A pastor morally falls. So does his son. People are devastated, hurt, confused, angry, sad and their faith is shaken. A church is thrown into turmoil. This is happening now in Junction City, Kansas.

The pastor, Edwin Young, suddenly and without warning, turned in his resignation last week (August 2nd). The church is already set to vote on a possible new pastor this week, possibly Don Boyer, who Young felt should succeed him.

Young took over the church after the death of L.E. Westberg, one of the men instrumental in pushing through the affirmation resolution in 1992 (went into effect in 1993). At that time, Faith Tabernacle was a part of the United Pentecostal Church. Both men held license with the UPC, but Young ended up leaving the organization and went independent apostolic at some point after becoming the pastor. From things I heard, it got stricter under Young.

What causes a pastor to fail morally? Are there signs we can watch for, that something seriously is wrong in the life of a minister? It hits the news more and more and involves various church groups. There's another big story going on now in Indiana that has been reported by the media.

I will share one thing I have learned through the years and red lights go on whenever I hear it happens. When a minister is harsh in sermons and outside the pulpit, BEWARE. There is an enormous difference between speaking in love against sin, or what one perceives to be sin, and another when people are torn into, made examples of, and treated not in love by a minister. There is also a problem when no sin is involved, but a minister gets irritated at someone and rips into them in front of all.

From numerous reports, that is exactly what this minister did for years and years. If similar things happened in a healthy church, the pastor's wrong behavior would have been addressed when it happened or soon after. But at this church, it wasn't. It was tolerated, allowed, and even thought to be proper conduct by many. Many 'amened' him and cheered him on when he did these things. It isn't proper behavior. It is far, far from how a minister is to conduct themselves.

A huge problem is that in unhealthy churches, this is often a gradual process. And when it gets to this point, the people have been conditioned through previous teachings and incidents, to accept what is happening. The pastor is "the man of God." You don't "touch God's anointed." The pastor "watches for your soul and has to give account of you." The pastor knows more than you and what is best. If the pastor is wrong, all we can do is "pray about it and let God correct him." So when people have this type of mindset, it opens the door for much abuse and other wrong things.

Learn how a pastor is to be. Go to your Bibles and search this out. A main characteristic of a minister is they...

Lois

Lois

I can imagine Jesus saying something today like He did in Matthew 23, "Woe unto you ministers who cause all kinds of harm to those trying to follow Me! Woe unto you who abuse my people, making merchandise of them for your own gain! Woe unto you ministers who rob people of their hard earned money and live the high life!...."

So often in unhealthy churches we heard to "obey them that have the rule over you" because they will be giving an account of you to God one day. My desire is not to delve into that at the moment, except to say it isn't true. Ministers have super big egos if they think they get to be the go-between with you and God. The point I wish to make is the price these ministers will have to pay in the end if they do not change their ways.

It is one thing to teach erroneous doctrines in sincerity and with love, believing them to be true. I am fairly certain that we all believe some things that we will find are not true. However, it is a different story when a minister refuses to objectively look at what they are teaching when valid points are made. It isn't the same when things are taught with shaming, threats and manipulative tactics or when God is painted in such a manner as to be viewed as a harsh taskmaster, almost anxiously waiting for you to mess up so He can cause you harm and/or leave you behind.

I can only imagine how God feels when he sees the damage that these abusive ministers cause. Through the years, I have witnessed a multitude of individuals with varying degrees of harm, left by those who were supposed to help them grow in their walk with God. Some of these people go out and commit all kinds of sins because they believe they are lost and without hope, so what does it matter. Some cannot bring themselves to become involved in another church as they are too fearful. Some struggle for years with the after effects of their experience. There are so many things that people face when they have been involved in unhealthy and abusive churches.

I think the saddest and most harmful of all, is when their experience causes them to no longer believe in God or they continue to believe in the warped sense of God that was taught in their former church. Some, though they see the errors of the teachings, cannot see that the wrong image of God they were given isn't how God is at all. They don't want to follow a God that is so harsh and ready to pulverize them at any small indiscretion. My heart goes out to these people. Who wants to follow a God like that?

These ministers won't be reporting to God about you, but they will be answering to God for what THEY have done. Though written in regard to the spiritual leaders of Israel, I believe God feels the same toward these ministers today. Here is what God said:

""Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!"...

Lois

For those who may yet be struggling with all the rules which are often passed off as representative of holiness, I wanted to share and encourage you to sit down and read through the book of Galatians. Perhaps do this several times and with different Bible versions. In another writing, Does Salvation Come And Go?, this line of thinking was mentioned.

How these are taught varies greatly from church to church. What really distresses me is when I will see people write on various boards that "it's better to be safe than sorry" in regards to outward standards.

What this says is that they don't know for sure if these things are salvational, so they want to do them to be on the safe side, because it would be better to do them and make it to heaven than to not do them and find they were needed in order to make it into heaven and thus be lost.

That is so sad. People are believing that perhaps God may be hiding something salvational from them and so they'd best be safe and do whatever is taught, even though they obviously don't see it.

I mention reading Galatians for this because Paul addresses the problem of people starting out their walk with God by faith and then later becoming entangled with works and then trusting in those works to make them right before God.

I want you to think about what I am going to share and let it sink in. This is what some do who elevate what is often termed as 'holiness standards.'

How would you feel if you found out your child (or sibling, or anyone else you loved) was doing certain things because they felt that by doing so they would gain your favor and love? They feel they must perform just right in order to have your love. By cleaning their room, taking out the trash or doing well at school (or put just about anything in here), they think these things could bring them in right standing with you and you'd love them or would love them more. They feel if they don't do them, you might harm them or kick them out of your life.

They don't understand they have your love already- with or without these acts. These acts don't cause you to love your child more. While you may be glad or thankful that they obeyed you or excelled at something, your love for them doesn't hinge on these things or cause you to want your child more.

Now tie this same thought to our walk with God. How it must pain the Lord to see his children trying to earn His love and favor. He *already* loves them and *already* accepts them. Can you imagine how He feels when he sees believers trying to get Him to love or accept them based upon their rule following when His love and acceptance already is there? When He sees people trying to earn what He has already freely given them? When he sees that believers feel he will harm them or cast them into hell if they don't follow a rule because they feel there may somehow be 'fine...

Lois

Different ministers in the group I was in would use various scare stories that were intended to place fear in those attending services. It was always something bad with someone being killed in a not nice way. Or perhaps God smote them with an illness or disease.

Some recall a story about ones being killed in a train wreck. There is one story that still remains partly in my memory, though all the details are no longer there. My former pastor knew Nathaniel Urshan as he was from South Bend, Indiana. I recall hearing him relay one story where I think there were two young guys who were at some service where Nathaniel Urshan was speaking.

I believe they supposedly made fun in some way, may have been spoken to by Nathaniel Urshan and warned. They left the service and were killed in an accident.

These stories work in a couple ways. The one I shared can be used to place fear in anyone who would in any way come against a minister. God will strike you down! I well remember the biblical story with the she bears from the OT being told to also reinforce such a thought.

These stories also create a fear of God. Here again we see the view of God as a harsh taskmaster, just waiting so He can somehow punish or kill someone who has upset Him in some way. Get out of line, don't follow the rules, leave this church, and God will see that you die in a nasty traffic accident (or some other way just as unpleasant).

Fear, fear, fear, fear.......I will never stop saying it until it is no longer true.......fear permeates the teachings.

Ah, and don't forget all of the rapture drills and scare tactics!

Lois