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There was a time when American culture looked favorably upon Christianity. We now live in ... a post-Christian America. A crucial question for Christians in a post-Christian culture is this: Will we continue to preach? Practicing Christianity continues to cost us nothing. We can go to church, pray, read our Bibles and even enjoy our holy days. However, preaching the gospel to those outside our ranks is crossing the line. Doing so opens us to the scrutiny and ridicule of society.
Voddie Bauchams call to all Christians to preach the gospel in his book The Ever-loving Truth: Can Faith Thrive in a Post-Christian Culture (Broadman & Holman, 2004)
Instead of trying to make society more Christian, we need to focus on making ourselves more vitally Christian in society.
John Fischer, artist, thinker and communicator in Relevant magazine, January 2004
We believe in the Cooperative Program. We maintain a three-fold emphasis in mission ministry and send several groups each year all over the world, but we cannot go into all the places our [Southern Baptist] missionaries can go. When we give to CP Missions, it makes us a part of a greater work. Supporting the CP is a serious intent to fund Gods command to go into all the world. We do this because Gods command is clear. Its a matter of obedience.
Frank Page, pastor of FBC Taylors, South Carolina, reflecting on why his church feels giving to CP is so important. The church gives 14.5 percent of the churchs undesignated offerings.
Source: Baptist Press, June 3, 2004
I think if Jerry [Jenkins] and I were cut, wed both bleed red, white, and blue... We believe that God has raised up America to be a tool in these last days to get the gospel to the outermost parts of the earth.
Tim LaHaye, Newsweek, May 24, 2004
A sign of the timesCan you believe it? The American Civil Liberties Union threatened to sue the County of Los Angeles, because someone noticed that there is a tiny cross on the countys seala detail representing the countys historical heritage traced back to early Spanish missions. So the ACLU is suing to have the cross expunged as an unconstitutional establishment of religion. Perhaps the ACLU hasnt noticed that the countys name itself means the Angels which is not a reference to the baseball team in Anaheim but to the spiritual beings whose existence is affirmed by Christian teaching. Whats next? Will the city of Santa Cruz wind up in court because its name means Holy Cross? Or will it be Corpus Christi, which means the Body of Christ? The County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors voted 3 to 2 to remove the cross from the 47-year-old logo.
Source: World, June 12, 2004
Christianity has been growing rapidly in China. Official figures put the number of Protestants at 15 million and Catholics at 10 million. The number of registered churches cant accommodate the growing number of Christians. Beijing has nine Protestant churches for 40,000 followers, and attendance is growing at a rate of 1,000 a year. As a result, house churches are springing up around the city and across the country. Unless a church is registered with the state, it's officially considered illegal. Tens of millions of Christians, including Roman Catholics, belong to these unauthorized churches.
So why is the officially atheist Communist government suddenly building churches in Beijing? To put it simply: the 2008 Olympics. Chinese leaders are aware that the impression the city will make on the world will last longer than the two-week games. They want the image of Beijing to reflect an open, modern international city. With two Protestant churches going up, one can only presume that the government hopes to draw Christians away from the underground churches to the state-sanctioned ones.
The book, Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity is Transforming China and Changing the Global Balance of Power by David Aikman, argues that Christianity could spread to one-third of Chinas population in 30 years and has already been embraced by top party officials.
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 5, 2004. Atlanta hosted the 1996 Olympics.
Does true love wait? Do U.S. teens who pledged to remain virgins until marriage have trouble sticking to their guns? Eighty-eight percent of those who signed a pledge of abstinence went on to have premarital sex, ignoring their promise, according to a study of 12,000 adolescents ages 12 to 18 who were re-surveyed six years later by researchers at Columbia and Yale.
However, teens who participate in True Love Waits cant be lumped with those across the board who sign abstinence pledges, Richard Ross, one of TLWs founders, noted. Also, programs like TLW dramatically reduce teen pregnancy by at least 40 percent, according to the Heritage Foundation.
