MUCH
ASSURANCE
"I
NEED YOUR HELP, BROTHER...."
To
you warriors for Jesus Christ, a question:
Is your pastor trying to convince
you to take
responsibility for a herd of goats?
You
are a deacon, visiting the saints, and teaching a Sunday School class, but the
pastor is just convinced God wants you to help in the day school or the home schooling
program. In that program are many unsaved people or kids who show no interest
in the Gospel, but the pastor and staff bury themselves in the thing with some
vague hope of "fruit some day." They may even have a couple of people
to talk about who got saved through this program. The fact that God, in his mercy,
saved souls is NOT proof he approves of the method. Long after Samson took the
honey from the dead carcass of the lion, the Holy Spirit was still empowering
Samson to destroy Philistines. But, Samson was a law breaker and out of God's
will.
The
work of the church, and the saints, is to edify one another. The picture in the
New Testament is of saints preaching the Gospel for sure. But, once the local
church was established, Timothy, Paul, and the other Apostles give the most attention
to feeding sheep. If you are being asked to take a goat herd, and you already
have your hands full with a vocation, a family, and the small herd of sheep God
has given you, DO NOT allow a goat hugging pastor draw you into another load of
work. You will destroy your home, and the sheep will fall into second place.
When
Satan cannot get people to stay home from Wednesday evening activities, he will
inspire the pastor to drop the prayer time and do special Bible studies or Awana
programs. Anything to get the saints off of their knees. The same applies to his
strategy to destroy the joy and the health of the sheep. If he cannot destroy
sheep by convincing shepherds to teach heresy and use wrong bibles, he will convince
the pastor and the sheep teachers to run after goats-- needy goats, suffering
goats, bleating goats, goats who might get saved if we bury our lives in them.
Many a church, and many a marriage, has been destroyed as pastors virtually forced
faithful men and women into goat herding.
If
you pastor will not let you decline taking a goat herd, do one of the following:
1. Gather
the leaders and run the pastor off. He is an hireling. Or....
2.
Leave and find new fellowship.
The
sorrow of leaving, or the mess of driving off an hireling, is infinitely smaller
than the cost of getting a letter from your wife's attorney telling you she is
divorcing you, OR, being told by one of your kids that they are fed up with church
and joining the Marines. Many a teen age girl has gone to bed with a scum ball
and gotten pregnant in order to get her Daddy to show her some attention again.
Goats or sheep, friend, which will get your whole attention?
Prophecy:
I
will tell you something that is about 90% predictable. If you decline to take
the care of a herd of goats for a pastor, he will push you to the bottom of the
pile. You will feel the sting of his wrath during sermons, and he will have a
strained and pitiful look and manner toward you at church dinners. You will realize
you are destroying his peace, and you will, if you are a sucker for jack boot
preachers, feel more and more guilt.
This
pastor will make you the omega of the men of the church. Every wolf pack has an
alpha and an omega. The alpha controls the pack and set an order downline of each
wolf. The alpha male has an alpha female, and she enforces the alpha's power and
force downline also. The alpha female in this evil structure is the pastor's wife.
She may assign "ministries" to other ladies, but the alpha female will
never let go of control on behalf of her husband, the alpha wolf pastor.
Pay
attention-- There is NO New Testament pattern to justify this. There is NO indication
that some other older lady cannot be responisble for the ladies' fellowships of
the local church.
If
you refuse to manage a goat herd, you will soon find you are the omega wolf of
the pack. You will be shouldered out of what little ministry you have by other
wolves who are kissing up to the pastor, the alpha wolf. Your wife will be subjected
to belittlement as a form of punishment to you. Your kids may even be omega kids
after the pastor's kids get done with them.
The
Body of Christ is not supposed to behave like a wolf pack. Are you getting the
message? Sometimes you have to know when to walk away, and I am not talking about
the country song where you walk away from a poker game. You need to walk away
from a jack boot wolf who has NO inhibitions in destroying your mind and soul
in order to force you into his mold.
WALK!
God will honor a man who removes his family from devilish mob rule.
BLESSED
QUIETNESS IS BEST FOUND IN MUCH ASSURANCE
