Dodge This!

Unbelievable wealth:

The top 400 income earners in the U.S. had a combined income of $69 billion in the year 2000. Those 400 people earn more than the combined incomes of the 166 million people living in Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda, and Botswana – the four African countries visited by U.S. President George W. Bush in July, 2003. Source: Sojourners.

HELL IS FOR OTHER PEOPLE

81% of Americans believe in some kind of afterlife
76% believe that heaven exists
71% believe hell exists
39% say hell is a "state of eternal separation from God's presence"
32% say hell is "an actual place of torment and suffering"
1% expect to go to hell when they die
64% expect to go to heaven
24% have "no idea" where they will go when they die

SURVEY: Only Half of Pastors Have 'Biblical' Worldview

A new survey indicates that when it comes to developing a biblical worldview, a good place to start may be with the people in the pulpit.

What constitutes a "biblical" worldview? Christian researcher George Barna says it includes a belief in absolute moral truth as defined by scripture, as well as acceptance of six core biblical beliefs: the accuracy of biblical teaching, the sinless nature of Jesus, the literal existence of Satan, the omnipotence and omniscience of God, salvation by grace alone, and the personal responsibility to evangelize.
In a recent survey of Protestant pastors conducted by the Barna Research Group, only half (51%) passed the test on whether they possess a biblical worldview. Of the pastors surveyed, Southern Baptists scored the highest with 71% while United Methodists finished at the bottom with just 27%. In between were 57% of pastors of Baptist churches (other than Southern Baptist), 51% of pastors of non-denominational Protestant churches, 44% of pastors of charismatic or Pentecostal churches, 35% of pastors of black churches, and 28% of pastors of leading mainline denominations.

Another point of interest in the survey dealt with education. The pastors least likely to have a biblical worldview were seminary graduates. Source: Agape Press

PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS:

More Christians are now being persecuted than at any other time in history; some 200 million are being persecuted, with another 300 million experiencing discrimination. Source: Open Doors

HIV/AIDS:

According to a UNAIDS report on the global HIV/AIDS pandemic “the trend in HIV infection will have a profound impact on the future rates of infant, child and maternal mortality, life expectancy and economic growth” -Since the start of the epidemic 60 million people have died from or are living with HIV/AIDS. - Every 50 seconds a child becomes infected with HIV and another dies from an AIDS related illness. More than 1600 children are infected with HIV everyday - 1.4 million children living with HIV/AIDS - 6,000,000 children were newly infected with HIV at the end of 2000 - By the end of 2000 over 13 million children – the majority in Africa – lost their mother or both parents to AIDS.   Source: Viva Network

Children at Risk:

17 million children die from malnutrition & starvation each year
10 million children are involved in the sex industry
100 million children live on the streets
200 million children are labourers  Source: Viva Network

Clean water:

The World Health Organisation estimates that five million people die each year from diseases caused by unsafe drinking water. Source: www.un.org

Australian Abortion Statistics:

There are 100,000 abortions in Australia each year. There are 800 abortions each week in NSW alone - approximately 40,000 annually - there were however only 40 adoptions in NSW in 1997. Source: This information comes from the Abortion Information Center, a collaborative effort between UCLA students in the United States, and UTS students in Australia.