In just a few short weeks our world has changed. The gyrations of the stock market and the economic collapse of numerous financial institutions have introduced an overlay of fear and doubt about our economic future. Surely, the poor will become poorer in the next few years. Funds that would have been spent on development of energy technology will likely be postponed in favor of more immediate concerns.

In a couple of weeks from now the political landscape in the United States will shift as well. If prognosticators are correct, the first black man will be elected President of the United States and democratic party majorities in the House and Senate will increase and become consolidated. Surely these changes, if they occur, will be momentous for the next four years in the United States, at least.

Every day, around the world, people are dying without ever hearing the good news that God loves them and has sent a Savior, Jesus, the Christ. Future generations of children raised in the church are leaving it having never experienced this love in a real and tangible way in their own lives.

For the last several years Next-Wave has been reporting about the "emerging church." Our motivation for this is to discover and encourage the ways that God's good news is being brought to our changing world. Along with Next-Wave's readers I will be watching closely for the way that these tectonic shifts in our cultural landscape will impact the church and our culture.

Charlie Wear, Next-Wave publisher, October 15, 2008