ConureDelSol Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 So, the church sends out a devotional by the pastor in everyone's email every week. This week's devotional was as follows: It really bugs me when people quit. I’ve been a quitter and I know the damage it does to a person’s character when they make a habit of quitting. Of course God wants us to quit certain things, but never does He want us to quit doing His work. A “quitter” can make all the excuses in the world about why they are quitting—they can blame it on God and say “God spoke to my heart and told me to quit”—but the fact of the matter is, you are a quitter. And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in. Nehemiah 6:11 Nehemiah was a happy man and always had the joy of the Lord. One day, the king noticed that Nehemiah looked sad so he asked him what was wrong. Nehemiah told him that his home was in bad shape; that the walls were leveled and burnt to the ground. Nehemiah asked the king if he could take some of God’s people to go and rebuild it. Not soon after, opposition came, as it always does when you do something for God. Nehemiah and his workers were mocked, threatened, and tormented by Sanballat and Tobiah. They messed with them until Nehemiah’s workers hearts were filled with doubt. Despite their fear, Nehemiah kept working. Once his enemies saw his success with the rebuilding of the wall, they asked him, “Why don’t you come and join us?” As always, doing a great work for God invites opposition and Nehemiah became very familiar with the enemy’s attacks, especially when they threatened to kill him. Nehemiah made a great statement: “Should such a man as I flee?” In other words, he was declaring, “I will not quit! I will not run!” He was basically saying, “You can laugh at me, fight me, beat me, lie about me, threaten me—but I won’t quit!” Let me ask you a few questions: What’s it gonna take to stop you? What will it take to get you to quit doing God’s work? Are you as strong a Christian as what it will take to stop you? Are circumstances or problems in life going to stop you? How about other people’s problems? Is responsibility going to stop you? Is your spouse going to stop you? Is the lust of the flesh going to stop you? How about financial problems or illness? Are you going to quit the work of God because someone gossips to you? Because someone whispers in your ear, “I heard this about (Pastor's name)..” What about your disappointments? Will they cause you to quit? How about failure? Remember, Christian, if Satan had his way and could make you do ONE thing, it would be to quit. He can’t have your soul, so he wants to steal your testimony and make it void! There is no such thing as a Christian who hasn’t come to a point in their life where they want to quit. My favorite compliment is when people say, “(Pastor's name), it’s amazing, all that you’ve been through and you haven’t quit!” I’ve had failures, I’ve had friends quit, I’ve dealt with fear, I’ve dealt with my family being attacked—I’ve literally had a city try and stop what I’m doing for God! I believe the reason for opposition is so we can overcome, not quit! The trick to overcoming any battle, obstacle, or opposition is sticking it out! Not quitting is what made people great in the Bible! They weren’t great because they were perfect or never made mistakes—they were great because they wouldn’t quit! The Roman Empire couldn’t stop Paul, the Babylonian Empire couldn’t stop Shadarach, Meshack, and Abednego, King Cyrus couldn’t stop Daniel, prison couldn’t stop Joseph, a giant couldn’t stop David, 500 false prophets couldn’t stop Elijah, Egypt couldn’t stop Moses, a whole entire kingdom couldn’t stop Esther! Job lost his money, his home, his children, his health—his wife even said “Curse God and die!” Job still said, “Though he slay me, I will trust in Him!” Again I ask you: What’s it gonna take to stop you? (Name of Pastor) Daniel 12:3 Ok, already I have issues regarding this. It's the same subtle (sometimes not) fear tactics that ALL churches use. First off, I am 100% sure that my church, while it has it's good points, is a cult. To me, this is "You're not doing God's work because you aren't spending every waking moment at the church for no pay." He's pointing fingers without specifying who he's talking to. The truth is, he's putting the volunteer life in the church ahead of moral obligations. He implies that financial reasons and responsibility are NOT excuses for not spending every second of your life working for the church without pay. Personally, I wouldn't go to church or go out and volunteer instead of school or taking care of my grandparents. Imagine if my grandma fell on the floor and I wasn't there or couldn't help her because I was too busy "doing God's work?" Imagine that I need to feed my family or keep myself from starving to death. I will work on the sabbath. I will work when there are volunteering opportunities. I am not some rich conservative Jebus-bot who can just leave my school and work to go do what the church wants me to do. If I am ill, I most certainly am not going to attend anything at all because no matter how much I dislike someone, I'm not going to pass on my misery to them. I'm not even going to acknowledge all this Bible crap he spouts. Also, what kind of pastor sits there and toots his own horn? "Oh well I didn't quit, see? I'm still doing God's work!" Aren't you supposed to be humble before God? The pastor claims he hates it when people practically worship him, yet he sets himself up for it! His whole life story is questionable anyway, so I already see the man as a self-centered con-artist using imaginary beings like BibleGod and Satan to scare people into becoming slaves in his almighty church empire. Like, don't think I'm not seeing the general message of not giving up on life in hard times or whatever, but this is a piss-poor way of trying to preach about it. Has anyone else had an issue with a church leader who doesn't seem to have a concept of real life? A leader who thinks that the church is everything and shuns you for not spending all your time there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator florduh Posted November 14, 2011 Super Moderator Share Posted November 14, 2011 You need to get off that email list and away from any influence of those morons. