Pastors, Please Quit Doing This

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.

EmilyNats

Senior Member
Jul 28, 2016
1,374
205
63
#21
I am..... shocked, that you openly confessed such a thing as if it were nothing. The true standards of righteousness are way higher than that.
Respectfully, the bible does not say anything against games, alcohol, or cigars. And in fact, Jesus himself was a regular wine consumer.
 

Aaron56

Well-known member
Jul 12, 2021
2,841
1,635
113
#22
Hello A. Blissings always in Jesus Yeshua. In the spirit of your post, it is my desire that all who have received the Holy Spirit will come to the realization that what they learn afterward from the Word they actually already knew.
Our beloved Father is completing His work begun in each of us, making each of us holy and perfect. No we see no one other than our Savior so, however it will be accomplished on His day. Keeping the faith is more than enough for each of us.. It is the good works given us by our Father.
Amen! It is the the experience of reading a passage for the 10th time only to have it resonate for the first time in our innermost being. As the Spirit searches the deep things of God they are revealed to us in His timing. Before, we were not ready to hear it and could not receive it. But when He arises in us in His timing, the ground He reveals becomes ours to possess and cultivate. It's how we move from glory to glory in Him.
 

Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
25,470
13,783
113
#23
Maybe that is because many of the men in the family are not men of God? Maybe because many of the men of the family do not take serious their role as the Spiritual Leader of the family? Maybe because many of the men of the family just are not SERVING GOD?
It's easy (and, I suppose, reasonable) to make that assessment from the outside. I was on the "inside"; and had been attending that church for several years. I'd say it was above average in terms of the spiritual calibre of the men.
 

Edify

Well-known member
Jan 27, 2021
1,559
656
113
#24
Respectfully, the bible does not say anything against games, alcohol, or cigars. And in fact, Jesus himself was a regular wine consumer.
Tequila is way up the ladder from "strong drink"
The standards of righteousness proclaimed in the Bible are much higher than that. Those who believe themselves "higher" than others in maturity need their lives re-examined when they live one way & talk another. :(
 

Edify

Well-known member
Jan 27, 2021
1,559
656
113
#25
From https://www.alcoholrehabguide.org/alcohol/types/
Tequila is a type of liquor. The main ingredient of tequila is the Mexican agave plant. The alcohol concentration of tequila is typically about 40% ABV. That makes it 80 proof, & classifies it with wiskey & vodka.
One wonders about the spiritual life of a man who drinks tequila & smokes cigars & has no convictions about it.
 

Aaron56

Well-known member
Jul 12, 2021
2,841
1,635
113
#26
One wonders about the spiritual life of a man who drinks tequila & smokes cigars & has no convictions about it.
You don't have to wonder. I'm right here. You can ask. ;)
 

Edify

Well-known member
Jan 27, 2021
1,559
656
113
#27
The house of God HAS NEVER BEEN A BUILDING. We are the living stones, built into a dwelling place for the Lord by the Holy Spirit. Do you think just knowing this will end our addiction to institutional religion? NO. We have to practice this. We go knowing that where the saints are, the Lord is there with them, that we consecrate a place by our presence not by our pews and stained glass. We are to live in the presence of God, not in a form of it without influence or power. Not in a manner handed down by the Romans and certainly not in a way that emulates the Mosaic priesthood ("You hear from God for us and tell us what He says").
Please correct me if I'm wrong.... You don't go to church at all?
 

Edify

Well-known member
Jan 27, 2021
1,559
656
113
#28
Ummm.... you told me to ask. You made your statement, then told me I could ask, & now nothing?
 

Aaron56

Well-known member
Jul 12, 2021
2,841
1,635
113
#29
Please correct me if I'm wrong.... You don't go to church at all?
Correct. But neither do you. "Church", ecclesia in the Greek, literally means "the called out". It's derived of two words: ek which means "out of" and kaleo which means "to call" When they are combined like in ecclesia they become "the called out".

I wonder, who taught you that a building was a "church"?

Secondarily, I meet with the church quite often; sometimes in each others' homes sometimes in a rented building if a larger space is needed. If we have many international saints joining us we'll meet over Zoom. The Word is preached, the lame are healed, the blind are seeing, demins are being cast out, and Muslims are abandoning Islam and coming into the kingdom of the Living God.
 

Edify

Well-known member
Jan 27, 2021
1,559
656
113
#30
I wonder, who taught you that a building was a "church"?
Nobody. The early church met in houses.

