Blessed????

Faith is a fuzzy thing. We think we see something very clear and we advocate that everyone see the same clear picture. The UMC held its General Conference earlier this year and some interesting statistics were presented:
1. 96% of people living in the U.S. believe in God; 2. 53% of the 96% say it makes no difference in their living; 3. 60% have no Christian relationship; 4. 80% of 18-30 year-olds have no relationship with the church whatsoever. If you think, as many do, that the UMC would intentionally skew their research I would invite you to read UnChristian which goes even further in explaining what a poor job believers do in modeling Christ to our culture.
It sure seems that the evil one has figured out how to lure believers in America to sleep. . . . .abundance. We want for very little, it will be interesting to see how faith surveys change if the "recession" we aren't in hangs around for another year. Abundance does not increase faith, easy lives with plenty to eat, every electronic gadget on earth, the latest car, homes large enough to house the entire extended family, and lives so busy we have no time to build a relationship, a true deep, meaningful relationship with anyone. I am not advocating returning to life in the early 20th century or late 19th century but having visited a culture where relationships are first and foremost does make one think about the direction our country has taken. If all your material needs are met in abundance why would you need to trust the unseen God? I can do all things but it doesn't appear that I need Christ to strengthen me. Adversity seems to bring about deeper faith. I have written about my nephew who is, as I write, in Pittsburgh recovering from major surgery. I have learned more about a deepening faith in God through he and his family as they struggle, not only with the present but with the future, to meet the decisions of the day. They take each day as it comes and are thankful for everything God has done, is doing and will do. To watch the relationship that Daniel has built with his nurses, that is Christ working through us and that is how we will impact the world. The latest praise song may make our heart twitter and our eyes mist but in the end it is how we relate to those around us. It appears that Americans don't really want to do the next step in their faith, the hard step, which is to develop a relationship with someone who may not think like they do on every issue. That is the only way we will change the statistics mentioned earlier.