When Sarah Witt had a clash with her Pastor, she was asked to 'leave the church'. From that day onwards she swore that she would never darken the door way of a church again. She left in anger. She left with no hope of ever experiencing the liberty she possessed as a result of giving her life to Jesus Christ.Have you ever done that? If so, why? In fact that is the path of many people who start off going to church but then for some strange reason they stop going - COMPLETELY. Why is that? I'd appreciate your comments, experiences etc !!!.
Sarah Witt left the church because of the churchgoers !!! More specifically, she left because of the Pastor !
Pastor Douwgard Jones is a short, stocky man with a ridiculous toupee on his head. One Sunday afternoon whilst gritting his teeth he told Sarah that she was "Not a good fit" - he wanted her "out". In a sense he 'kicked her' out of the church.
Was he justified ??? Well read 'A Disappointing Truth' and tell me your thoughts !!!.
Was Pastor Douwgard Jones Justified or was this just hypocrisy? After all, he was a 'man of God' !!!
Find out if Sarah will ever recover from that experience. Can she forgive and let go of the bitterness and anger? Can she once again demonstrate the love of God or will pride dominate in her life?
Pastor Douwgard Jones - who is he really?
A Christian is not just a follower of Jesus Christ !!!. Instead a Christian is one who has the nature and life of God. The Christian is a New Creation, a Super Being - Christ in you, the hope of glory ! Enjoy the novel !
11 comments:
1The church is like a hospital where people come to get spiritual treatment.They cant find such treatment elsewhere.
2.Jesus said "I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail"-it is His church- he will build it.
3.Satan,the adversary, who is also a copycat, has established counterfeit churches- that represent the devil's interest at heart but outside appear glorious.Be careful- discernment is very necessary(remember that satan knows that his time is very short- he is working extra hard to deceive many and lead them to hell fire(the Lake of fire-Rev 20:11-end).)
4.Items 2 and 3 ,being true, show us that there is only 2 sides to anything ,issue or person-there is no middle ground- its either God's side or satan's side.We make these choices every day.
Every day we are planting seeds in either of these 2 fields. and every day we are reaping harvests from the same 2 fields according to the seeds we planted yesterday and before.
5.Jesus said"by this shall men know that you are my disciples..... when you love one another"-therefore no love, no Jesus, no christian.
6.The hypocrite you talk about is a two faced christian who does not know who he/she is in Christ. Someone who has joined the religious bandwagon of trying to please everybody but Jesus. If I seek to please Jesus, I do not have to measure up to any standard other than what God says in the bible.The bible says where the spirit of God is, there is liberty.Hypocricy is really absense of that liberty which Christ offers you and me. Christ is the standard (Romans 8:28-the end), therefore there is no need to be a hypocrite.
However, if people are the standard, it becomes necessary to by hypocritical in order to please them. But in so doing we are sinning because that is a form of idol worship.
So , bottomline is its about identity. Do you know who you are in Christ Jesus?If you do, there is no need for hypocricy.If you dont, hypocricy will help you to maintain your new image in people(not in Christ), but you then fall into error.
Why? Because people did not die for you. Only Jesus died for you and he and he alone deserves to be the standard.
Hi Zimtrader ! Much appreciation for your interesting comment and discussion. If i'm correct in understanding you, essentially the words hypocrite and christian don't fit in the same sentence. You are either a hypocrite or a Christian. You can't be both? Is that what you are saying?
Thanks
You are exactly right , Sarudzai.
You cannot be both.
Let me add this, that , because of this very fact,tares(weeds-hypocrites) and wheat(true christians) are allowed to grow side by side in the same field.On face value ,it is difficult to distinguish between them.
But the owner of the field is able to distinguish them and....at the end of the age-- He shall remove the tares from the good harvest at harvest time and cast the tares (hypocrites)into everlasting hell fire - everlasting damnation- there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.(please refer to Matthew 13:24-30)
It is a sobering thought .Many of us play with this serious matter ,living like hell is not real, like hell is just a myth.Hell is real.
Thanks again Zimtrader. i've really learnt alot by your helpful comments. !!!
Well... Sarah was kicked out because perhaps she dared to be different... I gree with Zimtrader's statement that a church is meant to be a hospital. Although this is what God desires it to be it is hardly so because the church now wants people to conform to a cetain image or personality ( I am afraid that the bible says that we are to conform to the likeness of Him) often the personality of the shephered of teh church 'the pastor'.... Any deviation from this is met with critscism and if it does not meet with popular demand the ostracization/ excommunication is the next thing!
Instead of letting the Word of God and His power transform and change those who are deemed to be ' inappropraite, difficult, unlovable.... we get rid of them because they 'are not working with the pastor'! Is that the nature and character of God? Get rid of those you cannot control or indoctrinate? Do the plans and purposes that God had for the church stop because the is a 'rotten apple' in the midst of the church? Did Jesus not have the traiotor with him always? Judas? Did he still not perform miracles? Was the name of the Lord not Glorified?