Source: Time, March 22, 2004 and Baptist Press, March 10 and April 19, 2004
The times they are a changinIts amazing to compare the popular girls magazine Seventeen from the 1950s and 1960s, prior to the onset of the womens liberation movement, to Seventeen magazines today. Sprinkled throughout the earlier magazines are multitudes of advertisements for Lane hope chests, engagement rings and sterling silver flatware. Compare those advertisements to advertisements in current Seventeen magazines. One ad for a popular teen fashion line shows a girl waiting in line for a concert ticket with a bare midriff and the strap of her thong underwear visible above her low-rider jeans. Tucked inside the strap of her underwear is her concert ticket. A girl behind her, who is holding a ticket in her hand, is clearly miffed as a handsome boy unlatches a velvet rope and allows the young lady with the precariously placed concert ticket early entrance to the show.
Teenagers today endure a constant barrage of negative messages from television, movies, music, magazines and the Internet. Here are just a few of the consequences of these so-called hip messages.
The number one wish for girls ages 11 to 17is to be thinner.
Nationwide, 46 percent of students have had sex.
Eighty-three percent of teens say that moral truth depends on the situation.
Sex is the number one searched-for term on the Internet today.
Two out of every three shows on television contain sexual content.
Twenty-five percent of high school seniors report using illicit drugs in the past 30 days.
Source: Your Girl: Raising a Godly Daughter in an Ungodly World by Vicki Courtney (Broadman & Holman, 2004)
Blue-haired mommas are inBritish Broadcasting Companys (BBC) Parenting magazine asked its readers what mom would they most like to be like. Marge Simpson, the matriarch of the popular TV show The Simpsons, was their top pick.
Source: Newsweek, May 10, 2004
Thirty-eight states safeguard marriage In February, Ohio became the 38th state to pass a Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), defining marriage as the union between one man and one woman. The fact that 38 states now have DOMAs bodes well for the Federal Marriage Amendment. Thats exactly how many states are needed to ratify it.
Source: Citizen, April 2004
Consumerism beyond 50 Businesses and entrepreneurs are racing to fulfill the desires of an aging America. This year 78 million Baby Boomers are between the ages of 40 to 58. Boomers create huge shifts in consumer demand whenever they reach a new stage of life. The combination of wealth and numbers "gives entrepreneurs a giant opportunity, if they act fast," says media executive Myrna Blyth, former editor of Ladies Home Journal and More. Boomers are shopping for everything from furniture to vacations to specialized health careanything that will enhance their lifestyle.
Households headed by a person aged 55 to 64 spend 52 percent more than the national average on hotel and motel rooms. They also spend 48 percent more on gifts and 34 percent more on womens clothing.
In the next decade, the number of Americans ages 55 to 64 will increase 33 percent to 40 million, while the number of Americans ages 65 to 69 will increase 54 percent to almost 16 million.
Source: AARP Bulletin, June 2004
Taking it all in strideGet walking, ladies. Thats the news from a study in the American College of Sports Medicines journal. Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise reports that 40- to 66-year-old women who walked more than 10,000 steps a day (about five miles) averaged 18 percent less body fat and had slimmer waists than those who walked fewer than 6,000 steps. Heres a thought: while youre getting fit, take time to prayerwalk your neighborhood and community.
Source: Newsweek, May 17. 2004
photo by kristen nicole sayres
Would you keep working? One out of three older workers surveyed would continue working longer than otherwise planned if their employer offered a phased retirement program, according to Watson Wyatt Worldwide. According to the survey, more than half (57 percent) of current workers in phased retirement entered into the arrangement voluntarily to have more leisure time. When asked their primary reason for choosing phased retirement instead of full retirement, 42 percent said they enjoyed their work, while 28 percent said they needed the income.
