Download The Bible
Where I Found the Statistics
The link above is where I found the statistics I read in last Sunday's sermon.
Here are a few reports worth highlighting:
Barna's Annual Review
Born Again Christians
Only Half of Protestant Pastors Have A Biblical Worldview
Apparently, only 9% of born again Christians have a biblical worldview. Do you?
For the purposes of the research, a biblical worldview was defined as believing that absolute moral truths exist; that such truth is defined by the Bible; and firm belief in six specific religious views. Those views were that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life; God is the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe and He stills rules it today; salvation is a gift from God and cannot be earned; Satan is real; a Christian has a responsibility to share their faith in Christ with other people; and the Bible is accurate in all of its teachings.
Bible Reading Plans
A bunch of different reading plans (straight through, topical, chronological, etc.)
Here's one that mixes things up (and you can even have the Bible readings e-mailed to you daily).
The Family Reunion: A Metaphor For Church Gatherings
An article by Renchi Arce:
During a family reunion, we congratulate relatives who may just have graduated, married, or been promoted; have done well in school or in sports; or have received some form of recognition or award. That’s also what we would like to do when the community of faith gathers--we look for people to cheer, appreciate, sincerely compliment. As we gather, we root for each other to “keep on.” We become family to them.During a family reunion, we comfort relatives who may recently have lost a dear family member, an important job, or their lifetime savings; have suffered a bout with cancer, with depression, or with both; or generally have experienced failures, breakdowns, or disappointments. That’s what we want to do too when we gather as the faith community--we pat the back, raise the spirits, or give a comforting word to the suffering, the lonely, and the downhearted. In that way, we become family to them.
During a family reunion, we catch up with relatives we haven’t seen for a while and listen to their stories. We hear about what’s up at work, what’s going on with the kids...the latest, a scoop. That’s what we’d like to do also when God’s family gathers--we let friends tell their stories--stories of struggle and progress; stories about themselves, stories about God, and stories about God with them. We share in the story of God and belong to the family of God.
And during a family reunion, we receive and embrace relatives who have come to the reunion for the first time or those we’ve met only now. We get to know them. We establish contacts and hope that this is going to be the start of a good relationship. This is what we want to do as we gather for worship, fellowship, study, or prayer--we welcome and include into the community those who are new, just looking, or inquiring. We accept them as they are, welcome their questions, and extend the hand of friendship to them. We can be friends and can become their spiritual family. Can you relate to all of this?
Congratulate. Root for them. Comfort. Listen. Welcome. Accept. Embrace. In a word, “encourage.” No wonder when the Scriptures (Hebrews 10:24-25) talk about “the assembling (or gathering) of ourselves together”, we’re told: “Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out...spurring each other on...” (sharpening, stimulating, strengthening each other).
Read the rest here.
Free Online Accountability Program
Learn more about and download x3watch here.
Another Blog To Bookmark
The Church - Why Bother?
Here's part of the Christianity Today article by Tim Stafford.
The Barna Research Group reports that in the United States about 10 million self-proclaimed, born-again Christians have not been to church in the last six months, apart from Christmas or Easter. (Barna defines "born-again" as those who say they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important today, and believe they will "go to heaven because I have confessed my sins and have accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior.")Nearly all born-agains say their spiritual life is very important, but for 10 million of them, spiritual life has nothing to do with church.
About a third of Americans are unchurched, according to Barna's national data. Approximately 23 million of those—35 percent of the unchurched—claim they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their lives today. . . .
We have always had people who kept their distance from the church, even though they professed faith. We have never, however, had them in such astonishing numbers. They represent a significant trend, one that almost defines U.S. religion.
I would call it Gnostic faith. For them the spirit is completely separated from the body. They think your spirit can be with Jesus Christ while your body goes its own way. . . .
The church is the body of Christ, and it carries his wounds. To know Christ is to share in the fellowship of his sufferings—even if the suffering comes at the hands of the sinners who sit in the pews or preach from the pulpit.
How can we communicate this to unchurched Christians? The only way I know is to preach it. We need to tell them, even if it goes against the grain of our culture. We need to tell them, even if talking so frankly goes against our philosophy of outreach.
If people commit themselves to the church, they will undoubtedly suffer. The church will fail them and frustrate them, because it is a human institution. Yet it will also bless them, even as it fails. A living, breathing congregation is the only place to live in a healthy relationship to God. That is because it is the only place on earth where Jesus has chosen to dwell. How can you enjoy the benefits of Christ if you detach yourself from the living Christ?
President Outlines Role Of His Faith
President Bush said yesterday that he doesn't "see how you can be president without a relationship with the Lord," but that he is always mindful to protect the right of others to worship or not worship.
Mr. Bush told editors and reporters of The Washington Times yesterday in an interview in the Oval Office that many in the public misunderstand the role of faith in his life and his view of the proper relationship between religion and the government.
"I think people attack me because they are fearful that I will then say that you're not equally as patriotic if you're not a religious person," Mr. Bush said. "I've never said that. I've never acted like that. I think that's just the way it is.
"On the other hand, I think more and more people understand the importance of faith in their life," he said. "America is a remarkable place when it comes to religion and faith. We had people come to our rallies who were there specifically to say, 'I'm here to pray for you, let you know I'm praying for you.' And I was very grateful about that."
Liberals have challenged his faith-based initiative, which allows religious organizations to apply for government funds to administer social services such as drug rehabilitation and food banks.
The president said there is no reason to fear his conspicuous practice of his Methodist faith or his approval of religious expression in the public square.
Mr. Bush said he leans heavily on his religion every day that he is in the Oval Office and cannot imagine any man handling the pressures of the job without leaning on God.
Read the rest here.
Another Blog To Bookmark
Check out the blog of Matthew Casteel, our musical missionary. There is quite a bit of cool stuff, like the interview with Delirious.
All Things New
Here is the beginning of Pastor Mark Roberts' continuing series that helps us view the tsunami tradgedy from a theologically informed perspective.
Yet as we were finishing up our Christmas dinners the next day, nature was singing another song, and it was a tragic tune indeed. At 4:58 p.m. PST on December 25th, an enormous earthquake rumbled beneath the Indian Ocean just off the coast of Indonesia. Initial damage from the 9.0 quake was great, but nothing compared with the catastrophic impact of the tsunami it created. Soon, surging walls of water pounded Southeast Asia, from Indonesia and Thailand to Sri Lanka and India. Even thousands of miles away in Africa over 100 lives were lost from the powerful tsunami. But that was nothing compared with the devastation closer to the epicenter of the quake, where well over a hundred thousand people died instantly, with millions homeless and facing desperate conditions in the aftermath of the tsunami.
During this past week, our hearts have been gripped by stories and pictures of human suffering: mounds of rubble containing human corpses, the city of Banda Aceh in northern Indonesia virtually demolished, fathers weeping for lost children, children wandering aimlessly looking for parents they will never find. Even though most of us have not been directly touched by this tragedy, nevertheless we have been personally moved by the suffering of others.
And then we ended the week with New Year’s Eve, a traditional time of reveling, a chance to welcome the new year with toasts and kisses. Yet even in Times Square, where over a million people gathered for fireworks and other festivities, the crowd paused for a moment of silence to remember the victims of the tsunami. Similar displays of solidarity and sadness were seen throughout the world.
So we live in a strange times, a time of stark contrasts. Perhaps we remember the classic words of Ecclesiastes. There is:
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance; (3:3-5)
Yet in our crazy world, this is a time for all those things at once.
In time like this we can’t help but asking lots of questions, like: How can we even think of a new year when life is so tragic? And where is God in all of this tragedy? Does faith help us to make sense of the suffering on the shores of the Indian Ocean? Is there some cord that ties together the calamity in Southeast Asia, the turn of the new year, and God?
Yes, I believe there is, and it’s to be found in the 21st chapter of Revelation, verses 1-5.
Read all of it here.
More commentary can be found here:
N.T. Wright, “Meanings of Christmas: In the new world there will be no more sea.”
Tod Bolsinger, “Don’t ‘Just Do It’.”
Craig Williams, “On Suffering and What to Do”
Albert Mohler, “God and the Tsunami – Theology in the Headlines, Part One
Albert Mohler, “God and the Tsunami – Theology in the Headlines, Part Two”
Donald Sensing, “Tsunamis and the Presence of God”