Thus says the Lord: "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.
But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'" --Jeremiah 6:16

 

29 October, 2007   comments: (0) Today's Pragmatism   Mailbag: Transgender Pastors, Beatles 'Church' I've had some interesting emails lately, and thought I'd let you in on some of them. Topics include: The megachurch pastor who encourages his church to post comments on blogs that he disagrees with, and then removes comments that disagree with him on his own blog. Someone sent me the lyrics to the Beatles music being used at that same pastor's Let It Be Christmas series. I'll ask for your help in answering an email of a reader who wonders whether to leave a church that is in approval of "transgender" pastors. Lastly, someone emailed me a link to a free downloadable audio book that you don't want to miss. I have some Old Truth scheduling news as well. You might have seen my ticker link that I had posted about Granger Community Church's upcoming Let It Be themed Christmas series, which is being described as "A Story Told by Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, George and Ringo". It was mentioned on Tim Stevens' blog; he's one of their pastors. Here's what one emailer wrote to me: Jim, Isn't it sad that people will use the Beatles to promote Christmas? Isn't the BIRTH OF THE SAVIOR alone worthy of worship? Why must we dress up everything with twisted pop lyrics? That link you have was an eye opener. And here's what really aggravated me: THE LYRICS! ... When I find myself in times of trouble, mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be. And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be. Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be. Whisper words of wisdom, let it be. And when the broken hearted people living in the world agree, there will be an answer, let it be. For though they may be parted there is still a chance that they will see, there will be an answer. let it be. Let it be, let it be, ..... And when the night is cloudy, there is still a light, that shines on me, shine until tomorrow, let it be. I wake up to the sound of music, mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be. I was reading Tim Stevens' blog a while ago and I was a bit surprised to find him on this post urging the people in his church to post opposing comments on another site that he disagrees with. I've actually been on the receiving end of Granger doing that before; one time in particular - they got the word out about a post on my blog and suddenly I had a comment section full of the same cookie-cutter responses by the people in their megachurch. So you might think that since Tim Stevens expects other blogs to accommodate a flurry of comments supporting his point of view, that he would also allow comments on his own blog from people who disagree with him, right? Not according to this email that I received last week. Jim, Something humerous; Leadingsmart.com, the subject of your scrolling headline about the "Beatles" Christmas sermon series, took down a whole slew of negative comments about it and left up only the ones that were positive! I had replied; along with several others about the blog subject and not only were my comments removed, but the ones that I referenced also! So much for tolerance! A gentleman named Bob writes in with a question of whether he should stay at his church (which he feels is reasonably solid) but is a part of denomination that is troubling him. Bob would like opinions from some other Christians, so feel free to ask him questions and give him responsible advice: I am at a cross roads and was wondering if you would be interested in helping me find the right direction and path that a young Christian should follow? My problem is outside the scope of my local church and for reasons that you will see as I right my question down here. I am currently in a small congregation (Methodist) (in the Baltimore Conference) and I believe it to be a reformed, biblical based, and bible teaching local church whose pastor is conservative and has expressed disappointment in the recent decisions regarding the denomination as a whole. I am so disappointed myself over the recent decisions of the denomination about a lot of things and more recently, the decision to allow a transgender person to continue in pastoral ministry. First, I do not believe a woman should even be a pastor. And, second that a transgender should even be in the church body period. (Isn't this living in sin? What are we to say when they want to marry?) I will say for a long time I just ignored what the denomination did and focused on the local body and as I have grown in my walk I have often wondered about how the rest of the denomination deals with issues that are crippling our society. To my dismay I a have found that they really aren't doing a very good job. I sometimes wish I had not started paying attention and investigating what they do and what they do with my giving (at the denominational level). I could go on and on it seems and for the sake of time I will try to keep it short. I would love to get some sound advice from another Christian outside the situation. I visit your site often and find it to be very helpful. I would love to find a church locally like that of John MacArthur or John Piper, etc but am I being too quick to move? Should I move even though this situation doesn't directly affect our small congregation? Lately, I find myself studying and listening to sermons from MacArthur, Piper, etc more than my own local church pastor. I find the local body wonderful and have many great brothers and sisters there and of course they enter into my mind when thinking about leaving. However, the more I think about my membership vow to the denomination I feel as if I am compromising when I support the "whole" even though I completely disagree with what I am seeing. I would like to thank you in advance for reading my email and responding if this is something you would like to help me with. Again, thank you for your site and your wonderful ministry and may God bless you and keep you. Bob I recently had a chance to meet Sarah (screen name "Luvvom") who is a long time commenter here on Old Truth and a fellow blogger. Sarah dropped by my house and had lunch with my family. Last week she sent me this email containing an offer that you'll want to take note of. It's for a free download of an audio book of one of Jonathan Edwards' most important books. The offer lasts only through the end of November 2007. Jim, There is a free audiobook by Jonathan Edwards Religious Affections at http://christianaudio.com/free_download.php Sarah OLD TRUTH NEWS NOTE: I am still buried with work projects as a result of missing a week of employment due to my recent hospital stay (I'm feeling much better now thanks). So as I did last year, I'm going to be taking a blogging break in the weeks ahead. Last year I took off two weeks during the holidays, and it's looking like it will have to be longer than that this year (I'm not certain yet). While I'm on my blogging hiatus, I will be recycling some of my favorite past-posts into the top slot, each weekday. Chad may perhaps post at some point as well. I regret needing to take the break, as I have so many new posts running through my head that I'd like to put out on the web. I will be looking forward to coming back strong to kick off the new year. I'm not leaving yet however, so stay tuned. Posted by: Jim B.   Link: http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.830   Be the first to post a comment about this article        Home  |   About  |  Videos   |  Calvinism