Protestant Tide Sweeps Brazil

I'm sure you have heard from the many talking heads over the last few years that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. That's a lie, of course, but there isn't really anyone that stands up and says the two words which would halt that kind of nonsense talk in a second: Prove it.

I have a few friends that are missionaries, a few in Africa, one in Malaysia and two more in South America. All of them are Evangelical Christian's and all of them say the same thing: Evangelical Christianity is sweeping the nations they are in.

I bring you an article about Evangelical Christianity in the hotbed of Catholicism, Brazil:

When the late Pope John Paul II visited Brazil in 1980, 89 percent of Brazilians identified themselves as Catholic. By 2000, when the last census was taken, the share of Catholics in the population had fallen to 74 percent.

The number of evangelical Protestants nearly tripled in the same period to 26 million, or about 15 percent of the population. That growth, which is expected to continue, is dramatically altering the religious landscape of a country where the national identity has been intertwined with Catholicism since the Portuguese landed 500 years ago.

"The face of Christianity in Brazil, and all over the developing world, is increasingly Pentecostal," said Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, a research group in Washington.

el sorprender, sí?

If you want to see how quickly the Evangelical faith is growing, just simply have a look at a few strip malls you drive by every day. In Mitchieville there are dozens of new Pentecostal churches that have sprung up over the last 5 years. And there are a few reasons for that.

One of the main reasons why Evangelicals are growing in numbers is because the churches of our mom and dad don't stand for anything any more. Whether it's the United church ordaining gay and women Ministers, or the Presbyterian churches preaching anything but God's word, the churches stand for nothing, they are a shadow of what they once were.

Many churches alter their message because they feel they need to be *hip*, or other nonsense like that. They need to stick to the catechism and not worry what the naysayers think, the naysayers don't go to church anyways.

Evangelical churches, while weak on teaching scripture, are pretty structured when it comes to things like gay marriage, homosexuality, family values and community. The Evangelical community often speaks as one, they seem to have a game plan, and the masses yearn for discipline and structure.

The old churches lack outreach. They are content with the congregation they have and the collection they get every week, they don't open their doors for the community, they are inward. I'm not talking every church, but a large percentage of churches don't have outreach.

One of the great pillars of the Pentecostals is opening up their doors, hearts and minds to the community. Go to a Evangelical church and be prepared to have a Christian hug you, hold you, and welcome you into their church. There is a wonderful sense of community and brotherhood/sisterhood within the Evangelical churches.

I understand why so many people are becoming Pentecostals, it's like going into Cheers where everybody knows your name, who wouldn't dig that? I, on the other hand, think that Evangelicals are deceiving themselves and don't study the bible and aren't taught nearly enough scripture. What they are taught is phony Christianity, or religion for the masses. People need to question and study, not jump up and down, talking in tongues and blindly following someone who may or may not be teaching the truth.

However, Evangelicals are good for Brazil, I've never met a Pentecostal I didn't like. Maybe this will be a wake-up call for the Roman Catholic church, although it's 1600 years overdue, it's never too late.

Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition