Do I fight for my dying church?
March 102010
Our church is in dire straits. Our leadership has manhandled and botched every aspect of what church is. Pastor protects and turns a blind eye. Our youth is dead, our young couples have left (some divorced), our ministries are bare. Our leaders are better known for bullying than for serving. We recently had a fellowship with people who left our church and everyone is saddened but we still a family. I not only had warned pastor years back about early warning signs of this but worked to help avoid this. He paid no mind. I torn between feeling like I abandoning my church or staying and having a fighting spirit (not necessarily good) to save this churches people and get our leadership straight. Should I just go? Another thing placed in my heart was to speak to our pastors pastor regarding the goings on. Is this a way to go?
27purple, very nicely put.
Jesus said that ‘by their fruitage, you will know them". In other words, if your church is falling apart from within, it’s time to look for one that holds to biblical standards, not human ones.
March 10th, 2010 at 10:51 pm
CONTRADICTIONS IN THE BIBLE!It is mentioned in the 2nd Kings, Ch. No 24, Verse No 8, that…‘Jehoiachin was 18 years old, when he began to reign Jerusalem, and he reigned for 3 months and 10 days. 2nd Chronicles, Ch. No 36, Verse No 9, says that…‘Jehoiachin was 8 years old when he began to reign and he reigned for 3 months, 10 days. Was Jehoiachin 18 years when he began to reign, or was he 8 years old? Did he reign for 3 months, or did he reign for 3 months 10 days? Further it is mentioned in the 1st Kings, Ch. No 7, Verse No 26, that…‘In Solomon’s temple, in his molten sea, he had 2000 baths. In 2nd Chronicles, Ch. No 4, Verse No 5, he had 3000 baths. Did he have 2000 baths or did he have 3000 baths? – There is a clear-cut mathematical contradiction. Further more it is mentioned in the First Kings, Ch. No. 15, Verse No. 33, that… ‘Basha, he died in the 26th year of reign of Asa.’ And 2nd Chronicles Ch. No 16, Verse No 1, says that…‘Basha invaded Judah in the 36th years of the reign of Asa.’ How can Basha invade 10 years after his death?
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do you still wana fight for a dying church
March 10th, 2010 at 11:06 pm
you ask God to help you decide what to do. i would help these people and bring the leadership back and the ministries
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March 10th, 2010 at 11:14 pm
I would just go if I were you.
Several churches are in demise as well, in various places.
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March 10th, 2010 at 11:27 pm
You will know them by their fruit.
Pray for God’s will…. it’s a rebel call for the right thing to happen.
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March 10th, 2010 at 11:50 pm
just go to another church.
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March 11th, 2010 at 12:19 am
What dying?
Look in the real world.
Decode this lyrics " You’ll see "
"Jesus to a child"
"You only live twice"
Just being " Born again"
With all the rapture going on?
Luke 21.30-36
Luke 24.44-45,47-48
Revelation 22.13-17
What do you think?
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decoded from the missing x-files.
March 11th, 2010 at 12:59 am
No let it die in peace . In fact shoot it & put it out of it’s misery
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March 11th, 2010 at 1:29 am
the church votes to accept or reject pastors
the church should say some thing
if leaders do not follow the wishes of the congregation then the congregation has a right to remove leaders
each church has rules and procedures to remove leaders
follow those rules
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March 11th, 2010 at 2:07 am
If its in your heart go do it. Might be God. But I believe if you dont have the Holy Spirit or asked God for His Holy Spirit, you wont understand the bible anyways. Hope you guys have it. Jesus said my word is spirit, so you need the H.S. The H.S. will lead and guide you into all truth. If it doesnt beleive in that, it is probably going down.
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March 11th, 2010 at 2:19 am
Have another fellowship with the people who left the church and ask them what church they are now attending. Next time you go to church pass that information on and let people know they can meet up with their former church members there. Your pastor sounds like the devil trying to destroy the church. He is useless. Don’t waste your time. Unite everyone at the new church instead.
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March 11th, 2010 at 2:43 am
Jesus said that ‘by their fruitage, you will know them". In other words, if your church is falling apart from within, it’s time to look for one that holds to biblical standards, not human ones.
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March 11th, 2010 at 3:14 am
You need to have a church meeting. Pray before the meeting for the Holy Spirit to reveal. Perhaps the church has lost it’s first love.
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March 11th, 2010 at 3:58 am
Leave. It’s pretty clear that your church is disconnected from the will of God, even moreso than most Protestant churches.
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March 11th, 2010 at 4:34 am
The Bible gives you answer, there are procedures to follow… God put those procedures there so we would and or could do what is right … Have you spoken to the deacons ?? The Pastor ?? then the next one up ? and the next ? When all is done THEN it is your job to walk away…. If nothing changes that means there is no God in that house….. go in peace…. God bless
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March 11th, 2010 at 4:45 am
Pray for guidance and ask the Holy Spirit to be your guide.
Know that in this times there is to be a shaking in our churches and many will leave. That even our church leaders do not all have the true faith, believing in the Bible as the divinely inspired Word of God for our daily daily living. This must come to pass.
So here is my question, have you others in your church that feel as you do? How many times have you sounded/voiced warnings without anyone paying attention. Per Matthew 10: 5-15 we are told to shake off the dust from our feet if our witnessing is in vain. Then let God lead you to where you should be.
