[Zack Nguyen]

Fascinating article. The past 25 years have seen more changes in Christendom than at any time since the Protestant Reformation, imho. The faith is the same, the practice is radically different. These changes include:

1. The collapse of mainline Protestanism and it's descent into liberalism and irrelevance, coupled with the rise of evangelical, charismatic, and non-denominational churches.

2. The rise of the mega-church. I heard a statistic the other day (cannot remember the source), something to the effect of 50% of church-goers attending 10% of the churches by 2025.

3. The rise of parachurch ministries, as groups like Focus on the Family, Promise Keepers, Prison Fellowship, Christians on Campus, and others fill voids that individual churches cannot or do not.

4. The rise of the pro-life movement and the Religious Right.

5. The Word of Faith movement.

6. The rise of contemporary Christian music.

7. The switch from traditional hymns to praise choruses in worship.

Not saying all of these things are good. Some are not. But that is what this era will be remembered for by future historians.

[Tribune7]

I'd say that items 2 through 7 are good and are the direct result of item 1, which is bad.

[Dahlseide]

I take exception to #4.

Abortion on demand, or any other kind, merely revealed what has always been central to Christianity. And the leftward shift of the CINO produced the media generated moniker Religious Right.

In other words I do not see either as new phenomena.