Видео

The Bible tells us that there would be a great falling away in the last days. People are more selfish and self centered and many people that profess to be Christians were never saved to begin with. If the Holy Spirt is in your heart He will lead you to a good Church. Where Christ is exalted and the Word of God is taught with clarity and conviction. If you honestly pray Father would you have me gather at Church with your people for worship and fellowship what would He tell you?

Tom does great stuff and I appreciate all of it but it is always the future where it gets wooly. There are many questions such as why does this matter? What does it matter if all the Christian institutions fall? Etc.

I believe the Holy Spirit is beginning to be listened to by protestants. Bad theology is twisting God into a unrecognised creator and savior.

He left of the biggest reason: Churches don’t go out into the streets and parks and evangelize anymore; they don’t teach apologetics anymore; they don’t have classes on witnessing anymore; they don’t have tracts at the front entrance anymore; they don’t obey the great command anymore. It’s all about worship music now. Of course they are dying off. The cults are the only groups that knock on doors. It’s over.

The Coming Decrease of Attendance in the organized church is already here.

Some will probably call the attendance crisis the great falling away...

My wife and I left our church because of the pastor’s increasing odd beliefs and behaviors, turns out he later confessed to an adulterous relationship. Tom sounds sad about his findings when he should rejoice that the Holy Spirit will be found only in churches that teach righteousness and holiness.

Walk your own path, find your authentic spirituality free of church dogma

Personally the modern church has lost its relevance. Modern Christianity is shallow in what it believes and it’s culture is not dissimilar to the secular world around it. I would leave the church also except for the fact that I have learnt to build my relationship with God outside of the low level of knowledge conveyed in a Sunday sermon. The church preaches that we need to be saved but doesn’t do a good job of answering the question of what we are being saved from and what we are being saved to. Who is this God we are supposed to be having a relationship with who is going to make our lives all rosy and sweet. When reality doesn’t match the message from the front then there will be a crisis in the church. While people stand up and proclaim they have a prophesy of Jesus return next year and that prophesy proves to be wrong, the church loses credibility. The church has to stop being 10 years experience made up of 1 year’s experience repeated 10 times to 10 years of continuous experience resulting in a maturity of 10 years not 1. We would do well to remember the 1st century church met to pray and worship together but to learn. To hear the scripture being read in its completeness and be taught from it. Remember in the 1st century if an individual could not afford to pay someone a years wages to copy the Bible, the only place to learn it’s contents was to go to the local assembly where the scroll were stored to hear it being read and more importantly debate it’s content. That is a dynamic that is being lost because we are gullible enough to believe that all we need to know is the small subset of knowledge conveyed by an individual through a Sunday sermon. No wonder the church is in crisis.

