Pastoring

Unhealthy Christians

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I observed church for a long time and one thing I can tell you God does not require healthy pastors and certainly not healthy congregations.

For instance, if we all had healthy congregations as pastors, we could retire and go down to Florida and sip iced tea to the sound of ocean waves.

Jesus said, “the sick need a doctor.” In these days you would think people could relate easily to what Jesus said in these days of plague, war and corrupt politicians. Those who are sick need to visit their primary care physician.

The application of what Jesus was teaching is clear. Spiritually sick people people who are sinners need the mercy and forgiveness of God to heal them in their souls. When Jesus died on the cross the apostle’s taught that “by his wounds we were healed.”

It’s a myth made up by the Babylonian religious salesman of our day when you hear about healthy churches and healthy pastors this refers to the financial solvency of the church and that the people are under the mode of moral therapeutic deism calling them to self improvement with motivational speaking.

We are all sinners saved by grace. Only the Word of Christ can help the people. This must include the eternal responsibility of the preacher to proclaim God’s word.

Stephen Gibney (c) 2022

PREACHING WITH NO FAN BASE

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Chicago White Sox v Baltimore Orioles“Then your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:4)

The good news for Baltimore is the Orioles crushed the Chicago White Sox 8 to 2. The bad news is due to the riots in Baltimore no one could come to the game. The game was rescheduled from a night to a day game because there was a 10pm curfew and no fans were allowed in the ballpark.

It was odd.

Only media people and a few scouts came and that was it. You could hear the players yell for a pop fly, the loud smack of the ball in the catcher’s mitt, the crack of the bat and the clicking of cameras taking pictures. All that was dulled by the sound of people was so vibrant. It was like apocalyptic baseball game and the two teams were the only survivors on earth so they decided to play. They played hard-it was a regulation game. The game was real with or without the fans despite the few people who peeked in through gates and looked on from hotel balconies. The game had to go on with or without them. It still counted.

Lately, there are some preachers who have had to preach and pray alone. You were a Pastor or Evangelist andopen-bible-empty-pews ministered for many years but it seems things have so changed you may feel like you are unnecessary and outdated. You know you must preach God’s Word without compromise and this earned you the left foot of fellowship.

Maybe you are just aging and your church or denomination replaced you with some one younger.

The church split caused you to have to have to close your church and sell your building.

Maybe you were debilitated by sickness or physical weakness and you had to leave your ministry only to find you were thoughtlessly replaced.

It could be you sinned and God in his mercy chastised you but now that you have recovered people don’t trust you.

It is even hard for you to attend church because it serves as a reminder of what you used to do and how much you loved it.

Although you feel depressed, anxious or even useless you but God’s gifts and callings are never taken away and your heart longs to preach and pray and minister to others (Rom 11:29). You love Christ and his Word.

You are not invited very often to preach so you witness to people wherever you go or the opportunity arises. Sometimes you preach around the house when no one is home. You pray and seek God alone only with his eyes upon you and no one sees. There are no pastor appreciation days for you. You have no fans and your life seems like an empty stadium. While there are men of God who still preach the Word who are active in pulpit ministry you get my meaning.

The game of life is still real. Your life still counts. What you still do is during “regulation” time and things still affect your average. Everything you do still counts in the standings of life. It does not matter how people see you. The devil has tried to put a gag order on real men of God but they cannot be stopped.

Paul was rejected by other preachers and churches. The fake apostles were handsome and eloquent. They tried to discredit him by making fun of his appearance and speaking ability. He writes, “For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible….I do not think I am in the least inferior to those “super-apostles.” I may indeed be untrained as a speaker, but I do have knowledge. ” (2 Cor 10:10; 11:5-6). 

He also said, “To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.” (1 Cor 4:11-13NIV).

Yet, Paul still knew he was in the game-that what he did mattered. He knew that his call was real. The Christ he preached was still Lord of his life. His preaching still had eternal consequences.

In reality the stadium of your life is full! You are “surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith” (Heb. 12:1NLT). Men like Abel, Abraham, Job, David, Stephen, Paul and Peter have field seats to encourage you on! They shout as you defeat another enemy, resist a temptation and win another soul to Jesus. But best of all there sits JESUS and how he loves you! He is there smiling while other ignore or scowl at you. He makes it clear that you don’t need a fan base to preach-you are living, “not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.” (1 Thess 2:4).

Keep in the game dear brethren. The seasons may change, be prepared! Sharpen the axe of your skills (Eccl 10:10). Keep preaching, studying, singing and worshiping. You are vital to blessing God’s people and are a force to be reckoned with and you will find a fan base is not necessary.

Jesus is the Author and Finisher of your faith! You keep your eyes on him, for he is your most precious prize! 

©2015 Rev. Stephen S. Gibney, give credit where credit is due.

THE WAREHOUSE OF PRAISE

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warehouse

If someone asks, “What are these wounds on your body?’ they will answer, “The wounds I was given at the house of my friends.” (Zech. 13:6).

