Fox News is carrying the story about nine police agencies gathering together to raise 100,000 for the Widman family. A remarkable display of common grace to take care of this widow and her family. The funeral will be on Wednesday.
Read more here.
Author: Jonathan Dodson
Andy Widman Shot in the Line of Duty
It is with a heavy heart that I compose this post. Andy Widman, husband and father to three children, was shot to death this morning around 2 am in Fort Myers, FL. Andy was a dear friend from seminary. Someone who genuinely loved and served others because of his hope in the gospel of Christ. His faith led him into concrete, risk-taking expressions of that love, whether in the jungles of Thailand or on the streets of Fort Myers. He and I spent a summer in Northern Thailand, where we did ethnographic research among some remote peoples called the Shan-Dai. Andy was a burgeoning expert on Buddhism. His keen mind was matched with a depth of soul and a genuine love for others.
Andy will be deeply missed. At age 30, he had such a promising life ahead of him, but in this bitter providence he leaves behind a sweet wife and three dear children. If you pray, pray for this family. Pray that they would know the God of comfort and the Father of all mercies in this time of suffering and pain. Pray that they would know the sufficiency of their suffering messiah in the midst of broken-hearted helplessness.
Creating Communities of Grace
See Tim Chester’s notes on Steve Timmis’ Creating Communities of Grace.
American Church Stats
1) Less than 20% of Americans regularly attend church – half of what the pollsters report. There are approximately 330,000 churches in America; out of those churches approximately 17.7% (52 million) of Americans attend church on an average Sunday.
2) American church attendance is steadily declining.
- Evangelical 9.2%
- Catholic 5.5%
- Mainline 3.1%
3) Only one state is outpacing its population growth. Hawaii. 4) Mid-sized churches are shrinking; the smallest and largest churches are growing.
- Churches under 50 and over 2,000 are growing
- Average attendance of Protestant church: 124
- 1,250 mega-churches in America/one emerges every three days
5) Established churches, 40-190 years old – are, on average, declining. New church starts reach more people better, faster, cheaper than existing churches. 6) The increase in churches is only ΒΌ of what’s needed to keep up with population growth.
- 3,000 churches close every year
- 3,800 new church starts survived
- Net annual gain: 800 new churches
- Net annual gain needed to keep up with population growth:10,000 new churches
7) In 2050, the percentage of the U.S. population attending church will be almost half of what it was in 1990.
- US Population in 1990: 248 million/20.4% church attendance
- US Population in 2050: 520 million/11.7% church attendance
HT: Gary Rohrmayer