He’s still a mighty fortress! Turn up the volume.
Is this a case of “seek and ye shall find”? More good news–it’s out there.
According to a recently-released study by Harvard and Indiana University Bloomington, Christianity in America is not shrinking, but growing stronger (http://thefederalist.com/2018/01/22/new-harvard-research-says-u-s-christianity-not-shrinking-growing-stronger/?fbclid=IwAR2XkMLvWJzF3P4lTkrhMg-wSVxzmAdiCKhMoGsjhpNuM9s8U-Tu5n2YX9U#.XH7kV-iIzB6.facebook).
Yes, the mainline/flatline denominations are declining like mad, people leaving them in droves. But at the same time, overall church attendance, regular Bible reading, trust in the Bible as God’s word, and daily prayer, have held “steel-bar” steady for the past 50 years. It seems people who leave the loosey-goosey liberal churches don’t stop being Christians. They just go somewhere else.
Not only that: in 1989, studies found 39% of Christians held to “strong beliefs and practices.” In the 2018 study, that number had risen to 47%. And according to a Pew poll, the growth of Christianity in America is not within the church denominations, but in “the non-denominational family.” Meanwhile, Christians have more children than the secular crowd.
It all adds up to a “persistent and exceptional intensity” in American Christianity, says the Harvard-Indiana study.
And gee whiz, for some reason, you don’t hear the nooze media shouting it from the housetops. Probably because it makes them sad.
Couple this with Christianity growing stronger and stronger in Asia and Africa, and what we’ve got is some very good news indeed.
[Thanks to Susan for the news tip.]