Christian college students are big into social media. A new study done by professors at Gordon College, a Christian Liberal Arts college in Boston, MA, shows that over 30% of Christian college students spend 1-2 hours a day on Facebook alone, with 12% percent going at it for 2-4 hours each day. If you add in Twitter, email, texting, and popular websites we're looking at a significant investment in the internet in general and social media in particular. But what does it all mean? That's what Bryan C. Auday, professor of psychology, and Sybil Coleman, professor of social work wanted to find out.

The study, "Pulling Off the Mask: The Impact of Social Networking Activities on Evangelical Christian College Students . . . A Self-Reported Study" was released last month and is the only one of its kind to target and give voice specifically to evangelical Christian college students and their relationship to social media usage.

"We'd received enough anecdotal evidence from college students to raise some red flags about these issues," said Coleman. "But we felt it was crucial to gather scientific data from students about both the benefits and concerns (of usage) if we were going to get a clearer picture about how we could best respond."

The study surveyed 1,342 students between 18 and 27 years of age on four evangelical Christian college campuses with an equal class representation. Seventy percent of all participants were women.

Questions included the amount of time participants engage in a specific electronic activity during an average day; the primary reason for using a specific site; the impact (both positive and negative) of usage on personal life and relationships; the ability or inability to stop usage, and the possible conflict of usage with personal Christian values.

"It isn't yet clear whether over-zealous use of computer-based activities will be formally accepted in the U.S. as a distinctive, unique form of addiction," said Auday. "What is clear from our study is that a surprisingly high percentage of Christian students who frequently engage in electronic activities report several troubling negative consequences. But ironically they also mention many positive outcomes related to the time that is spent on Facebook or text messaging their friends."

So what's the outcome? Over half admit that they were "neglecting important areas of their life" due to spending too much time online. Over 12 percent believe that they are addicted to some form of electronic activity. 21 percent felt that their level of engagement with electronic activities at times caused a conflict with their Christian values.

What are your thoughts? With churches increasingly leveraging social networking to assist in communication and building community, do we need to be careful? Share your thoughts in the comments.

John Avant is not just a friend of mine (which is almost enough of an introduction), but he is also the Senior Pastor at First West, and author of Authentic Power and The Passion Promise. His new book, If God Were Real: A Journey Into A Faith That Matters, asks what it might look like if we lived as if our God was actually, you know - real! In pointing out some of the ways we disconnect for the God who is truly there he encourages believers to live life on mission with God. I had the chance to ask John a few questions relating to the book. He's hanging around on the blog today to interact with all of us here. So be sure to jump into the comments and hit John up with your questions.

What does the title "If God Were Real" mean and what inspired the title?

I have become increasingly concerned over the last several years that most Christians and most churches have actually stopped believing in God! Think about the audacious things we say we believe: God becoming a baby, the Creator's rebellious creation creates an instrument of death on which the Creator dies and yet won't stay dead. The gospel is revolutionary! So why do we live such timid, unchanged lives? Seems to me we may be practical atheists. I wanted to explore with the readers what it might be like if we actually lived like we believe what we say we do.

I also wrote this in the hopes that atheists and seekers, some of whom are friends, would take a look at God from a different perspective and without the "battle mode" Christians and atheists are normally in. After all if atheists don't believe in God and we live like we don't, we may have more in common than we thought!

You say that you have given up on Christianity and so should everyone else. What do you mean by that?

The word "Christian" is a good word - a biblical word. When you add "ity" to it you get something I don't see in the New Testament. I think this has become our problem. In the first century there was a Jesus Movement that changed the world. In the western world today there are lots of Jesus monuments that don't change much of anything.

I am not giving up on the church. I don't think we have actually tried being the church very often yet! I am sure not giving up on the Scriptures. I believe them to be the very Word of God. So some have asked what does it practically mean then to give up on Christianity. 3 things for me: I have given up on the Christianity that has become defined by institutions, opposition, and isolation. I have given up on any institution that is not visibly a part of a Jesus movement. I have given up on the thought that if we just oppose enough evil people, we will usher in the kingdom. I have given up on the isolation that has resulted in most churches becoming religious clubs for its members, divorcing us from the very mission in the world to which Jesus called us.

You talk a lot about "transformation." What should that look like in the Church and what does it look like in yours?

As evangelicals when we read the Bible we get very excited about the Philippian jailer getting saved. But we forget that Philippi itself was transformed! Think of how much of the New Testament is about what God was doing in the cities of their day. I am as committed as ever to the salvation of every soul. But it bothers me that even in the case of many of our largest churches, there is not a lot of evidence that the community around them is being transformed.

I have only been at my church, First West in West Monroe, La for a few years but I believe we are going to be a lab for what it would look like if the churches of a community lived together like God is real. We already have over 100 churches committed to the same vision: "to see the spiritual, cultural and physical transformation of our community so visible it can't be missed." We are working together with city leaders, business leaders, education leaders, and churches to bring the transformative power of the Gospel into the real issues of our community. I could write forever about this. We are committed together to break down barriers that have divided us and see with our eyes what a city can become. We are changing the metrics of the way we measure success as a church to reflect this vision. If we have more butts in the seats but more drugs on the streets we have failed.

You are known for being a part of a collegiate revival movement in the 90s. What would revival look like today?

