Starting a new church?

Anyone who has been following me, either here on this blog or in the flesh can tell you in no uncertain terms, that I am (justifiably) sick, tired and disgusted by almost every single church/denomination in existence.

Why could I possibly be sick, tired and disgusted?  Let's start with false teachings, fleecing, poor teachings, poor understandings, altar calls & false tongue speaking, just as an example.

For years I've been told over and over again to start my own church, but as with all things, if I don't feel lead to do something by God, I'm not doing it.  For proof of that, I still have not released my book yet.

So with that said, I'm putting together this blog post in an attempt to help you decide whether or not a church that I would set up, would be more in line with what YOU believe to be TRUE and not what some wayward soul, who only wants your money would set up.

Please take a moment and ponder these statements:

Pastoral Self Importance - STOP IT!

As a Discipleship Minister, I'm often placed in a position where I need to reach out to local churches, in order to help create a smooth transition from my care as a Shepherd, over to a long-term Shepherd.  At any given time, I have between 5 and 25 people from around the world who seek out my guidance on discipleship.  Once I get people to a certain point, I encourage them to find a local church to get additional fellowship.

To date, I've had ZERO PERCENT SUCCESS at accomplishing what should be a ridiculously simple task...

WHY?
Good question!

Pastoral Position Wanted:

About 2 years ago, I heard the Shofar "blow the call", that God wanted me to serve Him as a Pastor.

For the past 2 years, I have (from time to time) explored different opportunities and listened to the experiences of some of my Pastoral acquaintances.

What you and I might think would be the requirements of a Pastor, don't really seem to blend too well with the people who are looking for the Pastors.  

Allow me to give you an example of what they want:

Wanted: Married man with excellent people skills, needs to oversee, plan, manage and otherwise be responsible for everything, up to and including wedding services, corporate prayer, outreach ministry, hospital ministry, street teams, funerals, and bingo on Sunday.

Applicant must have a minimum of 7 years experience in all the required areas and be willing to relocate without any promise of being hired.

Now if that doesn't sound daunting enough, here's what they don't tell you:

Applicant must be willing to be ruled by a board of directors, who will guide the Pastors every move, every thought and every breath.  Adherence to board mandates will outweigh all other responsibilities, including self, family, congregation, the Bible and any other communication from God Himself.  Inability to do what the board says will result in your immediate dismissal.

Now i'll agree that the example above is a SLIGHT exaggeration, but this problem (from what I've gathered so far) appears to be chronic!

You know, the Bible is full of "models".  A model is an example of either a foreshadowing or simply something that God uses to remind us that "He's done this before".  In case you didn't know it, JESUS is a Pastor.  Granted, the ULTIMATE Pastor, but He's still a Pastor.

Think about it... The word "Pastor" comes from the Latin word for "Shepherd".  What does a Shepherd do?  Usually, they tend to sheep.  Jesus tells us Himself that He's a Shepherd:

John 10:14 - I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.

So let's see if what "they" want is Biblical...  Would you tell Jesus to ignore His own words?  Would you tell Jesus "what to do" and "how to do it"?  In John 10:27, Jesus goes on to say, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me."  Sheep are to follow the Pastor, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND.

I've heard countless stories about Pastors who are trying their hardest to maintain "gainful employment", while at the hands of these wolves.  The sad part, is those Pastors should be placing all of their faith and trust in God alone and leave those churches behind to let God deal with them directly.  By staying there, they perpetuate the problem and continue to show other churches how they too can exert control over their Pastors.

In my forthcoming book, "But is it Biblical?", I have an entire chapter devoted to this topic called, "What's a Pastor For?".  It's the one area of the book that I actually took the time and performed a real "study" about not only what your average Christian thinks a Pastor is for, but what other Pastors think that a Pastor is for.  Episode 26 of our Discipleship series does a good job of discussing many of the issues associated with this topic.

As for me looking for a Pastoral position, it's true, I'm still looking.  I feel overwhelmingly called to work with a church to help develop a REAL Discipleship curriculum.  None of the Sunday school drivel where you learn about how "Noah brought 2 of every animal onto the ark and Jesus loves you."  Of course the first isn't true and while the 2nd is, it's also just 1/1,000th of the story.

Everything you could possibly want to know about what I believe and why is available for all to read both here in my blog and on our website at http://www.butisitbiblical.com.

I know there's a group of Christians out there right now who are looking for me.  Know this, I'm looking for you too.  I don't know where in the world you are, but I have 100% faith in God and I know that we'll find each other.