News

Go Figure

Recent stats on missions, money, and church and state.

Missions

127,000 Missionaries sent from the U.S. in 2010. (Brazil is the second-largest sending country overall. South Korea is the second-largest if only Protestants are counted.)

32,400 Missionaries sent to the U.S. in 2010. The U.S. is the largest receiving country in the world.

Source: Reuters / Center for the Study of Global Christianity

Money

$1.5 million Estimated annual operating costs for a 217-acre campus in Northfield, Massachusetts, built by D. L. Moody.

$0 Cost to acquire it from the Green family (owners of the Hobby Lobby craft store chain), which is of-fering the site to a Christian institution. The C. S. Lewis Foundation could not raise the $3 million it planned to use for a college there.

Source: Religion News Service

Church and State

New York State residents who say public schools …

49% should rent to churches and other community groups.

27% should rent to community groups but not churches.

19% should not rent to any churches or community groups.

1% should rent only to churches.

4% Not sure

Source: LifeWay Research

When a candidate running for office regularly expresses religious conviction or activity, how does that affect your vote?

More likely to vote for the candidate: 16%

Less likely to vote for the candidate: 30%

No impact: 28%

Depends on the religion: 21%

Not sure: 4%

Source: LifeWay Research

Related Elsewhere:

See our past “Go Figure” postings from March 2012, February 2012, January 2012, December 2011, November 2011, October 2011, September 2011, August 2011, July 2011, June 2011, May 2011, April 2011, February 2011, January 2011, December 2010, and earlier issues.

See CT’s news section and liveblog for more news updates.

Also in this issue

The CT archives are a rich treasure of biblical wisdom and insight from our past. Some things we would say differently today, and some stances we've changed. But overall, we're amazed at how relevant so much of this content is. We trust that you'll find it a helpful resource.

News

Is the Lord's Prayer a Christian Prayer?

Compiled by Ruth Moon

News

Nontraditional Believers Recover Christian Community

Melody J. Wachsmuth in Zagreb, Croatia

Defending Scripture. Literally.

News

Violence in Nigeria: Breaking the Country's Fatal Deadlock

Sunday Agang in Kagoro, Nigeria

Discipling the Eyes Through Art in Worship

W. David O. Taylor

Review

Polarizing Politics by Defending the Declaration

Andrew Walker

Chuck Colson: Evangelicals Should Be Uniters, Not Dividers

'God Is Not a Genie in a Bottle': Ways We Misuse the Bible

Interview by Owen Strachan

My Top 5 Books on Christianity in North Korea

Carl Moeller

Review

Tolerance—Or Else: Coercive Attempts to Impose Secular Beliefs

Editorial

How Pastors' Ponzis Affect Our Gospel Witness

A Christianity Today Editorial

News

Mass Appeal: Evangelicals Copy More of Catholic Playbook to Oppose Contraception Ruling

Sarah Pulliam Bailey

Review

Blue Like Jazz

Josh Hurst

Do Pets Go to Heaven?

Wesley Smith, Karen Swallow Prior, and Ben DeVries

Becoming Donald Miller

Mark Moring

What Good Grief Looks Like When a Daughter Dies

Ben Witherington

Excerpt

Connecting Christ

Paul Metzger

News

Sex Sect The Family Cleans House

James A. Beverley

Jesus Disappoints Everyone

John Koessler

Proof of a Good God: 'Crucified Under Pontius Pilate'

News

Quotation Marks

News

The Problem 'Son': Debate Continues Over Translating 'Son of God' for Muslims

Collin Hansen

News

Passages

Letters to the Editor

Journaling Grief: How Web-Based Publishing Is Changing Everything

Jesus Through Jewish Eyes

Books to Note

Wilson's Bookmarks

John Wilson

Employers Can Limit Employees' Speech, TBN’s Lawsuit, Bar Boots Catholic Group, and More News

News

Contract Concern: USAID Policy on Hiring Alarms Charities

Bobby Ross Jr.

Review

October Baby

Morgan Feddes

Jeremy Lin, Tim Tebow, Josh Hamilton: Muscular Christianity's Newest Heroes

Interview: Why Sarah Macintosh Ran Away from CCM and Went Back

Mark Moring

Review

Wrecking Ball

Andy Whitman

Review

The Clearing

Kristin Garrett

Review

Feathers & Twine

Andy Argyrakis

Review

Songs of Praise & Scorn

Jeremy V. Jones

View issue

Our Latest

The Bulletin

Pete Hegseth’s Future, Farmers on Tariffs, and Religious Decline Stalls

Mike Cosper, Clarissa Moll

Hegseth scrutinized for drug boat strikes, farmers react to Trump’s tariffs, and a Pew report says religious decline has slowed.

The Debate over Government Overreach Started in 1776

Three books to read this month on politics and public life.

The Call to Art, Africa, and Politics

In 1964, CT urged Christians to “be what they really are—new men and women in Christ.”

Turn Toward Each Other and Away from the Screen

Perhaps technology has changed everything. But God is still here, still wiring humans for connection and presence.

Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

BONUS: Amanda Knox on the Satanic Panic and Wrongful Convictions

How elements of the satanic panic and conspiratorial thinking shaped a wrongful conviction.

Death by a Thousand Error Messages

Classroom tech was supposed to solve besetting education problems. The reality is frustrating for students and costly for taxpayers.

The Chinese Christian Behind 2,000 Hymns

X. Yang

Lü Xiaomin never received formal music training. But her worship songs have made her a household name in China’s churches.

The Surprising Joys of a Gift-Free Christmas

Ahrum Yoo

Amid peak consumerism season, I prayed for ways to teach my children about selfless giving.

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