Posted on 08/16/2008 11:59:35 AM PDT by XR7
LAKE FOREST, Calif. — When John McCain and Barack Obama appear on the same stage today, they will vividly demonstrate the reach that has made the Rev. Rick Warren among the most significant evangelists of his generation.
He's a megastar who leads the nation's fourth-largest church and reaches thousands of ministers through the Internet and crusades against poverty and AIDS. That globe-trotting work and his successful book — "The Purpose-Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?" — puts him at the vanguard of a movement that inspires young, socially conscious Christians.
But his willingness to soft-pedal political issues once central to U.S. evangelicals, such as opposition to abortion, has opened him to criticism that he has strayed from his calling to spread the Gospel.
Today's forum also is a sign of religion's importance in the 2008 presidential campaign, and the emergence of a new style of evangelical leadership on the national stage that is not tied to a single party and has broadened its social agenda beyond that of the religious right.
"This is absolutely a changing of the guard, and it suggests that the new guard of the evangelical movement is able to generate the attention and focus of both parties," said D. Michael Lindsay, a sociologist at Rice University and author of "Faith in the Halls of Power: How Evangelicals Joined the American Elite."
Warren personally invited the two candidates — "friends of mine" — via their cellphones. His event at the Saddleback Church will be broadcast live on CNN and Fox News Channel and streamed on the Web. It has among its aims "helping the church regain credibility and encouraging our society to return to civility," he said.
It's likely that fans and critics will be watching closely...
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
HUH???? You mean gays can’t visit each other in the hospital??? Oh brother!!
I believe that WND’s Joseph Farah was the first to expose the liberalism of this “purpose-driven” person.
Thanks for the live streaming link.
I didn’t know he had a speech impediment/stuttering problem ... it’s impossible to listen to him.
Rick Warren gets a hat tip, he’s asking the tough questions. Problem is there is no follow up because Obama is lying through his teeth. But he is on record lying through his teeth and that’s a good thing.
Obama is all over the board on where he stands on anything uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh ...uh the stem cell bill uh uh uh embroyes uh uh uh
You have GOT to be kidding, he did not say that. Really? He said that?
OMG
MOgirl
Pouring a drink right now... a stiff one.
And Fox News should be slapped.
Please just answer a damn question...
Warren said he wasn’t going to get confrontational the other day.
Just got in. Has it turned into ‘abandon all hope Christians’ yet?
same sex marriage No
that crash was the homosexuals throwing stuff at their TVs..
NO QUESTIONS ON THE BORN ALIVE ACT ON WHY HE SUPPORTED INFANTACIDE
Hell JJ...I started drunk...only way I could handle this...
Right on target.
Rick Warren is letting you form your own opinion , he stated that at the beginning Rick Warren is asking the tough questions.
I couldn’t stand to watch it and just tuned in after reading some of the comments. And they make fun of the way Bush speaks! He’s totally clueless.
Can you listen on your computer? Streaming is on FOX I believe...
I’ve been thinking of and praying for our cajungirl all day...
Did he really say that??
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