My call is for God to be the head of the church, to touch and change lives and for the present day shepherds to look at their Job description!!!!! It does not include firing the disagreeable menbers of the church!
"The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone of the building"
Justice , thanks for your powerful comments.I agree with your position.
Shepherds should know their job description and do according to pattern.They should also know that judgement day is coming for everyone including them-the day when they will give an account of their lives.They should know that "hiring and firing" is the job descrition of Jesus because He "will build His church".Jesus, however does not fire- people fire themselves.
Some additional comments:
-salvation is personal, between me/you and God.Its not between me/you , pastor and God. No!!
-the christian journey is a race, a marathon ,not a sprint- we need to run it with patience, and run to win- your title(apostle.pastor,pope,evangelist ,whatever- does not count- each one of us is in a personal race to win).
How do you win?When your soul finds its way to heaven, not hell.
-God is no respector of persons-In Mathematics, they say God is the constant in the equation-He changeth not.
-Given the personal nature of salvation ,the destiny of my soul is ultimately my responsibility ,not my pastor's.
-in other words , I have to accept responsibility for the plight of my own soul.
-How do I do that? Take charge!!!I search the scriptures for myself -and confirm/dispel any teaching by reference to the Word of the Master-the bible.Anything that does not conform with his word, trash it- for my own sake.Study the word of God, for my own understanding.The bible says in the book of Proverbs "in all your getting, get understanding"
Yes , the pastor did wrong.He should not have fired her.
But, to me its not what happened to her that is at stake- its her soul which is at stake- so is the pastor's soul-thats what it is all about-souls!!.
The deciever comes in to let her focus on the pastor's fault, harbor recentment and bitterness against the pastor and the church.The deciever succeeds in isolating her from fellowship with the brethren.She misses heaven. The same with the pastor, living in disobidience, buys an express ticket to hell.So the deceiver in such a case wins 2 souls to hell.
I believe that it is about souls!!!!
"the stone that the builders have rejected has become the cornerstone of the building"
-Those people that have been rejected/ostracized, a lot of times , find themselves leading successful initiatives for God, to his honor and glory.
Jesus was rejected by the Pharisees
Paul was rejected by the other Apostles initially-yet he wrote 2/3(2 thirds) of the New Testament.
Sarah Witt's case is a typical example of some of God's greatest generals in His army.
My point?- No man has the right to fire any other man from the house of God.
Wow !!! Zimtrader and Justice, both of you have definitely given me some food for thought. I was wondering how i would respond. Anyway, in the case of Sarah Witt yes, she was ostracised. However, she was ostracised in the full view of God. In other words God allowed it to happen. Why? - is the question that people always ask.
Through my limited understanding of God i beleive that God's desire is that we have a personal relationship with Him. I'm not talking about going to church every Sunday, attending every bible study and reading the bible in one year because everyone in church is doing it and living a disciplined life. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with doing that. However, the relationship i'm talking about is having God as your friend, the one you confide in, the one you trust, the one you rely on, the one you can't wait to get in a secret place where you can speak -just you and him.
For those who don't understand what i mean, consider a relationship you have had i.e boyfirend and girlfriend, husband and wife or two very good friends. That is the relationship that God wants.
Often most people in church make the mistake of thinking that the routine is the relationship. By the routine i mean the going to church every Sunday, attending every bible study and reading the bible in one year because everyone in church is doing it.
God wants MORE than the routine and if he's not getting it i'm sure that he will find a way to get MORE. In some cases it may mean allowing others to reject you so that you are left all alone. In that lonely place yes you are broken and terribly wounded but God finds a way to show up and show you that He cares and that he is the only one that is capable of loving you the way you need to be loved.
He has to get rid of everyone in your life so that He can have your full attention and if it means allowing a Pastor to kick you out of the church then so be it.
Yes it is about the souls and Jesus is the good Shepherd of the souls. However, he will send us through hell and high water en route to Heaven. ALL things work out for the good of those who love the Lord.
Read 'A Disappointing Truth' and find out what happened to both Pastor Douwgard and Sarah in the end. What happened to their souls??
I know exactly what you talking about concerning routine.
I personally have done "routine" for 99 percent of my supposedly born again life- did not know any better.Having spent a good 80-90 percent of my life a terribly bad bad bad boy, I thought if I go to church and be a "routine" type of christian that should take care of business.
Alas, after 5 years I got a rude revelation that I was scarcely saved.In fact I was not saved at all, but I was a busy body in the vineyard.Yes,salvation is personal-between you and God.
You can fool fellow christians but you cant fool God.He is your maker.And like Saru humbly put it ,and rightly so,He wants a relationship with you , not religion.
My copy of the book arrives via UPS today or tommorrow.I am gonna have a blast!!!
Zimtrader !! I sincerely hope that you enjoy it. God bless.
Post a Comment