Like a plane that lost power and fell short of its prophetic destination, the first-century church gradually lost altitude as their love waned, making a crash landing not far into the second century.

When a plane has crashed, there is normally a great urgency to recover the flight recorder from the wreckage. Commonly called the black box, the flight recorder is an almost indestructible device that records cockpit conversations and critical flight data. Investigators are
eager to study the data contained in the black box, hoping it will shed light on the cause of the crash and show how to avoid similar disasters in the future.

The Bible, especially the New Testament, is the “black box” for the “flight” of the first-century church. It has proven to be indestructible, miraculously preserved through the perilous centuries. To the discerning eye, it documents the decline of the church and reveals the reasons for its demise