Evangelical Attitudes: A Candid Christian Survey

This is a blatant rip-off of this month's issue of Relevant magazine, the cover story of which asks about "7 Burning Issues: Injustice, War, Consumerism, Faith, Culture, Politics and Gay Rights--You Asked the Questions, We Found Answers."

I thought it was an incredibly compelling piece, so much that I wanted to do my own survey of some of the issues that's facing the 21st century church in an increasingly post-Christian society. It's something that's of particular interest in my area; West Virginia and the rest of Appalachia certainly lags behind in terms of socio-cultural trends, and the emerging church conversation has yet to reach the hills and valleys where I live. And that's a shame, because the same cultural and societal attitudes that are driving the conversation exist here as they do elsewhere, it's just that we aren't reaping the benefits of what might arise from the emerging church conversation. That's why one of my goals through this blog is to encourage more dialogue about post-modern culture and Christianity here in Appalachia in general and West Virginia in particular.

So, I would ask that you join the conversation, no matter where you're from or who you are. Answer these poll questions, leave a comment, drop me an e-mail. Let's see what there is to learn, and how we can teach others about Jesus.

Grace and Peace...
















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Gorging on Jesus

Kudos to Winn Collier for another winner (sorry, couldn't help myself) of a blog post over at Relevant. Exactly the sort of thing that's on my mind. Read it here.

(A quick sidebar: Relevant is quickly becoming my favorite mag. It's the one I increasingly find myself waiting with baited breath when it's about time for it to show in the mailbox. Great, great publication. There is all sorts of stuff I want to address in the latest issue. More on that later. I digress.)

God’s been really hitting me with this stuff lately. Consumer addiction. Man, that hits home. I’ve been reading “A Celebration of Discipline,” and the chapter on prayer deals with this very issue. In it, Richard Foster admonishes us against praying “Thy will be done.” Sounds strange that someone would fail to pray that. Heck, I’ve been doing it my whole life. Pray it when the kids are sick, when I’m stressed at work, when the car breaks down. Why? Jesus prayed it, right?

But the point Foster makes is that when we are in tune with Him, we are in tune with His will. And when we are in tune with His will, how can we pray anything but His will? This piece touches on that, saying that when we have consumer addiction and when wants and desires form the basis of our idolatry, “we baptize our every whim and desire in the name of me.” Whew. Powerful stuff. And convicting.


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