"...his spirit was stirred in him..."

When Paul walked into Athens we read that his spirit was stirred, or angered, within him about all the idolatry he saw. Jerry preached on this last Lord's Day. Paul percieved that they were very religious, or as the AV puts it, too superstitious. If the Apostle walked through our 'Athens' what would he perceive? If he stood in our market place, what would provoke his spirit today?

I guess that's not given to the Apostle Paul, but to us.

Well, my spirit is provoked and stirred.

I am not observing that our "Athenians" are very religious. I am hearing they are apathetic and ignorant. Local Muslims in our community who are exhorting their people to Da'Wa (Muslim Evangelism) are informing Muslims that Christians have not read their Bibles and are ignorant of their history.

This provokes me.

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life polled over 3,000 adults concerning religious knowledge. They report, "Atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons are among the highest-scoring groups on a new survey of religious knowledge, outperforming evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants and Catholics on questions about the core teachings, history and leading figures of major world religions." Article

This provokes me.

A pastor in Texas remarked that biblical illiteracy is a problem. He doesn't want church leaders to merely react to this, but to "intentionally, positively act." Article

This provokes me.

An article posted to the Christian Post is entitled "Christianity a 'Faded Memory' for Most Young Britons." A study done on Generation Y, those born after 1982, found "...that young people were more likely to put their faith in friends, their family or themselves than in God." Article

This provokes me.

The Pew Forum had a small sample of the questions they asked people on their website. You could take a "quiz" and see where you ranked. They also gave a hand-out which I attached to this email. What an interesting way to assess where our youth are, for example. Where do you stand? If done correctly, it could show exactly where they might stand in their knowledge as a preface to the launch of an apologetics series or world religions course...

Take the Quiz here

Whatever reaction we have to the news out there or data we could draw from our own people, I agree with that Texas pastor: Let's be intentional and positive in our action. But for the Lord's sake, let's not sit and do nothing. Do we want our people ultimately learning about Church history or about world religions with liberal atheists in universities (like I did), or right here in our homes and churches?

I do know that when I see and hear these things my spirit is stirred. And I am stirred to action.

In Christ,
Geoff