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PASTOR
GENERAL'S
REPORT,
DECEMBER
30,
1986
PAGE
7
Thi s
mus t
be
balanced by
a
r ea l i s t i c
appraisal
of our shor tcomings i n
order t o ensur e
greater
success
i n
t h e
f u t u r e .
I t
i s n ' t p l e a s a n t
t o
look
t h e
t r u t h
i n t h e face when
it
ref lect s
a f a i l i n g on our par t .
God
s ays
t o u s , "Now no chas t en i ng f o r
t h e
p r e s e n t
seemeth
t o
be
joyous ,
b u t
gr ievous: n e v e r t h e l e s s a f t e rwa rd
it
y i e l d e t h
t h e
peaceab l e
f r u i t
of
r i gh t eousnes s un t o
them
which
are
exercised
thereby.
SO
t h e
peaceable
f r u i t
of r i gh t eousnes s
is
worth t h e
price.
You who are p a s t o r s
are
i n a p o s i t i o n
where
it
is
very needfu l t o
l e t
God
show you your weaknesses.
Phy s i c a l l y you have
a
g r e a t
degree
of
job
freedom, y e t s p i r i t u a l l y you have tremendous r e s p o n s i b i l i t y
f o r
f a i t h f u l l y c a r r y i ng ou t your m i n i s t e r i a l
d u t i e s .
3
not
become
autonomous1
Remember,
your a u t h o r i t y comes from
our
heavenly Fa t he r and
Jesus
C h r i s t
through
t he i r
government i n
t h e
Church.
God
is
t h e
on l y one
who can g i v e you t h e
s p i r i t u a l
c a p a c i t y t o do your\ job.
Not l e t t i n g
Ch r i s t
work through you and
keep
you i n
t h e
f u l l n e s s of
t r u t h
is
a
sure
r ou t e t o
fai lure
i n
t h e
mi n i s t r y .
Notice
John
15:s:
"I
a m
t h e
v i ne , ye
are
t h e branches.
H e
t h a t
ab i de t h
i n
me,
and
I
i n
him,
t h e
same
b r i ng e t h
f o r t h
much
f r u i t :
for
wi thout
me
ye can
do
nothing."
T h i s
reminds m e
of
a
l e t t e r
Mr.
Herbert
Armstrong wrote t o
t h e
mi n i s t r y
back
i n
1964.
It 's a l eng t hy
l e t t e r ,
b u t
I
w i l l
quo t e on l y a
brief
pctrtion from which you
shou l d
g e t
a ve ry
clear
message.
Nei ther
Jesus
nor t h e e a r l y a p o s t l e s eve r
were
thrown i n t o
j a i l
'
f o r e n t e r i n g i n t o
and
he l p i ng
set t le
human cont roversy.
Some
of
u s
w i l l
be
imprisoned f o r doing as Jesus and
t h e
a p o s t l e s
d i d .
B u t
l e t ' s
l e t
t h a t
be
enough, wi thout a s k i ng
for
it!
Therefore
I
set it
as
Church POLICY-confine
your mi n i s t r y
t o
t h e
sp i r i t ua l
realm
of
pr each i ng , t each i ng , counsel ing
as
t o
THE BIBLE
TEACHING-never
even adv i s i ng a person
WHAT
TO
DO.
Merely expound t h e
Scriptures-impart
t h e
TRUTH-but
l e t
them
make
t h e i r
own
d e c i s i on s
(as
t o
hea l i ng , medicine,
hospi tals ,
doc t o r s ,
al so)
and
l e t
them
take
thei r
own a c t i on s . Don' t
a s k
f o r t r oub l e .
\
-
Teach
WHAT
THE
BIBLE
SAYS--but
do
no t even adv i s e
what
a c t i o n
t o
take-whether
t o
ca l l
a doc t o r
or
no t ,
or
go t o a
hospi tal ,
or
take
medicine,
or
d i vo r c e a
mate.
DO
NOT
TELL
THEM WHAT
ACTION
TO
TAKE.
Teach what
t h e
Bible
sa
s.
The d e c i s i on , and
t h e
a c t i o n
MUST
BE
THEIRS.
Keep
yourse
*
ves ou t
of
t r o u b l e of
t h a t kind.
Jesus
d i d .
P a u l
d i d .
That
is
t h e b i b l i ca l
t each i ng and
example.
-
These
same
p r i n c i p l e s and
pol icies
were
repeated
by
Mr.
Tkach
i n a r e c e n t
meeting.
A r e
we
l i v i n g by them?
I t
is
so
easy t o g e t emo t i ona l l y
involved and t r y
t o
help
people by
almost
l i v i n g t h e i r l i v e s f o r
them.
Tha t
is
n o t what
God
has c a 1 l e d . u~ t o
do.
As
you look i n t o 1987
set
some
goa l s f o r you r s e l f and your congr ega t i on and,
whi le
doing your
best
t o
achieve them,
l e t
Ch r i s t lead you
t o
success .
Some
of
you may a l r e a d y know
t h a t
Mr.
Norvel Py l e
suffered
a
f a l l
i n
B i g
Sandy and
has
been i n
a
coma
s i n c e
December
15.
H i s
cond i t i on
is
considered
c r i t i ca l as
t h e r e
are
i n c r e a s i ng compl icat ions .
I
know t h a t
Mrs.
Pyle and
t h e
whole f ami l y would
appreciate
your pr aye r s .