) is working with local partners on the ground in northern Japan to initiate relief responses including provision of medical care, canned bread, rice and water to survivors. Currently the response is based in Sendai, a coastal city in northeastern Miyagi. FH’s focus is strengthening local churches to be conduits for relief se