Anoher example of how far we are from biblical eldership
Hmm, how far they are, maybe; but this needn't apply to anyone who doesn't wish to be applied to it. There are several pastors who accept NO MONEY for their work, from big televangels to little home church guys. When one has realized that they will never find a pastor who believes exactly like they do, one becomes free to follow Christ.
Maybe it's just been my personal observation, but why does there seem to be an epidemic of churches that have been "kept in the family" for so many generations, and pastored by a succeeding line of male heirs?
I'm not saying this trend doesn't happen among other denominations, but it seems to be more prevalent among Apostolic fellowships.
I see it a lot in both the UPC and exUPC churches. At Christ Church Nashville at least neither son was in ministry so that church was spared that eventuality. Of course they are experiencing it now to a degree with the current Sr. pastor as his SIL is the Asst. Pastor and is one of the most boring preachers I have ever heard. CC went from an abundance of great pulpiteers a few years ago with Dan Scott, Phil Goldsberry, and Paul Russell to this sad situation. Nepotism. Hate it.
Bottom line is that God's work is NOT a family business. I find it amusing when preachers try to justify that path by comparing it to the Old Testament tribe of Levites. Good Grief (as Cindy would say).
UPDATE: After typing this post I went to the CC website and don't see the SIL listed on staff. Hmmmm......will have to check this out. Maybe he left.
__________________ "I think some people love spiritual bondage just the way some people love physical bondage. It makes them feel secure. In the end though it is not healthy for the one who is lost over it or the one who is lives under the oppression even if by their own choice"
Titus2woman on AFF
"We did not wear uniforms. The lady workers dressed in the current fashions of the day, ...silks...satins...jewels or whatever they happened to possess. They were very smartly turned out, so that they made an impressive appearance on the streets where a large part of our work was conducted in the early years.
"It was not until long after, when former Holiness preachers had become part of us, that strict plainness of dress began to be taught.
"Although Entire Sanctification was preached at the beginning of the Movement, it was from a Wesleyan viewpoint, and had in it very little of the later Holiness Movement characteristics. Nothing was ever said about apparel, for everyone was so taken up with the Lord that mode of dress seemingly never occurred to any of us."
Quote from Ethel Goss (widow of 1st UPC Gen Supt. Howard Goss) book "The Winds of God"
All three UPC churches that I have attended have been handed down to the son. One resulted in a church split when the father (as senior pastor) and son couldn't agree.
So, is it always wrong to pass the church on to a family member?
__________________ "Many people view their relationship with God like a "color by number" picture. It's easier to let someone else define the boundaries, tell them which blanks to fill in, and what color to use than it is for them to take a blank canvas and seek inspiration from the Source in order to paint their own masterpiece"
Who's to say that God's choice doesn't just happen to be the previous pastor's son? And if it happens about a zillion times more often than random chance -- God's ways are not man's ways!
__________________
Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty
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If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14 KJV
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? Micah 6:8 KJV
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 1 John 3:2 KJV
Hybrid Mode
