The Unchurched Keeps Growing-How Can the Church Reverse It?

 After reading a very alarming article online at the New York Times, I wonder what the Church in America can do moving forward. In her article entitled, "The Largest and Fastest Religious Shift in America is Well Underway," Jesssica Grose, quotes a new book which claims that we are "currently in the middle of the of the largest and fastest religious shift in the history of our country." Why? According to the book, 40 million people have stopped going to church. (See-"The Great Dechurching: Whose Leaving, Why are They Going and What Will it Take to Bring Them Back.") This book should be required reading for every pastor, lay leadership and bishop in the country.

As the authors (Davis, Graham and Burge) of the book put it, "No theological tradition, age group, ethnicity, political affiliation, education level, geographic location, or income bracket escaped the dechurching in America." The three men who wrote the book and did the research are pastors and they are concerned with bringing the unchurched back. But how will that be accomplished?

Thank God the church I attend is still crowded on Sunday mornings but the pastor recently admitted that some parishioners who left during the pandemic have still not returned. And obviously there are are more options today for spiritual growth....apps for meditation and spiritual reading. Some people have replaced going to church with spending time in Nature. There are endless youtube videos, some of which I watch regularly (Word on Fire is a great resource) which can help with religious growth and so some people just don't feel the need to go to Church. 

So it is up to this generation of Catholics and other Christian churches to preserve the Church and Christianity.  Are they up to the task, do they realize what is at stake? If the power of the Holy Spirit moves powerfully then this trend can reverse, but it will take a great outpouring of the Spirit on young people and young adults. And if and when it happens, it should not be shut down.

NJA

Will Artificial Intelligence Help Humankind or Destroy Us?

 If you watch the business cable news network on TV (as my husband does), then you will hear a lot these days about A.I. (Artificial Intelligence). People are making a lot of money if they are invested in companies that are developing A.I. And though as I expressed in the last blog post it has the potential to be very dangerous and get out of control quickly, it can also make great new discoveries in medicine and science and perhaps help productivity in many fields,  even in religious education and evangelization.  So is it a false idol? Perhaps it is, perhaps humans are trying to play God by developing machines and technology that is smarter and quicker than human brains, or maybe we are just using our human intelligence to go further and expand knowledge which will benefit humankind. 

No one knows, which direction this new technology will take. Will it help us or hurt us ultimately? Can A.I. find a cure for cancer or other horrific diseases? Can A.I. come up with solutions to climate change, or poverty or hunger in third world countries? That remains to be seen. 

But whatever happens, the future is now, we are living in the future of humankind and unless wise and prudent minds prevail, anything can happen. I wonder what God is thinking of all this? Is this foolishness, are we creating a false idol of the most dangerous kind or will humankind advance in ways that will help more people and create a more just society. We shall see......

NJA

The Most Dangerous False Idol of Them All-Artificial Intelligence

 I wrote a post about this topic and then deleted it. I have mixed feelings about writing about A.I. because first of all, I hardly understand how it works. But I do know what the experts say and it does scare me. This technology is moving fast and there are not regulations and people who have developed artificial intelligence are warning that it can become dangerous. 

Here is a definition I found online:

"Artificial intelligence is the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages."

The problem is the "Godfather of A.I., Geoffrey Hinton and other developers of A.I. and experts in the field are saying that we do have something to worry about and that "bad actors" can cause havoc using A.I. for nefarious reasons. Did he say, "killer robots?" Yes that is one of the fears if it gets out of control...This is not science fiction and not 30 years from now but potentially much sooner. 

It's really all too much to think about and contemplate. But is this a false idol? Is A.I. like the fallen angel who wanted to be like God. Mr. Hinton who developed A.I. at the beginning of the technology now partly regrets his life work. He just resigned from Google to spend time warning about the dangers of unregulated, uncontrolled A.I.

You can't say God didn't warn us. The warnings have been written into the Bible stories. 

Let's hope and pray that intelligent human minds find ways to control A.I. and regulate it, before it gets out of hand.

