Get Souled Out
The God Rush
Far from the
future being religion-free, the future is
more filled with religion than ever
before.
The United States
is one of the most religious nations in
the developed world. It is also one of
the most secular.
In her recent book, Faith
Popcorn argues that "We’re at
the start of a Great Awakening. A time of
spiritual upheaval and religious
revival.... What’s different about
this awakening is that there’s very
little agreement on who or what God is,
what constitutes worship, and what this
ritualistic outpouring means for the
future direction of our
civilization."
We are in the midst of a
spiritual awakening and the Christian
church is not leading it.
God is hot
with Hollywood.
God is hot with the rich and famous
God is hot with musicians
God is hot with publishers
God is hot with pollsters
God is hot with atheists
God is hot with politicians
God is hot on the Internet
God is hot o the lecture circuit
God is hot on Madison Avenue
God is hot with corporate America and
management consultants
God is hot with broadcasters
God is hot with scientists
A spiritual tsunami has
hit postmodern culture. People want to
know God. They less want to know about
God, or know about religion than know
God. People want to experience "The
Beyond in the Within."
This huge spiritual hunger
does not automatically translate into an
interest in the church. In fact, quite
the opposite. There is often a rebellion
against the church’s past handling
of spiritual experiences. In the words of
Jeff Woods: "Society is not
disinterested in God; society is
disinterested in the institutional
church." Name me a newspaper that
doesn’t have a daily astrology
column. Name me a newspaper that has a
daily religion column.
We may know how to live
well materially, but we do not know how
to live well.
This little light
of mine
I’m gonna let it shine.
Let it shine!
Let it shine!
Let it shine!
Now What? Net Notes
1.
Experience the romp through the
subconscious and archetypal art in the
CD-ROM Scrutiny in the Great Round.
2. More
and more employers are hiring chaplains
for workplace counseling. Visit
Marketplace Ministries at http://www.marketplaceministries.com. What companies
do you know that have corporate
chaplains?
3. Paul
G. Donelson umc@gatecom.com is the
WebMinister for both Bill Easum and me.
These are his personal picks for the
"Top Ten Church Web Sites."
Some of these he selected because they
demonstrate that you don’t need a
huge budget to put up a dynamic Web site.
Others he picked because they went all
the way, spent some significant change,
and are pioneering new forms of ministry
online, His first pick is also my
favorite church Web site, one that I
visit each week because Mike Slaughter is
my cyberpastor. I sit at his feet each
week as he opens the Word. I also love
this site because everything on it is
done by unpaid workers.
(1)
Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church,
Tipp City OH http://www.ginghamsburg.org/
(2) First Christian Church of Canton, OH http://www.fcccanton.org/website/index.htm
(3) New Hope Christian Fellowship, Oahu,
HA http://www.newhope-hawaii.org/
(4) Free Methodist Community Church, New
Middletown, OH http://www.cboss.com/fmcc/
(5) McLean Bible Church, McLean, VA http://mcleanbible.org
(6) Saddleback Valley Community Church,
Mission Viejo, CA http://www.saddleback.com/
(7) Prince of Peace Lutheran Church,
Burnsville, MN http://www.changingchurch.org/
(8) The American Baptist Churches of
Massachusetts http://www.tabcom.org
(9) Calvary United Methodist Church,
Flint, MI http://www.flintcalvary.org
(10) First and St. James United Methodist
Churches, Pontiac, MI http://www.umcs.org
4.
Consult the George Barna Website at http://www.barna.org.
Barna
argues that the much-vaunted
"spiritual awakening" is
imperceptible using traditional measures
of spirituality.
5. Check
out these Web sites for their spiritual
content:
New
Media Communications:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepage/dlature
Fish!Your
Slipway:
http://users.aol.com/YLHQ/fish/fish-pci.htm
Other
Christian Sites:
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/Members/s.livingston/otherchristiansites.html
Christians
on the Internet:
http://www.coin.org.uk/
ChurchNet
UK:
http://www.ucsm.ac.uk/church.net.uk
Gospel
Communication Network:
http://www.gospelcom.net/
Guidance:
http://www.gospelcom.net/guidance/
Lighthouse
Magazine:
http://tlem.netcentral.net/
eXtreme
Christianity:
http://php.iupi.edu/~blgroce/eXtreme/eXtreme.htm
Christianity
Net:
http://www.Christianity.net
Rhythms
of Redemption:
http://members.aol.com/RhythmRed/index.htm
Greenbelt
Festivals:
http://www.greenbelt.org.uk/
Phantom
Tollbooth:
http://www.tollbooth.org/main.html
Christian
Resource Index:
http://www.nlnet.com/nlnet/xianres.html
Village
Chapel:
http://www.worldvillage.com/wv/square/chapel/chapel.htm
Web
Chapel:
http://web2.airmail.net/webchap/
Christian
Interactive Network:
http://www.gocin.com/
Cforc:
http://www.cforc.com/index.cgi?middle
Christian
Surf Shop:
http://members.aol.com/stantlinge/test.htm
6. The
Israeli company Virtual Jerusalem lets
you e-mail a prayer to their Web site.
Without charge they will then print it
out and stuff it in one of the cracks in
Jerusalem’s Western Wall.
7. For
how many years, months, days, hours,
minutes, and seconds left until 1 January
2000, go to http://www.wfs.org/futurist.htm.
8. Have
someone download the short essay by Fil
Yeskel, "Invisible Worlds" in
Idées Fortes," Wired (Jan.
1996): 117, and encourage others to
download it: http://www.wired.com/wired/4.01/departments/yeskel.if.html.
9. Do
some Christian Net surfing on the
Institute for Christian Leadership Web
site at http://www.iclnet.org.
Then try
one of their 50 Internet discussion
groups.
10. The
Lighthouse Electronic Magazine is one
of my favorite online shots of spiritual
spizzerinctum (that’s Appalachian
for adrenalin). Visit them at http://tlem.netcentral.net/toc.html.
Go to
"Reviews" and listen to some
sound clips of some new gospel
recordings.
11.
Design a spirituality card for someone
using AOL’s "design a
card" spirituality and religion
theme card.
|
