My wife, Mary, has a Yahoo home page. At the top is a “Trending Now” column. It lists the top 10 most frequently accessed internet stories. Today’s top four trends are:
1. Zsa Zsa Gabor
John Chandler
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2. Katie Couric
3. Tiger Woods
4. Ivanka Trump
Is this what Shakespeare had in mind when he spoke of, “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing?” Probably. At least “coffee” trended in at No. 9, just behind “Wal-Mart” and “401-K.” We have our priorities!
Yet while trends are often froth, sometimes they clue us in to the movement of the Holy Spirit. Twenty years ago, Henry Blackaby reminded us that the first step toward experiencing God is to “watch where God was at work and to join God there.” Such watchfulness taps into a deep biblical vein and has always been the prophetic work of the people of God.
Now, I am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet. But part of the work of the Spence Network is to “scout” for where God might be at work so that the church might respond faithfully. It’s in that spirit that we begin this watchful column. Sometimes we’ll simply report what is emerging. Other times we’ll try to place these trends in a spiritual, biblical, relational or theological context.
Always, whether the scouting report brings up great work or alarming news, we will offer these words in a hopeful tone of voice. Yes, Baptists and the evangelical church in North America would be wise to get our act in gear. Most of the Mid-Atlantic’s 23-plus million citizens live blithely or willfully out of step with Jesus Christ, and we have lots of work to do in response to that.
But God is never without witness. And there are signs of the Kingdom of God breaking in and advancing every day. We’ll try to capture a few of those signals of Kingdom hope.
Where are you are seeing the Spirit move? Talk to us! Maybe together we’ll uncover more prophecy and less froth.
Trending is written by John Chandler, leader of the Spence Network. Coming next: Leadership via discipleship.