Fresh Air

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Opening my e-mail today from Higher-fire was indeed a breath of fresh air.
To Bro. Steve, I enjoy your posts, you are never at a lost for words and my
mind is stimulated to go deeper then the old nature really wants to go. To
all the newbies, greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus. Glad to have you
aboard and hope your time here is as productive as I have found it to be. At
times the dialog can become very heated, but as gold is tried in the fire so
should our beliefs and traditions also be, The Word says take heed how you
build on this foundation, for every man's works are going to be tried by
fire, I will let you read the rest of it. So you see, we need to be proven
and tempered. I will not be easily offended because I have learned not to
carry my feelings around on my shoulder. There will always be someone out
there that just loves to knock things off! 8-) Btw, I have been a minister
for 26 years and have been in a pastoral position for 16 of those years, I
have never ask anyone to blindly fellow me or my convictions. My greatest
desire is to bring the Saint of God to a mature level that he/she will hear
the voice of God themselves and obey Him out of love then out of respect and
obedience to me. My mission is to point souls to Christ and not to raise
little Davidites. I am a undersheperd, or may I should say lead sheep, not
THE Shepherd.

OUCH!! The Brother that brought the "old wound" tread up, hit me. Reminded
me of an old sin that I got covered under the blood of the Lord a long time
ago. I was Youth director of a church that was very strict in conduct and
dress. I too, jumped on a young person for wearing a T shirt, it was the
teaching of my pastor and I felt justified in doing so, that was in my own
mind! A few years into my pastoring, the Lord took my mind back to that time
that I called on the carpet that young man, Oh the grief and sadness that my
heart felt. I said a few years, it was more like ten years had past. I was
so overwhelmed by this sin that I had to find that young man who was now in
his twenties and ask for his forgiveness, to make matters worse, he did not
even remember the situation. He was a backslider at the time and I had an
opportunity to show the love of God to him. Taught me a lesson, that I need
to be mindful in how that I treat one of God's elect. A lesson that I use
each and everyday in pastoring.

To those who moderate the list, where no offense was meant, no offense was
taken. I enjoy the list and jokes and all the heated debates, I keep in lurk
mode, but let me tell you, my church benefits from this list!