Heloo Granny, Are there any men in your group that can rightly divide the Bible well enough to lead or maybe the men take turns?
Oh, You are one gutsy woman and I've always admired your stand on the King James Bible.
Take care of yourself, Hugh
Pastorless Church
Discussion in 'Fundamental Baptist Forum' started by GrannyGumbo, Apr 25, 2007.
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Hiya KJVO! It's great to see you! It's easy for me to stand on the only Bible I've ever known - my "straight stick", praise God.
Yes, my husband and the other man do rotate with devotionals and the 2 young men quote their memorized verses and bring us music that they taught themselves on the piano and guitar. We meet at our regular times and also on the street as we can. -
Hey howdy Granny, Perhaps and I hope you remember me. I am praying for you folks, I met you years ago (4-5 maybe). I always appreciated your stand here on the board and I will never forget you all.
Bartimaeus -
Hiya bro Bart - of course I remember ya! It would seem you may understand our situation a tad better than most... We are the offscouring now, at least some of us are. Our (former) pastor and daughter are still with the group in Indiana and there is a new man on the block, but because we wouldn't do what "they" wanted ... we are being shunned, mocked, and out-right lied about. Yet we'd rather obey God than man. Give our howdys to the family.
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It's too bad we can't handle things like we did in the old days... A can of gas and match! No more tongue babbling idiots.
sounds harsh, but that's what they did in Tenn back in 1906 when them weirdo's were getting off the ground.
One of the Downsides of our Religious Freedoms... Kooks!
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Granny,
Sorry to hear about the troubles with your pastor.
I've never heard of Oneness Doctrine.
ex-fundy, I like the icon. -
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Thank-you, Gayla. We'd never heard of it either before our son got messed up - then I learned everything I could...as a matter of fact, that's when I decided to get on a computer for the very first time. In the early years of the BB, there was a poster here called Oneness. I gleaned much from those like broDHK and Lorelei who tried to help him. There was also another girl (susan) who was married to one. I've often wondered how things turned out for her.
I'm sorry for your pain, Ex-Fundy. I see the bitterness in my son from the damage caused by them - but he's too weak to come out...please pray for him if you can that he will be strong. His mind is shot and his health is failing. When his sister finally rejected him last year (due to the influence of another), it devastated him, as they were very close - almost like twins. -
Uhmmm... Yes, I am, it was documented as well.
I never said I was in favor or would do such thing myself.
I mean, it has crossed my mind, But there was one little monkey wrench in the whole plan... common sense! :laugh: You know, Jail stinks, Prison clothes are so unfashonable.... :tonofbricks:
I think you get my drift.
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The Old Fashioned Way
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The Old Fashioned Way
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Hello Granny! Sorry to hear of everything you and your family are going through. Praying for you all here.
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Hiya PamK - your prayers are very much appreciated. Good seeing ya again!
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People often ask why we bother to listen to the programs of those whom have hurt us... well, why do some folks slow down or stop to look at a horrible auto-wreck? Curiosity? They say curiosity killed the cat, but I've always found that satisfaction brought it back. I listen to them so that I may keep up with what the enemy is about.. Also, I listen to hear news of my daughter and her husband. That is the only contact I have now.
Last night on the broadcast, it was said that one needs not be baptized to be a member of the Lord's church. I've been taught differently..and do not believe in a universal church. We raised our children ABA and it was required to be a scripturally baptized believer to become a member of the local NT church.
So, according to this man, we cannot be a church without a pastor (he says we don't even exist) and tho' we never voted on him (he says there's no such thing), that he was a member of our assembly and Allen is his pastor (yet he's living in PA at the moment and this man is in TN). If there's an inkling of truth in his words, please show me, help me to understand. We are trying to do what is right - yes, it would be better if my husband would get on here, but he won't and has given me his blessing to do so. I print out and pass along everything to the others.
What is your definition of a church, and what are the requirements to belong. -
Of course I believe in the universal church.. so you may not want to take what I say.... but....
I believe a local NT church is an organized body of believers that meet reguarly to worship God, and believe in the 2 ordinances (Baptism and communion) That is the simplest definition I have.
If you all are doing this, you all are a church.
The next part is the next step... 2 scriptural offices... Pastor and Deacon
But in a small church, deacons may or may not be needed... The office of a deacon was only established after the church at Jerusalem began to grow... 3000 one day, 5000 another day, and that was just men! probably 15,000-20,000 when you include women and children!
And then they only chose 7 men!
In short, If your assembly is a constituted group of believers following the reasons a church exists... Worship, fellowship, discipleship, soul winning, and serving others.. while scripturally baptizing, and reguarly serving communion, you are a church. -
Are there any Bible colleges or seminaries resonably nearby?You might ask if one of thier more senior students could help on an interum basis.Another shot is you might advertise in the Sword for a bi-voc pastor..
In the meantime it does sound like you are functioning as a church.My prayers are with you.:godisgood: -
Thank-you for your prayers, Plain O Bill... nope, nothing nearby, nor could we afford to pay anyone. Our pastor never took a dime, tho' we did/do tithe - but used the offerings to help missionaries, other preachers, and our street-minisitry as needed. That bit of monies stayed with him when we withdrew, which is okay.
Folks around here do recognize us as a church - many know of our situation and are praying also. We invite folks, have placed articles from time to time in our local paper and still go on the streets, so we are not sitting idle.
There is an ABA seminary over on the other side of the state that possibly could send 'preacher boys', but we really didn't want to revert back, as they were getting very close to resembling the SBC when we left a few years ago. -
You might think about students from Luisianna Baptist University.How far are they from you. I imagine if you guys came up with gas money and a home made lunch you might be in luck.:godisgood:
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Sounds like a good time to set yourself apart from the average church and think outside the normal expectation of what church is. Don't do things the same as you are used to doing them, be different. Set yourself apart in your ministry, don't sing, pray, sing, offering and preach. Mix it up. Last week we preached right out of the box just to keep things from turning into a ritualistic worship experience. Just because you have never done it that way before does not mean that it is bad or wrong.
Remember, if the wheel had never changed and developed into something different than what it was when it was created, then we would not have had much of the innovation that we see today. Besides, can you imagine the trouble changing a flat stone instead of a flat tire? :laugh: -
Granny, I've been away for a week on a work project and just got back. Thanks for your reply. I want to answer without nitpicking, gossip or otherwise to keep this out of the category that others ply in. First of all, your concept of the Church is correct. It is scriptural. Others here differ with me and you and that's ok. I would not break fellowship with them since they want to be wrong (ha ha). Secondly, and specifically, did your congregation have the authority (recognition) from another scriptural church when you started? If you did and the whole congregation withdrew from the pastor, I'd say you still have that scriptural ability to operate as a church. If the sending church recognizes the pastor then you have another issue. You will need to re-constitute the church under another sending church.
This subject has been dealt with with our friends on a few occasions before, several years ago to no avail. As I see it and it might be wrong, if you don't bring one in under any authority then you can't remove one with any authority and that's the way churches operate who have no covenant fellowship or for the lack of a better word "membership". Just showing up and "joining" by constant attendance and participation is not scriptural. You can do that at Wal-Mart.
Thanks Bartimaeus
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