We had to reluctantly sell the church building in Pennsylvania. I had a lot of memories there. Then my Dad died, less than a year after we lost my wife’s Mom. I met with the State District that year and after being licensed they offered me a full time position in a church located in the southern area of that State. They felt because of my enthusiasm and evangelistic spirit it would be a fit for me. I was glad for the opportunity. I started pastoring there in May of 1995. There was only one slight problem. Previously, the church had huge financial problems. Those problems ended up in a mortgage of hundreds of dollars a month. Unless a miracle took place it would have been a set up for failure. Every Sunday we traveled over an hour from our home and were committed to moving to the area and placed a down payment on a home within a few months.

I knew that we were in some sort of trouble when looking through the church file cabinets (that the secretary who eventually resigned kept under lock and key) I found newspaper clippings that were reports before I arrived on the churches unpopular decision to build a steel instead of wood structure. The church at that time was called the Cathedral of Praise. When the church was finally built it resembled a warehouse more than a traditional church structure. The people of that area were livid and I found clippings of cartoons that called the church, “The Warehouse of Praise.” Yes, there were cartoons of the church that I was pastoring! I realized at that moment that the district leadership was trying any kind of damage control and now, I was unknowingly part of their duplicitous plan.

Many of the people who were in leadership on the church board were lukewarm at best. People who had been in that church a while almost had an inbred manner about them awkward, rude and unpredictable. When I was calling for all hands on deck they were insulted. We lost some of those elders within a few months with limping excuses. They might as well told me their dog ate their Bible. This all began when I asked if some of these supposed elders wanted to lead in prayer in church and they did not want to at all. They were still spiritual infants! All of the board members instrumental in voting us in, slowly left, because they did not want to take their commitment to Christ up a notch. But we gained good people in their place that wanted to serve God and be involved. Some of those same people who told me that they voted against me being the Pastor said they regretted doing it once they got to know my ministry. During that time we painted and repaired the building and replaced the landscaping. It looked great.

I knew I needed help so I asked my long time friend John DiGiorgio to come and help me. He was helping me in the preaching and taught the adult Sunday school class. I would be in my office and I would hear many times the entire class worshiping the Lord. They would come out visibly affected and would bring a wonderful spirit of worship into that place. I was glad he was there.

John was filling in for me one Sunday preaching with bad sciatica. He came with a cane and was in a great deal of pain. As he began to preach the pain left and he could move easily. He said once he was done the pain returned and he walked out with the cane. That was the way things happened and I cannot explain it.

A woman was being abused by her husband. She was a new believer. He came towards her and she said, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.” She said her husband’s body went limp and he lost all his strength. God restored that marriage not long after that.

The best thing that happened in the short time we were there was when we hosted Easter services. Todd and Kirstie visited us on our Good Friday service. Bill and Charlotte, members of our church, had been witnessing to them. At that point Kirstie did not even believe in the deity of Christ. That night we had people speak on the seven sayings from the cross and write on papers something they were surrendering to the Lord and then nail them to a wooden cross. It was at that moment I believe she and Todd came to faith. Todd had been around church but this was the first time he ever made a real confession of faith. They hung out with everyone for the weekend and we all shared Easter dinner-God brought us all together. I miss those times.

Not long after my brother Mike visited and preached and people including Todd and Kirstie were baptized in the Holy Spirit. Todd was impressed with the drum playing. He learned to play drums and became involved in worship ministry after we left. In fact, he stayed at the church they said they said they were going to close. Kirstie was deeply impressed by the worship time with my sister in law Kim. She felt impressed that she should become involved in worship ministry. The only problem was Kirstie suffered for many years with acid-reflux disease. She was a trained singer until this affliction came upon her and she was slowly losing her ability to speak. God miraculously healed her. Both of them are serving the Lord to this day and even served as successful youth pastors for a time.

But pastoring there would not last long for us. During that time I reached out to my presbyters and elders and they did not want anything to do with the situation or did not know how to advise me. I wrote letters to the District and begged for their help and counsel. They did nothing except for arranging a clandestine meeting with a Pastor five miles up the road organizing the sale of our property. Despite all we did it went ignored. We did all we could. The church was starting to grow. We even rented the church on Saturdays to a group three times the size of our church to make up for the deficit in the mortgage.

The superintendent at that time came and met with me and said they would have to sell the property. He was actually taken back when I said, “You can do what you want with this property, it is the people I care about.” I asked them to place the church in a storefront, or even let us pay for the rental of a hall but they refused. Finally, the District Secretary came and announced that they were “closing down” the church. The people cried a lot. I was heartbroken. It was over. By a miracle we got the down payment for our home back. But after this, I no longer saw my denominational leaders as men who cared for souls, or spiritual fathers who cared for me as a son in the faith, but more like publicans of a religious machine that cared only for buildings, real estate and tithe payers. I went home and licked my wounds for a while, but God had a different plan for me.

But for love of those people, I would have done it all again.

 ©2015 Rev. Stephen S. Gibney, give credit where credit is due