SPECIAL REPORT:GREED, SCANDAL, HOMOSEXUALITY & AIDS IN THE BLACK CHURCH.

Shimmie

"God is the Only Truth -- Period"
Staff member
BlkManWithSomeSense said:
The balance is subjective.

It is. :yep: I asked because I just needed to 'hear' it.

Hopefully, the Pastor is lead of the Holy Spirit. Church is more than an uproar of emotions, twist and shout...take up the collections, then Church is out.

I love Isaiah 50:4: 'having the tongue of the learned...a word in season for he that is weary.'

There are some who will always feel the church does enough in some areas and not enough in others. It is in an even more precarious position because critisism comes swiftly when mis steps are made but support trickles in cautiously.

An oft troddened pastor should not undo the dillegence and sincerity of the congregation. We must remember that although we preach, teach and worship together, at the end of each day we choose our own actions.

This is where it hurts...(the bolded) ...the choice of one's own actions...at the end of the day. I look at the ones I've known and I've seen fall and I wonder if I 'missed' it. Could I have done something more in prayer to create a diversion? Offset the enemy? To hear it in the news is one thing; To have (or see) it happen to several, not one, but several Pastors and ministries that I know....

I don't know..... It's just that, what I 'saw' is not what I thought I'd see and it messes with me. I don't understand the choices these men made or why; and we can't blame it all on the devil. Your last sentence above proves it, "...at the end of the day, we choose our own actions."

I just don't know why? Why here in God's house?

That's why the article at the top of this thread is hard because I know personally of some ministries who have done some of what was mentioned.
 

cocoberry10

New Member
Shimmie said:
This is where it hurts...(the bolded) ...the choice of one's own actions...at the end of the day. I look at the ones I've known and I've seen fall and I wonder if I 'missed' it. Could I have done something more in prayer to create a diversion? Offset the enemy? To hear it in the news is one thing; To have (or see) it happen to several, not one, but several Pastors and ministries that I know....

I don't know..... It's just that, what I 'saw' is not what I thought I'd see and it messes with me. I don't understand the choices these men made or why; and we can't blame it all on the devil. Your last sentence above proves it, "...at the end of the day, we choose our own actions."

I just don't know why? Why here in God's house?

That's why the article at the top of this thread is hard because I know personally of some ministries who have done some of what was mentioned.

I don't think there is a simple answer, but I think it starts with the truth (God being the truth).

A lot of pastors get into trouble, because they feel they have no one to turn to, so they continue to misbehave and try to cover it up. But they have God. And, they have one another. I feel that there should be more coalitions and programs where pastors can go when they know that they aren't living according to God's will. For some, that may mean taking a hiatus as senior pastor of the church until they can deal with their "issues." This is how it works in the business world. If the CEO can't perform anymore, he will be removed by the board of directors. Likewise, if a pastor is no longer bearing God's fruit, he has to be redesigned (and only God can do this).

It doesn't require embarassing the pastor all the time (if it's not necessary) or putting all his business out there. We all have struggles, and some of those are private. However, I would prefer a pastor to step down, rather than prey on single, vulnerable women, or sexually abuse children, or steal money from the congregation, or any other sinful acts.

If you have to be accountable to no one else, you will always have to be accountable to God. And, usually you are accountable to yourself, whether you know it or not. We all know when we've made wrong decisions, we often feel the guilt the longest, long after others have forgotten!

Unfortunately what happens to some preachers is that they become more fixated on the notoriety and the lifestyle (for those that oversee mega churches and congregations), and stepping down means giving up those mega homes, tv broadcasts, private planes, and notoriety. But if you need fixing, and you are willing, God will always restore those things the devil tries to kill, steal and destroy.

Maybe the bigger question to these churches is...are you really willing to let Jesus lead this church or are you trying (as a pastor or human) to control things? Just food for thought!
 

Shimmie

"God is the Only Truth -- Period"
Staff member
cocoberry10 said:
I don't think there is a simple answer, but I think it starts with the truth (God being the truth).

A lot of pastors get into trouble, because they feel they have no one to turn to, so they continue to misbehave and try to cover it up. But they have God. And, they have one another. I feel that there should be more coalitions and programs where pastors can go when they know that they aren't living according to God's will. For some, that may mean taking a hiatus as senior pastor of the church until they can deal with their "issues." This is how it works in the business world. If the CEO can't perform anymore, he will be removed by the board of directors. Likewise, if a pastor is no longer bearing God's fruit, he has to be redesigned (and only God can do this).

It doesn't require embarassing the pastor all the time (if it's not necessary) or putting all his business out there. We all have struggles, and some of those are private. However, I would prefer a pastor to step down, rather than prey on single, vulnerable women, or sexually abuse children, or steal money from the congregation, or any other sinful acts.

If you have to be accountable to no one else, you will always have to be accountable to God. And, usually you are accountable to yourself, whether you know it or not. We all know when we've made wrong decisions, we often feel the guilt the longest, long after others have forgotten!

Unfortunately what happens to some preachers is that they become more fixated on the notoriety and the lifestyle (for those that oversee mega churches and congregations), and stepping down means giving up those mega homes, tv broadcasts, private planes, and notoriety. But if you need fixing, and you are willing, God will always restore those things the devil tries to kill, steal and destroy.

