jump to navigation

Children Obey your “fathers” in the Lord… September 27, 2010

Posted by Henry in Matters of the Faith.
Tags: , , , , , , ,
2 comments

How do you view your pastors? Do you put them on a pedestal and reverence them as if they were Christ Himself? Many, people in Christendom today literally worship their pastors who are held aloft of their congregations yet this is in contradiction of scriptures. Perhaps one of the contributing factors to this status quo is that today many pastors hold lofty titles such as “Most Reverend” or “Right Reverend” or more academic letters such as “Dr” compared to the early apostles. These early apostles did not demand to be reverenced by their flocks but instead they acted in “servitude” to Christ and His gospel.

This is not to say that as Christians and fellow brethren we should not respect our pastors but the reverence we show them should not be anymore or less than what we show to other ordinary brethren. By washing His disciples’ feet, Jesus showed us the example to follow in that those who lead must first serve. But in stark contrast to scripture those who lead in churches today are instead served by the congregation. They are held in high esteem and are literally carried about on a litter as if they were kings. Moreover, these ministers indeed rule their churches as if they were kings and many of the congregants run to and fro at the beck and call of these people. The question here is not whether or not one should serve their ministries and the pastor who lead these ministries but we should be seeking to serve each other as if we are indeed serving Christ Jesus. However, what is happening in many churches today is that there is a misplaced loyalty that is afforded to the pastor and the same is not afforded among the brethren. In this way many of the brethren have become somewhat of a slave to the minister and his every word is taken as law. Even if such a minister speaks in error no one dares to challenge it, because such a challenge would be deemed a challenge to his very authority as leader and head.

Truthfully the scriptures doth say we should submit to those that have been placed above us but likewise scripture admonish those in pastoral position not to laud it over the flock but to act in humility. However such humility is bereft in most of Christendom today. Seemingly pastors have replaced Christ as the head of their churches and require church members to subjugate themselves to their authority. But in truth we as Christians are to submit ourselves one to another as scripture commands, as submitting to Christ who is the Head of the Church. The status quo in many churches however lends itself to spiritual abuse by leaders and elders who have walked after their own way instead of subjecting themselves to the Word of scripture. As a result many church goers have become confused as to whether they should obey their pastors every command as failing to do so might incur curses. But the Lord would not have you walk in darkness as scripture imposes a duty on us to walk away from such false teachings and practices. Christ did not come to put us in bondage but to free us therefore we should seek to walk in the light of His truth instead of suffering through ignorance.

The Qualifications of a Pastor July 2, 2010

Posted by Henry in Matters of the Faith.
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
2 comments

 In many contemporary churches, particularly the established ones, it is needful for an individual who wants to become a pastor to attend a seminary, at the recommendation of their church. After completing seminary education the individual may then have the right to append the estimable title of “Reverend” to their name and he or she may then seek appointment to a “local” church. This usual involves them being interviewed by the deaconate and approved by the members. The question which needs to be asked however is whether attending seminary automatically qualifies an individual to “pastor a church”? We could equally ask whether it is biblically correct to have a single individual as the “pastor” of any particular church. Indeed this is what has become the norm in churches today but the biblical efficacy of this needs to be tested.

 In order to answer the questions aforementioned perhaps it is useful to first understand what the term “pastor” denotes. The term is used to refer to a “shepherd” and in different translations of the Bible the word “pastor” is sometimes replaced by “shepherd” so the two words are interchangeable. A shepherd or pastor therefore is someone who tended the sheep and this is symbolic of God’s people being the sheep of His pasture and those who tend to them are seen as shepherds or pastors. In the Old Testament for example, God appointed pastors to tend to the flock of Israel:

 Jer 3

15And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

 The role of the pastors here were that of “feeding” the sheep with knowledge and understanding. The role of the pastors here are somewhat similar to the role of pastors in the New Testament. Under the New Covenant it is God who gives the gift of “pasturing” in the church:

 Eph 4

11And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

 12For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

 It should be said here that although the role of the pastor contributes to the “edifying (knowledge and understanding) of the body of Christ” this is not their role exclusively and we can see this from verse 11.  It stands to reason therefore that the body cannot be fully edified without the apostles, prophets and teachers who together with the pastors play the role of enablers in the perfecting of the saints till we all come into the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God. But in our churches today we see a system where a single individual, the pastor, who supposedly fulfills all these other roles. In a similar vein, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to different individuals in the church and all these different gifts were meant to be working together for the edification of the whole church (1 Cor 12). But again in most churches today these gifts are recognized in the pastor alone, and he alone his treated as being able to manifest these gifts. But we can discern clearly from scripture that this is not what the Lord intended for His church. However, it would seem that a certain level of confidence is invested in a person who has attended seminary in that only he or she is regarded as having the “competence” to operate in the spiritual gifts. For example, only the pastor is viewed as having the “ability” or sufficient skill to demonstrate or impart the word of knowledge (or wisdom), a skill derived from his/her seminary education. But the result of this is to quench the Spirit to the detriment of the church.

 If we should look at the early church, instead of one man (or woman) standing at the head and preaching a sermon on Sunday we instead see a church which edified one another through hymns and psalms:

 Col 3:16

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

 This of course is not to say that sermons from men holding Theological qualifications isn’t relevant but it should not replace what Christ already laid down for the church in how it should operate. Attending seminary doesn’t automatically qualifies one to be a pastor as this is the gift of God although it could be beneficial in aiding one’s understanding of scriptures. The implication here however is that the ordinary Christian who has not attended seminary will not be able to understand the scriptures and this is clearly not true since wisdom and understanding comes from God alone. Another very important consideration here is that if an individual can attend seminary in order to be “qualified” as a pastor, based on Eph 4:11 above, what school does the apostle, prophet, evangelist, or teacher attend in order that they may be equipped to fulfill their roles? Evidently this lack of scholastic competence on their part increases the pastors’ profile as the only ones having the competence to officiate in spiritual matters.

 If we should however look at the original disciples/apostles we note from scripture that they were not learned yet the Lord chose them as the first apostles. We note that the Holy Spirit worked mightily through them to establish the gospel throughout the world as this was the commission given to them. The Holy Spirit is therefore more than capable of working through an individual without the need for formally attending a seminary and this should never be overlooked. The scripture says we should not quench the Spirit but this is exactly what the church has done by a displaced confidence in those who attended seminary vs those who have not. The only qualification that one needs therefore in order to operate in his/her gift is the qualification by the Holy Spirit. May the church return to this essential truth.

False Prophet Simon and the Church Today November 26, 2009

Posted by Henry in False Doctrines.
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
1 comment so far

There are many false prophets parading in the church today professing to be God’s mouth-pieces. Seemingly they have caused the church (at least those they oversee) to become mesmerized to the extent that the people are unable to discern Biblical truth from the false doctrines they promote.  This scenario however is not new to the church as this very same thing was occurring during the early days of the church. Acts chapter 8 records that there was just such a “prophet” by the name Simon who had put the people of Samaria under a spell and convinced them that he was the true prophet of God.

Acts 8

9

 But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:

10

 To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.

11

 And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.

What we see here in this passage is no different to what is currently happening in Christendom today. Jesus warned us that many false prophets shall arise and shall deceive many. The problem with “churchianity” however is that they do not exercise discernment nor do they believe that discernment should be applied in church. In fact one of the tricks used by these false prophets is to discourage the church from questioning anything they say as this is seen as attacking the “Lords anointed” and therefore challenging their “authority”. To support this position they misuse scriptures such as Psalm 105:15, which says, “Touch not the Lords anointed and do my prophets no harm.” Many people however fail to see the context in which this scripture was delivered and that it in no way related to exercising Biblical discernment. Scripture admonishes us on the contrary to, “Mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them” (Rom 16:17). In churchianity today however we have a situation where all churches and all doctrines are accepted as being relevant even where there is a blatant contradiction of scriptures. To many, our differences shouldn’t separate us but rather what we have in common should bind us. This is of course a departure away from scriptures and is termed ecumenism.

