This is going to be our second dive into looking what ails the church in the US today. Last Sunday we saw that when we look with sober eyes we see that the evangelical church forms a smaller percentage of the US population than many in the church used to think. We also saw that the culture around the church is growing more and more hostile to what the Bible names as sin. All opposition is not the same, however. External opposition to us does not automatically mean we are doing a bad thing. Some opposition comes because you are doing the right thing. But you have to be able to have the strength to stand against this opposition. Also, a lot of opposition we face is not because we are doing the right thing but because we have badly messed us our job as Christ’s ambassadors. But whether it is the church’s fault or not, opposition is increasing folks. And author John Dickerson describes our state to be like a tree that is suffering internal rot while great big storm clouds gather on the horizon. Today I am going to raise two issues that feed the internal health of the church.