These are a few of the things I've recently found of interest, but don't have the time to properly blog on. I don't necessarily like or agree with the links here, I just think they're interesting. And just in case you do, too, enjoy.

(You can view past Del.icio.us links here or subscribe to my Del.icio.us feed here. )

The Moravians were the spiritual descendants of Jan Hus. Driven from their homeland during the Thirty Years' War, they were scattered throughout Europe and lost many members. But a few remained to hold services in secret and pray for the rebirth of their Church of the United Brethren. In 1722, a little company of Moravians settled in Saxony, on Zinzendorf's estate, to escape widespread persecution. The party was led by Christian David, a convert from Roman Catholicism, who is said to have "burned with zeal like an oven".

The Community on Zenzendorf's land was named Herrnhut (The Lord's Watch) and became a haven for Protestant refugees from all parts of Germany as well as from Moravia and Bohemia. Count Zinzendorf himself entered the community and played a major role in shaping the Moravian influence and growth.

There are clear links between the renewed Moravian community and the Evangelical

An instrument the evangelicals used to subdue the frontier wilderness was the revival. The Second Great Awakening provided the next generation with skilled and dedicated leaders for the western crusade. The great western frontier revival took place in newly settled regions between the Alleghenies and the Mississippi and centered in Kentucky and Tennessee. This awakening was rugged, wild, and boisterous. The camp meeting was an effective tool used by the rough and ready circuit preachers to spread revival.

Travis Johnson, over at The Edge Church Think Tank, posted an article bemoaning the incredible shrinking church: “The Great Shrinking Church. What Gives?!?!” First, he cites some statistics from The American Church:

That America is becoming an increasingly secular nation is no surprise. That traditional church style seems increasingly irrelevant in the “naughties” and that church numbers are in decline—again—no surprise.

So, taking an unflinching look at the numbers (there was more cited), Travis concludes:

This is a long one. Apologies in advance.

The General Council of the Assemblies of God—the US A/G fellowship I belong to—met last week (August 2–5) in it’s biennial (every other year) business meeting at Denver, Colorado.

As I mentioned previously, I believe the US version of the Assemblies of God will soon be facing a challenge to its sense of global centricity due to the growth of the Evangelical church in the global South. (It’s not the international headquarters in Springfield, MO, by the way, just the US headquarters—there is no international authority for the A/G.)

I saw a news item on Google today that brought that home. It led to further exploration at the AG.org website detailing news and reports from last week’s meeting, and it was a very interesting tour. Allow me to take you through it.

First off,