 NJA

Asbury University Shuts Down Revival on Kentucky Campus

 I completely understand that the spiritual/religious revival that took place spontaneously at Asbury University (a private Christian university)  in a small town in Kentucky got a little out of hand and started to make people nervous, but shutting it down, was that the only answer? Young people were praying, traveling far distances in some cases and giving glory and praise to God, but as we know from the life of Jesus, the Holy Spirit can cause upheavals and unpredictability but was shutting it down the only answer. And where will the spontaneous outpouring of the  Holy Spirit, among young people, be welcomed next? And it shouldn't just be Protestant Universities welcoming and making room for the Holy Spirit to flourish spontaneously,  it should be happening on Catholic University campuses as well. Why not set up tents if you have too, is my humble opinion, so buildings are not overrun with exuberant, praying young people?  But the question is, do you want the Lord in your midst or not? There's a solution with a little brainstorming, to having religious revivals for young people and maintaining the civic order that's necessary as well. Soon we'll be asking AI (artificial intelligence) to solve all the difficult problems so they will be able to come up with a solution I'm sure. Come, Holy Spirit Come!

NJA

Ave Maria University Should Host A Religious Revival Too, Like Asbury University

 Just recently I visited the town of Ave Maria in Southwest Florida.....I always go there when in Florida and spend some time in prayer in their beautiful Church-the Ave Maria Parish Church and have lunch in their town center, with family and friends.  Last time I was there a couple of weeks ago there was a huge fair going on with music and booths with crafts and other things for sale, around the town center. There is a well stocked religious article gift shop in town as well. But in any event I thought of Ave Maria this morning when I was sent an article about a religious revival that spontaneously started at Asbury University in Kentucky with a chapel service. It is still going go. Since the chapel service began thousands of people (some traveling from far away) have descended on Asbury University's auditorium to take part in the outpouring of prayer and worship that is taking place. You can find links to it on Twitter and on Youtube. 

So I thought....why not have one at Ave Maria in Naples Florida?......There are lots of young Catholics who attend the University in the town and the nearby law school.  There are also lots of young people living in the large community with their families. But that is something that would appeal to all age groups. And of course, if you started a revival and had praise and worship music and prayer, the Holy Spirit would show up....I have no doubt about that!

Keep the revival of faith and worship going......in other places, in other university's...

NJA

"Yes my hand laid the foundations of the Earth, my right hand spread out the Heavens, When I call them, they stand forth at once."  (Isaiah 48:13)

"God is really among you" (1 Cor.14:25)

That Was A Close Call By Asteroid 2023 BU -Always Be Right With God!

A relatively small asteroid came within 2,200 miles of Earth on Thursday night before moving on....what is the most troubling part of the story is that the asteroid was only discovered a few days ago..... It was about the size of a truck. Thank God it didn't hit Earth but it was one of the closest approaches of an asteroid, that we know of.  So it makes you think......What if it was bigger? What if it did hit the Earth and didn't burn up in our atmosphere and it caused damage? What if something worse happened? 

It's always best to be right with God, to be in relationship with Jesus, to have a prayer life, to be ready for anything because you never know... We live in uncertain times and besides that, it's easy to forget that we live on a planet orbiting the sun, in a very large Universe, with a lot going on.  Luckily our solar system is in a relatively calm place in the Milky Way galaxy but there are asteroids and lots of space junk up there.  

So be right with God, say your prayers and be ready for any outcome. 

NJA

Write Your Own Personal Psalm For The New Year

 I want to try to be more positive for the New Year. I recently attended a Bible Study group and someone mentioned an idea that I hadn't thought of before which I thought was great. Someone shared that while on retreat recently it was suggested that each participant write their own personal psalm. You could pick verses from traditional, biblical psalms that struck you and add your own verses or affirmations as well. I loved the idea and wrote one that I am saying each morning and evening. Part inspirational, part affirmation and part prayer,  and like biblical psalms ,a personal psalm can strengthen faith and trust in God. 

Interestingly, I am also attending a bible study with a group of women who are mostly Protestant. (I am Catholic.) They are a very welcoming group of women, who have formed a small but powerful community that studies Scripture and prays together. One of the women is a pastor's wife. There are some fallen away Catholics, in the group,  who have been baptized (again, much to my surprise) in a Protestant Church. I try not to pry but it seems from what I can tell, that one of the reasons they left the Catholic Church is they wanted to be more rooted in the Bible and do more Scripture study. The Catholic Church should learn from that. 

Every Catholic parish, (in my humble opinion) should have a weekly Bible Study group led by a knowledgable and trained catechist. There are excellent biblical commentaries available. Perhaps two studies, one for women and one for men. I'm aware that some parishes do, but not all. 

And so, there is still much to do to evangelize in the modern world and some ideas are rather simple but highly effective.

NJA