My thoughts prior to watching (disclaimer) What exactly does work? Pastors don't work for Protestants. Elders don't seem to work for the JWs. And Priests don't work for the Catholics. I am against Pastors and Priests in the church. Passively not Actively against. Essentially, any "religious" based system just does not work today and probably never has worked. In the past, most people just went to church because it was either the state religion, or was the socially acceptable thing to do. So, as a church, I think we are in dire need to turn away from "religion" and instead turn to God. The Catholics think they need to create a "system" in which everyone will go to heaven if they just follow the rules of the Catholic church. Now, that sounds good on paper but in reality it just does not work. Why? Because everyone is worshipping the rules to get a "reward" and not following God out of desire for God. Likewise, Protestants will say they are "Bible-only" yet will never turn away from their "religious" ways, their man-made doctrines. To me, I see everything the Protestants do is the same as what the Catholics do. The Protestants say "pray every day for forgiveness of sins" and the Catholics will say "go to confession each week for forgiveness of sins". It is the same. While Catholics worship Mary, the Protestants worship their Denominations. It is the same. And we must reject religion and turn to God for our salvation. I feel like we all have been bamboozled since AD380 if you know what I mean. All of us, Protestants and Catholics alike, are still subject to the lies and deceit and the confusion that started in AD380. So what do we do now and what will work (as far as church leadership and direction)? For the people need direction. The sheep need to be fed. The sheep need to know what is expected of them. Not Priests. Not Pastors. I am thinking of some kind of modified Elder system is needed such that all Believers are on the horizontal bar together but certain leaders need to arise to ensure everything remains on track. I've seen House Churches and they are similar to Bible Study Groups. Not a good thing. 2 things... One they are typically controlled by their "Pastor" or "Denomination" and secondly if they are not controlled, then they can quickly turn heretical in nature. That is why I propose a type of "Network" of small congregations (consisting of no more than 100) who may "share" a building with various meeting times for each group. Then the Elders of each group will also meet (consisting of no more than 100) once a week. That will be at the city level. Then Elders from that Network will select representatives for a monthly state (or small country) meeting. They would meet once a month for the purpose to ensure all meetings are adhering to God's doctrines and not man's. And so on, these will select representatives for the next level (yearly) world leaders meeting. 16:38 These numbers should hopefully be a wakeup call to church leaders. But how will they react? Will they continue to change to the world's standards in their efforts to get more attendance? Or will they do the right thing and return to God? Will they continue to worship their denominations? Or will their denominations turn to God and allow Pastors to start teaching God's doctrines? At the age of 55, I am just starting to realize that none of the churches I have been a part of my entire life have stuck to God's doctrines. None teach about spiritual growth. They all only preach to sinners and never edify the congregation. 24:16 That 13% sounds about right to me. Just looking at my street with maybe 40 homes, other than me, I only ever see 1 or 2 others leaving for church on each Sunday. And maybe another 1 or 2 Catholics for Saturday which is harder to spot. So that is about 12.5% that I am seeing on my street.

Dear brother Tom, I've been following your work since Sept 2024 and I am a huge fan. So if I disagree with you, I hope that you'll accept my comments in the spirit of Christian love in which they are offered. I think that you're missing something very important in your analysis which is highlighted by a comment that you made at the very beginning of this video. You started off by saying that you've withheld this information from the general public for a year over your concern as to what the impact of the information might be on average Christian. For what it's worth, your concern is exactly why I think that the church is in decline. Pleasse, let me explain... Going back to the Reformation, the Catholic Church maintained control of the church through secrecy. But the combination of Luther's ideas on justification as well as local language Bibles printed on the newly invented printing press opened the floodgates for the rise of Protestantism. Wkat I believe that we are seeing today is just an extension of the same forces that drove the original Reformation. And I would argue that this is good for our the church and our society, not bad. Here's why... Institutions of all kinds are under attack today. It's not just the church. And they are under attack because information is now free to flow in a way that it never was before. This transparency makes it difficult if not impossible to keep things secret anymore. Consider something as simple as car dealerships. As soon as invoice prices for new cars became widely available on the Internet, people could see how much money their local car dealer was __really__ making on the deal. So prices for new cars began to drop. Shopping for the best price became as simple as a few mouse clicks and sending a few emails. The same happened in real estate since realtors could no longer control which homes that you saw through their Multiple Listing Service (MLS). I believe that this exact same thing is what is happening in the institutional church. Just like traditional media companies are now having to compete with the everyday Joe for attention about local issues (which has led to the death of local newspapers), churches can no longer offer the exclusive "content" that they used to. Because of your work on this platform, Tom, I have had some very interesting conversations on RUclips with people who tell me that a Christian cannot be edified by watching videos and engaging in chat. I'm usually able to dispel their beliefs by reminding them that the Apostle Paul frequently "posted" his letters to the Christian churches of Asia Minor in his day. Granted that it was on papyrus rather than a computerr screen, but we all still benefit from his work today. So the question really becomes how necessary the physical pew is for our edification. That's a hard question to answer. It wasn't all that long ago that to get access to the Bible you needed a printed book. Now all of that is online. When online Bibles first became available there were Christians who said that they weren't as good as printed Bibles because you needed the tactile sense of the pages in order to appreciate God's Word. And perhaps for them this is true. But with today's online Bible, I can carry it in my pocket wherever I go. And I can search it quickly looking for a verse where I remember only part of the text. I have access to mulitple translations at my fingertips, including the Interlinear Bible so that I can examine the original languages. I can get all sorts of commentary, not just from the professionals who often disagree with one another. Good ideas about God and Scripture and the church are now free to flow. Some may then say, "well, if you don't have the oversight of the church, then you will listen to whatever tickles your ears". And Scripture warns us of this. But Scripture also warns of false teachers, and charges the Christian to examine what they hear against the Gospel of Christ. I've come to believe that those who insist that their church holds the correct interpretation of Scripture hold a very low view on God's ability to preserve His people for the salvation which he offers so freely. I left the institutional church roughly three years ago. Because I am no longer bound by the system, I am free to pursue Christ as God leads me. Only recently, I have found a RUclips channel ("Sarah Speaks Up") which focuses on topics such as repentance and confession and the unity of the church. As a man who has been broken and humbled before God (Psalm 51), my desire is to unite with Christians everywhere to confess our need for a Savior. Yet all I can see in my local churches is the division and strife caused by denominationalism. Perhaps if I had no other choice then I'd stick it out, but there is abundant Christian activity online which better suits my desire to rely on the righteousness of Jesus for my salvation. Anymore these days, I have come to see the Internet as my ekklesia. This may sound weird coming from someone who grew up in the Reformed tradition where church was central to everything that I did. It certainly does to me. I am thankful for everything that I learned while a part of the system, but God offers so much more than any "church" has to offer. And from watching videos from my fellow Christians online, it seems that I'm not alone in my beliefs. While there is no doubt in my mind that the influence of the church in America has waned, I am not concerned about church attendance figures. I am always encouraged to read the comments of my fellow Christians who have left the church yet still retain a strong faith. I don't think that the future of God's people is in buildings and clergy. I believe that the future of God's people is in the work of the Holy Spirit who convicts us of our sins and shows us how we are made right with God through the person and work of Christ. The Internet, much like the church building, is just another tool tha God uses to achieve His ends. My apologies for another very long post on one of your videos. If it's worth anything, your content always makes me think deeply about the church and how we glorify God through our actions. Thank you so much for all that you do for your fellow believers.