Maybe the bigger question to these churches is...are you really willing to let Jesus lead this church or are you trying (as a pastor or human) to control things? Just food for thought!
I love you, 'Coco', and thank you for being here; you are always a blessing to me. Oh yes, you are indeed. ;)

Coco, you know how we first fell in love with Jesus and everything and everyone, was 'beautiful'. When I first gave my heart to the Lord as an adult, I was broke, alone and raising two young beautiful children, my son and my daughter. And in spite of all of the hardships I had, I was free and happy and 'up' there....all because I had fallen in love...with Him, our Jesus.

Hey, my telephone service was cut off once, back then, and I was still in love and happy, because of Jesus :lol: I was in Heaven and in a wonderful Church family. Hardships just didn't matter or have a dire effect upon me.

Fast forward. Little by little, I was being made aware of other ministries 'falling'...but not ours (so I thought). Then one day, 'ours' was hit. And it was a mess. A real mess and in the newspapers and TV news. But it was going on all along; God just 'shielded' me from it to protect my growth in Him.

Coco what hurt me more was that my (first) Pastor was Black and he was the first Black man outside of my immediate family that I looked up to. For the first time in my life, after living in a White world, with White leadership, someone Black was at the helm and I was so proud. And the things that caused his fall were things that he chose do. As our brother member, BlkMan stated above, "at the end of each day, we choose our own actions."

What occurred is that I lost my faith not in God, but in Black men. Before my Pastor, I got saved from a 'White man's ministry' (Pat Robertson - 700 Club) and was spiritually 'fed' and awed by a White man's ministry (Kenneth Copeland and Jerry Savelle). I even travelled to see these men at their conferences.

My point is that having a Black man of God to lead me was the ultimate. And Coco, I lost it. l lost what meant most to me as a child of God which was being a part of a Black ministry. And I found myself, going back to 'listening' and trusting those who were White. The other Black ministries that I knew at the time were in dire straights as well. And Coco, those that I know are still falling even today. :nono: :sad: I'm tired of it.

But God is changing my heart towards our men (beautiful men in Black). He's showing me the devil's lie. Our brother here, (I hate calling him Black Man :lol:) has opened the door to my healing. ;)

Sweet Coco, (my special name for you)....Sorry for being so long. I hated to share this. But it just came through. Although there's much more, I left out a WHOLE lot of information, but I'm done for now.

Thanks for being here. ;) Thanks to everyone, my baby girl, Pebs, and especially our precious brother :lol: Who shall not be named, Black Man anymore. I'll call him our 'Brother of Love that Heals and Delivers' (BOLTHD -- Hmmm, "Bolted" - means he's nailed down for Jesus -secured). ;)

And you are 'Sweet Coco' with Vanilla Marshmallows. Yes? :lol:

Love you much...
 
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cocoberry10

New Member
Shimmie said:
I love you, 'Coco', and thank you for being here; you are always a blessing to me. Oh yes, you are indeed. ;)

Coco, you know how we first fell in love with Jesus and everything and everyone, was 'beautiful'. When I first gave my heart to the Lord as an adult, I was broke, alone and raising two young beautiful children, my son and my daughter. And in spite of all of the hardships I had, I was free and happy and 'up' there....all because I had fallen in love...with Him, our Jesus.

Hey, my telephone service was cut off once, back then, and I was still in love and happy, because of Jesus :lol: I was in Heaven and in a wonderful Church family. Hardships just didn't matter or have a dire effect upon me.

Fast forward. Little by little, I was being made aware of other ministries 'falling'...but not ours (so I thought). Then one day, 'ours' was hit. And it was a mess. A real mess and in the newspapers and TV news. But it was going on all along; God just 'shielded' me from it to protect my growth in Him.

Coco what hurt me more was that my (first) Pastor was Black and he was the first Black man outside of my immediate family that I looked up to. For the first time in my life, after living in a White world, with White leadership, someone Black was at the helm and I was so proud. And the things that caused his fall were things that he chose do. As our brother member, BlkMan stated above, "at the end of each day, we choose our own actions."

What occurred is that I lost my faith not in God, but in Black men. Before my Pastor, I got saved from a 'White man's ministry' (Pat Robertson - 700 Club) and was spiritually 'fed' and awed by a White man's ministry (Kenneth Copeland and Jerry Savelle). I even travelled to see these men at their conferences.

My point is that having a Black man of God to lead me was the ultimate. And Coco, I lost it. l lost what meant most to me as a child of God which was being a part of a Black ministry. And I found myself, going back to 'listening' and trusting those who were White. The other Black ministries that I knew at the time were in dire straights as well. And Coco, those that I know are still falling even today. :nono: :sad: I'm tired of it.

But God is changing my heart towards our men (beautiful men in Black). He's showing me the devil's lie. Our brother here, (I hate calling him Black Man :lol:) has opened the door to my healing. ;)

Sweet Coco, (my special name for you)....Sorry for being so long. I hated to share this. But it just came through. Although there's much more, I left out a WHOLE lot of information, but I'm done for now.

Thanks for being here. ;) Thanks to everyone, my baby girl, Pebs, and especially our precious brother :lol: Who shall not be named, Black Man anymore. I'll call him our 'Brother of Love that Heals and Delivers' (BOLTHD -- Hmmm, "Bolted" - means he's nailed down for Jesus -secured). ;)

And you are 'Sweet Coco' with Vanilla Marshmallows. Yes? :lol:

Love you much...

Thank you so much :) . And I agree with you. I definitely think the devil is using distrust among black men and women to destroy us.
 
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