Here is some very interesting stuff by Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life:

The Church – the greatest force on Earth

by Rick Warren

The Church is everywhere in the world. There are villages that have little else, but they do have a church. -Rick Warren

The Church is the most magnificent concept ever created. It has survived persistent abuse, horrifying persecution, and widespread neglect. Yet despite its faults (due to our sinfulness), it is still God’s chosen instrument of blessing and has been for 2,000 years.

The Church will last for eternity, and because it is God’s instrument for ministry here on Earth, it is truly the greatest force on the face of the Earth. That’s why I believe tackling the world’s biggest problems – the giants of spiritual lostness, egocentric leadership, poverty, disease, and ignorance – can only be done through the Church.

The Church has eight distinct advantages over the efforts of business and government:

(and this is just the first one--Judy:)

1. The Church provides for the largest participation. Most people have no idea how many Christians there are in the world: More than 2 billion people claim to be followers of Jesus Christ. That’s one third of the world’s population! The Church has about a billion more people than the entire nation of China.

For example, about 100 million people in the United States went to church this past weekend. That’s more people than will attend sporting events in the United States throughout this year. The Church is the largest force for good in the world. Nothing else even comes close.

This comes from Warren's web site www.pastors.com

http://connectionsgodandtheworld.blogspot.com/2005/12/here-is-some-very-interesting-stuff-by.html