...thoughts expressed here are not necessarily final. November 16, 2004 Enter the Subway Zone Its a place of sight and sound where we must be approaching the speed of light because for all the world this six inch sub looks to measure about 5 and a quarter inches as the space-time continuum warps. Or maybe Subway is just making their serving "shortbread" these days? I'll have to do some research on this tuna sandwich and let you know after lunch. It's 38 days till Christmas Didja know Christmas has its very own website- check out http://www.christmas.com/pe/56
A new study shows that Protestant clergy in America name divorce as the top threat to families in their communities, followed by a wide range of problems from materialism to marital infidelity to negative influences in the media. Ellison Research conducted the study using a representative sample of 695 pastors from across the nation. The researchers asked pastors to identify the three strongest threats to families in their own communities. In their responses, reported in the November/December 2004 issue of Facts &Trends magazine, 43 percent of the pastors surveyed named divorce as the number-one threat. Meanwhile, 38 percent named negative influences from the media, and 36 percent cited materialism. After the top three threats cited, absentee fathers (24 percent) and families that lack a stay-at-home parent (22 percent) were among the top threats to the family most frequently named by pastors. Other serious threats to the family that were mentioned included co-habitation before marriage (18 percent), pornography (17 percent), and morality not being taught in schools (14 percent). Ron Sellers, president of Ellison Research, says the new study revealed that the level of threat each of these issues represented differed from region to region and from one demographic to the next. Facts & Trends retains Ellison Research to supply current data on issues and challenges facing Christian pastors and the contemporary Church. More Demographics Anthony Healy, the head of a business that specializes in church demographic studies says some interesting trends are changing the way churches do ministry. Visions-Decisions says many churches and groups are missing some of the demographic trends taking place within the U.S. population. Tne demographic trend that is creating a niche in America is the aging of the population. Another change is that more young adults today are taking more time for education and career options and putting off getting married and starting a family. Such demographic trends have an effect on what people look for in a church, and so a church needs to know the trends in order to respond to people's needs. Where perhaps most people once chose a church based on location, people now go to a certain church not because it is close, but because it has programs suited to their needs. He says churches today are becoming more regionalized and increasingly made up of members with similar lifestyles. Spotted recently in my email:
Sometimes I get so Americentric in my thoughts that I need good jolt- so here goes- news of God's work halfway around the world: "Invitation of Jesus into the nation of Vanuatu
and the city of Port Vila by the newly elected Prime Minister of Vanuatu,
the Hon Serge Vohor, August 2004: LINK: http://www.oneheart.com.au/art.asp?id=390 Whoa- if this is true- I wanna go to Figi. Better yet, I want to commit to pray this for my country (and myself) daily. November 18, 2004 Subject: Thoughts on Galatians 2:20- The Deliverance of the Cross From: Foster, Anthony Sent: Thursday, November 18, 2004 8:35 AM To: Foster, Anthony I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer
I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the
flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself
for me. --Galatians 2:20 When we wallow in the mire of self confidence, self sufficiency, or self love we are caught in a snare that the church itself, all too many times, has laid for us in the guise of western mythology, bootstrap theology or in the perverted pursuit a good "self-image". We are even taught from pulpits that one cannot love others if one does not first love oneself!
There is a light that shines and the truth it reveals
shall set us free- thesearing light of the cross which will scorch the
flesh and purify the heart. It is the light of the glory of the Lord in
the face of Christ Jesus that sears and rends our wickedness before its
glow- if we will abide in his presence. Curiously, we find extreme examples
of these sins tolerated in Christian leadership and are wont to confront
them lest we lay hands on the annointed of the Lord. Ego, self promotion,
and thinking oneself to be needed by God as the source of sage knowlege
have kept many a man of God from growing in the graces of the humility
it takes to be a shepherd. When we make much of self, or others, for that
matter, we tend to make much less of God than He rightfully is due.
November 19, 2004 Microsoft vs. Planet Earth Microsoft Corp. warned Asian governments on Thursday they could face patent lawsuits for using the Linux operating system instead of its Windows software. Good news, Ma Smith is coming to our house tomorrow, then we will take her to Louisville to visit her son at his new house during Thanksgiving and back with us for Christmas shopping so I get Earnie back. Just in time too. It was foreordained before the foundations of the world that I should not be a left to my own devices. |
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From the personal weblog of Anthony Foster @http://anthonyfoster.com/blog/