Who are the “regular” folk in the body of Christ? My Bible says there is no division of laity and clergy - this is a manmade division that needs to be abandoned in this next season of growing in Christlikeness.

If the church leaders are not to blame, are we to blame the sheep, the followers, the congregations? To cut straight to the core, today's church leaders produce only sheep and no shepherds. The church leadership has not taken any responsibility for the inexcusable divorce rate either. The buck always stops with the ones in charge. Continuing to do the same things expecting different results is the very definition of insanity (or arrogance, your choice). Churches do NOT teach the fullness Bible. Leadership in the church today produce weak feckless sheep that are good at following orders without question. Producing men who follow orders is NOT the same as producing faithful Godly men. When the church figures owns this failure it will again resemble the Church God intended. Remove the plank from your own eye before attempting to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

At the same time I hear that orthodoxy is growing .

People are deeply hungry for true spirituality. It's time for us all to walk in the Light. Devoted disciples.

Oh, you just mentioned home church at the end, sorry

One reason you didn't mention was the main reason I came across when we too left the 'established church' that being because many like ourselves were being led by God to have home church and as we see the end approaching, persecution growing and finances needing to be put to better use than church building funds, I can see why a moving away from church buildings and into homes make complete sense. I believe God's church is at exactly the right size as He sees it and I would like to see home churches make better links with each other

Thanks, Tom. Here in Germany I assume the numbers are even worse. Considering your statistics, the future of the church will be / must be home churches. And that is good news - because it is biblical!

The church I have attended for years has become less focused on the things of the Lord and more worldly. The pastor only preaches once a week. No other church meetings during the week. No prayer. No Bible study. I don’t feel engaged so I rarely attend.

A lot of good intentions in churches, and some good churches with good pastors teaching biblical truth. Still even these kind of churches could benefit from being more inclusive. It's not about signing up for missions and church programs and volunteerism. That will always be there. It's realizing that this should not be the focus or main priority. In my opinion the focus should be on creating a community of believers who get to know each other and learn from each other. It's just really hard to do that in our modern institution.

