My Pastor Said Something Profound Tonight.

[HeavenlyOne]

He was preaching tonight about various things, but mentioned that there are people who take one verse out of the Bible and make a doctrine out of it. He went on to say that the Bible says in the mouth of two or three witnesses that all words should be established and that people don't need a list of rules to attend his church.

Now, before some of you take in a deep breath to hold for 30 seconds, let me say that he also said he preaches the Bible, and if it's not in there, he's not preaching it. I was waiting.....out of curiosity......if he was going to mention standards in any way.

He did. He said that people can come to church as they are. Doesn't matter to him if women cut their hair or wear pants, only that they come to church and be saved. He said that it's not our works that save us anyway.

Hold on. I heard a couple of you inhale deeply and quite loudly.

He mentioned again that he preached the Bible. Now, knowing what I know of him, I know that he believes in standards, so I'm waiting for him to say something contrary to that.

Well, he didn't. He wasn't obvious about it, but he did make the statement that he preaches the Bible and if people don't obey, he's not going to force the issue, but that they are welcome to his church regardless.

My dilemma is that I've been thinking about attending another church soon. However, the nearest one is 40 miles away. I was thinking of leaving for several different reasons but nothing really to do with standards.

In the 18 months I've been attending here, I've never talked to him on a personal basis. He's not one to be pushy, and I respect that, but I feel that he's not too interested by not talking to me.

Some have asked if I requested a meeting with him. No, I haven't. I'm not good at that kind of thing. I'm used to pastors wanting to talk to me and I comply with a meeting. No biggie.

However, after hearing this message tonight, I'd really like to talk to him. I want to be careful and not sound confronting or accusational or whatever, but I'm interested in hearing him explain how he doesn't believe people should make a salvational doctrine out of one verse, but he does that with standards issues, if he even realizes it.

I'm also not sure if changing churches is a good idea at this time. There are other things going on with my children that I feel might be detrimental if I were to change right now. A week ago, I felt it was the right thing to do. Right now, I don't feel it's time.

Anyway, I'm just unsure as to what to do. But I do fully believe in listening to what God has to say, and I will just have to wait on Him to decide for me.