Living in the 'good old days'

The most common finding from autopsies is that the dead churches had long lived in the past, viewing it as their golden age.
Those churches were clinging to the past in desperation and fear.
Whenever internal or external factors tried to change the past, the churches reacted with anger and stubbornness.
“We will die before we change.” And those churches died.
Listen carefully.
Those churches were not holding on to the truth of the Bible.
Those churches did not hold to clear Christian ethics.
Those churches did not fight for major doctrines, minor doctrines, or even minor doctrines.
No, those churches didn't fight for doctrine at all.

Those churches fought and clung to the past.
We fought for the good old days, the way things were always done, the way we hoped they would continue today.
Of course, there were prophets in those churches who presented dissenting opinions.
They warned people that if their church did not change, it would die.
But the defenders of the past did not listen.
They resisted fiercely.
Eventually the prophets left, and death drew nearer and nearer.

---From Chapter 2

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Why endure the pain of an autopsy?

Why have I dragged you into the painful task of determining why the churches are dead? Because we need to know.
An autopsy on a human is performed to find out why the person died.
An autopsy can provide bereaved families with the information they need to prevent their loved ones from following the same path.
Sometimes forensic scientists perform autopsies to determine how a murder or accident occurred.
Information is always useful.
Sometimes information brings definition.
That doesn't mean autopsies are fun.
I will show you the autopsies of 14 churches.
However, we will not be presenting reports for each church.
Because it is unnecessary.
Instead, I'm going to summarize what I've discovered about these dead churches.

I am deeply grateful to those who confessed everything to me honestly and to those who performed the autopsy with me.
They were members of a church that was once alive but is now dead.
They all endured the pain of the autopsy with me.
The denominations of those churches are diverse.
There are also churches that do not belong to any denomination.
The regions are also diverse.
The demographics of the area also vary greatly.
But in one important respect the churches were very similar.
In other words, those churches followed the path to death.

Jesus told Peter that the church would not die.
“And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:18).
In reality, the church will not die.
But many local churches have died, and are dying even at this moment.
Although this is a painful process, I sincerely hope that this autopsy will be helpful to church leaders and laity today.
In the United States alone, 100,000 churches are showing signs of death.
I earnestly pray that God will give us the courage to make the changes necessary to breathe new life into the churches.

---From the "Prologue"