Seems to me and that the main benefit of church attendance, which cannot be accessed online is fellowship and this is not possible in a large congregation and difficult in even a smaller church. We say hello when we arrived, chat for a while after the service and then go on our way, with no contact until the whole thing is repeated next week.

I’ve been a member of ethnic majority churches and they excel at relationships and this is normal within their ethnic culture. Whereas the “American” churches I’ve been a part of fail at relationships miserably and it seems to mirror the broader “American” culture. In my opinion this is possibly the greatest problem we would be wise to admit, repent from and change. One resource is author Rosaría Butterfield. She and her pastor husband live and breathe hospitality. Americans in general seem to have made an idol of personal privacy and comfort.

I think too many ppl are looking for babysitting services with the children's classes, & entertainment activities for youth groups over studying the word of God. Small assemblies can coordinate with other local assemblies to arrange events or local activities, as well as missionary / evangelizing supports. It does not require a church bldg to be able to assemble. Focus must change from "what do I get out of it" to "I want to learn the word of God". Thank you , Tom. We need to face reality.

Having been born again during the Jesus Movement of the 60's-70's, I have observed much of what you are citing.....a couple of points that stand out in my experience.....because the message of the Gospel is not clearly articulated, many folks who attend brick & mortar buildings are showing up, are hungry for truth and authenticity but are gravely disappointed at what they experience any given week. Purposeful discipleship is scarce so if there are true spiritual babies in a 'church', they are presumed to be healthy and growing and thrust into leadership positions before they are ready, get burned out and leave...never to return. In some instances, the pastor and leadership ARE at fault......

Nobody ever claimed polls were science. Science is a methodology to isolate one variable and test a hypothesis. A poll is simply a collection of anecdotal evidence.

I really enjoy how people who have never asked those who left all have a theory about why they left. You CAN ask. We don't (usually) bite. I left because of the violence and bigotry in the bible and therefore in the bible. The bible god is grotesque and narcissistic. Nah, I'm good.

Changing times... bibles are plentiful in many versions People can stay home and hear sermons on youtube And other outlets Why go to church anyway! God is everywhere!

The word of God says a great falling away will take place in the end of days.

The church system as it is presently accepted (bigger is better) by human standards and leadership is no more successful than a corporation that benefits from its employees. Pastors are often concerned with their own success, and judging that success by the numbers they see filling the pews. In reality, all the “church” has become is a club where people are encouraged to believe in what the leadership teaches (no matter if true), as long as they feel accepted by the group. Too much focus on numbers, popularity, externals, and financial success. The Church is no longer what Christ intended it to be. Time for change, and that change is evidenced in the massive exodus!

Tom, thank you for your passion for the welfare of the Body of Christ. I would like to suggest another reason for the decline: the behavior modification programs in the government schools. Pilot programs began in the 80's. The 90's saw OBE (Outcome-Based Ed'n.) The 90's advanced to Common Core. We are now nationally (Illinois was the 1st) 21st Century Learning Centers. All are indoctrination curricula against Christian principles. We have 3 decades of children who are now adults who have literally been brainwashed into antichristian philosophies. Also, are you aware of any stats on the rise of house churches that may be replacing traditional churches? Thank you.

US Average Sunday attendance: 2000 137 2020. 65 2023 60 6,000 churches shutting every year. "Regular" church frequency had to be changed to once a month. Something to celebrate. Nobody needs a weekly book club to be a decent person who contributes to human flourishing.

Agree! I would like to add one more point.Young men are tired of being told that they are selfish and useless if they haven't found a wife if they are in their late twenties or thirties. The world has changed and Pastors don't see it.

"2 Thessalonians 2:6 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way." There is little doubt we are in the end of days, where exactly nobody seems to know, however we see the lawlessness increase and the seemingly a diminishing of the works of the Spirit. It's not clear to me who is holding back the lawlessness, either the Spirit of God or a mighty angel...but either way the word says he will be taken out of the way for the incoming antichrist to do his thing. I propose the diminishing church is also a consequence of the slow transition from light to darkness that must come. I once thought that the removal implied the rapture, but I now see that if the restrainer was removed all at once the chaos that would result would be so severe that man would literally lose their minds...so we see a slow gradual removal. Just my thoughts.

