USA Today had a great article about evangelicals and the search for the next spiritual leader for America. Despite the angle on voters and the GOP, I think this is an interesting take on it, to say the least. enjoy the clip:

The emerging face and voice of American evangelicalism is that of a pragmatic, politically sophisticated, pastor of a middle class megachurch. A younger generation of ministers such as Rick Warren, author of The Purpose-Driven Life; Bill Hybels, of the pioneering Willow Creek Community Church outside Chicago; T.D. Jakes, the African-American pastor of The Potter’s House in Dallas, as well as a music and movie producer; and Frank Page, the re-elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Or, this younger generation might be personified by someone like Joel Hunter, of Northland Church, just outside Orlando. The amiable Midwesterner, who opposes the death penalty, looks like Johnny Carson and sounds like Gene Hackman. He’s a regular reader of such periodicals as The Economist, Foreign Affairs and Harvard Business Review.

Hunter, 59, notes that, with constituencies that must be cultivated in their communities, he and other congregational pastors are quite different from the previous generation of leaders who headed broadcast ministries or political organizations. Groups such as the Moral Majority, the Christian Coalition and Focus on the Family “almost demand a more strident tone to raise money or media ratings,” Hunter says. “As pastors, we don’t have the same pressures on us. We work with people. We know what it takes to be patient and motivational and encouraging.”

JG

This funny spoof appeared in today’s UK Satire. Made me laugh! Here’s a clip:

That void was filled by the book “The Shopping-Driven Life” by the Rev. Arnold Rogers, which her friend Betsy Tompkins recommended that she read, if she could. “It literally changed my life,” says Threlkeld. “I realized I only had so much time on this planet, and I’d better do what I could to max out my credit cards while I was alive.”

Rogers’ book was written in response to Rick Warren’s “The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?”, which has held a place atop bestseller lists ever since it first appeared in bookstores in 2002. “Being useful isn’t something that everybody is capable of,” says Rogers. “If all you can do is shop–well, what’s wrong with that?”

Rogers counsels women that shopping is a means to an end, and should not be pursued without a larger purpose in mind. “A lot of credit cards give you frequent flier miles and other promotional rewards,” he notes. “If you’re passing those up, it’s like you’re throwing away fishsticks in your grade school cafeteria.”

JG

Proud of this kid, here’s part of his X-Games story from this week’s OC Register:

The 250 cc engine beats like machinegun fire as he races toward the ramp then soars three stories into the early evening sky. At his peak, it seems he’s flying higher than the full moon rising when he pulls the trick off cleanly — dead body alive! — and travels 75 feet toward the downslope of 15-foot dirt hill.

A dead drop from 30 feet high might be jarring enough to knock off the 100-plus tattoos covering his arms and left leg. But Loza lands gently as if hand-delivered back to earth by angels.

Amen.

Loza looks like a Goth spawned from Marilyn Manson’s gene pool with a head like a fishing lure, an all-black wardrobe, body by tattoo-parlor and a driveway occupied by a ’76 “rattlesnake black” Lincoln Continental and a Chevy Express cargo van with blacked out windows.

But Loza’s all pro-Christ. He started an FMX team, Riders 4 Christ, which stages jump shows for church fundraisers. He updates his Web site with his latest features and commentary, such as “Jesus is rad.”

He doesn’t drink, smoke or curse. He’s more introverted artist than renegade. He says “I love you” when he hugs his father goodbye.

About 300 local fans will follow him to this first X Games. Saddleback Churchgoers will pray for him. Pastor Rick Warren will include him in his weekly blessing, and his mother, Theresa, will again drop to her knees at night thanking the Lord for her youngest child’s safety, despite his having a medical file as thick as the Bible.

UPDATE: According to the results page – he won tonight! Yeah!

JG

Just noticed my iTunes updated with the latest Rick Warren podcast last night – How to Create a Culture of Innovation. Sounds interesting I’m in … you?

JG

Just read an interesting article about the latest “The Way I See It Controversy” on the side of a Starbucks cup. Here’s a clip, and be sure to read the cup pictured above, too:

Regular or nonfat? Single or double shot? Pro- or anti-creationism?

Starbucks has been drawing heated responses since the coffee giant began printing quotations on its cups.

Atheists fumed when they got a shot of the Rev. Rick Warren (“The Purpose-Driven Life”) with their latte, and Christians balked at gay writer Armistead Maupin’s comment that “life is too damn short” to spend in the closet.

So outraged is one organization by the anti-evolution messages that it dispatched its members to protest the practice via e-mail and phone calls.

“I mean, my God,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. “It’s rather unforgivable. They’re going to give their customers heartburn.”

The cups include quotes by artists, writers, scientists and other noteworthy people on a variety of subjects.

The Seattle-based Starbucks began its “The Way I See It” program to stimulate dialogue over coffee. Company officials say they have achieved their goal.

JG