Megachurch

A pastor at one of the largest churches in the country launched a new sermon series addressing the hypocrisy and the pretending prevalent among Christians.

Entitled "The Pretenders," the series draws attention to the biblical time when Jesus went not to the red light district, the nightclub or the boardroom to confront the hypocrites but to church.

"[Jesus'] main problem with the ... religious leaders in his day is that they were hypocrites," said Kyle Idleman, teaching minister at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Ky. "That's what he calls them to their face." more >>

In observance of this year’s International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, the Southern California megachurch of popular preacher Rick Warren will host a forum on the persecuted church with some of the nation’s foremost experts on the subject.

According to an announcement, Warren, founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., will moderate the discussion on religious freedom and persecution this coming Sunday as millions worldwide unite for prayer. The civil forum will feature Michael Cromartie, vice-president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center and vice chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom; Dr. Carl Moeller, president/CEO of Open Doors USA; and Pastor Dishan Wickramaratne, senior pastor of the 8,000-member Peoples Church in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Warren says Saddleback, in observance of IDOP, wants to remind people that the Church is still suffering around the world. more >>

The annual "March for Jesus" event in Brazil drew more than 1.5 million evangelical Christians Monday.

In its 17th year, the event brings together hundreds of evangelical churches in a country that is home to the world’s largest Roman Catholic population. Seventy-four percent of the country describes themselves as Roman Catholic.

The march is held each year on the same day the Catholic Church celebrates the Corpus Christi holiday, which is not observed by evangelical Protestants but is a national holiday in Brazil. more >>

A megachurch in Dallas is pursuing what is expected to be the largest church expansion program in modern history.

First Baptist Church Dallas unveiled plans on Sunday for a $130 million campus in the downtown area that would compete with some of the most "architecturally stunning" buildings in its city.

"As I look around downtown Dallas, I see spectacular temples of commerce, of culture and of government – many new, some restored to former glory, and all intended to stand for generations. The Kingdom of God needs a home to equal them – a spiritual oasis in the middle of downtown," said Dr. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Dallas. more >>

The Christian church is engaging far less than 1 percent of the 70 million people who are active in the virtual world. This means the virtual world is by far the largest unreached people group on planet Earth, says one pastor.

Douglas Estes, a pastor from San Jose, Calif., has no vested interest in virtual or internet churches – a relatively new phenomenon – but given the large "unreached" population on the internet, he says he has a desire to see healthy churches proliferate "regardless of context."

Although he leads a brick and mortar church (Berryessa Valley Church), Estes defends virtual churches against critics in his newly released book, SimChurch: Being the Church in the Virtual World, maintaining that they are real churches with real people. more >>