Quote:
Originally Posted by Luke
I posted a similar question on Cody's forum a bit back, but this isn't the same thing..
It's no secret I am not satisfied with my church. It's not the teaching really, it's just the lack of motivation. The pastor seems to justify his lack of soulwinning by claiming he is shy and that's how God made him. Fair enough. I ain't denying he is shy, and God made him, but surely, if God called him to the ministry, the pastor needs to go to God to help him overcome any hindrances to that.
The lack of motivation rubs off onto everyone else. I know I am just as guilty of not sharing the gospel as the pastor is.
However, my mother and father in law have left recently. Same reason as me.
My father in law has approached the pastor several times, with ideas for community outreach. Now my father in law isn't exactly a "King James Bible Believer" but he is a good godly man. He is a better man than me, that's for sure. But everytime he takes something to the pastor, the pastor says "I'll pray about it" and NEVER gets back to anyone about it. And I've done the same thing too.
My wife actually wrote up an entire list of all these dormitories (we live in a university town) to give to the pastor to contact with church times, and he didn't contact one. So I am ranting again.. you get the point...
And now my father in law has gone to another church in town we live in. One we would refer to as liberal. Women deacon's, rock music etc. I don't know.. I've never been there. But the thing is, they ARE sharing the gospel. I don't know how. Lifestyle evangelism to some extent, but they are. And every night I have to hear the report from my wife about how wonderful this church is and to be honest, I am tempted to go for the fellowship. They run about 500 in a town of 9000. The church I attend runs 20 in a city of 200,000
SOMETHING AIN'T RIGHT! I know it's not about numbers, and I wouldn't even be concerned if there was some outreach happening.
I am just very discouraged and don't know what to do, and I hate to say this, because I know I sound like I am complaining.
Before anyone suggests I just go out and do soulwinning myself.. how do you do that without the support of the pastor? And what church do I take them to? My church... where they will sit under the preaching of a man who doesn't actively share the gospel? I'm just so confused..
What do I do in this situation?
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Brother, you take the lost souls to the Lord Jesus Christ FIRST and forget about a "church". You get them
in the Lord FIRST, and let the lack of church problem sort itself out down the road. We hit the street ministry with our
own support here. We are not out to build a church, we are out to get people into Christ. If someone gets saved under your work, and they say, where is your church? Show them the street, the neighborhood, this is my church, meet me here next week, let's subvert the hearing of the lost and make every thought captive for Christ. Have you ever thought of starting your own church? You don't feel called to pastor? Get a group of Christians together and elect one that is called.
The first church I was founding member of the pastor withdrew church support of the street ministry and I left that night and never went back because his real motive was he didn't want "those people" in
his church,
sinners. I don't recall myself, him, the rest of the members of this church being products of a Virgin Birth so I saw no problem in having lost sinners come to Christ as members. That's the problem even in Christian fundamentalism,
our feces have no odoriferous manifestations and we forget we were lost as a flock of drunken geese ourselves once.
A liberal church is winning souls to Christ? Can Satan cast out Satan? Are they preaching the gospel pf Christ crucified or are they an entertainment center bribing people in just as members of a church, a building, a location?
Your pastor is a coward and ashamed of the gospel of Christ. You all pool your resources and get me a ticket to New Zealand, fourth class on a merchant ship works for me, and I'll tell him to his face. You don't need to
change churches, you need to
change the one you are in. The pastor is "shy"? Luke, I have moderate to mild agoraphobia except in the street ministry. He has no excuse. Get me to New Zealand, let me take him onto the street and set him on fire for preaching the gospel. Has he ever heard of Arthur Blessit? 36,000 miles
on foot lugging a cross behind him? Is Arthur a fool? Out for fame and fortune? I certainly don't see any Arthur Blessit action figures and if he was ever on Ellen Degenerate's talk show I missed that episode.
What is a man who is "shy" doing pastoring a church and refusing to preach the gospel of Christ?
That's the whole purpose of a church's existence is to preach the gospel of Christ. He shepherds a flock, he should be door to door, in the marketplace, and on the street
in the front lines. He is supposed to
be a leader, and example. A pastor who is
not preaching the gospel of Christ to lost people is not fit to pastor a church.
Lu 9:62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
Christ: "My Father is in me, reconciling the lost world unto my Father through me. Go forth and be my ambassador..."
Shy Pastor: "Yes Lord, but see, I am shy, it is a medical condition, I am afraid of what people think of me, what I do, what I look like, what they will say and do about what I say and do, I don't want to anger the government..."
Christ: "Then get ye down into the audience and
let someone fit to lead a church feed my sheep and seek that which is lost."
Do you know why you are struggling with your flesh right now Luke? Because someday you will lead and pastor a church for Him. You can't see it in the future, God and I do. I see the struggle in you, but I see the leadership in you, I see the fervent and zealous passion for Him in you. You don't right now, I do. You're too close to the trees to see the forest brother. You are blind to the high calling because of this struggle in the flesh, as Paul was blinded on the road to Damascus and forced to reflect on who he was and what he was doing. When your 40 days in the wilderness are ended, you will be lean and mean after the scales of this struggle have fallen.
You don;t need to change churches, the one you are in needs to be changed, what can you do?
Grace and peace and my prayers Luke
Tony