Millions share faith in Christ
Nearly 50 million born-again adults shared their faith in Jesus Christ with non-believers during the past year, according to a new study from the Barna Research Group. That constitutes 60 percent of the born-again adult population, which itself represents 38 percent of all adults, says Barna. Of the evangelizers, one out of three was affiliated with a Baptist churchalmost 16 million of the 49 million.
The need for evangelism in North America is still great. Seven out of 10 people are non-Christians, according to the North American Mission Board.
Source: Barna Research Online, July 28, 2003 and North American Mission Board, September 2003
|
 Kids in day care can have problems, more moms are staying home
The debate continues. Are children better off at home with mom than they are at day care? Two new studies linked non-maternal childcare with an increase in behavior problems and high stress levels in children.
A 10-year study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHHD) revealed that the more time children spend in day care from birth to age four-and-a half, the more likely they were to be aggressive or disobedient.
According to the NICHHD study, the link between time in child care and problem behavior occurred across all family backgrounds and all types and quality of care. High-quality child care did not eliminate the link between hours in care and behavior problems.
Another study by the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota found that children release more stress hormones at day care centers than they do at home.
A month before these studies were released, the U.S. Census Bureau reported an increase in the number of stay-at-home moms.
Source: Family Research Council, August 8, 2003
|
You dont say
Organized religions in general, in my opinion, are dying forms. They were all very important when we didnt know why the sun moved, why weather changed or why volcanoes happened. Modern religion is the end trail of mythology, said Bruce Willis, from an interview in George magazine.
Source: Baptist Press, June 11, 2003
|
Mourning online:
What will they think of next?
 Your local funeral home may soon be able to provide more than just flowers and a pretty casket. What else is there? you may wonder. How about broadcasting funeral services over the Internet?
Chapelview Online now provides a service to funeral homes that allows mourners to experience a funeral service from anywhere in the world. The company provides web services, a digital camera and archival videotapes. The services are kept online for two months, but they arent open to the public. Mourners are assigned special passwords to access the video stream.
While the online services cant provide the personal touch of being there, they do have some practical applications. For example, family members overseas who cant make it home for a family members funeral will find this a great comfort.
So what if Aunt Myrtle is too sick to make it to Uncle Miltons funeral? She can cry with the rest of the family with just a click of the mouse.
Source: World, June 7, 2003
|
Worship style and high membership standards affect church attendance
New church starts show variation by size based on their worship style. The largest churches have either a contemporary or seeker service.
More and more churches are recognizing the importance of membership training and covenants. New churches that have high membership standards show greater growth than those that do not.
Source: The Impact of the Church Planting Process and Other Selected Factors on the Attendance of Southern Baptist Church Plants by Edward J. Stetzer, Ph.D. dissertation, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary 2003
|
What is marriage?
People are debating: Should marriage be legally defined as only a union between a man and a woman?
|
The question of gay marriage has moved to the foreground of politics after a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision struck down state laws banning sodomy. Also, Canadian courts recently recognized gay marriages and Canadian legislators added sexual orientation to legislation banning genocide and hate crimes. If the bill is adopted, Christians fear activists would use the law to prosecute pastors who quote Gods Word on homosexuality from the Bible.
Massachusetts is locked in a battle between a court system that could favor same-sex marriage and a state assembly considering laws that would deny them.
A CNN.com poll asked the question: Should marriage be legally defined as only a union between a man and a woman? The results showed a 4 percent disparity in favor of those who said no48 percent answered yes while 52 percent answered no.
However, a recent (and more scientific) CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll suggests the Supreme Court ruling has prompted a backlash. The number of people who have endorsed the idea that homosexual relations should be legal has dropped from 60 percent to 48 percent since the ruling.
Source: CNN.com, July 31, 2003, Charisma News Service, Septmber 23, 2003 and Womens Enews, September 24, 2003
|
QUICK QUOTE
Were having more [missionaries] now than probably ever before go out to people like Muslims.
George Braswell Jr., missions professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, talking about the increase of missionaries who are going into the 10/40 Window, that part of the world between 10 and 40 degrees north latitude inhabited by many of the worlds unreached people groups. To learn about some of these unreached people groups see the Acts 1:8 missionaries
Source: Time, June 30, 2003
|
