Dictatorial Pastors

[gdemoss]

Consider 3 John.

[JohnD]

Well first of all, the Church has been in a state of apostasy for nearly 1500 years. The late Dr. Walter Martin got me onto studying this when in the mid 1980's he stated that the Church was (then) in a state of apostasy for over 50 years. I studied this and the dating kept pushing back to the Roman Imperial kidnapping of the Church under Emperor Constantine. It was then that the devil joined the Church he'd been trying to defeat for nearly 3 centuries. He managed to drive a wedge between the Church and the Jews by several generations. And he could not lick the Church so he joined it to get it as far off course as possible. Some sound doctrines prevailed because the whole of scripture was revealed and canonized for complete comparison for the first time in human history. But some real unChristian doctrines came about as well. Some are subtle some pretty drastic. The so-called Apostle's Creed for example.

"I believe in God the Father Almighty Creator of heaven and Earth..."

According to the Bible God the Word (who became God the Son in the incarnation) is the lone Creator (Isaiah 44:24 / John 1:1-3 / Colossians 1:16 / Hebrews 1:2). God the Father's only begetting (creating) was of the body of Jesus Christ whom God the Word would become in the incarnation (John 1:14 / Hebrew 10:5 /Hebrew 1:5).

And there is the belief in the "Catholic" Church in the so-called Apostle's Creed. I used to interpret that as meaning "universal" Church since I had yet to discover the other boo boos in the creed.

Long story short...

The organization of the Church has outstripped the Church organism of its individual duties / ministries... of it individual rightful place in the priesthood of all believers... of its one-to-one relationship with the high priest Jesus Christ... no pastor no denomination no one stands between the Christian and God. That's what pagans and cultists do... and sadly the Churches of the Traditions of Men that masquerade as Churches of various denominations (based on differences of human traditions which nullify the Word of God).

So Pastor Tyrranus and Reverend Maul and Brother Vader all serve the same Emperor when by the authority of the traditions of mere mortal men commandeer the Church organism.

[Jonah'sJourney]

Why would the Lord need to write letters to angels? And if each of the letters is written to an individual angel, why does He tell the angel in Rev. 2:10 "Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison"? Some of who? Some of the angels? The Gr word angelos means "messenger," and can refer to either angelic beings or to human persons. It is translated "angel" in the seven letters, but could just as accurately be translated "messenger." The Lord doesn't write letters to angels, as though they would learn something by reading a letter that they wouldn't know otherwise.

[BlessedByTheBest]

Why would the Lord need to write letters to angels? And if each of the letters is written to an individual angel, why does He tell the angel in Rev. 2:10 "Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison"? Some of who? Some of the angels? The Gr word angelos means "messenger," and can refer to either angelic beings or to human persons. It is translated "angel" in the seven letters, but could just as accurately be translated "messenger." The Lord doesn't write letters to angels, as though they would learn something by reading a letter that they wouldn't know otherwise.

i believe this is the wrong thread for this.

[*Zion*]

We have a tendency to place our pastors on some sort of pedestal, and unconsciously (I think) we have the mind-set that somehow the pastor is greater than the sheep, or that the pastor is somehow exempt from the rules that apply to the rest of the sheep.

Certainly, the pastor has been give a certain authority by God, but he is no different than the rest of us in that he is also subject to the Great and Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ...and when the pastor exceeds the authority and the role that has been given to him as the under-shepherd of God's flock, then IMO it is our responsibility to confront him in the matter in the spirit of Galatians 6:1.

The Apostle Paul went and told the Apostle Peter that he (Peter) was in the wrong. (Galatians 2:11-14).

The pastor's role is defined in Ephesians 4:11-13 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; (emphasis mine).

The pastor IMO must to the best of his abilities emulate Christ...and Jesus who had every right as God to be a dictator or despot; was neither...and if the pastor does not emulate the love, concern, and tenderness toward God's people that Jesus Himself showed...then he needs to get another job or get his heart right before God.

Oh yeah...btw...I am writing this from a pastor's viewpoint, because I are one.

I couldn't agree more. The five-fold ministries are the very back bone of the church, and I think that in fact they are all as equally as important as each other. In this day and age, the pastor has become such a title, but if you take just one of any other of the ministries out of the body of Christ, then then body will malfunction. We all have to be like Christ, and it's not just up to one person to be our brother's keeper: we all have that responsibility. If the pastor in the OP doesn't have the wisdom to see this, I'm not sure he has any business at all in the body of Christ, except to repent and really become a part of it. We can't really judge one another, but the Word of God does say that we shall know them by their fruits. I truly pray for God's mercy upon this man. He is causing many little ones to stumble, and we all know what Jesus said should happen to those who do that.

[BlessedByTheBest]

thank you all for your suggestions.

sometimes our beloved pastors act in fear. in my experience, the pastor in question is in the process of initially building up his ministry, and i perceive an anxiousness and impatience of what he would like to see as far as growth and manifestation of spiritual gifts.

the totalitarian attitude seems to be rooted in fear of betrayal and the sense of this need to be 'in control'.

i would like to tell him, "no one wants your ministry, and no one can take away from you what God has given anyway.", among other things but it is like he is bipolar at times in terms of an endearing conversation.

the Castro factor comes into play.

it is almost like he is blind to the discord that the enemy is trying to sow. i was under the impression that he was a man with eyes to see..not that we are perfect in any sense...

those of us who are willing to discuss it among ourselves are praying for him and his wife. are we in error for not approaching him?

love to you all.

[*Zion*]

Maybe the Lord has kept you from doing so at this point. Ask Him in prayer if you should. Even King David needed Prophet Nathan to bring him God's Word when he was in error. Blessings

[BlessedByTheBest]

thank you sister.. i will.

[Jonah'sJourney]

LOL it is indeed the wrong thread. I wondered what happened to that post.

[*Zion*]

Sorry Jonah! Hope you managed to sort things out