Pastors, Please Quit Doing This

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.

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.

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?

Respectfully, the bible does not say anything against games, alcohol, or cigars. And in fact, Jesus himself was a regular wine consumer.

One wonders about the spiritual life of a man who drinks tequila & smokes cigars & has no convictions about it.

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?

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?

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?

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.

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"!

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.

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

No. I'm a conservative Pentecostal.

And I will add the contrast between sermons on Mother's Day and Father's Day

most who claim to be Christian aren't really, Pastors as well.

Playing "church" for an hour a week doesn't fulfill His requirements.