Thoughts (Caution this went longer than I anticipated)
May 27, 2020 10:35:02 GMT -6
Patricia likes this
Post by MammaMel on May 27, 2020 10:35:02 GMT -6
I know I have asked what you all thought before.
After much praying, thought and study I find the church I have been with for 4 years is just completely incompatible. I kept telling myself I could adjust, it was just me that was wrong. That maybe I was reading my scriptures wrong... I find the more I go there the more disturbed I am. Especially at some of the reasoning offered.
For example. I asked about the Lord's supper. This is something to be done every week. Yet in the 4 years I have been there, it has been done 3 times. Usually at the evening service not the morning service.
When I asked why the pastor said because we want it to be special and doing it every week would make it boring. Umm dude you preach every week won't people get bored with that as well? The disciples came together on the first day of the week to do what? Break bread as Jesus commanded. I mean, pastor feels it is important to have a meal at the church every Wednesday. Why is that important but the ONLY ceremony Christ set up is not?
Now this next may just be a preference thing but... I can't take the instrumental music. The reasoning they use it, David did it. I'm sorry but there isn't any examples of instruments in the new testament church. It is a completely different set of ideas than the old temple. So what David did is history and not what we are supposed to follow today. I might be able to handle an organ. I can't focus on the music with the guitar so loud and the piano and all of it done as if they are stumbling. Especially since the pianist can no longer come to church. (She can barely get from her bed to bathroom with out falling, even with her walker)The organist broke her arm, so now its the pastor and the music director and neither seems up to the task. Drop the instruments and lead us in song. As it is now if Mike doesn't know a song with his guitar we can't sing it... Mike is a talented musician. He plays with a local jazz ensemble and the city orchestra but... that is on a sax. I get he must be good to play the guitar and sax. However like Jack, he does all things but is master of none. At least not of the guitar. I haven't heard his sax.
The whole KJB only thing is getting on my nerves. I don't care that that is what they want to use. I am fine with that. I am not fine with the pastor repeating it over and over and over and taking time out of study to discourse on all the perversions. Especially when there are no visitors and EVERYONE there has been there for years and knows his views on it already. I think this is part of what is referenced in 2 Timothy 2. I think satan uses this argument as a distraction. If people MUST use this version, many will not bother because it is archaic and some of the words, quite frankly are not even words now. I have a dictionary for these words. Still when I read the KJB, my brain is translating, as I read, into more modern speech so it takes longer to read. Some days that's great some days not.
Not using a Bible for Bible study. He keeps picking these books to use. The first was on spiritual gifts. It had moderate Bible references. The next was on how the baptist church is the only original church. They say it remains the same from the time of the apostles. Umm no it isn't. Now they are doing a study where the author uses 1 or 2 verses then pages and pages of his own experiences loosely based on those verses. Meanwhile we can't read the scriptures in the book because they are not KJv. Yet, and I am not kidding, every time except where the books verses were edited for... length I suppose, they say the exact same thing with out all the archaic language. Yet he stops class to expound on the KJ is the only Bible and if Jesus were here today he would speak the KJv. Now as I said I don't care what version a person uses. I myself found salvation in the Revised Standard Version.
Here is why this is an issue. In the original scriptures, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Pascha is always Passover. Suddenly in the KJ, in 1 verse and 1 verse only it becomes easter. King James had the KJV written because he took issue with study notes in the Geneva Bible. He felt the notes indicated an attack against his sovereignty. His translators changed God's word. Yet that is ok? Ummm no. Which is why I don't celebrate holidays such as easter or Christmas as religious days. Col. 2 tells me not to judge those who choose to and I don't. I actually like the pageantry and reverence given to both days, I just think Sunday should be treated the same way. Again, could be a personal bias thing. Also on this textus receptus (sp). From what I have read it was written 600 years after the events. It is therefore a copy of copies. Now considering what happens when playing the game of telephone, why would a copy written 600 years after the events be more accurate than other copies written closer to the time of the events? That has never made sense to me. Plus, God is still in control and will protect his word as HE sees fit.
The next thing that bugs me is, there is no accountability. No elders, no deacons. There were trustees until his brother in law was brought in and made youth pastor. He was put in charge of the money and such. He went and removed all the former trustees from the bank and anything else he could. Now I get removing the ones that had died. From what I understand now there is 1 trustee left and he is 98. So pastor does what he does and they are losing people and no one seems able to figure out why. After Ron ran off they made Linda treasurer. So at least I know the money is being accounted for. Though so many of us have left the offering is way down.
People are even discouraged from having Bible studies in their homes because pastor wants it all done at the church. Sorry I see no reason to run a Bible study past him.
Like I said a lot of things have built up. These are just the top ones. So I am working on a letter, because unlike others I am not just going to run away. They had things to hide. I do not. I feel I should explain at least in part why I am leaving.
What do you think?
