(March 31, 2018 at 7:46 am)vorlon13 Wrote: It's pretty dilute already from the slacker type believers already attached to the movement.
Here that's true. In some other parts of the world it's better. But, per Jesus' question, it seems to me that real faith is going to mostly fade away in the end. I agree with the rapture doctrine, but I think it's going to be much smaller scale than it's portrayed to be in books and movies.
Quote:Just in my lifetime the watering down of dogma, rules, edicts, commandments and strictures is amazing, and virtually entirely self inflicted.
Yep.
Quote:And clearly the changes (liberalizations) are meant to keep warm bodies in the pews and crispy bills in the collection plates.
Sometimes. There are other causes too. And as far as butts in seats, some of the more conservative churches maintain and even grow. The independent watered-down churches frequently do well. It's the older denominations that water things down to some extent without going full modern that seem to suffer the most, at least in my area.
Quote:One might think a dedicated, pious minister or pastor might choose to honor an eternal and unchanging God with a career of sermons that reflect that and trust in the Lord to grow his congregation instead of taking the easy way out and just spewing out to the masses what they want to hear, lest they not show up next Sunday.
Some do. My church will probably fold when the current pastors die, but they're willing to accept that. Again, Biblically, it's the way things tend to go. Preaching the truth is no guarantee that the congregation will grow.
