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Idols don’t always come in the form of carved statues or reside in places of worship. Many pastors believe modern-day idols can be benign-looking desires with significant influence on people in their congregations.According to a&nbsp;<a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fresearch.lifeway.com%2F2022%2F08%2F09%2Fpastors-identify-modern-day-idols-comfort-tops-list%2F&amp;data=05%7C01%7Crichard%40klove.com%7Cbe720a662e034610027708da7a17d636%7C1e2152463fb64aeab4e0009f2a1de44e%7C0%7C0%7C637956540203708369%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C7000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=Oz5oiVNgKshPlD1IUB6tA%2F3Jr%2BPTM6xhJGQgy19Szk8%3D&amp;reserved=0">study from Lifeway Research</a>, more than half of U.S. Protestant pastors believe comfort (67%), control or security (56%), money (55%) and approval (51%) are idols that have significant influence on their congregations. When asked to choose the potential idol with the most sway over people in their churches, pastors again point to comfort (30%) and control or security (20%) above the others.“It’s easy to think that those in Christian churches have chosen their God and are faithful to Him,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “However, pastors quickly acknowledge how divided their congregations’ allegiances can be. These gods don’t have a physical shrine, but they compete for the hearts of Christians.”Significant influence of idolsWhile most pastors point to comfort, security, money and approval as potential idols, fewer say success (49%) and social influence (46%) are idols in their congregations. Nearly 2 in 5 say political power (39%) is an idol their congregants face, and nearly 1 in 3 say intimate relations or romantic love (32%). Another 14% of pastors say none of these are idols with influence in their churches, and 2% say they’re not sure.Younger pastors are more likely than older pastors to identify several of these modern-day idols in their churches—particularly political power, money and control or security. Pastors ages 18-44 are the most likely to say political power (55%) and control or security (72%) are idols they see in their congregations.The younger pastors are, the more likely they are to see money as a rival object of worship. Pastors ages 18-44 (63%) and 45-54 (58%) are more likely to say money is an idol in their churches than pastors 65 and older (46%).Furthermore, older pastors are less likely to identify any of these potential idols among their congregants. Pastors ages 55-64 (18%) and over 64 (19%) are more likely to say none of these are idols in their churches than pastors 18-44 (9%) or 45-54 (10%).<blockquote>“The large differences we see between younger and older pastors cannot be definitively explained by this study,” McConnell said. “There are signs that younger pastors are of the mindset that idols are rampant today, whereas older pastors may be slower to classify one of these as having significant influence on their people, or they may define idols more narrowly.”</blockquote>Some different modern-day idols stood out to pastors of different ethnicities. White pastors are more likely than African American pastors to identify political power (41% v. 29%) and approval (53% v. 40%) as idols in their churches. And African American pastors are more likely than white pastors to say none of these are idols in their churches (25% v. 13%).Pastors with higher levels of education are more likely than pastors with less formal education to identify money and control or security as idols in their churches. Pastors with master’s degrees (64%) or doctoral degrees (57%) are more likely than those with no college degree (43%) to say money is an idol in their churches. And pastors with master’s degrees (67%) or doctoral degrees (64%) are more likely than those with bachelor’s degrees (47%) or without college degrees (38%) to say control or security. Meanwhile, pastors with no college degree (25%) are the most likely to say none of these are modern-day idols in their churches.Pastors of larger churches are more likely to identify idols of social influence and intimate relations or romantic love in their congregations than pastors of smaller churches. Pastors of churches with more than 250 (55%) in attendance and those with 100-249 (51%) are more likely than those at churches with 50-99 (42%) or less than 50 (39%) to say social influence. Similarly, pastors at churches with attendance of more than 250 (40%) and 100-249 (39%) are more likely than those at churches with attendance of 50-99 (30%) or fewer than 50 (21%) to identify intimate relations or romantic love as an idol.“In many ways, the top three idols pastors recognize in their churches are related. Comfort and security draw the hearts of the most congregations, but they are often enabled by the pursuit of more money,” McConnell said. “Pastors of higher socioeconomic levels are quicker to recognize the influence of security and control while pastors of lower socioeconomic levels more readily see the draw of comforts.”Denominational differences also play a role in how likely pastors are to say they recognize idolatrous influences in their congregations. Non-denominational (23%) and Pentecostal pastors (20%) are more likely than Methodist (9%) or Restorationist movement pastors (6%) to say they don’t see any of the potential idols influencing people in their churches.Most influential idolComfort (30%), control or security (20%) and money (13%) also top the list of modern-day idols with the most influence on congregations. But political power (10%) and social influence (9%) climbed above approval (6%) and success (4%) when pastors were asked to select the one modern-day idol they believe has the most influence on their congregations. Less than 1% point to intimate relations or romantic love as the idol with the most influence in their churches. Another 7% say they aren’t sure.“Americans’ obsession with pursuing more stuff is clearly seen within the church as well,” McConnell said. “The largest number of congregations battle the influence of first-world comforts, and churches’ second most common modern-day idol is the commitment to keeping secure the comforts they already have.”The allure of political power is more common in certain congregations. White pastors (12%) are more likely than African American pastors (2%) to say political power is the modern-day idol with the most influence on their congregations. And younger pastors—those 18-44 (14%) and 45-54 (13%)—are more likely than pastors over 65 (5%) to identify political power as the most influential idol in their congregations. Pastors in the Midwest (14%) and West (14%) are also among the most likely to say political power. Furthermore, pastors of Baptist (11%), Methodist (11%) and non-denominational (15%) churches are more likely than pastors of Presbyterian/Reformed (4%) churches to say political power is the idol with the most influence in their congregations.Social influence holds more sway in large churches and is more often spotted by older clergy. Pastors at the largest churches, those with more than 250 in attendance (17%), are among the most likely to say social influence is the primary idol in their churches. Those over the age of 65 (13%) are more likely than pastors ages 18-44 (5%) to say social influence is the most influential idol in their churches. And Restorationist movement pastors (18%) are more likely than Baptist (8%), Methodist (8%) and Pentecostal (5%) pastors to say the same.Denominationally, some pastors are more likely to see success as an idolatrous temptation for their congregations. Pentecostal pastors (13%) are more likely than Baptist (5%), Methodist (3%), Presbyterian/Reformed (3%) and Restorationist movement (less than 1%) pastors to say success is the most influential idol in their churches.&nbsp;