I am working on 2 letters, 1 to pastor outlining why I am leaving, and yes I have another church I will go to, and 1 to his wife letting her know how much she means to me. I will definitely miss some of the people there but not all of them.
After much praying, thought and study I find the church I have been with for 4 years is just completely incompatible. I kept telling myself I could adjust, it was just me that was wrong. That maybe I was reading my scriptures wrong... I find the more I go there the more disturbed I am. Especially at some of the reasoning offered.
For example. I asked about the Lord's supper. This is something to be done every week. Yet in the 4 years I have been there, it has been done 3 times. Usually at the evening service not the morning service.
When I asked why the pastor said because we want it to be special and doing it every week would make it boring. Umm dude you preach every week won't people get bored with that as well? The disciples came together on the first day of the week to do what? Break bread as Jesus commanded. I mean, pastor feels it is important to have a meal at the church every Wednesday. Why is that important but the ONLY ceremony Christ set up is not?
Now this next may just be a preference thing but... I can't take the instrumental music. The reasoning they use it, David did it. I'm sorry but there isn't any examples of instruments in the new testament church. It is a completely different set of ideas than the old temple. So what David did is history and not what we are supposed to follow today. I might be able to handle an organ. I can't focus on the music with the guitar so loud and the piano and all of it done as if they are stumbling. Especially since the pianist can no longer come to church. (She can barely get from her bed to bathroom with out falling, even with her walker)The organist broke her arm, so now its the pastor and the music director and neither seems up to the task. Drop the instruments and lead us in song. As it is now if Mike doesn't know a song with his guitar we can't sing it... Mike is a talented musician. He plays with a local jazz ensemble and the city orchestra but... that is on a sax. I get he must be good to play the guitar and sax. However like Jack, he does all things but is master of none. At least not of the guitar. I haven't heard his sax.
The whole KJB only thing is getting on my nerves. I don't care that that is what they want to use. I am fine with that. I am not fine with the pastor repeating it over and over and over and taking time out of study to discourse on all the perversions. Especially when there are no visitors and EVERYONE there has been there for years and knows his views on it already. I think this is part of what is referenced in 2 Timothy 2. I think satan uses this argument as a distraction. If people MUST use this version, many will not bother because it is archaic and some of the words, quite frankly are not even words now. I have a dictionary for these words. Still when I read the KJB, my brain is translating, as I read, into more modern speech so it takes longer to read. Some days that's great some days not.
Not using a Bible for Bible study. He keeps picking these books to use. The first was on spiritual gifts. It had moderate Bible references. The next was on how the baptist church is the only original church. They say it remains the same from the time of the apostles. Umm no it isn't. Now they are doing a study where the author uses 1 or 2 verses then pages and pages of his own experiences loosely based on those verses. Meanwhile we can't read the scriptures in the book because they are not KJv. Yet, and I am not kidding, every time except where the books verses were edited for... length I suppose, they say the exact same thing with out all the archaic language. Yet he stops class to expound on the KJ is the only Bible and if Jesus were here today he would speak the KJv. Now as I said I don't care what version a person uses. I myself found salvation in the Revised Standard Version.
Here is why this is an issue. In the original scriptures, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Pascha is always Passover. Suddenly in the KJ, in 1 verse and 1 verse only it becomes easter. King James had the KJV written because he took issue with study notes in the Geneva Bible. He felt the notes indicated an attack against his sovereignty. His translators changed God's word. Yet that is ok? Ummm no. Which is why I don't celebrate holidays such as easter or Christmas as religious days. Col. 2 tells me not to judge those who choose to and I don't. I actually like the pageantry and reverence given to both days, I just think Sunday should be treated the same way. Again, could be a personal bias thing. Also on this textus receptus (sp). From what I have read it was written 600 years after the events. It is therefore a copy of copies. Now considering what happens when playing the game of telephone, why would a copy written 600 years after the events be more accurate than other copies written closer to the time of the events? That has never made sense to me. Plus, God is still in control and will protect his word as HE sees fit.
The next thing that bugs me is, there is no accountability. No elders, no deacons. There were trustees until his brother in law was brought in and made youth pastor. He was put in charge of the money and such. He went and removed all the former trustees from the bank and anything else he could. Now I get removing the ones that had died. From what I understand now there is 1 trustee left and he is 98. So pastor does what he does and they are losing people and no one seems able to figure out why. After Ron ran off they made Linda treasurer. So at least I know the money is being accounted for. Though so many of us have left the offering is way down.
People are even discouraged from having Bible studies in their homes because pastor wants it all done at the church. Sorry I see no reason to run a Bible study past him.
Like I said a lot of things have built up. These are just the top ones. So I am working on a letter, because unlike others I am not just going to run away. They had things to hide. I do not. I feel I should explain at least in part why I am leaving.
What do you think?
I am working on 2 letters, 1 to pastor outlining why I am leaving, and yes I have another church I will go to, and 1 to his wife letting her know how much she means to me. I will definitely miss some of the people there but not all of them.