Congregation
Today I bought pollster John Zogby's new book, The Way We'll Be, subtitled, The Zogby Report on The Transformation of the American Dream. Called a "super pollster" because he uses innovative methodologies in his polling work, Zogby sees a very different future for the
Community
(A couple of days ago I wrote about several converging crises -- energy, economy, and environment. Since then the price of gas has gone down! Proof that I was wrong. Not! As a nation we are so shell-shocked by the energy crisis that we think a 10-cent reduction in the
Congregation
Last November, I posed the question, "If gas hits $4/gal, what will your church do?" We are beyond $4/gallon gas now, and the future looks different than we ever thought it would just a couple of years back. But, there are other crises which will affect
Culture
Thursday night the commonwealth of Virginia executed Christopher Scott Emmett. Emmett was convicted in the 2001 bludgeoning murder of his co-worker Mr. Langley. Apparently Mr. Emmett was guilty. It took a jury less than an hour to convict him. Mr. Emmett killed for his victim's wallet -- so
Culture
Title sound familiar? Well, apparently Buddhists in Japan are facing the same challenges as small churches in the US. Listen to this from the New York Times article, "In Japan, Buddhism May Be Dying Out:" The lack of successors to chief priests is jeopardizing family-run temples nationwide. While
Global issues
I ran across this site, internetforeveryone.org, which touts "the internet for everyone." Not hard to figure that out -- their reasoning is broadband access enables everyone to participate in democracy and exercise free speech. Good argument, especially in light of the fact that only 20% of the
bless the world
I don't mean to harp on this, but the current rise in oil prices impacts more than just where we take our next vacations. As James Howard Kunstler states in his article, Wake Up America, We're Driving Toward Disaster: As the world passes the all-time oil
Congregation
Last November I posted about rising gas prices and the possible effect on churches. Now $4-a-gallon gas seems like a bargain as rumors fly that gas will hit $5 to $7 per gallon by year end. Apparently Americans didn't stop driving when gas hit $3 per gallon, but
Congregation
On November 21, I posted If gas hits $4/gal, what will your church do? Comments indicated some thought it was not going to be a problem, others were keeping a close eye on economic developments. This week 5 economic items of interest all converged: 1. Low consumer confidence. According
Creativity
Eden's Path - detail of our house from a painting by Debbie. Debbie and I created a new blog to record our journey toward a simpler life. Eden's Path features the practical things we are doing to spend less, enjoy life more, and live in the
Creativity
Now that I've solved some technical challenges, like getting my blog aggreagator going at chuckwarnock.com, I'm back to snipping trends that have church implications -- here are the latest that caught my attention -- * Pangea Day -- a day when film brings the world together
economics
You have got to see this slideshow from PSFK, a trend watching company out of the UK. They nail some of the emerging trends in the consumer world, which has big implications for church. Piers Fawkes identifies these five trends changing the consumer world: 1. Good food. Healthier, fewer ingredients,