In this lively, extended analogy, author Braswell poses questions regarding the various sorts of dysfunctions that may be afflicting the Christian church and its congregants. First, she imagines the church with a virus and suggests some candidates for the virus’ symptoms: pride would be a major suspect, and weakness or laziness are other possibilities since once the church reaches a certain depth of maturity, fatigue sets in.
Such sickness can begin in the church leadership and spread to the congregants. What about coronary heart disease? The church may have blocked arteries, loss of appetite for the food of the spirit that has been watered down over time. If such a disease is causing a blockage in the church, God is needed to perform major surgery.
Pastor and counselor Braswell has cleverly constructed this elaborate, readable and credible comparison: the Christian church of our times is like an ailing human body. She explores ways that the institution, its leaders, and members can be healed of its various deficiencies. This manner of looking at what seem to be some common aches and pains in the modern church makes the problems easier to pinpoint while suggesting corrective medicines or treatments for each one. – The US Review of Books