I am the pastor that gives me that right. I have the oversight here and I am responsible for the leadership of this local assembly. I will give an account NO ONE else.(Heb. 13:17)
That scriptures doesn't say "the pastor" but "THEM"
Would it be right for a pastor to require saints to wash there hands before they eat?
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Today pull up the little weeds,
The sinful thoughts subdue,
Or they will take the reins themselves
And someday master you. --Anon.
The most deadly sins do not leap upon us, they creep up on us.
I would not serve them communion. They would just be a visitor.
Brother, what part of you can not deny someone their right to worship God do you not understand? If an apostolic person wanted to participate in the excersing of their religion by partaking of communion and you denied them you could find yourself in court having to explain it to a judge. And saying they have a beard would not cut it, Brother. Church is not a private club. If your's is then you need to stop cheating the government out of the taxes you owe for running a private club instead of a church.
The irony of what you described struck me at the early age of about eleven or twelve years old.
I remember thinking, after hearing one of those sermons ripping Roman Catholics and trinitarians as being "bound in tradition" that we (UPC) seemed to be bound in more tradition than any of the people we claimed were.
And I think that They (UPC) are all the more bound by the very fact that they think they are free.
I am the pastor that gives me that right. I have the oversight here and I am responsible for the leadership of this local assembly. I will give an account NO ONE else.(Heb. 13:17)
Let's break this down.
Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves:
Why?
for they watch for your souls,
This tells me that "obedience" is commanded to guidlines that are salvific.
Your preference is not salvific. YOU will be held accountable for this!!
I am the pastor that gives me that right. I have the oversight here and I am responsible for the leadership of this local assembly. I will give an account NO ONE else.(Heb. 13:17)
Which is precisely why you really should take a step back and see what it is you are doing. God never appointed you or any pastor as an overlord. That's not the example any of the apostles left to be followed.
Truth be told, I have openly admitted many times that I trust no man, pastor or otherwise when it comes to spiritual matters.
There you go so why whine about this when if I gave you 14 verses it would not matter in the least. Some folks are their own pastor. They trust the doctor-school teacher-policeman-vacuum cleaner salesman but not the preacher. That is fine with me there are many so-called Apostolics I do not trust particularly them which refused to be pastored. So we are even.
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