Sources: NewsDash from PLANSPONSOR.com, March 23, 2004
Big City Life Take a look around the streets of Americas cities and youre likely to see more than a few gray heads. These baby boomers in their 50s and 60s are not just visiting the museums or a trendy restauranttheyre moving in.
The 2000 U.S. Census showed a substantial number of cities reversing decades of population decline. Many believe that this increase of downtown residents is fueled by two groupsyoung professionals and empty nesters. Those most likely to move and stay downtown are older adults, says Mark Muro at the Brookings Institutions Center of Urban and Metropolitan Policy.
Older residents are frequently the backbone of a neighborhood, says Claudia Coulton, co-director of the center on Urban Poverty and Social Change at Case Western Reserve University. Neighborhoods are safer when there are older people around. Theyre experienced and knowledgeable, they know their neighbors, theyve been around a long time, theyre home; these are the things that raise a neighborhoods safety.
Lower crime rates in U.S. cities have made downtown areas more appealing to seniors considering relocation, and safer streets make older urbanites feel more comfortable about venturing out. An urban environment with its public transportation and walkable communities enables seniors to be more mobile and more social. While most seniors in suburbs and rural areas suffer from isolation because they cant get around without a car, seniors in cities are involved in a flourish of activities. From the Golden Gate to the Great White Way, empty nesters are flocking to the cities.
Ministry Idea: Out & About More than 20 percent of Americans over age 65 dont drive, making trips to the doctor, grocery store, church services or any other outing difficult and sometimes impossible.
The risk of isolation for older Americans who dont drive is on the rise, according to research by the Surface Transportation Policy Project. The likelihood of isolation is greatest in Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee, where nearly 7 out of 10 older residents who dont drive stay home simply because they lack transportation options.
Older citizens who dont drive make 15 percent fewer trips to the doctor, 59 percent fewer shopping trips and 65 percent fewer trips for social, family and religious activities. Perhaps members of your church would be willing to provide taxi service for the shut-ins or older residents in your community.
Worship trendsWhose worship is getting more contemporary?
illustration by dale glasgow
This&That
What would Jesus wear?If youve flipped through the pages of People or tuned your television to E! or MTV lately, you may have noticed a new trend in fashion among Hollywoods hottest stars. It seems that wearing Jesus-related clothing, such as shirts and caps that say, Jesus is my homeboy, is the cool thing to do. Madonna, Beyonce, Pamela Anderson, Brad Pitt and Ashton Kutcher are just a few of the celebrities who have been seen sporting the religious garb.
photo by WireImage
Guess who doesnt believe in God?Ten percent of Protestants, 21 percent of Roman Catholics and 52 percent of Jews do not believe in God.
Whats your worldview?Only 4 percent of American adults have a biblical worldview. Worldview is a term used to describe the belief system by which a person understands or makes decisions about the world.
Sources: Netscape News, February 9, 2004 and Texas Baptist Crossroads, published by the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, January 2004
By the Numbers
60% Percent of Americans believe the Bible is a literal history
74% Percent of evangelicals feel the mass media are hostile to their moral and spiritual values
75% Percent of evangelical Christians steadfastly believe they are part of the American mainstream
ABC Primetime News, February 16, 2004, Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly/U.S.News & World Report Poll, 2004
1. North Korea
2. Saudi Arabia
3. Laos
4. Central Highlands of Vietnam
5. Iran
6. Turkmenistan
7. Maldives
8. Bhutan
9. Myanmar (Burma)
10. China
Fast factsBy the year 2010, more than 100 million Americans will look elsewhere than church for spiritual direction.
Source: www.nooma.com
What we believeNewsweek asked Americans their opinions on the Book of Revelation and the end times. Here's what they said.
36% believe that the Book of Revelation contains true prophecy.
55% think that the faithful will be taken up to heaven in the Rapture.
74% believe Satan exists. Among evangelicals, the number increased to 93 percent.
17% believe that the end of the world will occur during their lifetime.
Source: Newsweek, May 24, 2004