Oh woe is me.... Why can't we get more men in "church" ? Look in the mirror pal.

The crisis is actually within the leadership of these huge church buildings who fear their extravagant salaries/lifestyle will cease being funded by “tithing.” Many Believers are discovering they don’t need Christianity (a man-made religion) but need/desire authentic fellowship with other Believers in Christ. No church buildings needed for fellowship. Fellowship (gathering for an informal meal, reading Scripture together, and encouraging/building up one another can easily and comfortably be held in homes.

Baby Boomers dying off. Not enough evangelism for the young. Churches became too comfortable and self-congratulatory.

How has the population changed from 1983 to 2023?

Dr. do you give an account for the shifting culture? The number of children that people had over those years? Isn’t there other data that should be in this research? I’m not saying what you’re saying is not valid. I definitely believe that. I’m just curious about these other Dad points .

I attended one church for awhile that met Sunday mornings in a movie theatre.

A big factor in all if this is the heresy of Zionism. It is another gospel (Galatians 1). Paul wrote his first epistle (Galatians) to address this. I've noticed that Zionists ignore this epistle and twist the whole New Testament by inappropriately forcing Old Testament verses onto the New Testament. This is eisegesis instead of exegesis.

Although I appreciate your work and research, I believe you have missed the Number One reason for the decline. Most churches preach a 15 minute sermonette with 4 points that rhyme And the teaching is over. They are NOT preaching the Whole Council of God from Genesis to Revelation. There is NO meat , just milk. The sheep are STARVING on the diet of the modern day churches. You can’t grow or mature on Twinkies.

I think on-line services are increasing. Have you don't any research on this aspect?

Construct similar trend graphs for people who have landline desk or wall-mounted telephones. You will see a dramatic decrease beginning in the early 1990' and continuing to the present. At those rates, there will be NONE in just a few more years. This does not mean phone users have gone away. Similarly, the collapse of organizational churches (there were NONE in the days of the apostles) is probably a good thing, since the American church model is both obsolete and unbiblical. What we need to see is how the house-church movement is doing. Are people meeting in ANY venue, growing, discipling, baptizing and the rest? Or has America shown evidence that we have - as a people - refused the kingdom of Christ? The collapse of the big box traditional model does not reflect this essential metric.

We stopped going because "going to church" is now clearly a ritual....a ritual we can find played out in just about every single "church" every Sunday or Saturday. Drive to "church" Park the car Walk in Greeted at the door Handed a bulletin Walk the gauntlet of other "believers" and make small talk...surface level talk Queue the "worship" music People still standing around talking "Worship leader" says something clever, calls for a moment of prayer, and "worship" begins...are we really "worshiping" Sing songs like "I lift my hands" or "I bow before thee"....and literally none of us do that while "worshiping" Three to Four songs are the limit, because we are on the clock...and people start dropping into the seats after 4-songs Worship ends The next guy comes up....for announcements, says clever and funny things. Maybe mentions someone needing prayer The next guy calls for the "men" to come forward for offering, brief prayer offered....plate/bag passed around "Pastor" comes forward and stands elevated, calls for a brief prayer to bless the 'message" Laity sit as "mute sheep" while they hope for the "pastor" to orate a moving "sermon"...he does not "Pastor" drones on about 2 Samuel Chapter 4 vs 2 and the mute sheep listen and yawn as CO2 levels rise Service ends...mute sheep are dismissed, cliques gather on the way out and talk about surface level things None of the mute sheep talk about how meaningful 2 Samuel Chapter 4 vs 2 is to them and their daily life Kids wiggle and wait for mom and dad to quit talking to these people....lunch, and play are the focus Most rush out so they don't have to talk to others We go home....and get rid of these uncomfortable clothes Most could not articulate what the "Pastor" said 1/2 hour ago NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON LEARNED ABOUT THE GOSPEL MESSAGE AND LEFT STRONGER IN THAT KNOWLEDGE NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON STOOD UP AND SAID "BROTHERS, WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED" Acts Chapter 2, there were 5000 men who said those words, and were added to the believers that day When is the last time you or I saw that at our "church"...we have not. Period. We have, brothers and sisters, strayed down the crooked calf path and do not even recognize it because it is what we have "always done"