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vigile Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 If you quit gambling, drinking and eating a high cholesterol diet, are you a quitter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConureDelSol Posted November 14, 2011 Author Share Posted November 14, 2011 You need to get off that email list and away from any influence of those morons. Quite aware of that. Unfortunately, it won't happen instantly. Working on it though... If you quit gambling, drinking and eating a high cholesterol diet, are you a quitter? If so, then that would make 80% of the people at this church quitters. All I have to say is that I am a proud God quitter. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Positivist Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 In other words, he was declaring, “I will not quit! I will not run!” He was basically saying, “You can laugh at me, fight me, beat me, lie about me, threaten me—but I won’t quit!” Yikes. I agree with the others that this pastor's view is delusional and dangerous. I know several people who did not quit the work of God when they should have. One now has permanent effects of lead poisoning and another has severe depression, all because they persevered in what they *thought* was God's will. They pushed through when they should have fled. It's ridiculous notions like this that keep battered wives black and blue (for the Lord!) and that keep people who are truly suffering even worse off. Sometimes, we should quit. Tenacity isn't always smart or "godly". Sometimes it's just plain stupid. Definitely set up a rule in your email to 'junk mail' this automatically! Peace. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mymistake Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 I’ve been a quitter . . . Do as I say, not as I do. Of course God wants us to quit certain things . . . So the Pastor speaks for God (who is oddly silent) and the Pastor gets to cherry pick. God want you to quit this but not that. God sent me to tell you to quit one thing but not the other thing. God wants you to work harder for me. God wants you to quit whatever gets in the way of your working for me. Of course it's a cult because it's a church. MM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oddbird1963 Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 I love it when they use mythical figures to prove their point. "These fantasy people didn't quit in that fictional story, so you shouldn't quit in real life!" Everybody should quit when, after doing a cost-benefit analysis that encompasses the emotional, physical, social , family and economic aspects of one's life it is determined that continuing on a course would be more harmful than helpful. A rational person can see that. A religious person? Not always. Why? Because they believe in things for which there is no evidence and need to control and manipulate people into stating they believe the same things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deva Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Pure emotional manipulation. I agree with Oddbird (as I often do). There are many examples of when it is right to quit. I myself have personally suffered from the idea that one should never quit. For example, I stayed in crappy jobs for years because of this philosophy. Now that I am older and wiser I will walk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwc Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 Nehemiah was probably a real historical figure. The story is a good one and important to the Jews and xians alike (the latter for the magical prophecies). I'll just steal his story from Wikipedia: In the 20th year of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, (445/444 BC), Nehemiah was cup-bearer to the king. Learning that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down he asked the king for permission to return and rebuild them, and Artaxerxes sent him to Judah as governor of the province with a mission to rebuild the walls. Once there he defied the opposition of Judah's enemies on all sides - Samaritans, Ammonites, Arabs and Philistines - and rebuilt the walls within 52 days, from the Sheep Gate in the North, the Hananel Tower at the North West corner, the Fish Gate in the West, the Furnaces Tower at the Temple Mount's South West corner, the Dung Gate in the South, the East Gate and the gate beneath the Golden Gate in the East. He then took measures to repopulate the city and purify the Jewish community, enforcing the cancellation of debt, assisting Ezra to promulgate the law of Moses, and enforcing the divorce of Jewish men from their non-Jewish wives. After 12 years as governor, during which he ruled with justice and righteousness, he returned to the king in Susa. After some time in Susa he returned to Jerusalem, only to find that the people had