Three E's Converge

courtesy BBC

I wrote about the impending crises in the three E's -- energy, environment, and economy -- several weeks ago. This weekend we saw all three converge, vying for media coverage with each other.  Hurricane Ike hit Texas and the Gulf Coast; gas prices spiked with gas rationed in some areas; and, the financial markets are taking a hit today.  Lessons we are learning include:

• The price of oil per barrel is not the only thing driving gas prices higher.
• The broader financial crisis is not over, and more bad news is coming.
• The environment -- including natural disasters -- impacts us in a number of ways.
• All of the 3-E's provide opportunities for outreach and ministry.

Christine Sine has a great post on our response as Christians to these events.  In part Christine says --

I really have been wondering about this as I have followed the path of Hurricanes Gustave and Ike and then watched the stock markets crash all over the world this morning.  Yet of the numerous Christian blogs I have followed over the weekend only one has had a post with a prayer and a thought for those whose lives have been devastated by these tragedies.  I feel that most of my blogging friends are living in a glass shell where the world and all that happens in it does not really exist.

The 3-E's are issues that affect our churches, our communities, and our world.  We need to think about how the changing future alters our current plans.  Let me know what your church is thinking in light of the 3-E's.