Ria wrote:

Just read this article (my data thingy-b-dingy or stick or whatever you call it was lost and now found). Going to church for MANY years and now are “churchless” because I have moved since my husband died. I was notified last year via email that this church(based in another town)is starting a “church” here in my town. Excited I contacted the preacher. He visited and we visited. The congregation grew. Then we are asked to become members, BUT this can only be done by following a membership course. I could not attend because it is in the evening and I do not like to drive at night (I am 76 yrs old). The first members were “sworn” in. Then we noticed when the preacher passed us by, he ignored us. I wrote a nice letter explaining to him my situation. Wow, I was told that it is very important to become a member. My reply: “I agree..a church is like a business and it depends on tithing and offerings..BUT Jesus said “follow Me”…not join My group” My mistake?? I would like to hear from learned people their opinion please. Am I being stubborn, rebellious?? I am so tired of church politics and legalistic opinions. What do you do? All the clever people in your blog….please try to explain to this old lady. Thank you.

No Madam, you are perfectly right. If he were a true child of God he would not have asked you to become a member of his church; he would have asked you if you were saved and how you were saved. In other words, to give him your testimony. I can assure you that Jesus will NEVER ignore you just because you are not a member of one of the thousand apostates churches in the world today. What do we do? We follow Jesus in the same way you do. We are a small group who regularly gather in a home to worship our Lord and to edify one another. I really do not know where you are going to find a church that proclaims the Gospel. The only thing you can do is to trust the Lord and ask Him to lead you to the people He wants you to join as a church. God bless.

That is another trait of a false shepherd/pastor/teacher/prophet. They will always get the “spotlight” to “accidentally” fall on them . . . And the people of the church are all now “looking” at him with awe . . .

Smuggler

>> I personally know a pastor(Dominee) who is currently waiting for a Church (gemeente) to send him out. He has “apparently” got a calling from God to go and work as a missionary in another country BUT if a church does not send him, he will loose his pension.
Currently he is asking around for a congregation to send him.
Now, Is this a “shepherd/missionary” in God’s service or is he a “hireling” (John 10) in service of a “system” ?

Unbelievable.

I do this blog for free, pay for it’s upkeep, hosting, etc and will not ask a cent – I will never sell 1 letter of the Word of God. My husband and I rely upon our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for our incomes to keep us going through the month.

Deborah (Discerning the World) wrote:

>> Hmmmm. I wonder what God thinks of Pastors who make money off selling the gospel of Jesus Christ – I don’t want to be in their shoes.

Mic 3:11 “The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us. Mic 3:12 Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps,…”

I believe the Church “system” as we have it today is Babylonian. It is money based and provide it’s followers with an “earthly” security. This “system” promises you a “safe” place to have your “guilt feelings” soothed making you feel better about yourself and in return you must pay then for providing you with this “service”. The “priesthood” of this system is usually provided with housing, a salary, medical and a pension.
They never have to trust God for an income.
I personally know a pastor(Dominee) who is currently waiting for a Church (gemeente) to send him out. He has “apparently” got a calling from God to go and work as a missionary in another country BUT if a church does not send him, he will loose his pension.
Currently he is asking around for a congregation to send him.
Now, Is this a “shepherd/missionary” in God’s service or is he a “hireling” (John 10) in service of a “system” ?

Hester

>> Now if, instead of, having these fancy buildings, the preachers, move and preach the gospel (the Good News, as they ought to) to different groups of people then certainly more people will be exposed to the True Gospel.

That is how it was done in the bible, the disciples never had buildings, they went from place to place preaching the gospel. I do not believe for one second that the way ‘church’ is today (buildings and all) is biblical. For the simple reason that the truth is hated and 9 out of 10 people will choose to follow the wide path. These large churches are a farce, the gospel they preach is a farce and so are the pastors. But see if you can find a pastor today who has a day job (like the Apostle Paul did) who would then go out and preach here and there for FREE. Do you get such a thing today? Or do all pastors make money off of selling the gospel? Hmmmm. I wonder what God thinks of Pastors who make money off selling the gospel of Jesus Christ – I don’t want to be in their shoes.

DEL STRASHEIM

I am sure you can email this off or print it, just make sure you keep all the copyright stuff in place.

Near the top right hand side of the page (in the grey column) you will see a colourful little button that says + ADD THIS. If you mouse over it you can select an option to email.

RESPECTFULLY YOUR,
DEL R. STRASHEIM, EMERITUS ARCHITECT