iTunes "Religion & Spirituality Barometer" - 3/4/09

I just realized that I haven't done one of these since September. Unfortunatley, not much has changed in the world in the last 6 months.

Barometer Reading: 3/4/09



This Week's Winner: Marianne Williamson. I honestly don't know much about her, but after reading about her on Wikipedia I must say I am not excited that she is in the first place spot. Here is a blurb from Wikipedia:

A minister in the Unity Church, the driving force behind Williamson's philosophy is to offer a New Thought approach to spirituality.

She addresses both established Christianity and Judaism in statements such as "You've committed no sins, just mistakes." Her earliest renown was for her talks on A Course in Miracles, a step-by-step method for choosing love over fear. She credits her breakthrough to Oprah Winfrey who invited her on to The Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss Williamson's first book A Return to Love, a book of which Oprah bought one thousand copies.

Honorable Mention: Driscoll, Piper, and Stanley made it in the Top 10 amidst a sea of poor theology.

iTunes "Religion & Spirituality Barometer" - 9/15/08

Barometer Reading: 9/15/08



This Week's Winner: Joel Osteen. Interestingly enough, Focus on the Family was in the top spot a few days ago. Apparently Joel just wouldn't let that stand.

Honorable Mention: John Piper and R.C. Sproul in the Top Ten! It looks like the Desiring God podcast is just about as consistent as Oprah and Osteen. Sadly, Mark Driscoll dropped to 19! I think he needs to cuss more...

iTunes "Religion & Spirituality Barometer" - 9/9/08

Barometer Reading 9/9/08



This Week's Winner: Joel Osteen! I'm starting to wonder if I am going to be writing that name a lot over the next few weeks.

Honorable Mention: John Piper and Mark Driscoll in the Top Ten! Maybe John Piper needs to come out with a magazine like Oprah. Yes...I can see it now.

iTunes "Religion & Spirituality Barometer" - 9/3/08

Well, after a relaxing Labor Day I suppose it is about time I start posting again. I am a few days late on this one, but hopefully you can all forgive me.

Barometer Reading - 9/3/08



This Week's Winner: Joel "Numero Uno" Osteen. Trying to dethrone this guy is like trying to knock down the walls of Jericho. I think the Reformed podcasts need a little more cowbell.

Honorable Mention: John Piper and Mark Driscoll both moved up one spot bringing them a little closer to the land of Osteen & Oprah. Also, R.C Sproul moved from position 16 to 10! Perhaps the tides are changing...

iTunes "Religion & Spirituality Barometer" - 8/25/08

Barometer Reading - 8/25/08



This Week's Winner: Joel Osteen! Again, I am not surprised. If you need any convincing as to why Joel Osteen is at the top of the list again, just remember that on the eighth day, God created Joel Osteen.

Honorable Mention: John Piper making it into the Top 10 with Mark Driscoll just behind. There is hope.

iTunes "Religion & Spirituality Barometer" - 8/18/08

I am always very interested to see what the top "Religion & Spirituality" podcasts are when I browse the iTunes store. It really is fascinating (and a little discouraging) to see which podcasts have caught the general public's interest the most. With that thought in mind, I want to start an ongoing experiment of sorts. Many people use iTunes, but not all, so the experiment isn't perfect. Regardless, I would like to post the Religion & Spirituality Barometer® once a week to see if it gives an accurate portrayal of modern day religiosity across the globe. Good times.

Here's the protocal:

I will show the Top 25 Religion and Spirituality Podcasts currently on iTunes.

That's it really. Nothing fancy.

And here..we..go..

Barometer Reading - 8/18/08

This week's winner: Joel Osteen! Not really a surprise. This guy has a board game made after his book Your Best Life Now. Once you reach board game status, you are unstoppable...The big issue here is that once people hear that they can have their best life now, there is no reason to even bother thinking about the glorious life that is yet to come. After all, who wants eternity with God later when you can have wealth and victory here and now? Three cheers for the Prosperity Gospel!

Honorable Mention: Ravi Zacharias in the Top 5. It's great to know that this man's teaching is being listened to. Way to go Ravi.