Waiting on Someone to tell You How to Believe?

The tv debate reveals a fundamental weakness of denominationalism... the "felt need to control others".

This applies to both sides, by the way....

[chseeads]

I don't think I know any preachers in person that I've ever heard say anything one way or the other about it. I'm not sure that the 'general public,' so to speak, is really giving it that much thought, or else they're just keeping it to themselves. On the Internet is the only place that anybody talks about it around here.

Originally Posted by Pressing-On

My experience has been that the teaching leans toward following after the preacher and not questioning what he has to say. If you do, you are labeled as rebellious. I don't broad brush that statement for every man of God, for the record.

Perhaps that mentality has carried over from the Catholic Church. I was reading an article about a Pentecostal preacher who was required to wear a "collar" because of a seminary assignment. He noticed he got more respect and that it seemed to reflect all of ministry.

When I was a new convert I noticed, studying for myself, that "touch not thine anointed" was speaking of the whole house of Israel. I mentioned it to one of the elders in the church, because our pastor preached on it regularly, and he put up his hands up and said, "We better not discuss this."

All I said was, "I noticed this in the scriptures." lol! He was so frightened!

I've been under elderly men that taught Adult SS and they have stated that God will not show you the deep things in the Word. He only reserves that for the ministry.

I was sitting there thinking, "Well, that is the strangest thing I believe I have heard a person say. God only tells the preacher what his Word means?"

Go figure.

Again, the cult mentality.

Whenever I preached or taught, I made it a point to tell the hearers to go home and study the stuff out for themselves and then, if they found anything wrong in what I said, to come back and tell me.

Originally Posted by chseeads

I don't think I know any preachers in person that I've ever heard say anything one way or the other about it. I'm not sure that the 'general public,' so to speak, is really giving it that much thought, or else they're just keeping it to themselves. On the Internet is the only place that anybody talks about it around here.

But if they say anything out there in the real world outside of cyberspace, it might get back to their pastor.

[Pressing-On]

Originally Posted by Eliseus

The tv debate reveals a fundamental weakness of denominationalism... the "felt need to control others".

This applies to both sides, by the way....

Eliseus,
I don't really think, in all cases, that it's a control issue.

Some men have seen t.v. be a negative force in their saints homes and it does frighten them to a degree. When a man sees these things he has to step back and say, "Can I honestly sanction that from this pulpit?"

I know a preacher that has said, in private, "I don't see that everything is wrong on the t.v., but I won't endorse it over the pulpit."

Then I have heard a preacher say, "You're a big boy. You're a big girl. I don't have to tell you what you need to do."

So, we have these two scenarios and some people torn on the sanctioning. I certainly wouldn't want to force any one person to make a choice one way or the another.

For some, it is a hard choice. I can respect the hesitancy. I think we are leaning too much on the "control" and not giving the people that are "hesitant to sanction the thing" a little credit for being afraid and knowing that whatever happens next could be part of their responsibility. It's not an easy decision for some people. I can't get angry at them for that.

[Pressing-On]

Originally Posted by Chan

Again, the cult mentality.

Whenever I preached or taught, I made it a point to tell the hearers to go home and study the stuff out for themselves and then, if they found anything wrong in what I said, to come back and tell me.

Chancellor,
I think that's the best way. You would have a healthier congregation.

Sanction what?

Watching soft porn on late night tv??

The issue is churches advertising services on tv, not people going pell mell into boob tube addiction.

But if you will notice, it IS a control issue... as your post demonstrates...

"Some men have seen t.v. be a negative force in their saints homes and it does frighten them to a degree. When a man sees these things he has to step back and say, "Can I honestly sanction that from this pulpit?""

See? "If I say it's okay for a church to advertise on tv, the saints in my church will spend all their time soaking in the godless propaganda from Hollywood!"

Such people feel the need to CONTROL what "their" saints do or do not do, instead of preaching abstinence from sin and wisdom from God.

[BoredOutOfMyMind]

Originally Posted by rrford

I know where I stand on this issue. I have not decided how I will vote on any forthcoming Resolution.

That defines your defination.

Somebody remind me why this is "THE pressing issue of our generation" again....

Originally Posted by Pastor Poster

I think the thing that most concerns me about the whole television issue is that some men haven't made up their mind after all of this time and debate, and still others vascillate wildly.

How could someone be so weakminded as to not know where they stand on the issue by now? Are they waiting for the right bigwig to tell them how to believe?

What is there not to understand, after all they can't even agree on the man made dress standards of salvation! So no it's not a surprise more like business as usually~