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Originally Posted by Ehud
“If only I had received the unsolicited advice of complete strangers with no firsthand knowledge of any situation facing my saints, things would have turned out for the better,” said no pastor ever.
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No, many a pastor had made the exact statement. Everyone has had a turn at the wheel. Hence the reason why so many brothers only preach tried and true brethren. If you give a reference then you come under "lay no hands on any man suddenly" situation. Because you are accountable for Brother So N So watermelon dropping. Had a brother come and preach and while everyone is in the altar he wanted to know when we were going to eat. I gave him 20 bucks and told him to beat it. Know them that labor among you. Simple. But having someone lob a huge dud over the pulpit? It has happened to everyone. Even your best friends can make mistakes. But that is the beauty of having a church FAMILY. They watch you, they look to see how you react to the "visiting minister" You know what I'm talking about, you hear something odd, you look straight at the pastor. A visiting evangelist or missionary only gets a week, or one night? The pastor has 365 days to straighten out a bent road.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ehud
Don’t we as saints have to bear some responsibility in all of this?
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Huge responsibility. But only those who are going in the same direction of the elders. Not busy bodies, or troublemakers looking to bring on a munity.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ehud
Didn’t Paul admonish the Corinthian church to not even eat with those who claimed to be brothers but were openly doing X, Y, and Z? If a sin is truly as blatant as is being proposed, the pastor shouldn’t have any need to blast it from the pulpit because the whole congregation should have already made it clear that stuff isn’t tolerated.
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But still no body wants anyone to have a gang mentality. The ministry is working on and with everyone in the church family. Brother and Sister Goober might want to come down on MeeMaw because she has gone to see the Avengers marathon. But they need to move with the Holy Ghost, not the Holy Toast. Going to a diner and having a group tell you that they don't like Brother Tom Bombadil, because he is still dipping. Well, he doesn't dip when he is at church, no spitting around the property? Well, one brother pipes up and tells that Old Brother Tom does it at work. So what! The guy is obviously TRYING. So, pray for the brother, because he really needs the prayer, and you all sure need the practice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ehud
But we probably aren’t talking about REAL sin, now are we? No, we have pew-sitters that want the pastor to enforce personal preferences, and visiting ministers who will “take care of those things” for the pastor before leaving town, never to return, leaving a mess for the pastor to clean up.
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I think I cover this above, but real sin? No, they just have issues on the things they see on the surface. Real sin lurks in the inner shadows of the mind. Who we are in the dark is where we really are judged as Christians. Behind closed doors, within the time where no one can see us. Being a Christian really counts when we are on our rear end, and everything is burning down around us. When those we thought were our friends are now skinning us alive. When all have forsaken us, and are now sinking their knives, fangs, and claws in our back. That is the time to let the Holy Ghost move, and allow Jesus to put more weight on the bar for a deadlift. That's when cleaning up a mess, or putting out a fire is doable. The brothers and sisters who really know their pastor, and his desire for them, don't sweat the small stuff. They abide, and they grow taller with Jesus and the elders.
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