I don't know. I think one of the mistakes of many of those who love and pray for revival has been to expect God to do what He has done before. He is a Creator, thus unlikely to repeat Himself. The Great Awakenings brought so much change that many traditional Christians rejected them. If we want revival we better begin to pray for God to change everything. Normally we just want Him to change things back to the way we were most comfortable with. I do believe that revival always requires a movement of prayer. At our church we have determined to meet and pray like we believe in God. We call our prayer service "Destiny." I told our people that we were going to ask God to do more than we could imagine and if he didn't we could all become atheists and play a lot more golf! That may sound presumptuous but since God told us in Ephesians 3:20 that He would do that, we have decided to believe Him! And we are seeing Him do things we have never dreamed of! I long to see the next Great Awakening. What happened in Brownwood, Texas in 1995and 1996 changed me forever - and continues to bear fruit all over the world.

My guess would be that if God moves powerfully in our day it will be in the marketplace and schools, likely among young people and young adults, and very possibly apart from most of our established churches.

You address both believers and unbelievers in this book. So what impact do you hope the book has on believers and unbelievers?

I hope unbelievers would hear me as a friend, or at least a potential friend, and consider if they have rejected the wrong God - the God of hatred, anger, isolation and institutionalism that they think we want them to believe in. I am an atheist too when it comes to that God!

I hope believers will revolt against what we have made of Christianity and move together into the awesome, passionate, scary-but-worth-it journey of living like God is real. That's my hope!

Hit John with your questions in the comments. And don't bother with those softball questions. :)

New Research from Barna on Green Evangelicals

Barna surveys evangelicals about their enviornmental views. Here are some excerpts:

One of the intriguing findings of the research is that millions of evangelicals - often perceived to be on the sidelines of the green movement - have become more environmentally conscious in the last year. Yet, evangelicals do so with some skepticism about the environmental movement, specifically the implications of climate change. Evangelicals are concerned about what they perceive to be media hype surrounding global warming, as well as skepticism about the role humans play in causing it. Moreover, evangelicals express strong concern that proposed environmental solutions would hurt the poor, particularly in developing nations...

What makes Americans skeptical about global warming? The survey explored five common objections and discovered that roughly half of Americans maintain some reluctance about climate change for each of the following reasons:

• 49% of Americans contend that some solutions proposed to help global warming would have a negative influence on the poor, especially in other countries
• 48% believe the earth has undergone climate change before and the current warming is not primarily caused by human activity
• 47% indicate the news media have made global warming a bigger story than it deserves
• 47% agree that the U.S. economy is not strong enough right now to take on the problem
• 46% say that if America leads the way tackling the problem other countries will not follow suit and it would hurt American businesses and workers

A majority of the Christian community, regardless of how it is defined, believes that global warming is happening. Still, only a minority of churchgoing Catholics (36%), non-mainline Protestants (36%), and mainline Protestants (45%) are very certain climate change is occurring...

Evangelicals are among the most skeptical population segments when it comes to global warming...

Click here for the full story.
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New Research from the Center for Latin American Studies, Univ. of California, Berkeley.

An important look at Global and U.S. Immigration: Patterns, Issues, and Outlook. Click here.
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New Megachurch (and other) Research from Baylor

Here are some excerpts:

American religion is remarkably stable and quite surprising in its diverse beliefs, practices and realities, according to the latest findings from the Baylor Religion Survey, one of the most extensive surveys ever conducted on American religious attitudes.

"None of the things we all believe about the megachurch is true," said Dr. Rodney Stark, Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences at Baylor and co-director of the ISR...

When compared to small congregations, the survey found that megachurch members display a higher level of personal commitment by attending services and a Bible study group and tithing. They also are more likely to accept that heaven "absolutely" exists and that God rewards the faithful with major successes, are more convinced of the reality of evil, are far more given to having religious and mystical experiences, are significantly younger in age and are remarkably active in volunteer work (as much or more so than tiny churches)...

During the past 63 years, several polls show the percentage of atheists has not changed at all, holding steady at only 4 percent of Americans who say they do not believe in God. Not only is atheism not growing in the United States, the majority of Europeans are not atheists (Ch. 14, "Atheism: The Godless Revolution That Never Happened"). Russia now claims 96 percent of its population believes in God, while a recent poll of China showed that atheists are outnumbered by those who believe in God(s)...

The survey found that 45 percent of Americans report having at least two religious encounters (Ch. 6, "Religious Experiences: God Told Me to Go to Church"). Denomination matters, too. Conservative Protestants are more likely than liberal Protestants, Catholics or Jews to report religious or mystical experiences. However, these experiences are not limited to conservative Protestants. They occur with considerable frequency in nearly all religious groups. The survey also showed that women, African Americans and Republicans are more apt to have religious and mystical experiences...

Among other interesting findings on paranormal or occult beliefs: People who have read The Purpose-Driven Life or any book in the Left Behind series are less likely to believe in the occult and paranormal, while those who have read any book on dianetics or The Da Vinci Code are more likely to believe.

Fascinating information.

Click here for their release.

Jacqui Salmon does a good job with the story in The Washington Post. Click here.
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Election Prayer Initiative

Check out the new prayer initiative called the 40/40 Prayer Vigil sponsored by the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and the North American Mission Board. From the website:

The 40/40 Prayer Vigil consists of 40 days of prayer from September 24 to November 2, 2008, culminating in 40 hours of around the clock intercession during the last 3 days of the Vigil. The Vigil focuses first on personal spiritual revival. It then covers an expanding circle of prayer concerns, from the church to the nation.

You can visit the website to sign up, get updates, and download a Prayer Guide.

This is an exciting political season, and we've all probably had solid discussions, heated arguments, or at least a few good laughs. Let's make sure we're praying as well.