In my earlier post on the first of this year, I offered the first seven of fourteen predictions for American churches for 2014. I must admit I am concerned about my focus on American congregations when so much is taking place in churches around the world. I am challenged to write more global posts for fear they will become too generic without local applications. I will continue to work on that issue.
For now, I will continue to look at American congregations. As a reminder, I noted that my predictions are based on both objective and subjective information. Each of the predictions has a reasonable explanation. For these fourteen predictions, I gleaned from several sources:
- Data-based research, particularly LifeWay Research.
- Trends that are already underway and gaining momentum.
- Conversations with hundreds of church leaders.
- My own experiences, based on 25 years of consulting and research of American congregations.
For these fourteen predictions, I added a new feature, a confidence factor. For example, if I said I had 100 percent confidence that a prediction would become reality, it would mean that I have absolutely no doubt about it. None of these predictions have a 100 percent confidence factor. But none of them fall below 70 percent either. That means I have a fairly high level of certainty about each of these trends.
The order of the trends is random. They are not ranked in any particular priority. On Wednesday, I shared the first seven predictions. I conclude today with the final seven. Keep reading
1 comment:
Your report complements the Barna report that only 9% of Born Again Christians in the U.S., tithe 10% or more. But isn't it possible that Christians are not cheerful givers because they don't want to subsidize or be accomplices to apostate churches or teachings. Or it could be because they saw Dr. Russell Kelly's film: Tithing is not a Christian Doctrine: see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYFkEh5bEXw. Rick Warren states that his Purpose Driven Life book is "the bestselling non-fiction hardback book in history." But this raises two more issues of conflict with Scripture: (1) Is the statement even true see http://www.perfectpeaceplan.com/post/is-rick-warrens-claim-that-his-book-is-the-best-selling-non-fiction-hardback-book-in-history-true/ , (2) If wide is the highway to destruction, and narrow is the way...multitudes buying Rick Warren's book and following his programs and teachings would be a dubious title.
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