Pastor David Keuss - Hope without Compromise

T his article came out based on Labor Dept. statistics: here . The general idea is that 2011 like 2010 had lower consumer income and lower spending. Food out, entertainment, and giving to charity took the big hits while money was transferred to gasoline and increased food prices. It makes one wonder. In our missions participation, our missions partner denomination says that national level giving has remained at a level that drops slowly the past few years. How is this impacting the Great Commission? If the trend remains as it often does in the American context, since things normally regress, how will it affect international missions 5-10 years out? Worth exploring in more depth...

W hen it comes to that fog or lack of interest at work, apparently there is solace in community. It turns out that reputable poller Gallup reports 55% of workers are not engaged with their work. (mid 2005) in the USA. Interestingly, The Guardian paper reports 33% of UK'ers are bored at work most of the day. (early 2003) Human resource and staffing experts reported at 45% of respondants that they had lost people who were bored at their work in one past survey. What is boredom? This article explores the matter. The sense of boredom the article goes with includes a tedious or fatigue related attitude. So it isn't necessarily lack of something to do or being inactive per se . It seems like part of this can be overcome with living for Christ in purpose. Philippians 1 addresses some of this challenge to a believer in Jesus. Paul was fatigued (he had plenty to do though) with his missions efforts, not because they were boring but because he knew something better awaited. He changed h...

A s far as it goes with economics being largely social science with math brought in to track trends or remove false assumptions, there is an interesting piece that came out on how those who are in their 20's and 30's have been facing hard times in this economy. On my day off I've been pondering some of these trends. It is here on this link . (May also be found here .) In essence, those who are graduates are not getting jobs in their fields and are instead entering service sector jobs that don't pay as well and every year drain down their level of expertise they had when they graduated. When things do eventually improve, it says, they are going to have to compete with those who are fresh out of training / school, who may have an advantage. That is why the article calls it the lost generation. It has been my experience that many of my friends in their 20's and early 30's are in the exact bind of this article. That's the only reason I posted this, is because I ...

In 1991 a NASA satelite that did Upper Atmosphere research was launched from the Space Shuttle. Now with the Shuttle retired and the satelite about to fall to somewhere on earth in the next three or four days, another milestone related to 1991 has hit. According to the USA Today reporter Cathy Lynn Grossman, American have changed their religious beliefs since WWII in a way that has had impact over the past twenty years in a noticeable dent. This long term result is that now she says we can sing "Gods bless America" rather than "God bless America" since "the folks who make up God as they go are side by side with self-proclaimed with believers who shed their ties to traditional beliefs and practices." George Barna underlines that unfortunate trend, stating that "310 million people with 310 million religions" is an appropriate description of the American landscape. In 1991, still 49% of US adults in a typical week attended a church service. Today i...

While I'm not 80 or even 90% sure how this affects every area of presenting the gospel and outreach yet, though I would love to read more, this steep decline in perception is very very relevant to church planting. The # now stands at 11% which has only happened a few times, and in recent history in late 2008. New results show: Click here for Gallup poll. It's worth thinking about practically. The top leaders of the downshift as expected in the current climate are 1. economy. 2. jobs. 3. federal deficit .

Just a quick blog post on something that stood out related to ministers. It is too sad, but those defending the country from threats abroad face much stress. Being away from family, being shot at, having a restricted language barrier in foreign counties, and much more. Apparently there is a high point in July 2011 among Army suicides. The link is here . For chaplains, this means readiness and preparedness to assist other Army professionals to reach out to soldiers. It means seeing the tough combat perspective from God's encouragements in the Word. This will require wisdom and seeking deliberate application to lead them to serve God through the struggles. It is a tough ministry, but one well worth it.

An article appeared here from a major polling site . The article details a recent poll showing that 46% of US citizens polled think that Congress is corrupt. Another interesting fact is that only 6% of those polled ( a # that keeps coming up in different polls, so it likely very accurate ) approve of the job Congress is doing. Only 17% of US citizens think the government is operating with the consent of the governed. Is it any wonder then that only 29% of those polled thought members of Congress were not corrupt. The citizens are realizing that: not only are many or most Congressmen and women no better than their constituents in civility, morality, and virtue in general, but in fact they're worse. Sex scandals. Cheating on taxes. Lying under oath. We almost expect federal politicians to just tell you what people want to hear in order to get elected. Then nothing seems to be accomplished that everyone wants. If you were dating or courting someone like that as a potential spouse, yo...