“The church as we know it today seems a million miles from the New Testament church. That may be a great generalization, but I will stand on it. There is a gulf between our average Christianity and the church of New Testament that makes the Grand Canyon look like a cavity in someone's tooth.” KnowsLooksMaySeemsTodayChurchChristianityMillionsAverageMilesTeethTestamentNew TestamentCanyonsGeneralizationGrand Canyon Author:Leonard Ravenhill
“Biblical higher criticism is preserved in the particular enclave of academic Christian scholarship and is thought to be too unfruitful to share with the average pew-sitter, for it raises more questions than the church can adequately answer. So the leaders of the church would protect the simple believers from concepts they were not trained to understand. In this way that ever-widening gap between academic Christians and the average pew-sitter made its first appearance.” WayFirstsMadeChristianReligionChurchSimpleAnswersLeaderShareParticularHigherProtectConceptsCriticismRaisesAverageAppearanceBelieverGapsAcademicBiblicalScholarship Author:John Shelby Spong
“What is the average type of a counterfeit church? A hammock, attached on one side to the cross, and, on the other, held and swung to and fro by the forefinger of Mammon; its freight of nominal Christians elegantly moaning meanwhile over the evils of the times, and not at ease unless fanned by eloquence and music, and sprinkled by social adulations into perfumed, unheroic slumber.” ChristianEvilSocialSidesChurchTypeCrossesAverageEaseEloquenceSlumberCounterfeitMoaningAdulationHammocks Book:Scepticism and Rationalism: Elective Affinities and Hereditary Descent Source: Scepticism and Rationalism: Elective Affinities and Hereditary Descent
“I would love to see churches start using their Web sites to present video profiles of people within their congregations so that the average person could get a sense of what the life of the church (not the organization, but the people - the true church) is really like.” PeoplePersonsChurchOrganizationAverageVideoSiteProfileCongregationAverage Person Author:Frank Minis Johnson
“If the church could catch a vision for using video technology to present an authentic presentation of the life of the church - not rehearsed videos, but spontaneous records of conversations, laughing with one another, weeping with one another, people sharing their lives, etc. - the average person might take notice.” PeopleIfsPersonsMightChurchVisionTechnologyLaughingRecordsConversationAverageVideoEtcSpontaneousWeepingPresentationAverage Person Author:Frank Minis Johnson