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Modern culture idols, not carved stone, but same effect in relationship with Jesus

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"These gods don’t have a physical shrine, but they compete for the hearts of Christians.”

Today's 'Idols' Are Not Carved Statues, They're Attitudes, Things, Money

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MEXICO CITY (AP) — They call him “El Jefe,” he is at least 12 years old and his crossing of the heavily guarded U.S.-Mexico border has sparked celebrations on both sides.“El Jefe” — or “The Boss” — is one of the oldest jaguars on record along the frontier, one of few known to have crossed a border partly lined by a wall and other infrastructure to stop drug traffickers and migrants, and the one believed to have traveled the farthest, say ecologists of the Borderlands Linkages Initiative, a binational collaboration of eight conservation groups.That assessment is based on photographs taken over the years. Jaguars can be identified by their spots, which serve as a kind of unique fingerprint.The rare northern jaguar’s ability to cross the border suggests that despite increased impediments, there are still open corridors and if they are kept open “it is feasible (to conserve) the jaguar population in the long term,” said Juan Carlos Bravo of the Wildlands Network, one of those groups in the initiative.But some fear for the jaguars’ future. Although it was the government of President Donald Trump that reinforced and expanded the border wall with Mexico, the Biden administration has announced plans for closing four gaps between the U.S. state of Arizona and the Mexican state of Sonora — the two states the jaguars traverse.Conservationists do not know how many jaguars there are in the Sierra Madre Occidental, but of the 176 that have been identified over two decades by the Northern Jaguar Project — another group in the initiative — only two others besides “El Jefe” are known to have crossed the border, Bravo said. In one case, conservationists are not sure if the jaguar crossed the border alive or dead since only its skin was found.The first photograph of “El Jefe” was taken by a hunter southeast of Tucson, Arizona, in 2011, Bravo said. The jaguar became famous in Arizona and a local school named him “El Jefe.” Motion sensor cameras installed in transit areas photographed the jaguar in Arizona again in 2012 and in 2015.Conservationists were stunned when they confirmed that a photograph taken by another member of the coalition, Profauna, last November in the center of Sonora was “El Jefe.” The discovery meant not only that jaguars could still cross the border but that other jaguars they had lost track of could also still be alive, the initiative said in a statement.Hunted in the southwestern United States for rewards offered by the government to promote cattle ranching, they were thought to have disappeared from the U.S. by the end of the 20th century. Jaguar populations are currently concentrated on Mexico’s Pacific coast, southeastern Mexico, Central America and central South America.A sighting of jaguars in the United States in 1996 prompted studies that found a reproductive point in the center of Sonora.The NGOs banded together to operate on both sides of the border to track the cats, create sanctuaries, understand where they moved and seek the support of landowners in the U.S. and Mexico to protect them, Bravo said.Besides the difficulty of determining where to put cameras to record the animals and the subsequent analysis of the images, conservationists in Mexico face another problem: drug cartels.“There is a presence of armed groups and drug traffickers” who pass through the same isolated areas as the jaguars, Bravo said by telephone from Sonora. “It is important to move carefully, work with the people in the communities that tell us where not to go. ... All of this is making it very, very complicated.”The border is the main challenge for hopes to repopulate the American Southwest with jaguars, with walls impeding movement by those animals as well as the American antelope, the black bear and the Mexican wolf, Bravo said. Light towers and the roads used by the Border Patrol also are a problem, he added.

