Ted Haggard thinks so. This is from his twitter feed.

• I believe we are at the end of what church historians will, in the future, call the Billy Graham era.
• I believe we are also nearing the end of the "Religious Right" representing Evangelicalism.
• My prayer is that over the next 10 years, there will be a Love Reformation and the Gospel will retake the Bible-believing church.

Of course, Ted Haggard isn't the greatest spokesperson. The guy got busted cheating on his wife with a prostitute and taking illegal drugs. He reminds me of the quote, "A liberal is just a conservative who's been arrested."  That said, I do agree that we are nearing the end of the Religious Right representing Evangelicals. 

However, I tend to think it's more a generational thing than anything else. Baby Boomers grew up in the free-love sixties and seventies, without a lot of rules and a serious distrst of authoirity. And then when the Boomers became adults and had kids, they got terrfied and leaned on a legalistic view of the Bible to help keep everyone in line.  Conversely, Gen-X and Millenials grew up in the more conservative 80's and 90's and don't have the same fears of openness and tolerance that Baby Boomers do.  It's not that Christians under 40 are advocating more sex and drugs, they just approach the issues differently. And I expect they will want their churches to approach these issues differently as well.

I suspect that the moral beliefs of the church will remain pretty much the same. The Modern Church will still oppose pre-marital sex. Alcohol and drugs will be frowned on. Homosexuality will probably still be considered a sin. But the difference will be in how these issues are approached in the church. There is gonna be a lot less condemnation and a lot more compassion. Because let's face it. We all sin. And we all need forgiveness.

There is a new book out that looks at how marriage is progressing in America. And guess what, it's going pretty well. Salon interviewed the author and here is some of what she had to say:

What you think about the state of the American marriage is wrong: Half of marriages don’t end in divorce; married people don’t have less sex than their single counterparts and — surprise! — fighting can actually be beneficial to your relationship.

The book also analyzes divorce statistics.

Couples married in the 1970s have a 30-year divorce rate of about 47 percent. A person who got married in the 1970s had a completely different upbringing and experience in life from someone who got married in the 1990s. It's been very clear that divorce rates peaked in the 1970s and has been going down ever since.

All you young married people who fear you're going to end up like your parents. Stop worrying. Apparently, the 70's were just a lousy time for everyone.  (Disco, President Carter, Oil Embargo, Bell Bottoms) It's a surprise anyone survived that miserable decade.

And the last point in the article, which I love:

This whole idea of personal fulfillment in marriage is relatively new, and it has certainly gummed up the works. Marriage is a lot more high maintenance when you've married your "soul mate."

Ha! I don't really have a point here. I just think this an interesting look at how marriage has developed over the last 30 years. It appears that people married in the 80's and 90's have a more realistic expectation of marriage and are staying together longer than those folks married in the 70's. I have no idea why that is, but I find it fascinating.

Jack sends in this short video that parodies what the modern church is like.

I've been to a few churches like this. It's the whole, "Hey man, we're cool just like you" approach to evangelism. It just seems so fake to me. And completely uncool.

Honestly, the most Christ-like Christians I know are the ones that don't go to church. They're the least judgmental, the least fake, the most sincere.  For some reason, when Christians go to church they get surrounded by this group-think mentality, and they begin to judge all other Christians on whether or not they match up with their own Church congregation.  Their Faith becomes colored by their church environment. It's annoying.

I'm absolutely fascinated by the most recent Catholic Church sex abuse case.  It's less about the abuse, and more about how dangerous religion can be. I understand that religion and Faith can give hope when you're in despair and strength when you're weak. But it can also disguise itself as a priest and try to put its hands down your pants. (Not Cool)

Here is testimony from a woman who describes the time she was molested:  

I went into absolute shock and denial and couldn't move. But once I realized what he was doing, I snapped to reality and ran from his office.  His attempts at groping at my breasts ended there.  I shudder to think how far he would have gone if I hadn't done that.  I was one of the lucky ones.

