Welcome to the Paul Tripp podcast, where pastor and bestselling author Paul David Tripp connects the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life.

In this week's Connecting clip of the week, Paul sits down with Ray Ortland and Sam Albury to discuss the current state of the church.

To hear more of this

conversation with Ray and Sam, check out the Connecting podcast episode of 40, wherever you listen to

podcasts. You can also watch the video on Paul Tripp's YouTube channel or Facebook page.

Here's Paul with Ray Ortland and Sam Albury.

So I want to get us to talk and we have the time to do this at some length about the culture of the church right now.

And this is a forum where I want us to be able to be honest in our assessment because I think we owe the people who have taken time to watch this

to be honest about our assessment and to talk about where to go from here and

and what we're getting right and what we're getting wrong because I know I think in many places there's a culture of discouragement.

We've watched major ministry leaders fall.

We see the adversarial culture of the church now,

particularly on social media.

And I talk to people who feel like the church isn't as safe places

it needs to be.

And so I'm going to, let's do an assessment and then let's talk about where to go from there.

Where to start.

I mean, the things you've just mentioned are the things that most come to mind.

It's that fractiousness, that divisiveness. The word that keeps coming to mind

for me is unraveling. I feel like a lot of things have unraveled in the last few years. I think in the

early 2010s there was a coming together, different groups, different sort of evangelical tribes and ministries,

a discovery of one another and a genuine joy in that and a celebration of one another.

...