spirituality in america

this is the new title on the cover of newsweek in stores all across america today. and also a piece covered by matt lauer on the today show this morning. i am somewhat distraught but not suprised at what this report showed. in the interview on the today show 85% of those surveyed said they were Christian yet only 75% believed that their religion was the only pathway to God. And 95% of catholics believed they were not the only way to God. even matt and the guy from newsweek were bashing on us saying that we need to figure out what we believe because the two contradict each other. also on top of that they were somewhat relieved because it showed more of a view of tolerance for other religions.

no offense to other religions. you are people whom God loves but i cannot come out and say that you are another pathway to God. it contradicts everything i believe. i love you and pray that you will realize Jesus Christ is "the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the father but by me." what is wrong with todays christians? can it be pointed to the leadership? are we as leaders in the church failing our calling? or or some taking their calling to an extreme and preaching what people want to hear?

another thing mentioned in the interview is that people are looking to what best fits them. they are looking at what is best in their own situations.

"The bliss Cox felt was mingled with awe—the Holy Spirit was inside his very own body. That helps explain Pentecostalism's historical appeal to the poor and marginalized: rural Southerners, African-Americans and, more recently, Hispanics and other immigrants. It is burgeoning in the developing world. "For people who feel overlooked, it provides a sense that you're a very important person,"

earlier in the article it alks about cox bouncing around from one religion to another. is this what it has come to? where one wants to feel like an important person. where some of the leading books sold are "your best life now." and soon to be "you've got potential, how God maximizes your life."

i however this article is not all bad. there were some very good things to be said overall. one it is a wakeup call for us and ho we need to focus more on the idea of absolutes. it shows us our faults but through knowing our faults it helps us now how we can change. the article closes out with this statement. and this is one all christians need to hear.

Religious revivals are always exuberant and filled with spirit, he says, but the true measure of faith is in adversity and despair, when God doesn't show up in every blade of grass or storefront church. "That's when the true nature of belief comes out," he says. "Joy is appropriate to the beginnings of your faith. But sooner or later somebody will get cancer, or your best friends will betray you. That's when you will be tested."

to read more from this magazine on this topic go to: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032542/site/newsweek/