No, I didn't tell anyone. Not my parents, not my friends, other family members nor the school authorities.  I instinctively knew that he must have done or tried to do the same thing with other girls. True, I was 16 y/o.  But I was an impressionable, naive, innocent virginal child of those times and that age.  I trusted this priest with my whole heart. Him abusing that trust is abominable.

This priest is a horrible horrible human being.  But to me this also proves the dangers of putting your trust in man rather than God.  If that priest was just a clerk at the grocery store, chances are this young girl would have told someone.

Or another way of saying it, when someone purports to be speaking for God. He isn't. He's just trying to put his hands down your pants.

Since a lot of this blog highlights the dangerous pastors, preachers, and authors of today, I thought I would point out a few of the good ones I have learned from over the years.  These guys teach a message that does not involve money, celebrity, or false doctrine.

• John Piper: Most people know of him.  Really powerful speaker and teacher with a lot of Gospel centered teachings.  Website: http://www.desiringgod.org/
• Francis Chan: A guy who preaches really strong about serving and sacrifice for the greater good.  It's reported that he gives away about 90 percent of his income and no longer takes a salary form the church he pastors.  Website: http://francischansblog.blogspot.com/
• Jared Wilson: Guy on the east coast with a heart to preach the Gospel and reach people.  Website: http://gospeldrivenchurch.blogspot.com/
• Eric Knox: A former City Bible youth pastor who had a massive life change in the course of his ministry and founded two Gospel-centered churches (one in Portland and one in Los Angeles).  One of the best preachers/teachers you will ever hear.  Website: http://www.sojournvillage.com/
• Donald Miller: Great author and speaker with an approach to religion and faith that speaks to everyone.  I highly recommend reading his books.  Website: http://donmilleris.com/
• Brennan Manning: Another great author who wrote one of my favorite books of all time "The Ragamuffin Gospel."  Website: http://www.brennanmanning.com/

I know there are plenty more out there, but these are the few that I have come across who seem to have a really great message on Gospel-centered living.  If anyone knows of any other solid pastors, teachers, authors or leaders or thinks one of the people I mentioned are not so great, please do share.

Interesting blog I found. Some readers of City Business Church can probably relate.

recoveringfundamentalists.com

I found this blog post and thought it was an interesting piece.  I especially liked reading the comments.  I'm curious to see if we can get the same kind of discussion going on here.  KenGurley writes:

Lately, I've been thinking about a report I read a year or so ago.  The report was based on a national survey sponsored by Christianity Today International and Zondervan Publishers and found in the Leadership magazine.  The report said that there were five kinds of Christians in America.

Rather than grouping these folks by their individual denominations, the survey groups them by their overall beliefs.  The five types of Christians are:

Active Christians.  These believe that salvation comes through Jesus Christ and are committed churchgoers.  They read their Bibles and share their faith.

Professing Christians.  Beliefs are similar to Active Christians, but their actions differ.  They are less involved in church and less committed to Bible reading and sharing faith.

Liturgical Christians.  Primarily Catholic and Lutheran, these people are regular churchgoers, have a high level of spiritual and community activity and recognize the authority of the church.

Private Christians.  The largest and youngest segment surveyed believe in God and in doing good things.  The majority own a Bible but do not read it.  Only about one-third attend church at all.

Cultural Christians.  Little outward religious behavior or attitudes.  They are aware of God, but have little involvement with him.  They believe that there are many ways to God and that Jesus Christ is not the only way.

One item of interest was that 9 in 10 Active and Professing Christians believe that accepting Jesus as Savior and Lord is essential to salvation.  Liturgical, Private and Cultural Christians hold to "believing in God" as the main characteristic of being a Christian.  For a large percentage of people who called themselves Christian, Christ is not the centerpiece of their faith.

Based on the above categories, I guess you can call me an Active Christian.  I believe Jesus is still "The Way."  What about you?

