Quote:
Originally Posted by trialedbyfire
You sho is smart...
...when was the last time you took a whole congregation to dinner there buddy?
Or anybody for that matter?
I'm glad you had it so rough as a church secretary. Many of us that have been called one day to pastor and have worked and labored tirelessly in the ministry of reconciliation will understand why this statement is foolish at best. I've fixed vehicles free of charge, I've helped my past pastors repair and restore saints houses free of charge. I've watched my pastors scrub the church floors, cut saints lawns, etc. I've helped pay individuals rent. I've helped pay for gas. I've filled tanks of strangers while I was witnessing to them, bought them food, and prayed for them. I've watched the men of God who have trained me in the ministry do this. I wake up at 2 in the morning for saints who need random assistance. At the same time I'm expected to go to work, go to church on time, pay my bills on time, tithe, and keep a strong relationship with God and prayer life. I can't imagine being a pastor on top of all this. It's not a calling that any sane man should want, especially with people like yourself constantly attacking and accusing pastors, and I find what you said to be an attack, unwarranted on someone who I've watched grow old with a genuine burden for the souls he oversees and a man I respect and revere. The ministry is not "easy", nor is it "fun and games" and some of us spend our lives on reaching out to others trying to see God's plan of salvation fulfilled and people's lives changed. Now... what are you doing?
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I guess you just had a load to get rid of, and I was a likely target
That's okay. Had a rough day?
Here...
Seriously, I hear what you are saying, and I know that you probably have given 150% working in the ministry.
My point was this... you are claiming that this pastor took these people out on his own dime, and I was just making the point that more than likely it wasn't his dime... it was the church's dime, or the IRS at some point was going to reimburse him for it. That was the point I was making...
And... we are all called to minister to each other, and it shouldn't JUST be the pastor's job.... every single believer is called to minister to each other. Not just one man trying to minister to ... did you say 1500 people in that church? Yikes!
So my point is... yes, I know that pastors like Been Thinkin, and perhaps the one you mention have given their all, 150% more than likely.... but what if they had stopped and realized that all the body of belivers were to minister to each other, and taught their congregants so... all of us ministering to the needs of each other.... truly that is the way the early church was set up.
Read this passage where Paul was addressing this very issue:
1 Cor. 12
In particular this verse stands out in regards to this discussion:
1 Cor. 12:25-27 "That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. "
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