Is this commie on the Journ-O-List list?
As to the article, I thought it was strange. Palin was in the title but was only mentioned by name *once*. It’s a hit piece, and rather behind the times.
The long-term trend is not towards large “mega-churches” but away from them. There are three current changes that are taking place.
1. The majority of small and mid-size churches, at least 80%, are declining.
2. Large churches are growing somewhat, but it is more due to slick services and marketing and is being funded by heavy reliance on debt.
3. The house movement is growing exponentially, and is mostly unseen. People drawn to house churches are looking for a sense of belonging and community, what they have not found in either their lives or in traditional “building” churches.
I am called to start a church. I used to dream of having a large church. I now realize that a church isn’t a building; it’s the people. And it wouldn’t have been mine to “have” - the church belongs to Jesus. And large churches don’t help build fellowship, they are ego-builders for the staff. So I’ve tossed every plan I had for a big building, and I’m even considering not having a building at all.
My advice to mega-churches: Get very serious about training your people. A church that is a true teaching church will survive the downsizing trend that is coming. Many churches will remain shallow, and will close their doors.
Such churches teach a supranational Christianity; that Christ is above all nations and thus Christianity can’t be branded to any particular Earthly constitutional construct.
I think they understand this country, but they’ll argue that Christ’s mission has a higher priority than country. Warren’s church is said to be veering dangerously close to a “social justice” type of ministry, yet he still angers folks left and right. As long as he does that, he may be doing something right.
Warren stopped being relevant when he used himself as a tool for Obama....
A wee bit of truth here...
The media and the left lumped all blacks individuals into a faceless group and appointed Jesse Jackson, the Black Caucus, etc, their mouthpiece. Now no conservative black voice will be tolerated. Any racial news will be framed by the NAACP and nobody else.
The media and the left lumped all women into a group and appointed the feminazis their mouthpiece. For years no conservative female voice would be heeded. All issues of gender were then framed by the feminists.
The media and the left lumped all muslim Americans into a group and appointed CAIR as the sole mouthpiece of muslims. Now no one but radical islamists who've learned to be politically savvy can be heard. When any islamic terrorist makes the news, CAIR is ALWAYS called in to discuss the issue, and it gets the job exclusively. No other muslims need apply.
The same goes for "Hispanics" , a group manufactured from a diverse field of individuals some citizens, some legal immigrants waiting for citizenship or seeking work, and some illegal, whose voices are all drowned out and replaced by the only voice the media will recognize- illegal immigrant advocates.
The media now seems to want to lump all Christians into this megachurch so the voice of American Christianity will be heard exclusively from Warren. No others need apply!
So, this is how lefties across the pond see Mr. Warren, and by association American evangelical Christians, and of course those nasty “fundamentalists”. Interesting. They really have no clue.
Sarah would do well to stay away from Rick Warren, imho.