Lots of people know that I despise the phrase ‘The people are in good heart’ when used in reports about churches. This is almost always code for ‘the place is in its death-throes, but at least they’re not eating each other alive’. It’s a phrase people use when there’s nothing actually good to say. So, …
Prayer in unhealthy churches is reactive rather than proactive. A problem develops, and then the church members pray. A marriage struggles, and then they pray. A young person wanders, and then the church prays. Prayer in an unhealthy congregation is often a response of desperation rather than a marker of the DNA of the church. …
They don’t follow all their own rules in the finished product, but seems eerily accurate for some cases. ht
Thanks to Craig Schwarze for pointing this out, and to Tim Challies for highlighting it. This Sunday is the 225th anniversary of the first Christian service in Australian, led by the Reverend Richard Johnson. A lot of churches will probably be talking about this on Sunday, so I thought I would put up the facts …
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