Question #2 People who keep tequila in their house usually have other drinks as well. What else do you drink at home?
 

Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
25,470
13,783
113
#31
Nobody. The early church met in houses.

Question #2 People who keep tequila in their house usually have other drinks as well. What else do you drink at home?
With respect, the use of alcohol (even tequila) is a 'Romans 14' issue, a matter of conscience, not a matter of a clear prohibition. For some people, having even a little alcohol is problematic. For others, drinking in moderation is not. It is certainly possible to make a biblical case that alcohol is potentially problematic or that excessive consumption is proscribed, but not that total abstinence is required or even recommended for all Christians.

Please... let it go. :)
 

Aaron56

Well-known member
Jul 12, 2021
2,841
1,635
113
#32
Nobody. The early church met in houses.

Question #2 People who keep tequila in their house usually have other drinks as well. What else do you drink at home?
You asked "You don't go to church at all?" This implied one can actually go to what they are.

Right now, anejo tequila with lime juice is my drink of choice... probably once a week. We keep wine but only have that during meals. I'm promoting the culture wherein wine is seen as "food" and not simply alcohol.

You seem hung up on alcohol. Did you have a bad experience with it? Someone close to you an alcoholic?
 

Aaron56

Well-known member
Jul 12, 2021
2,841
1,635
113
#33
Correct. But neither do you. "Church", ecclesia in the Greek, literally means "the called out". It's derived of two words: ek which means "out of" and kaleo which means "to call" When they are combined like in ecclesia they become "the called out".

I wonder, who taught you that a building was a "church"?

Secondarily, I meet with the church quite often; sometimes in each others' homes sometimes in a rented building if a larger space is needed. If we have many international saints joining us we'll meet over Zoom. The Word is preached, the lame are healed, the blind are seeing, demins are being cast out, and Muslims are abandoning Islam and coming into the kingdom of the Living God.
Wow, did I really misspell "demons"? :rolleyes:

I actually took a call as I was typing the final sentence.:cool:
 

Lucy-Pevensie

Senior Member
Dec 20, 2017
9,386
5,725
113
#34
Amen! It is the the experience of reading a passage for the 10th time only to have it resonate for the first time in our innermost being. As the Spirit searches the deep things of God they are revealed to us in His timing. Before, we were not ready to hear it and could not receive it. But when He arises in us in His timing, the ground He reveals becomes ours to possess and cultivate. It's how we move from glory to glory in Him.
Don't you just love those "why didn't I see that before?!!" moments? "I've read that passage 100 times"! :love:
 

Aaron56

Well-known member
Jul 12, 2021
2,841
1,635
113
#35
Don't you just love those "why didn't I see that before?!!" moments? "I've read that passage 100 times"! :love:
Right?! When I teach things like that, during a meeting, I'll sometimes joke that I sneaked into their homes and wrote that in their Bibles when they weren't looking. The scriptures are many levels deep. :D
 

Edify

Well-known member
Jan 27, 2021
1,559
656
113
#36
With respect, the use of alcohol (even tequila) is a 'Romans 14' issue, a matter of conscience, not a matter of a clear prohibition. For some people, having even a little alcohol is problematic. For others, drinking in moderation is not. It is certainly possible to make a biblical case that alcohol is potentially problematic or that excessive consumption is proscribed, but not that total abstinence is required or even recommended for all Christians.

Please... let it go. :)
Sure. There are many moral teachings about this in the OT. I'm sure that others who are interested will look it up. I'm done anyway.
 

SteveEpperson

Junior Member
May 12, 2018
552
222
43
#39
And I will add the contrast between sermons on Mother's Day and Father's Day
Yes, but is one day out of the year enough? Could our church leaders maybe sing the praises of heroic fathers and mothers more than that?
 

SteveEpperson

Junior Member
May 12, 2018
552
222
43
#40
most who claim to be Christian aren't really, Pastors as well.
Yikes! I sincerely hope you are wrong about the pastors.

Playing "church" for an hour a week doesn't fulfill His requirements.
I agree, but I would not discount the big institutional churches completely. They just might serve God's purposes yet.

For instance, you and I could one day infiltrate the bureaucracy within the church system. Once in, we could defy the church leadership and start actually helping people within those four walls.

It will take some James Bond ingenuity, but I think we could get it done. :)