Town Hall Meeting

Introduction

I will try to address things I’ve said, or taught, or decisions I’ve made that have caused some to have questions or even doubts. at least those items that have come to my attention

Afterward, if there’s time, I’d like to have a Q & A session to address very specific topics

Things I’ve said that you’d like me to clarify

Decisions I’ve made that you’d like more information on

Anything else involving my actions, choices, etc.

In other words, I will not comment on what a particular passage of scripture means, or could I explain Paul chapter 3 in light of his conversion experience, etc.

Body

Office of Pastor

As I see it, my responsibilities are as follows:

Feed the flock of God

To lead by example and to encourage God’s people to strive for Christlikeness

To train and equip God’s people for ministry

To serve and minister to God’s people and to seek at every avenue their spiritual wellbeing.

In other words, I’m here to minister to you. NOT the other way around!

To the best of my ability, my desire and my goal is to advance each of you, and everything I do, every message I preach, is with that goal in mind.

I understand that you are not my people. You’re God’s people. I am not and will not lord over God’s heritage.

Therefore before every message I take time to prepare my spirit, and to ensure that I speak nothing out of frustration, or anger, or anything I may be feeling at the moment. But to speak to God’s people in love and compassion, and that my words are always seasoned with grace.

There are times where correction and reproof are necessary, but It will not be done because I am frustrated. In those cases, I pray it’s the Spirit of God in me doing the correcting, the Spirit of God in me doing the reproving and not my carnal human spirit.

Now that you understand where I’m coming from, lets address some of these issues.

Come to me, not to others

If you have a question about anything I’ve done or said, please come to me and talk to me about it

DO NOT come to my wife. She will simply tell you to come and see me.

It’s okay to speculate as to why pastor said that, or did this, but when the conversation gets to the place where someone is saying “he shouldn’t have said that. He shouldn’t have did that. He should have said this instead.”, etc., now you’re wrong.

I WANT to talk to you about these things

Either you’ll understand why I did/said what I did/said, or

I’ll understand why I was wrong in doing so and I can correct it

You may feel free to disagree with me behind closed doors

If I discover you’re disagreement through the grapevine, I’ll need to respond differently.

Husbands having the Authority in the home

There has been concern that I’m overemphasizing the man’s authority and telling the woman “you have to submit!!”

The teaching is scriptural, not my opinion. It is possible that I’m presenting it incorrectly however

I will as often as possible try to emphasize the man’s side of the equation (you have the authority and the responsibility) rather than the woman’s side (you need to submit). Here’s why.

Our society is against men AND women, but the attacks on men are against his biblical authority and his place in the family and seeking to feminize men. It is those areas I seek to shore up.

The attack on women is in encouraging them to usurp the man’s place in the family, and in society, so we also need biblical teaching on what it means to be a christian woman.

I will always balance my teaching on authority with that of responsibility.

Man have authority ONLY BECAUSE they will stand before God and give an account for their family.

Man only has authority as they are also under authority, and they exercise that delegated authority in the fear of God.

People who complain and want to be the one in charge demonstrate their ignorance of what it means to wield authority.

And wives who continue to have a problem with this overtly biblical teaching demonstrate a lack of spiritual maturity at best, and a problem with rebellion at worst.

In conclusion, it might be the way I’m presenting the topic, but it may also be God revealing a problem area in your life that He wants to take care of.

The Frequency of Sermon Topics

Since my time here there has been a lot of overlap in sermon topics, and some have made mention of that fact

This is an absolutely true statement. I don’t believe it to be a criticism, but I do wish to comment on it.

Sometimes we get to eat meat and potatoes for supper.

Sometimes we get an Ice Cream treat.

Sometimes we get to eat leftovers.

We get leftovers because the previous meal wasn’t finished

The food is still good, it just needs to get eaten

When God speaks to us through the preacher, whoever that may be, we now have a a responsibility to do it.

This, by the way, is how I gauge the effectiveness of a sermon. Whether it’s “good” or no.

At every juncture, at every opportunity, and with every instruction, we need to place ourselves under the authority of Scripture and obey it.

Pagan Holidays

We understand that every major holiday we celebrate in the United States, even, arguably, Thanksgiving, have their roots in paganism. Christmas, New Year’s Day, Easter, Halloween, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, even birthdays and many wedding and funeral practices, they all have pagan roots. So why do we participate in them as Christians?

Principles to keep in mind

I Corinthians 9:19-22 “19 For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. 20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; 21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. 22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.”

I Corinthians 8 - We are to use our Christian liberty wisely, not offending those who are weak in conscience.

God is in the business of re purposing.

He re purposed me from my godless origins and slavery to sin and transformed me into His child and has declared me to be Holy and Righteous in His sight.

He can re purpose pagan holidays and use them as a segue to lead someone to Him.

So as for me, I will participate in these holidays with those who value them and try and use this as a starting point to lead them to Christ.

If my brother or sister participates in these holidays I will participate with them.

If my brother or sister does not participate in holidays, or if they do, I will not criticize, condemn, judge, or in any way disparage my brother or sister, but love them and seek to minister to them.

If you’re going to abstain from participating in one or more holidays or practices with pagan roots, please be consistent and abstain from participating in any holiday or event with pagan roots.

Positives

I want to end this portion by detailing some things I’ve observed during my time here

You have a proper, healthy, and spiritual view of your pastor

You don’t worship him

You don’t denigrate him

You are the most giving church I’ve ever had the privilege of being a part of

You love God and love God’s Word

You are faithful to the very end

You treat my wife and I so wonderfully and it is our great privilege and honor to be able to serve you in this capacity.

Q & A

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Conclusion