Where El Toro Road collides with Portola Parkway, a city on the hill appears. Perhaps the better term is "campus." All I know is that of the few churches Iâ??ve visited during my lifetime, Iâ??m in awe of the sheer size of Saddleback Church. The eighth largest church in America is run by the charismatic evangelical pastor, Rick Warren, whose book The Purpose Driven Life has sold over 30 million copies. As part of research for a new book Iâ??m writing, I wanted to wrap my head around this popular preacherâ??s message.
Megachurches are often criticized for being "Christianity Lite." They are only following popular trends: Market research has shown that Christians are not interested in all that "religious stuff." Hellfire pastors spouting anti-gay rhetoric make good memes online but do little for weekly attendance. I arrive at Saddleback a few minutes late, having dealt with 405 traffic from Los Angeles, settling into overflow seating just in time to catch what I think was supposed to be music.
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