021 "Fake" church, Church of God (Cleveland, TN), & a discussion on intercessory prayer

Episode 021 "Fake" church, Church of God (Cleveland, TN), & a discussion on intercessory prayerThis week, we attended a midweek service of what we initially thought was a non-denominational church.  We found out it was affiliated with the Church of God (Cleveland, TN), a Pentecostal denomination.  We give it the label of "fake church" (a label we borrow and break down to really explain what that means...it isn't as bad as it sounds).  We discuss characteristics of churches that are trying really hard to be relevant (it isn't always a bad thing).  Then we dive into the sermon which was on prayer.  We ask hard questions like "if I survive a car wreck and that means God answered the prayers of people who were interceding for me, why did God let others die who were also being prayed for?" and "if you don't believe prayer is cause and effect, then why pray for others at all?"  We end up with a question Joshua poses to Wendy..."how should we teach children to pray?"  Here's a quote from part of Wendy's answer:  You can't tell children that the bad is not going to come.  But what you can tell them is that the God that is there at the beginning of the prayer will be the God at the end...What you want to happen may not happen, but God is there through the whole process...you are not alone.For an OFFICIAL view of the Church of God (Cleveland, TN) visit their website at churchofgod.org