Author: Gordon Govier

A new survey of U.S. adults who don’t go to church, even on holidays, finds 72% say "God, a higher or supreme being, actually exists." But just as many (72%) also say the church is "full of hypocrites."Indeed, 44% agree with the statement "Christians get on my nerves."LifeWay Research, the research arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, based in Nashville, conducted the survey of 1,402 "unchurched" adults last spring and summer. Read more of this story.

For many American exporters, the weak dollar is good news. As the dollar’s value falls, U.S. made-products become cheaper, which could give them a boost overseas, said David Parsley, professor of management at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management."If you are a U.S. exporter, it’s a good time," Parsley said.That is, unless you are in the faith business. Read more of this story.

Back when he pastored a small church in Southern California, Richard Foster was a desperate man. Many in his congregation struggled with life, were just out of prison or were recovering from drug addiction. He tried to help in every way he knew, but still failed. So Foster turned to spiritual masters of the distant past, compiling their wisdom into a series of spiritual disciplines, from prayer and meditation to fasting, service and solitude. And then he experimented on his troubled congregation. Read more of this story.

Faith plays a lively role in American life, from evangelicals helping give Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee victory in the Iowa caucuses this week to disputes over religion in public schools, and a new public television series is focusing on a key ingredient in that mix – prayer.Read more of this story.

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. — Carla Dodd was 43 and pregnant with her second child when two rapid-fire brain hemorrhages threatened to end her life. Her husband, John Dodd, is a medical malpractice attorney — logical, analytical. But Dodd says he thinks prayer — by friends, fellow congregants and strangers as far away as Africa — had much to do with his wife’s long-shot recovery. Scientists are taking a hard look at faith — including prayers said on behalf of others — as an instrument in healing. Read more of this story.

ORANGE PARK, Fla.– Midway through the dinner rush at the Loop Pizza Grill on a November night, the Rev. Becci Curtis, graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary and ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., pulled a disposable glove onto her right hand and plunged it into a container of shredded romaine. Her mission, at the moment, was to assemble a Gorgonzola salad. Read more of this story.

COMMENTARYHere’s an intriguing thought: Could prayer have anything to do with the significantly improved security situation in Iraq?It’s hard to know what to attribute to the Almighty and for what to blame the Other Side. Several years ago, someone ran a full-page ad in this newspaper imploring Americans to pray harder for the war in Iraq. The spiritual realities in the part of the globe were truly horrendous, the ad said, and praying Americans were oblivious to them all.Read more of this commentary.

Fact Finding Team Ordered to Leave Violence Ravaged Area in IndiaAssassination of Benazir Bhutto devastating for Pakistani ChristiansKenyans burned to death in church as post-election violence escalates

COMMENTARYIt’s that time of year again. Time for me to make my list. No, not my New Year’s “to do” list of resolutions, but one far more significant – my “not to do” list. Call it my New Year’s non-resolutions. When it comes to New Year’s resolutions, our problem isn’t the “what I need to do” piece – that comes easy. We all know what we would like to be different. What eludes our thinking is what has been keeping us from pursuing the various resolutions in the first place. Most of the time, it is because of something we are doing. Read more of this commentary.

New Christian houses of worship are opening every day across the global south – from Africa to Asia to Latin America.But most are not the traditional Roman Catholic and mainline Protestant sects that have dominated the Western world’s religious-political affairs for centuries. The majority are Pentecostal. Read more of this story.