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Here is the second part of my write up on Church diseases
Arrested Spiritual Development
Wagner: “When people in the church are not growing in the things of God or in their relationships with one another, the total health of the church deteriorates, and the church cannot grow.”  To this I will add, if the church did grow, it really has nothing to offer those who come, nor to the community where God placed them.
St. John’s Syndrome
When Christians become Christians in name only; feel that their faith is only routine; when church involvement is largely going through the motions, and belonging to church is nothing more than a family tradition or social nicety, St. John’s Syndrome is likely at work.
Why is this called St John’s Syndrome?  I have no idea. At least I do not recall off the top of my head. But I agree that the symptoms described are unhealthy, no matter what you want to call it.
Hypo-pneumia
Hypo-pneumia is a condition caused by a subnormal level of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in the life and ministry of the church.  This is a church that depends upon talent of the members and the resources on hand.  It is a church that may pray, but is not depending upon prayer.
It is this type of church Francis Schaeffer had in mind when he asked his wife what she thought would happen if the Holy Spirit departed from the local church.  Their joint conclusionwas that in the vast majority of churches nothing would change, and few people would notice.


Community Disconnect Disease.
Churches with this disease meet within a given community, but they do not know that community. Often, church members drive to the church building, meet as “church,” and then drive home—without ever taking note of a changing community around them. In fact, I’ve seen church members with this disease lock their doors as they drive through the community where their congregation gathers.
Methodological Arthritis.The name says it all: this church is stuck in doing things the way they’ve always done them. Change (that is, movement) is painful, and it’s seemingly easier not to take a step forward. What these churches often don’t recognize is that standing still is also risky. Eventually, they will not move at all.
The “Grass is Greener” Syndrome.This syndrome is a malady of leaders who are always looking for the next church leadership position. They establish no roots, and their current congregation is only a stepping-stone to the next place. Because they are always looking elsewhere, they miss the present tense blessings of their ministry. And, though leaders think otherwise, a church often recognizes when its leader has this syndrome.
Program Nausea. Churches with Program Nausea try a program, toss it soon, and then quickly try the next one. They never have a settled “organizational stomach” and direction. Members of this kind of diseased church are so accustomed to change that they seldom invest in any program. Why should they invest in what will soon be spit out, too?
Baby Believer Malady. This congregation is doing evangelism well, but they have no strategy to grow new believers. Their unwritten, and wrong, assumption is, “As long as you show up for our small groups and worship service, you’ll grow.”  This church disciples poorly and often elevates leaders on the basis of attendance rather than spiritual maturity.
Theological Self-Deception Ailment. I don’t want anyone to think that theology does not matter. No church with an unbiblical theology can be healthy. TSDA, on the other hand, is characterized by a belief that teaching theology is all that is required to be a healthy church. Teaching theology is critical, but a theology that does not lead to intentional evangelism, disciple-making, and global missions is not biblical. Indeed, TSDA congregations tend to be classrooms more than New Testament churches.
Talking in Your Sleep Disease.You may recognize this church. They go through the motions, but the motions lack energy. They meet for worship, yet the singing is lifeless. Even the preaching is lackluster, as if the speaker is monotonously only meeting his obligation. Here is one way to recognize the church with TIYSD: many of the attenders really ARE sleeping!
Congregational Myopia.The congregation with this condition is nearsighted, focusing on themselves only. They have no vision for the future, and they fail to see that their current direction will likely lead to further disease and decline. Ask the leaders what their hope is for the church five years from now, and their description will sound strangely like the church in its current state.
Thereare a lot of “diseases” afflicting the present day church. Some are terminal while others are easily treated!
Ethnikitis
Ethnikitis is fear or disregard for others of different ethnicity and/or races.  This disease is caused by contextual factors, usually revolving around a static church (in-grown and non-growing) in an ethnically transitioning neighborhood.
Ghost-Town Disease
Another contextual illness, this illness is found in communities where old residents are moving out, and no one is moving in.
People-Blindness
This malady is directly related to a lack of understanding of the significant differences between diverse people groups within the community.  It occurs when churches fail to consider how those differences may impede evangelism efforts.
Hyper-Cooperativism
Wagner says: “When everyoneis responsible for evangelism, no one is responsible for evangelism.  Local-church evangelism is much more effective than city-wide cooperative efforts.”
This malady occurs when local congregations loose their distinct identity because the church is too committed to being part of something else.  There is nothing wrong with partnering and cooperative ministries. But if the only ministry a church does is under the umbrella of others, and the church does not bring any distinct character to the joint-effort, it may be a sign that the church is not healthy.
The healthy alternative is not to forgo all partnerships and joint efforts, through isolationism or competition. Instead each church should develop its own distinct personality which it can then contribute to the community and cooperative efforts.
Koinonitis
Koinonia is the Greek word for fellowship.  Koinonitis occurs when interpersonal relationships within the church become so deep and mutually absorbing that we ignore the needs of the community and world around us. When Koinonitis is present church programs tend to become centripetal rather than centrifugal; entirely attractional rather than missional and incarnational.
Sociological Strangulation
Wagner says: “This is a slowdown in the rate of church growth caused when the flow of people into a church begins to exceed the capacity of the facilities to accommodate it.”
In other words, this occurs when the building and sanctuary are too small to accomodate more people.  The general rule here, in suburban communities is 80% capacity = FULL.  In more rural communities, where people are used to having more elbow room, the rule may be as low as 50% = FULL.

