“One-quarter of Americans who attend church at least monthly now use a mobile device to “connect with faith or inspiration” during the service.  Half look up Scriptures or songs, and one-third take notes. But one-quarter of Americans also admit to using cell phones for unrelated activities such as texting, posting on social media, watching a video, or playing a game” (from Christianity Today, January/February issue).

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“Many, if not most, contemporary people live as vagrants—spiritually, intellectually, geographically, morally and relationally. Vague awareness of this new reality creates much social anxiety and can potentially fuel fundamentalisms, inquisitions and culture wars…. In an age of fragmentation, it may well be the case that the vocation of congregations is to turn tourists into pilgrims—those who no longer journey aimlessly, but rather, those who journey in God and whose lives are mapped by the grace of Christian practices” (By Diana Butler Bass in The Practicing Congregation: Imagining a New Old Church).

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“The highest aim of a student of Jesus Christ is to learn to live like him in his kingdom.  This involves planning to be like Jesus.  What Jesus is essentially telling us in Matthew 4: 17 is: “Think out your strategy for life in the light of the new fact that you can now live under the reign of God immediately present to you from the heavens.” The method for learning to fully lead a spiritual life is to do what Jesus did in his overall style of life. Follow him. This appropriates the grace of God and transforms our abilities” (By Dallas Willard in The Allure of Gentleness, Defending the Faith in the Manner of Jesus).

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“The divine authorship of all things means that creation and all its constituents have intrinsic worth apart from their utility or perceived pleasantness, and thus the whole creation and every creature must be respected. God loves the world and cares for it, and, imaging God, we must love the world and take care of it. This also means that while we may make responsible use of the fruits of creation we may not destroy its fruitfulness. Thus, the prerogative of destruction and extinction lies only with the Creator, not with the people. And while we may employ creatures in responsible ways, we must not press them relentlessly; assuring opportunity for the creatures of the earth to enjoy their rest and creation’s blessings” (By Calvin B. DeWitt in Song of a Scientist).