The Reformed Advisor

Tag: pastoral

Two Reasons Why Many Churches Are Dying…or…Killing Themselves. Part 2: Unbiblical Pastoral Expectations

Posted on February 17, 2015 in Theology by

Last week I wrote about how unbiblical church structure is killing the church. By having an unbiblical structure the church opens itself up for unqualified leaders to be put in place, and the schisms and disunity that comes through constantly holding church votes. Today I want to talk about another characteristic that is killing the church: unbiblical expectations of pastors.

Growing up as a pastor’s kid I thought it was the pastor’s job to be available to everyone in the church 24/7. No matter what day or time, if someone called, the pastor dropped what he was doing and sprinted out the door to “minister.” This meant being available via phone while on vacation – if you took a vacation, and not letting family outings or anything else get in the way.

The pastor was required to wear a suit and tie at all times – apparently it’s in the Bible somewhere. And while the pastor is expected to be an expert in all things Bible – such as theology, Greek, Hebrew, and application – his primary job was to serve the people of the church in any way they desired. Such things as vision are better left to the people that have been at the church since it began. And decisions regarding the budget and how to spend the money are for committees the pastor isn’t a part of. And should the pastor feel led to being or end a particular ministry it would be in his best interest to get approval from the congregation by holding a vote.

Planned Parenthood “Pastoral Letter” is Full of Lies and Bad Theology

Posted on December 2, 2014 in Life by

Once again the Religious Affairs Committee has sent out a letter explaining, in part, that abortion “will not threaten your relationship with God.” I want to highlight the main points of the letter and respond to each. I do this because it helps us prepare a biblical defense against abortion and anyone, including pastors that would try to convince us of its legitimacy.

– We believe, as religious leaders in our faith communities, that abortion is a morally permissible choice for a woman facing a problem pregnancy.

It’s interesting to me that no Scripture was used to support this claim. The pastors I know and trust always have Scripture to back up their positions. This lets me know that it’s not just their opinion but a biblically formed position that can be verified and supported through the Bible. The fact that Scripture is not used to support this claim is dubious.

Maybe there is no Scripture included because the actual Bible contradicts their position. Over and over the Bible says that God formed babies in the womb (Psa. 139:2; Isa. 44:2; 24; Jer. 1:5). The Bible makes clear that killing is murder (Ex. 20:13; Matt. 5:21; Rom. 13:9; Jas. 2:11). The theology is easy here.

The fact that this letter does not define a “problem pregnancy” other than to say it could be due to “medical, physical, emotional, economic, and relational reasons” is misleading. Some will support abortion if the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother – something that could certainly be considered a “problem.” But to lump these other factors in with such a rate and extreme scenario shows that Planned Parenthood is still willing to mislead and deceive people in order to perform more abortions.

Planned Parenthood “Pastoral Letter” Disappears

Posted on June 19, 2014 in Life by

Remember that “pastoral letter” Planned Parenthood sent to their supporters saying the Bible doesn’t talk about abortion and people of all faiths support killing unborn children – so it’s okay?
Well, it seems they got some major backlash from people for issuing such a blasphemous letter. So much that they decided to remove it from their site and try to conceal the fact that they even attempted to use the Bible to justify murder. Yeah, using the Bible to justify murder is not the brightest idea in light of that whole “thou shalt not kill” thing.
Hopefully that will be a very well learned lesson for Planned Parenthood: don’t use a life affirming book to justify murder.

Incidentally, if you’ve not read Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel Casey Mattox’s letter to Planned Parenthood in response to their “pastoral letter,” you really should. His offer is brilliant. After speaking to Mattox he let me know that he is still waiting to hear back from Planned Parenthood. Imagine that.

Rebuking Planned Parenthood’s Attempt to Use the Bible to Justify Abortion

Posted on June 18, 2014 in Life by

Remember that awful “pastoral letter” that Planned Parenthood sent to their supporters? It was supposed to let them know that clergy support abortion and the Bible and God are play with abortion. Just the thought of such a letter makes me angry. To try to use the Bible to coerce people into believing abortion is morally or biblically acceptable is a sin that is hard to move past.

LifeNews has posted an article intended to combat the efforts of Planned Parenthood to deceive people. Using sound biblical exegesis, Brad Mattes, the author of the article and president of Life Issues Institute, has soundly rebuked Planed Parenthood with a proper understanding of what the Bible teaches regarding life.

I encourage you to read the article, posted below, and share it with others that might be unsure of what the Bible teaches.

Planned Parenthood Sends “Pastoral Letter” Lying About Biblical Position on Abortion

Posted on June 4, 2014 in Life by

Planned Parenthood must be feeling desperate. So desperate that they have sent a “pastoral letter” to their patients sharing their version of the Bible which includes no mention of abortion and approval for the murderous procedure. The letter is posted below so you can rad it in it’s entirety. But believe me when I tell you that there is nothing “pastoral” or biblical about this letter.

Very quickly let me point out the glaring problems. First it says that abortion is not mentioned in Scripture. That’s true, abortion by name is not mentioned, just like smoking pot, sniffing cocaine, and many other modern terms. However, the Bible is very clear that murder is wrong – you can find it in those 10 commandments. From beginning to end the Bible makes clear that murder in any form is wrong, that is undeniable. Since abortion is clearly the murder of an innocent child, it is very easy to understand that the Bible condemns abortion as murder.

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