[Old_Mil]

Fads run their course. They also fail to mention that Pentecostalism is the denomination within Christianity with the highest dropout rate. It would seem that you can only play pretend for so long before reality once again sets in.

[Lunatic Fringe]

I went to a Pentecostal service. More than once I felt I accidentally walked into a nuthouse.

[the invisib1e hand]

as someone who was "born again" for a long time, I can tell you, this is one fad that cuts both ways. Granted, it was part of my path back to the Church, but, insofar as it is based on positive denials of Truth, it can be a ruinous path indeed. It is often legalistic and unthinking -- that is, fundamentalist -- but I'm not comparing it to Islam, so save the flames. In fact, I used to be stunned when people disdained my religious practices as "fundamentalist" -- I was a seeker of God.

But the Church IS the body of Christ on earth -- His Peace, His Grace, His Wisdom, His Love -- anything else is a counterfeit, having the illusion of value based on the ignorance of the observer.

I would not be too excited about something claiming to be truth but off by a degree or two at the center gaining much influence. Its benefits to souls will be tangential to its errors, I would think.

[svcw]

100 year fad?

[Mr. Brightside]

Pentecostalism is the denomination within Christianity with the highest dropout rate.

If a church is growing, which most are not, there will be a LOT of "dropouts."

The reason most churches don't have many dropouts is because they never bring in anybody new.

[Celtman]

Fads run their course.

      Fad???  At the current rate of growth, Pentecostals/Charismatics will be the largest Christian category worldwide by the middle of century.

      The article (and many others) refer to charismatics as though the term applies to those who stay within other churches.  This is only partially correct.  Many charismatic churches (including some of the largest congregations is the US/world) prefer to call themselves non-denominational, rather than pentecostal.

      Obviously, the "dropout rate" is lower than the "dropin rate".

[Quix]

Lord, God, may all the naysayers be confronted with your emphatic truths in such phenomena. Show yourself real in this era as in no other.

Help folks realize the priority of the moves of your Spirit in this closing age of history as we have known it.

Lord, you alone are mighty. You alone are Power and Might incarnate. LET GOD ARISE AND HIS ENEMIES BE SCATTERED.

Let all who mock Holy Spirit's true functions and operations be humbled by His Presence and His convicting power.

Let all who so glibly naysay find loved ones touched by the Holy Spirit in unmistakable, life-saving ways.

Let the naysayers be silenced in humility. If they stubbornly refuse humility, let them be silenced in humiliation.

In Jesus' Name.

[Montana4Jesus]

A. "Pentecostalism" has been around since the 12 disciples were running around. Hardly a fad.

B. State you source on the "drop out" rate.

[tryon1ja]

I have been a Penticostal for about 60 years. You should only speak for yourself. I resent you poor taste of thought.

[bella1]

"Fads run their course"

100 years is quite a course.