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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | The Ministry of the "Walking Wounded" | 1 Tim 4:6 | Makarios | 35052 | ||
Are there many pastors (or ex-pastors) on this Forum who have been "wounded" by their congregation or District Superintendent or overseeing board of directors for "political reasons" and have been forced out from fulfilling their calling as pastors? If so, how is the church to minister to a pastor and his family who is among the 'walking wounded'? Are there places for pastors and their families (who have been burnt before in the past) to fulfill their calling? |
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2 | The Ministry of the "Walking Wounded" | 1 Tim 4:6 | Robert Nicholson | 35081 | ||
Dear brother Markarios: I hardly know where to start. My heart goes out to those who have been good soldiers of Jesus Christ and yet find themselves in a situation which seems impossible to overcome. There is no greater hurt than one that is caused by spiritual family members whom we love. I list myself with the "walking wounded" and I am thankful for fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ on this forum. When things are going well it is easy to discuss Paul and his needs, and how he entreated God to remove his thorn in the flesh. God simply gave him this answer, "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." 2 Cor. 12:9 We get a sense of Paul's frustration in 2 Tim. 4. In v. 6 he speaks of his own death by martyrdom and of his departure to be with Christ. The "voice" of his last instructions show us his love for those he will be living and his faithfulness and love to Christ. "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Phil. 1:21 In these last days "the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." 2 Tim. 4:3-4 The Lord has been wonderful to me over my life and in retrospect I see his hand in it. At times it is not pleasant to be chastened of him and yet in going through the process we know that he loves us more than we will ever know. During the early years of my life as a member with the Plymouth brethren, the Lord by his grace used us (my wife and I) along with others in establishing a Sunday School and a gospel outreach in a rural area. During those days we experience much blessing from God and souls were brought to a saving knowledge of Christ. As the numbers grew we were exercised in forming a church after the pattern of the New Testament. This pattern consisted of those who were saved and baptized and expressed a desire to be gathered to the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ alone. The Lord blessed us and gave us strength as the small group as workers together built a nice sized hall. We had been meeting in an older hall which did not have facilities and could not be upgraded. The physical building grew and spiritual growth and gift could be seen among the Lord's people. For 15 years we had our ups and downs, but were generally settled in the Lord. Since we did not have a full time pastor, there were those who functioned as overseers to feed, lead and protect the flock of God. This was no small responsiblity, but we did it with joy knowing we serve the best of masters. About 12 years ago, the group divided and some polarized around a person from among us who thought himself to be somewhat of a prophet. The problem was he was causing a split among the people with his brand of doctrine and his prophetic insight. In an attempt to save ourselves, I along with a few others attempted to stop the problem and to bring unity among the Lord's people. In short, the church was divided, many left, one committed suicide and the person in the wrong seemed to still have the dominant influeance. Personally, this took a toll on me and my wife and as time went by at the advice of my doctor I had to withdraw from the church. To withdraw from something which had become a part of you for so many years was equivalent to a living death. Over the past 12 years I have tried to make sense of it all. I even tried to live afar off from the Lord and yet I found no peace or true happiness. I have (not unlike others) suffered major health problems and financial loss. Due to my health I retired early from teaching and opened a business which I thought would help my family. Due to problems with this we lost almost everything we owned. During the past year after shutting the business down I have tried to get closer to God and I have experience forgiveness and have a peace which I cannot explain. I have had the priviledge to give myself to a study of the scriptures and at this point we are looking for direction in our life which would bring glory and honor to Christ. It is my desire that in this last phase of my life that God could still use me and that I might continue to experience the joy of his salvation until he comes. By writing this, it is not my intention to ask for sympathy or am I bitter toward God's people. I would like to simply give the readers a little insight that leaders must go through in order to maintain a testimony for the Lord. I know that God is able and yet at times we wonder why we must travel down these side tracks of life. I would however, covet your prayers for my family and I. I am so thankful that I am kept my his power. In Christ Robert |
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3 | The Ministry of the "Walking Wounded" | 1 Tim 4:6 | Makarios | 35098 | ||
Thank you so much for your heartfelt testimony, my friend! We will certainly have to keep you and your family in our prayers, and we pray that the wounds of the past would be healed. I could tell you some stories! About how a church that my father was a pastor of refused to even pay him his salary until the District Superintendent pressured the church into paying him. About how we went on vacation for a week, only to return and find that somebody had stayed at the parsonage (our house) while we were away. About how another church would summon a former pastor to do weddings, funerals, etc, while my father was the current pastor. And more often than not, a congregation has sought to vote him out and give him his 'walking papers', since he decided to preach the Word rather than to make them all feel good and to massage them to sleep without rocking the boat.. :-) But has the church really lost sight of what a shepherd is really supposed to be? What can the church as a whole do to support or to help pastors who have been manipulated out of their parishes simply because they became 'unpopular' with the crowd for the wrong reasons? Have Christians lost all sense of responsibility and respect, since the pastor is there to take the congregation to the 'next step', rather than to play "chaplain"? The problem in my denomination/church is that they need to forget the fact that they are Mennonites, and to remember the fact that they are Christians. We cannot idolize society, even the society that we have created in order to try to get away from society as a whole (like the Mennonites), and the majority is not always right! So, I would go on record as saying that politics should not play any part or be present at all in the church at ANY level, since God does not show favoritism to anyone. We've already seen what politics can do to our Bibles (for example: the TNIV), and we surely do not need it to invade our churches any further. The church and its affairs should not be a "business" by any means, and we should not lose sight of how the Lord became angry and drove out all of the "profit seekers" when He cleared the Temple. What the Lord did then was not only for just that moment, but He was making a statement- that the church should not be influenced by capitalism or power or control, but should only be influenced by Him, and Him alone! I believe that many present day churches and denominations have sorely lost their sight of Christ, and that is seen largely by the decisions that are made, and by the hurts that have been inflicted on the local level. But not all of the "walking wounded" have been successful in starting up non-denominational churches of their own, and my heart goes out to those who truly feel that they have been dealt a serious blow by the powers of Satan. However, I have seen a great many of those who have lost parishes not lose hope, and many of these have gone on to be successful missionaries.. Just my thoughts! Blessings to you, Makarios |
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4 | The Ministry of the "Walking Wounded" | 1 Tim 4:6 | suzyq | 35168 | ||
AMEN! | ||||||