As for feeling like you abandoned your church, remember Christ cried over Jerusalem. Matt 23: 37-39 You are not alone in your struggles.
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March 11th, 2010 at 5:03 am
I empathize. I’ve been in similar situations. Several years back, the church I attended had a problem with the pastors (co-pastors), whose behavior in and out of the pulpit was causing serious problems.
I wrote them a long letter pointing out their errors and showing what it was doing to the church, and begged them to change their ways. They were incensed, and just got worse. It was very shortly after that when the church disbanded. People actually walked out on them.
It’s heartbreaking, but if the leadership is corrupt, there is no way to save the situation without replacing all of them. And depending on the organizational structure of the church, it may be impossible to remove them.
In such cases, God will usually call someone in the congregation who is not involved in the corruption, give him or her a burden for the church. This will often result in a new church starting where people can feel safe. Perhaps you are the one with this burden.
My prayers are with you.
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March 11th, 2010 at 5:33 am
This is a common problem amongst Protestant churches, and your pastors have already shown that they will not listen to you.
Go to your local Catholic church. You will find a stronger community, a closer church family, stronger youth groups, stronger ministries, priests that actually listen, and absolute Truth in Christ.
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March 11th, 2010 at 5:47 am
When leaders bully, the spirit of God no longer is with them and the congregations sees this and goes to a happier church with spirit filled members.Let your heart not be troubled and go to a better place.
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March 11th, 2010 at 6:37 am
The fault is the Pastor. He is the Shepherd which feeds and cares for the flock and if he has not provided for the Sheep, it is time for the sheep to Go where they can be care for.. The Elders or Deacons also have rights into the way your Pastor is running the Church, If they too have not seen the error of what has happened, I would say, move on as the Holy Spirit leads you but you have every right to bring this matter not only to the Pastor but to everyone who attends there. The people should be in agreement to whether this Pastor and His Leaders should stay or go..
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March 11th, 2010 at 7:05 am
I have turned your question over in my mind and I’m sorry but all I can think of is to pray for divine intervention.
As a non confrontational person myself, I’d rather not take the matter to the pastor’s boss. It’d do my nerves in.
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March 11th, 2010 at 7:36 am
Well, this is what happens when people treat the church like its nothing more than a buisness or social gathering. A Pastor or and leader should not do what he does to make money. Thats not the reason he is there. Alot of times you will also notice that these people seem to pay more attention to what people wear rather than their soul. You walk in and the first thing they do is comment on what you are wearing and whether or not they like it. What you wear is completely irrelevant. Adolf Hitler had a nice wardrobe. That doesn’t mean he was a Christian. The Bible speaks more against wearing high dollar clothes than it speaks for it.
James 2:3 And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit under my footstool:
4: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
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Bottom line is: There is simply too much hypocrisy in this world. Everyone wants to be a know it all and prove everyone else wrong, but they don’t want to live by the scriptures. They make fun of people who have trouble kicking bad habits then they pig out at the all you can eat buffet. Well, gluttony and smoking are both 1 and the same. They are both sins, they both cause cancer, and they both cause heart disease. If it wasn’t for the fear of a monopoly, there wouldn’t even be warning labels on cigarettes! Just like how there is no warning labels on certain chemicals and foods which will and have killed people. Too many people in this country think about 2 things. Money and sex. Thats it. And that doesn’t exclude people in the church. It would be best to leave. Becuase you may be 100% sincere, but the rest of them may just want to play around. If you hang around, that could drag you down. You should find yourself a better church where people care about you without a doubt. Thats important. If you go somewhere where people don’t care, you are wasting your time. And probably doing more harm to yourself, than good.
March 11th, 2010 at 8:08 am
Jesus only founded one church, giving its leaders the authority to "bind and loose" in presenting his message and promising that "the gates of hell would not prevail against it" (Matt 16:18-19).
A reasonable extrapolation is that dissidents from the original church are not authorized to start competing organizations to Jesus’ church. Their man-made organizations do not have authority to make new doctrines at variance with Jesus’ teachings, and they are not protected from the gates of hell.
Thus, when groups like the Episcopalians and Evangelical Lutherans decide to ordain practicing homosexuals as their leaders, that should be a wake-up call to anyone seeking to follow Christ to pull up stakes and rejoin the only community authorized by Jesus.
It may be that your group’s collapse is ultimately a result of the founder’s attempt to start a rival community to Jesus’ church, without the authority of Jesus. A house built on the sand will inevitably collapse.
Cheers,
Bruce
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March 11th, 2010 at 8:31 am
Look for and merge with another good church; hopefully you maintain the small congregation. After a years, reassess and if hope is really dim, then close. You are not alonee; huge megachurch succumb to the times.
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March 11th, 2010 at 9:04 am
Yes!
Do so with a humbled heart.
Pray, fast and pray some more.
We have perhaps 3000 years before His second coming, endure to the end and you will be saved, and not that alone but crowned as a true son of The One and Only True God.
"The world will like in the days of Noah, at His second coming, How many persons were saved from the flood? Will the rapture even be noticed by the natural man? We haven’t seen anything yet."
————Bobaloo9————
His strength he gave to you…………And a helper as well, do not faint!
I shall add you to my prayer list.
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