By J. Lee Grady

In many ways the American church has become more like a business. We must shift from power suits and CEOs to wet feet and holy kisses.

Hurricane Dean plowed into the Caribbean coast of Mexico on Tuesday, August 21, as a roaring Category 5 hurricane, the most intense Atlantic storm to make landfall in two decades, before weakening to a Category 3 storm within hours. It lashed ancient Mayan ruins and headed for the modern oil installations of the Yucatan Peninsula.

NASHVILLE, TN–Christian Country Music Association is proud to announce the Top 10 category nominees for the 13th Annual Inspirational Country Music Award Show (ICM Awards) which will be held at the historic Acuff Theater, Sunday, November 4th, 2006, at 6 PM CST. The member-voted ICM Awards Show is the keynote event of Inspirational Country Week, slated for October 31st through November 4th in Nashville, TN.

The International Executive Committee of the Church of God is pleased to announce a ministerial partnership with Jentezen Franklin, well-known pastor of Free Chapel in Gainesville, Georgia and the Jamboree Worship Center in Irvine, California.

How prevalent is guilt, fear, and anger in the Christian community? According to psychologist and author Florence MacKenzie, more prevalent than most people might think.

“American church growth is steadily declining” reported Outreach Magazine in its May/June 2006 issue. Coupled with the fact that mid- size churches (memberships of 100-299) continue to lag behind population growth make for a bleak evangelistic future, says author and worship pastor, Gary Wright.

According to averaged results from a number of Gallup Polls conducted in 2006, 84% of Americans claim religion to be either “very important” or “fairly important” to their daily lives; a full 60% believe religion to be the answer to all of life’s problems.

BBC News Report

A strong earthquake lasting more than a minute hit southern Peru, killing at least 47 people and injuring hundreds. Correspondents say the number of casualties is expected to rise when contact is made with more remote rural areas.

This weekend the Assemblies of God (AG) in the U.S. conclude their 52nd General Council meeting in Indianapolis with the Rev. George O. Wood as its newly elected general superintendent.