Why Churches Die: Diagnosing Lethal Poisons in the Body of Christ
Overview
Right now, there are congregants who would rather stay in bed each Sunday morning and soon enough will. Likewise, preachers who want to resign every Monday after another uninspired weekend worship service may study the want ads more closely than upcoming sermon notes.
Authors Mac Brunson and Ergun Caner draw parallels between sicknesses of the human body and ailments among members of the body of Christ. Practicing a science of spiritual forensics to prevent churches from dying, they examine, diagnose, and offer treatment for the cancer of gossip, the atrophy of shrunken faith, shortsighted vision, hardening of the heart, and more.
Why Churches Die is a spiritual breakthrough for the church uniquely conveyed through a medical motif.
Top Highlights
“Perhaps the most famous and most tragic part of Samson’s story is his disastrous affair with Delilah. It probably started with him seeing her, just as we are told in Judges 14:1: ‘Samson went down to Timnah and saw a young Philistine woman.’ It is amazing how he was able to focus his sight on all the wrong things but could not see what God wanted him to do when it was right in front of his face. He probably just spotted her walking down the street, and his out-of-control desires took control of him once again.” (Pages 70–71)
“Traditionalism is actually the worship of the ‘way we have always done it.’” (Page 125)
“Spiritual atrophy—the deterioration of your spiritual muscles from lack of use—is such an insidious disease and poison that it afflicts virtually every Christian at one time or another. Resting on our laurels and rejoicing in victories long since fought is so winsome that entire churches have been built on this disease! They have become mausoleums to yesterday and museums to display revivals long ago, rather than sacred places where men and women seek the face of God daily.” (Page 33)
“Bitterness is a bile so toxic that it can consume anyone who becomes afflicted by it. It obsesses your thoughts and devours your energy until you are emptied of any other motivation. It is poisonous and it is toxic, and it comes in two forms: bitterness from jealousy and bitterness from vengeance.” (Page 99)
“One of the distinguishing marks of spiritual atrophy is that your greatest days of blessing are in your distant past.” (Page 35)
- Title: Why Churches Die: Diagnosing Lethal Poisons in the Body of Christ
- Authors: Mac Brunson and Ergun Mehmet Caner
- Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
- Publication Date: 2005
- Pages: 216
Mac Brunson is senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas. He served as president of the North Carolina Baptist State Convention and as president of the Pastors’ Conference of the Southern Baptist Convention. Mac and his wife, Debbie, have three children.
Ergun Caner is dean of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary of Liberty University. He is the best-selling author of Unveiling Islam: An Insider’s Look at Muslim Life and Belief and co-author of The Sacred Trust: Sketches of the Southern Baptist Convention Presidents, available from Logos as part of the Broadman & Holman Baptist History Collection (11 Vols.). Ergun and his family reside near Lynchburg, Virginia.