fallen back into their evil ways. Non-Jews were permitted to conduct business inside Jerusalem on the Sabbath and to keep rooms in the Temple. Greatly angered, he purified the Temple and the priests and Levites and enforced the observance of the law of Moses. So what really happened? He put up the walls and it was their enemies that didn't care for this. Their literal enemies. Imagine that. He didn't trust his magical sky pal to protect the city from these people but thought walls the better choice for some strange reason. And he built this wall very fast. "Faith," meaning pissed off enemies on all sides, tends to motivate the devoted. He loaded the city with people he could trust, as was the norm in such a situation, and got ride of the "foreigners" (who wouldn't when they're all pissed-off outside your new walls). Then he and Ezra forced some new theocratic nonsense on everyone inside that didn't seem to take the first go around so when he came back and pushed it on them again. mwc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWIM Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 So, the church sends out a devotional by the pastor in everyone's email every week. This week's devotional was as follows: It really bugs me when people quit. I’ve been a quitter and I know the damage it does to a person’s character when they make a habit of quitting. Of course God wants us to quit certain things, but never does He want us to quit doing His work. A “quitter” can make all the excuses in the world about why they are quitting—they can blame it on God and say “God spoke to my heart and told me to quit”—but the fact of the matter is, you are a quitter. And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in. Nehemiah 6:11 Nehemiah was a happy man and always had the joy of the Lord. One day, the king noticed that Nehemiah looked sad so he asked him what was wrong. Nehemiah told him that his home was in bad shape; that the walls were leveled and burnt to the ground. Nehemiah asked the king if he could take some of God’s people to go and rebuild it. Not soon after, opposition came, as it always does when you do something for God. Nehemiah and his workers were mocked, threatened, and tormented by Sanballat and Tobiah. They messed with them until Nehemiah’s workers hearts were filled with doubt. Despite their fear, Nehemiah kept working. Once his enemies saw his success with the rebuilding of the wall, they asked him, “Why don’t you come and join us?” As always, doing a great work for God invites opposition and Nehemiah became very familiar with the enemy’s attacks, especially when they threatened to kill him. Nehemiah made a great statement: “Should such a man as I flee?” In other words, he was declaring, “I will not quit! I will not run!” He was basically saying, “You can laugh at me, fight me, beat me, lie about me, threaten me—but I won’t quit!” Let me ask you a few questions: What’s it gonna take to stop you? What will it take to get you to quit doing God’s work? Are you as strong a Christian as what it will take to stop you? Are circumstances or problems in life going to stop you? How about other people’s problems? Is responsibility going to stop you? Is your spouse going to stop you? Is the lust of the flesh going to stop you? How about financial problems or illness? Are you going to quit the work of God because someone gossips to you? Because someone whispers in your ear, “I heard this about (Pastor's name)..” What about your disappointments? Will they cause you to quit? How about failure? Remember, Christian, if Satan had his way and could make you do ONE thing, it would be to quit. He can’t have your soul, so he wants to steal your testimony and make it void! There is no such thing as a Christian who hasn’t come to a point in their life where they want to quit. My favorite compliment is when people say, “(Pastor's name), it’s amazing, all that you’ve been through and you haven’t quit!” I’ve had failures, I’ve had friends quit, I’ve dealt with fear, I’ve dealt with my family being attacked—I’ve literally had a city try and stop what I’m doing for God! I believe the reason for opposition is so we can overcome, not quit! The trick to overcoming any battle, obstacle, or opposition is sticking it out! Not quitting is what made people great in the Bible! They weren’t great because they were perfect or never made mistakes—they were great because they wouldn’t quit! The Roman Empire couldn’t stop Paul, the Babylonian Empire couldn’t stop Shadarach, Meshack, and Abednego, King Cyrus couldn’t stop Daniel, prison couldn’t stop Joseph, a giant couldn’t stop David, 500 false prophets couldn’t stop Elijah, Egypt couldn’t stop Moses, a whole entire kingdom couldn’t stop Esther! Job lost his money, his home, his children, his health—his wife even said “Curse God and die!” Job still said, “Though he slay me, I will trust in Him!” Again I ask you: What’s it gonna take to stop you? (Name of Pastor) Daniel 12:3 Ok, already I have issues regarding this. It's the same subtle (sometimes not) fear tactics that ALL churches use. First off, I am 100% sure that my church, while it has it's good points, is a cult. To me, this is "You're not doing God's work because you aren't spending every waking moment at the church for no pay." thinks that the church is everything and shuns you for not spending all your time there? Seems to have covered quitters to suit his wallet, but he didn't quite cover folks that are delusional enough to read xtian newsletters! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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