We should not be surprised by the decline of church attendance. It’s very difficult to live in this day and age with all that is available to lure the believer away from time with the Lord. I myself struggle with the flesh. The Lord says persevere to the end, broad is the way to destruction and narrow is the way to everlasting life and few find it. I would encourage read one chapter a day and read it uninterrupted and very carefully.

Narrow is the path and FEW that find it.

I was saved in 1985 through a radical conversion experience with The Lord Jesus on my own outside a rock concert. I was married 1987 and we've been to many many churches but in our mid sixties we are sick and tired of the same ol, same ol. 'Sunday morning...go to church, sing four praise songs (not 5, 4!) Announcements, one more song. Pastor preaches, tries to be funny, decent message about loving one another. One last song. Pastor comes back, prays and wishes everyone a good week. If you're fortunate, you have a home study with others, but everyone is too busy to do more for each other. I can't count how many times Ive volunteered to help a Christian brother/sister move and I was the only other guy there from church!! We're just tired of the same old thing. But, praise God because we have finally understood that whatever it was we were looking for here, we will never, ever find it. Because we don't belong here, we long for a better country, a heavenly country (Hebrews). That realization came late, but we can now live in the knowledge that it wasn't the church or friends that let us down, it was our own shortsighted faith that kept us believing and hoping that we'd find something here that could satisfy the void in our lives. We're good, not perfect, sometimes we still struggle with it all, but we have a good foundation now. We will wait.....

In my small town of 1800,we have dropped from 6 to 2,in 20+ years! And one of those two is hanging on by a thread!

Lets be honest concerning mutual cooperation and involvement among Institutional Churches.... among other reasons why that wont happen,is tgat we must be honest enough to admit that THEY ARE IN COMPETITION WITH EACH OTHER, both for attendance and income!

It wasn’t easy to leave! It was the hardest thing I ever did! But when I couldn’t invite people any longer because of what was being said, I knew I was in trouble. It became my observation that “church” had become too much of WHAT to do and HOW to do it, rather than WHO we worship and WHY. He so worthy but it seems like man just keeps bringing God down to something on man’s level instead of lifting him UP! When was the last time you heard a christian describe from their heart HOW MAGNIFICENT GOD IS AND MEAN IT! So here I am in 2025, I am completely focused on my “oikos” (a group of people usually 10-15) where I have influence. I am making sure my house is in order and then reaching out to my neighbors and building relationships with them, real relationships! I ask for help and they ask for help, we meet, we pray, confess and build up / encourage one another. It’s like bringing Christ to each other and helping where we can. I am the older woman teaching and listening so I may learn too. I am not gossiping, I lovingly serve my husband, focusing on our home first and then reaching out. I love how fulfilled my life has become by doing life this way. I don’t see the (church) or body of CHRIST failing, I believe it is more like Christ is moving us from our “temple” addresses and into “tents”. I think Christ is leading us, forming us, morphing us into a “better” more effective body for “this age”. My “new” (street church) has 12 houses, 12 families and 39 people who live here with us. This is where I am shining my light and doing my best to glorify God by showing how and why HE is important in my life. I have never felt so useful in the most tangible ways. My (street church) completely trumps my old 90 minute meeting (once a week) meeting and with its extra church to-do’s. My life is soooo much richer now. Thank you Tom for what you are teaching, because “gathering to encourage” in this new way (on a small personal level) is so much better, it’s personal and yes it’s takes longer but that’s alright. I know in my bones this is good and this is what we were meant for. PS I think if more pastors were in little flocks we could help them more too. Better to be a healthy Sheppard of a small flock, than a distracted Sheppard in a flock so large you can’t sheppard it. And when our Sheppard needs help shouldn’t we all be there for him! After all, they are just as human and vulnerable as the rest of us sinners ❤