In churchianity today there are people who claim to be Christians but who also claim to equally belong to other religions at the same time. An example of this was seen in a news article about an Episcopalian female priest who claimed to be both Christian and Muslim at the same time. How can these things be one might ask. Scripture however warns us in 1 Tim 4 about this departure from the faith.

1 Tim 4

1

 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

2

 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

One of the endemic problems in churchianty today, however is that people have become convinced that such departure away from Biblical orthodoxy is actually a “new move of God” or an “end-time revival”. The “Florida Outpouring” springs to mind here as a classic example. The situation is so bad that it is as if people have literally taken leave of their senses. They have allowed themselves to become so wrapt up in deception to the extent they are not able to discern between truth and falsehood. What is certain though is that the false spirit of Simon is rife in the church today and this type of spirit is bewitching the people and blinding their eyes to the truth.

May the Lord have mercy upon us that our eyes may be opened to the truth of His word and that we will be able to exercise discernment and do not so easily become so deceived by false spirits.

The State of the Church Today October 6, 2009

Posted by Henry in Matters of the Faith.
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
add a comment

The church today, or at least I should say the visible church, seems to be characterised by false doctrines, which promotes the pursuit of wealth and prosperity over salvation by faith through the Gospel of Christ. These days people seem to be falling all over themselves in their pursuit of breakthroughs. They seem to follow every mega church conferences, conventions, miracle concerts etc in their pursuit of a “word from God” and even opportunities to sow their “seeds” in desperate hope of “receiving” blessings from God. They have ignored the teaching of Christ who said, “….but seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matt 6:33). They ignore Christ’s teachings and instead heap unto themselves teachers, having itching ears, without the ability to discern truths from falsehood. They seek to apply this incantation or that and apply seven point plans or formulae to “wrest” blessings out of God’s hands without discerning God’s sovereignty in giving His blessings to whomever He chooses to bless. In fact some even teach that we can demand blessings of God after sowing seeds or even to command angels to bring us wealth.

These false teachers have enabled the church to develop an infatuation with the world and the things of the world, teaching that God would have us be rich in direct contradiction to Christ’s teachings. Today we see career pastors, some who “divine” for money (Mic 3:11) and “sell indulgences” for profit.  In fact many of these pastors today have become like greedy dogs who can never have enough and who look to their own way for their own gain (Isa 56:11). They have infiltrated the church with many false doctrines and heresies which have caused much problems in and to the faith. Because of them many have turned away from Christianity in the mistaken belief that this is how Christians behave. Today these pastors parade on TV in front of mega audiences and are not ashamed to flaunt their thousand dollar suits, Golf Stream Jets, Rolex watches and Roll Royce cars and their congregations don’t think there is anything wrong with it. Perhaps they don’t see a problem with this because they themselves desire to one day possess these things themselves? They become so misguided into thinking that these men earned their money because they sowed and reaped or worked hard but fail to realise or accept that these men got rich off their tithes and offerings.

The church has become so brainwashed into thinking that their pastors infallible and can do no wrong or say anything wrong. As a result the church has developed a culture of being too all-inclusive and accepting of any and everyone who stands on their pulpits and declare themselves to be anointed. The church is discouraged from applying any form of discernment in light of scripture as this is seen as “judging” and so is completely forbidden. As a result anyone can declare any old hash from the pulpit and this goes unchallenged in light of scripture. Wonders never cease as to the garbage that is spewed out from the pulpits these days and the church in the main seems to be spiritually dead to it. Today there is much talk of revival but in actual fact what is observed is a growth in false doctrines, which is gaining growing followership. The church today seems to be performing a charade which purports to be revival but nothing more than religious apostasy and a falling away of the church.

In spite of all these ills however we rest in the hope that God will shine His light on those who are willing to open their eyes to the truth and come out of the growing deception. We thank God for His mercy and praise Him for His continued saving Grace that is able to keep the true church steadfast and to save those who would be saved.