Friday, March 21, 2014

Another one bites the dust....

When I opened the latest edition of the Lincoln County News newspaper, right on the front page is an article about the Damariscotta Baptist Church voting in a woman as their pastor. This marks the first woman pastor in their long history. The news hit me right in the gut. I knew that the DBC has been sliding in a liberal direction for many years, as they long-ago dumped the KJB and yoked up with the liberal American Baptist Churches of America organization. But still, the news...really affected me. This once great church(which claims Adoniram Judson, Sr. as the very first pastor) somewhere down the line had a pastor who dropped the ball. Bible doctrine took a back seat to something else. It could have been a program of some kind, perhaps even a good program. Now...imagine your own church. If the pastor fails to instill absolute confidence in the KJB as the very Word of God, infallible and inerrant, eventually the congregation will drift. If a pastor is not feeding the sheep, the sheep will starve, and when the pastor leaves, the sheep may just bring in the wrong man (or woman) to replace him. The wrong pastor, with a congregation that has been Biblically starved, is free to drift further and further from true Bible doctrine. I say all of that to say that I am truly convicted that I must do my very best to feed the sheep with solid Bible preaching and teaching. The pulpit should never be a "doctrine free" zone. When a church body is properly fed, even if the pastor was suddenly gone, they would be equipped to stay on the right track. By the way, what does the Bible say about the qualifications for a preacher? 1Timothy_3:2 "A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach" (The terms Bishop and Elder both refer to the pastor of a church) 1 Timothy 3:4-5 "One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)" Furthermore, Titus 1:6-9 also makes it very clear that a pastor is a "he". Also, consider that all of the apostles were men. There were no female pastors in the Bible.... Notice that in the article, she never referenced the above facts: This patriarchy, still strong in some churches and denominations, does not have a basis in the Bible, which is full of strong, female leaders, Harris said. The sisters Martha and Mary were followers of Jesus Christ and active in his ministry. The merchant Lydia was an early convert to Christianity, "a woman of power and money who had a church in her house," Harris said. Priscilla was another important figure in early Christianity, a brave church leader and companion of Paul the Apostle. "When the first church was established, there were lots of women," Harris said. Christians who oppose female leadership interpret some of Paul's writings to mean women should "stay quiet and not teach or be in leadership over men," Harris said, "but that's not what Jesus did." Thus, if Jesus Christ "had women involved and leading in his ministry, then why wouldn't we do it here and now?" Harris said. "Personally, I think the spirit can move anybody," she said. "God is greater than our genders." Harris believes the trend toward acceptance of female pastors and leaders stems as much from logistics as theology. By the way, Paul's writings are actually God's writings, as it says in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." So, God's Word tells us in 1 Timothy 2:12 "But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence." Also, 1 Corinthians 11:3 tells us "But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God." The Bible is crystal clear, you must be a man to be a pastor. It is sad that such clear Bible teaching is tossed out the window with thoughts like "God is greater than our genders". God certainly is greater that our genders, but God will NEVER go against His Word. Thoughts that women can be pastors or preachers only come when one does not know or does not care what the Bible truly has to say. We have a perfect Bible and it is our sole authority. Think Biblically. Live Biblically. Men, preach Biblically.

Browns to Montana