I would say I am more of the professing Christian type, with traits of an active Christian.  I believe Jesus is the only way and I have a deep faith and commitment to serving Him.  However, I don't read my Bible or share my faith as much as I should and I have not been involved with a church (as it's commonly known) for about 4 years.  I used to be the active Christian type but found myself burnt out and empty after a number of years of living by the "rules" of Christianity.

So I'm curious, how do readers of CBC categorize themselves?

The Christian Post reports that pastors can now go to a website where they pledge to keep their sermons Bible-based, and avoid the rampant practice of so many modern-day pastors who preach sermons based more on positive thinking, personal wellness, general ethics and extra-biblical topics than they do on the Word of God.

At the LC I used to attend here in NorCal they had a guy on their pastoral staff who was a (professional) Motivational Speaker, and who was often asked by the SP to speak on Sundays, amidst a lot of flair and hoopla. They would even put up a life-sized, cardboard cut-out of him in the church lobby, of him standing with his hands held out and smiling.

His “sermons” were usually quite animated, and were filled with various jokes, antics, high-jinks and histrionics, with him bouncing — and often jumping – all over the platform, and were filled with references that always managed to center upon himself, his wife, or his child. It was quite a show.

He always "preached" on the same motivational hokum he spoke on to all the secular corporations and Fortune 500 companies, with titles like: “Believing In Yourself,” “Don‘t Ever Quit,” “You Can Have What You Want,” and “Dare To Be A Dreamer.” The only difference was in the Sunday sermons, he would typically throw in one or two Bible verses to make it sound like the people were getting a real sermon. 

As I recall, the people ate it up.

-joe

I was reading though the New York Times today and found this article highlighting some pretty interesting websites.  Apparently there are a number of prayer sites including prayabout.com, ipraytoday.com, and ourprayer.org where people can anonymously post prayer request with the goal of having others pray for them. According to the article, the company that runs one of these sites gets almost 2 million prayer requests a year. Although I get the idea and think using the web for social networking and community building is a good thing, I'm still baffled at the number of "crazy" Christians that are out there. I don't get why so many people seek God like a candy giver. Praying for health, safety, and guidance is one thing, but asking God to help your husband listen to his psychiatrist or asking to get an A on an exam seems a bit out there to me.  Maybe I'm the only one, but I like to believe that God's got my life under His complete control and my praying should be focused on God's work in others lives more then my own.  Any thoughts? 

Christians have been getting a bad rap on this blog, and I just want to share a story I heard about a lay pastor in Tulsa, Oklahoma who helped a bunch of Indian/Kuwaiti Immigrants escape slavery from a local manuracturing plant. The men were forced into a kind of virtual slaved labor, with almost no help of escape.

The story picks up here

Thankfully, a couple of workers were able to sneak out (leaving the factory without permission was forbidden under armed guard) on a Sunday and they slipped into the nearby church to participate in worship and escape the oppressive conditions of Pickle’s prison. Mark Massey, a lay minister there, connected with the men and befriended them in spite of their broken english and seemingly suspicious demeanor. Eventually, he learned of their plight and began to smuggle them out into his own home, vacating his house so that dozens of Indian workers could find a safe place of refuge while he contacted local organizations to collect food and resources for the men. meanwhile, he also recruited the only lawyer he knew for the cause, an attorney who humorously admitted that prior to this case, he couldn’t even spell “immigration.”

What stuck out to me was an encounter between massey and some of the workers one night when he was helping them to escape the factory- two of the men had brought their friend who told Massey, “I’m hindu- but will you help me as well?” and Massey replied, “of course- that’s what the gospel is about.”

The whole story is spelled out in an episode of This American Life. It's a fascinating look at a pastor in a mid-western town who shortly after 9/11 sacrified his life to help a bunch of Middle Eastern men. And why did he do it? Because it's what Christ would do.

I just want to point out that there are a lot of good Christian out there. And frankly, we need to help tell their story. Because, if not. All we're gonna get is "The Glories of the Prosperity Gospel" and "How to Raise up a Standard to Fight a Tide of Sexual Immorality."