Thursday, August 30, 2018

CARNAL METHODS

I have again found a youtube video that says what I want to say probably better than I could.  I don't agree 100% with anyone whose youtube videos I find and listen to and post, but there is a gem in so many of them that I continue to listen.  Here is a gem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f6iVWVqugc

What do you think?

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

YOU'RE JUST NOT A GOOD FIT ANYMORE

This is just an old saw, folks.  An excuse.  A cliché.  It has become popular now that when someone in charge is ready to ditch an employee...or a pastor...they tell them, "You're just not a good fit anymore."  You can probably already tell this riles me a bit.

In the case of pastors, I have to wonder...at what point did he start to "not fit?"  I've had shoes before that didn't fit, but they didn't fit to begin with and I should have never bought them.  Don't ask me why I did.  I guess I liked the way they looked so much I thought I could live with them.  I didn't think they would rub my heels or crush my toes that much.

Or maybe the shoe doesn't fit because I gained weight?  Or lost weight?  If the shoe started to "not fit" after I bought them and wore them for awhile when they actually did fit to begin with, the fault could very well lie with me.

So...what happens when a pastor that's been in his pulpit for years all of a sudden "doesn't fit anymore?"

Did the congregation start complaining about him?  No.  Was he caught in an illicit affair?  No.  Was he embezzling funds?  No.  Had he forgotten how to preach?  No.  Was his wife a problem?  No.  Were his children a problem?  No.  Maybe the leadership changed and had a close friend they wanted to pastor the church.  Maybe the leadership decided to steer the church in a different direction and the current pastor doesn't want to captain a ship that's making what he considers a wrong turn (or is unstable.)

Maybe the church has heard about things that other churches in other places are doing to entice visitors, things that maybe aren't quite square with how the Bible says we should be conducting church and the pastor has pointed this out.  Maybe there are some new, hip goings-on in those other churches that might be fun or different to do at this church and the pastor points out that they are not quite in line with the Bible.  Maybe these things don't square with the denominational tenets.

In that case, "Pastor Fuddy-Duddy, you aren't a good fit anymore."  The pastor then has to wonder what happened because the leadership didn't give him any other reason for giving him the boot.  It's just that he's "not a good fit anymore."

Well, folks, this doesn't set well with me.  A person shouldn't just be sent packing.  Everyone deserves to know the reason he's no longer wanted in his job.  I abhor it when people are mistreated.  If the pastor has done something illegal or immoral, that's one thing, but when he's done nothing and you blindside him with not fitting anymore, you should be ashamed of yourself.

Climbing down from my soapbox now.  My shoes are hurting my feet.