Originally posted by Scott Bushey:
Abiyah,
And I bet every Lords day you faithfully sit under "a man" as pastor. I wonder, do you find him acceptable to expound on the scriptures and if so, why is it that you find him acceptable and not the past faithful?
On Sundays, if this is what you mean by "Lord's
Day," I occasionally attend my husband's church.
Usually, I stay home and study my Bible--or
get on Baptist Board. 8o)
Scott, I sit in a congregation where one of my
two pastors take the pulpit each week. We know
weeks in advance what Scriptures will be read.
We stand as they are read---as many as four
chapters from what we call the Tanakh and
several verses from the Apostolic writings. As
our God's word, they mean something to us.
But all the while the pastor speaks, there is a
microphone held by someone at the back of
the congregation. If the pastor says
anything
is wrong, unclear, or questionable, invariably,
someone in the congregation will put their
hand up. The microphone will be passed to
herr or him, and the pastor will listen and
answer for what he has said. Both Hebrew
and Greek are explored, as well as the most
trusted Bibles. If he was wrong, or if he can
not fully support his statement, the congrega-
tion continues to deal with the problem until it
is either taken care of or we admit that we
just do not know.
Invariably, there are a minimum of two question
and answer periods--long ones--for each
sermon. These, with the sermon, go from about
12 p.m. until 1:45 p.m., and hardly a stone goes
unturned.
This would be intimidating to some pastors and
teachers, I know, but it is necessary for me. You
see, I spent over 50 years in a church where no
one dared to challenge the pulpit, and pastors
got by with grievous error. My lasst pastor
would tell how he cheated people in his business
before becoming a pastor and laugh about it--
from the pulpit! That church went from well over
200 people to approximately 25 on a Sunday or
Wednesday night and not enough to teach the
Sunday school.
Why did I stay? Because I was literally Afraid to
go.
Finally, the pastor who told about his
cheating from the pulpit kicked me out for
refusing to take off my wedding ring anymore
when I entered his church, even though another
woman wore hers and was not challenged. He
also got rid of a fine young effective youth
pastor, because the young people asked him
about what was being said from the puilpit by
him and this young man tried to explain.
Another of the ministers there lied about me
and refused to either make amends or take it
back. The same one threatened my husband
with a harassment lawsuit because he sent him
an e-mail of humorous things said in churches,
which my husband had seen on the internet and
sent to several people.
There is more, much more, but this will suffice.
Because of what I have gone through, I MUST
have integrity and accountability in the pulpit.
That is why I love my pastors who submit to
challenges in order to maintain integrity and
honesty before our God. This is precious to me.
[ October 23, 2002, 10:02 PM: Message edited by: Abiyah ]