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His crossing of the heavily guarded U.S.-Mexico border has sparked celebrations on both sides

Famed Jaguar, 'El Jefe' Photographed In Mexico

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Renaming nine U.S. Army posts that honor Confederate officers would cost a total of $21 million if the installations rebrand everything from welcome marquees and street signs to water towers and hospital doors, according to an independent commission.The Naming Commission <a href="https://www.thenamingcommission.gov/home">released</a> its final report on recommending the new Army base names to Congress on Monday. It included a 17-page list of assets that are tied to the Confederacy, from the decals on 300 recycling bins at Fort Bragg in North Carolina to the sign for a softball field at Fort Hood in Texas.The report is the latest step in a broader effort by the military to confront racial injustice, most recently in the aftermath of the May 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.The renaming process was laid out in a law passed by Congress in late 2020. The secretary of defense is expected to implement the commission’s plan no later than Jan. 1, 2024.Monday's report provided detailed — and sometimes unflattering — descriptions of the Confederate officers whose names would be removed as well as the accomplishments of those whose names would replace them. Fort Bragg is the only base that would not be named after a person. It would be called Fort Liberty.The commission wrote that Fort Benning in Georgia was named after a “lawyer, ardent secessionist, bitter opponent of abolition and senior officer in the Confederate Army."The report stated that Henry L. Benning “is on record as saying that he would rather be stricken with illness and starvation than see slaves liberated and given equality as citizens.”The commission recommends renaming the base after a married couple: Lt. Gen. Hal Moore, who served in Vietnam and received the Distinguished Service Cross, and his wife Julia, who prompted the creation of teams that do in-person notifications of military casualties.Renaming the base would cost just under $5 million, the report stated. The effort would target anything from the wording on airfield doors to the name of an airstrip. It would also include removing Confederate names from paver stones on a walk to a memorial that honors U.S. Army Rangers.Fort Bragg, which is home to the 82nd Airborne Division, was named after a “slave-owning plantation owner and senior Confederate Army officer,” the report said.Braxton Bragg is "considered one of the worst generals of the Civil War; most of the battles he was involved in ended in defeat and resulted in tremendous losses for the Confederate Army; highly consequential to the ultimate defeat of the Confederacy,” the commission wrote.Renaming the base to Fort Liberty would cost about $6.3 million, the report said. It would include rebranding 45 police vehicles and 15 emergency services vehicles, such as fire engines and ambulances.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/north-carolina-government-and-politics-2c635453129124a462ea79691e634ce9">The other bases recommended for renaming are</a> Fort A.P. Hill, Fort Lee and Fort Pickett in Virginia; Fort Gordon in Georgia, Fort Hood in Texas, Fort Polk in Louisiana and Fort Rucker in Alabama.For years, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/north-carolina-government-and-politics-2c635453129124a462ea79691e634ce9">U.S. military officials had defended the naming of bases after Confederate officers</a>. But in the aftermath of the Floyd killing, and the months of racial unrest that followed, Congress ordered a comprehensive plan to rename the military posts and hundreds of other federal assets such as roads, buildings, memorials, signs and landmarks that honored rebel leaders.The change in the military’s thinking was reflected in congressional testimony by Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a month after Floyd’s death. He said the current base names could be reminders to Black soldiers that rebel officers fought for an institution that may have enslaved their ancestors.The Naming Commission said subsequent installments of the final report will address assets at the military academies and other places within the Department of Defense.

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Fort Bragg is the only base that would not be named after a person.

It Would Cost $21M To Rename Army Bases With Confederate Names

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Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts. - Psalm 119:2

Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts.

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