Let's call him John. About my age, been in the ministry for about as long as I have (over 45 years) and he has been a friend for over 30 years.
He's about 5' 22", about 350 lbs, a very friendly man with a gentlemanly demeanor -- until recently.
He is the pastor of a local mostly African-American Church, and he has been a dynamic preacher of the Gospel.
About 15 years ago, he began to change. We used to go to lunch together, our wives were friends, my kids knew and played with his kids.
Then he got into Liberation Theology. Most of the non-African-Americans in his Church left. In fact, so did most of his congregation.
He used to preach to 250-300 on a Sunday Morning, now he's 'blessed' if he has 20 to 25 people. And they tend to be somewhat radical Liberation Theology-ists, as well.
Local churches take turns providing Wednesday lunch for our local college "Baptist Student Outreach", and the church providing the meal also provides the speaker for a devotional or sermonette or object lesson.
We had to dis-invite John. When it was his turn to 'speak', you could count on it being a racist rant, how the "white Churches" in town were out to destroy him, how his congregation was failing because "the white churches" have told his people not to go to his Church anymore, and he even named names of pastors, including me. That was rather heartbreaking, because I have been a real supporter of his, even serving on the Church Loan Board that provided funds for his church building, on which he subsequently defaulted, though he personally drives a fairly new Cadillac Escapade (I think I mean Escalade) and appears to be "living large".
The last time he was invited to speak at BSO, it was quite a divisive talk, including him giving out his cell phone number and encouraging those in attendance to text him questions having to do with the suppression of the black church. He would respond to those questions "live". I suspect that some of the "texts" he received, and on which he commented, were totally made up by him, because so much of the wording was the same old stuff I'd heard from him before.
His wife was on the board of the BSO, but she became more and more bitter over time, especially when it became necessary to discuss the invitation of speakers for the BSO lunches.
It's truly sad -- he's a good guy, or has been, but I believe he has lost his way.
I'm seriously considering trying to talk to him, and help him understand that the reason his Church is dying is because he has stopped preaching Jesus and started preaching racism. I'm giving this a lot of prayer and thought, and I fully realize this might be the end of any friendship we have left.
It kinda hurts.
He's about 5' 22", about 350 lbs, a very friendly man with a gentlemanly demeanor -- until recently.
He is the pastor of a local mostly African-American Church, and he has been a dynamic preacher of the Gospel.
About 15 years ago, he began to change. We used to go to lunch together, our wives were friends, my kids knew and played with his kids.
Then he got into Liberation Theology. Most of the non-African-Americans in his Church left. In fact, so did most of his congregation.
He used to preach to 250-300 on a Sunday Morning, now he's 'blessed' if he has 20 to 25 people. And they tend to be somewhat radical Liberation Theology-ists, as well.
Local churches take turns providing Wednesday lunch for our local college "Baptist Student Outreach", and the church providing the meal also provides the speaker for a devotional or sermonette or object lesson.
We had to dis-invite John. When it was his turn to 'speak', you could count on it being a racist rant, how the "white Churches" in town were out to destroy him, how his congregation was failing because "the white churches" have told his people not to go to his Church anymore, and he even named names of pastors, including me. That was rather heartbreaking, because I have been a real supporter of his, even serving on the Church Loan Board that provided funds for his church building, on which he subsequently defaulted, though he personally drives a fairly new Cadillac Escapade (I think I mean Escalade) and appears to be "living large".
The last time he was invited to speak at BSO, it was quite a divisive talk, including him giving out his cell phone number and encouraging those in attendance to text him questions having to do with the suppression of the black church. He would respond to those questions "live". I suspect that some of the "texts" he received, and on which he commented, were totally made up by him, because so much of the wording was the same old stuff I'd heard from him before.
His wife was on the board of the BSO, but she became more and more bitter over time, especially when it became necessary to discuss the invitation of speakers for the BSO lunches.
It's truly sad -- he's a good guy, or has been, but I believe he has lost his way.
I'm seriously considering trying to talk to him, and help him understand that the reason his Church is dying is because he has stopped preaching Jesus and started preaching racism. I'm giving this a lot of prayer and thought, and I fully realize this might be the end of any friendship we have left.
It kinda hurts.
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