Review (PDF) America At The Crossroads: Explosive Trends Shaping America's Future And What You Can Do About It
Today's Most Troubling Trends about Faith and Culture in AmericaWe live in a tumultuous time. Upheavals and reversals in culture, popular opinion, morality, race relations, socioeconomic status, and so much more have entire generations feeling off balance or out of touch. How do we keep pace with the breathtaking rate of change in our society when we can hardly find time to keep up with our racing newsfeeds? And in the face of such enormous cultural forces, is there anything we can do to help shape our culture?With America at the Crossroads, bestselling author and cultural analyst George Barna turns his researcher's eye on the most significant trends of our moment in history, compiling and distilling the most salient information for busy readers who want to shape culture rather than allow it to shape them. Anyone who has felt overwhelmed by our swiftly changing times will appreciate Barna's extensive research and his "bottom line" approach.
Hardcover: 208 pages
Publisher: Baker Books (September 13, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 080100831X
ISBN-13: 978-0801008313
Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1 x 9.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #131,577 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #313 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Christian Living > Social Issues #325 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Religious Studies > History #662 in Books > History > World > Religious > Christianity
A look at the headlines and the polls will be a clear indicator that all is not well with the United States. We are living in a volatile time where divisions seem to be growing wider and wider as ideologies grow further and further apart. Conservatives attack liberals, liberals attach conservatives. Moderates do their best to pretend that they want no part in any of it while trying to offer a third way. We are living in the moment, but as we live in the moment, we often take our sights off of where we’ve been and where we are going. George Barna offers an alternative with his book “America at the Crossroads.”As he writes in the introduction, “America has become a culture that seems more interested in being “in the moment” than one that focuses on understanding the connections between past, present, and future, and how people’s choices can and should influence the future.” As the founder of the Barna Group, a leading research group that specializes in faith-related surveys, Barna offers recent data and organizes it throughout the book to lay out the current landscape of America. Barna does not hesitate to be candid and transparent in revealing that his is a Christian standpoint, but he is quick to offer his own apologetic for objectivity by saying, “I am not arguing for a theocracy or for Christianity to be instituted as the state-sanctioned religion of the land. I am, however, suggesting that when people embrace God’s principles and hold themselves accountable to them, everyone is better off.”Barna shares his data on topics such as faith and spirituality, government and politics, and lifestyle and perspectives. He digs deep into the spiritual state of America as he reveals what people think about God, the Bible, church, and other matters of spirituality.
If you have read or watch the news, you see that America has a rapid change over the last eight years, if not more. Feelings about certain ideals have been looked upon with fury or favor. There are a number of cultural trends that have appeared in the United States that has made people wonder, what is the future of America?George Barna said that "discovering and understanding cultural trends is both an assignment and a gift from God." Still not 100% sure if I totally agree with that statement, however, in his latest book, America At The Crossroads, he addresses cultural trends that are shaping America's future. Before we go any further, we need to understand what is a trend. Barna says, "trends are simply patterns of thoughts and behavior that provide insight into the lives of people and their society."This book looks at what Americans think about and react to different elements in our country whether they fell hostile to it, nothing about it, or embrace it. Barna separates all of his findings into three parts, which is the book is divided into four parts. The first deals with the trends regarding faith and spirituality. How people look at the church, do they view themselves as a Christian, and what their thought are on the Bible.The second part looks at the people's thoughts into government and politics. Are people satisfied with the government and how one should be involved in politics. The third deals with lifestyles and perspectives. Barna addresses the population growth in China and India while comparing it to the low birth rate in the United States. He also looks at how people view morality, political correctness, and their confidence in institutions.The final chapter is a call for Christians to respond.
It's no mystery that America is rapidly changing. Things that would have been completely unimaginable just 20 years ago are now the law of the land. While many celebrate the changes that we have seen, others are distraught that America is so quickly throwing off her (at least nominal) Christian heritage. Where is our nation heading and is there any hope of changing the course?This is where George Barna steps in, with America at the Crossroads: Explosive Trends Shaping America's Future and What You Can Do About It (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2016). Barna is working through statistics comparing the attitudes of Christians today with Christians from even just 10 years ago, and doing the same with those outside of Christianity. What he found should not be a surprise.Christians are timid and withdrawn these days, afraid of engaging the culture (because their church is not willing to engage on serious cultural issues) and being content to live in a Christian sub-culture. In the meantime, American culture has drifted far from any Christian roots it could once claim and when you look at the statistical trends, there is little reason for optimism that the culture is going to get better.I recommend pastors read this book. First, it will give you a bunch of compelling statistics that you can use as sermon illustrations. But second, and perhaps more importantly, it shows where culture is heading and the pace at which it is doing so. Living in the insulated environment of the local church, it's very easy for a pastor to assume that these are problems elsewhere -- not in my town, not in my church.Some of Barna's stats are very convicting (like only a third of evanglical Christians share their faith with an outsider in a given year).
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