Our country, communities, and churches are about to enter new territories and an era that can significantly benefit everyone or do great harm. Our country is under attack from foreign and domestic enemies. The far-left liberals are bastardizing our schools’ and communities’ moral fabric. We are the second generation subject to communist/socialist teaching that encourages single-parent families and allows immoral and deviant behavior to be taught in our schools. Many educated and sound teachers have left the school systems to avoid being a part of the demise. Many communities have degenerates parading in the street, engaged in lude sexual acts while dressed as perverts and portraying nefarious deities. All these events are spilling over into our churches. New-wave ministers and false prophets are on television, on college campuses, and in the pulpits preaching everything but the word of God. Many pastors fear they will be replaced if they do not go along with the evil being taught. Other pastors nationwide are retiring or finding ways to serve away from the church. “More than 1,700 pastors leave the ministry every month. This staggering number includes some of the brightest, most inspiring pastors in the country. To prevent the continued flight of our pastors, we need to understand the cause of the problem. Though every situation is unique, the reasons pastors leave are often similar.” (Peters, n.d.) God tells us in Jeremiah 23, “Wow” to those shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of his pasture.
“In the 16th chapter of Romans, Paul warns against those who create dissensions and hindrances within the faith community. He describes such deceivers as ones who use smooth talk and flattery in order to distort truth and manipulate others. Regardless of how righteous, justified, and even sincere as these deceptive people may appear, Paul calls them out for what they are, focused only on their own selfish and self-serving desires. Although the term did not exist in the days of scripture, Paul was referring to manipulative practice known today as gaslighting.” (Rogers, 2023)
Our church is in transition, and we will be seeing many changes, hearing many rumors, and being challenged with many circumstances we are unsure of. Groups will form against other groups, and people will allow their personal feeling to cloud their better judgment. When man tries to make Godly decisions without God’s guidance, horrible mistakes will be made. We may see things happen and decisions made that we know are wrong for our church. But like everything else, we have to know that God will eventually put things in order to meet his approval. We must remember that God works on his timeline, not ours. We must never allow others to manipulate our beliefs or deliberately challenge what is stated in the Bible. Isaiah 43:18-19 tells us, “Remember ye, not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” God is now and has been promising new and better things for those who believe and follow his guidance. God wants more than anything for us to be made new and for us to allow him to realign in our hearts. Through his Scriptures, God will make our church strong and carry us into a new chapter of our church. As we advance, we pray for our church and pray for God to guide us and give us patience. At the same time, many heavenly things are being worked out to ensure that when decisions are made, they were made with God’s approval and meeting his requirements.
During transitions, we must place our faith in God and listen for guidance. We are instructed in Proverbs 3 to trust in the Lord with all our hearts. We should not rely on our own knowledge or understanding. Pray that God will make the path straight and easy to follow. We should gain comfort from Second Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Philippians 4:13 promises, “We can do all things through him that strengthens me.”
Peters, T. (n.d.). NW Ministry. Retrieved from 10 Real Reasons Pastors Quit to Soon: https://nwministry.com/Portals/74/250739_10RealReasonsPastorsQuit.pdf
Rogers, R. D. (2023, 4 16). Gaslighting is a sin. Retrieved from Current-Argus.: https://www.currentargus.com/story/life/faith/2023/04/16/gaslighting-is-a-sin/70107083007/