Another aspect that George Barna deals with, more than Wagner,  is when growth occurs at a rate too fast to effectively assimilate new people into an existing church community.  Barna suggests that healthy churches grow at a rate of no morethan 10% – 15% anually.  Thus, if Barna is correct, a church with a 6% or 7% growth rate may be healthier than a church that is growing at 20% rate over an extended period of time.


Opening Text:Psalm 127:1-5; 1Cor. 1: 26-29)."
Winning in life goes beyond human strength.Excelling in destiny is not directly proportional to your skill. Of course, you require smartness, tireless input, unbeatable diligence, wisdom and expertise to make it in life. All these are necessary but they are grossly insufficient to give you the kind of success that God has ordained for you. Struggling and sweating is needed, but they are not enough! 

There is an ingredient of destiny you cannot do without.It is called GRACE.By definition,Grace is  "the love and mercy given to us by God because God desires us to have it, not because of anything we have done to earn it", 

  When you lack grace,you lack distinction.Outside grace,disgrace,defeat and disappointment is what remains. Life is frustrating without grace!
Our text says "“Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord watch over the city the watchman waketh but in vain”
 The builders build and watchmen watch! Those are efforts, but except you link up with the Lord, they end in vanity. But when you have the grace of God, every input you make is amplified to produce unimaginable results

There are many people who are very smart, yet they are losers because ”…It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy” (Romans 9:16).   Goliath was a mighty man of war with many years of experience and expertise, yet he lost to a small boy who carried a small stone that might not even be able to kill a small bird! 

No matter how weak you think you are, the grace of God is available to take over for you and put you where you may naturally never get to in life. At the same time, if you think you are a strong man, let me remind you that there are people and forces that are stronger than you, and except for the grace of God, you will remain in struggles. You can’t make any impact in life except God backs you up.

The Manifold Works Of Grace
1.Grace Promotes:It is grace that catapaulted Joseph to the throne in Egypt,where he was not even qualified to contest elections
2.Grace Preserves: Jonah ought to have perished in the sea of disobedience but grace swallowed him up and vomited him to his zone of destiny
3.Grace Provides when all effort fails
4.Grace can Multiply your input.Was it not grace that turn David’s stone into a bullet? Or how on earth do you think a small stone can kill such a warrior?
5.Grace has the ability to erase your past mistakes and misdeeds: Jacob’s name should have disappeared from the annals of history but grace will not allow that.He cheated his brother and deceived his father…yet today the Almighty is still called God of Jacob! What a wonder!
            Do you intend to win your life battles,all you need is grace.
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Bishop(Dr) Sola Adetunji is the founding President of Chapel Of His Power and Divine Power Bible College. He was born in Ibadan, Nigeria and attended primary and secondary school in Osogbo before studying Pharmacy at the University of Ile-Ife, graduating with a Second Class Upper degree in 1987. Adetunji is an amazon author of several works and is happily married to Toyin, an ordained Minister of God, with whom he has three daughters and one son: Progress, Praise, Perfect and Paul. He has contributed numerous sermons to Sermon Central and other websites including youtube on topics such as understanding success, overcoming anger, deliverance, the authority of believers, and others. He is the convener of Singles Ready To Marry group on Facebook and Whatsapp.
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