Cult of Self

Sunday's sermon was odd.  I know what the pastor was driving towards, but I am not so sure that he got there.  Which takes me back  a few months ago and to running into Pink Hair Girl at an antique show.

I never told you the entirety of our conversation because at the time I did not know how to deal with something she had said.  Now mind you, her and her husband are as dear to me as my own children, so keep that in mind.

So, I had commented that I had not seen her or her husband at church in quite a long while and wondered if they had moved.  See, Kris can be non threatening when asking a question.  They had moved but that was not why they no longer came to church, it is because of the pastor.

Now, I had already had my January run in with the pastor by then and the thought had crossed my mind, oh maybe 10,000 times to just walk away from this church and go to Argentina.  But, then if I did, I would only be proving all of the gossips correct - which they are not but I just know everyone is waiting for Kris to prove the gossip right.  So, I stand in innocence, which I am sure grates on more than a few people here.  So, I wondered, had she or her husband transgressed the gossip hot line as well?

Her reply is what I have thought about, without a response until yesterday, "No, we just feel that the pastor, in his pursuit of a doctorate, has left correct teaching behind."  Yeah, how to respond to that one?  You know I condemn the western church and its theology system it has created to support heresy.  But that was not her point, his education was.  It was getting in the way of his presentation of the truth to her.

Interesting.

Now mind you, I think as the pastor has gained more and more knowledge, his doctrine has come more in line with mine as time progresses.  However, he is still sold out to western culture and theology, plus he remains overly impressed with the idea of being the next Rick Warren - Lord help us!  We really do not need another one of those!

And I can live with that because it does not get in the way of his having some good points, usually.

But, Sunday did show me the problem, PHG and her husband saw a year ago and left over: he has become impressed with himself.  No,  you can not point to any one statement and say "See!, there is the problem.".  But, I could see, without being critical of him in the least, that it has become a problem for him publicly now.  I offered to tell him back in September, what separated him from God - with no evidence at all, but he did not want to know and even stopped talking to me at that point.  And, no I have the evidence of what I "knew" last fall.  Sigh.

And my mind has thought on this for months.  Even last week I told my niece that I was working through this, because it needed to make sense but just did not quite yet.  Today, it came together.  My mind for one brief instant cleared and I could see the basis of the problem and the contrasting correction to it!  But, if I tell you here, this will become a tome!  So, look for something more interesting tomorrow.