It has been communicated to me with a strong warning that any of my columns that are not favorable to LGBTQ+ issues will no longer be published in the Twin Falls Times-News.
Fair enough. It is not my publication. It is technically an “opinion” column that I was first requested to submit on a rotating basis with other “pastors” in the community. I have been please to be doing this for nearly 9 years and have hope to continue on.
First, I will not be censored on content. Second, I will love my neighbor and write as though someone holding truth were writing to me – I would want truth written to me.
One way you can help is to share my columns on your social media sites. Visit the original source of the column and be sure to communicate what you thought of the column with the appropriate emoji. (this is not a request to always click on the smiley face at the end of the column. But to do so, when it is appropriate to do so, it helps communicate to the publication that this kind of writing is appreciated by at least some of the readers.) This also is helpful when you read others who write and you respond. And of course, please pray for me and other pastors who write with love of God and compassion for our neighbors.
Here was the last piece I submitted that was published two weeks ago. We’ll see if they will publish my next one.
________________________________________
One of the things that mark Biblical Christianity is that when the Bible speaks, it speaks with the highest of authority. The follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, as described by the Bible alone, will do all that he can to govern his life with this “headlamp” on to illuminate his path and steps.
One of the paramount duties of a local church that makes claim to be under the authority of the Bible is the responsibility to read the Bible in public places and give exposition of the reading of that text. Generally speaking, from the ancient days (Ezra and Nehemiah) when God’s people would gather together to give ear to what God had revealed, the people would secure a platform/pulpit so that the hearing of what God had communicated could be heard by all who had gathered. In most records of this happening, men and women, boys and girls, even nursing infants were present.
The local gathering of a Bible-believing people has been either held as a blessing or a curse. A blessing to those wanting to hear from God or a curse to those who want to suppress the truth (Romans 1). The apostle Paul once even spoke of how the messenger of the good news (the Gospel) would be received as a sweet-smelling aroma to those being saved and the stench of death to those who are perishing (2 Corinthians 2:15-17).
“For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.” (2 Corinthians 2:15-17)
Jesus noted that His duty was to obey the Father rather than men when He said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:34). He noted that His work was singular and would not be distracted. An example to the church and the man of God who sits in the office of pastor in that local fellowship.
The Apostle Paul wrote of the faith of the local church in Thessalonica when he received word back from Timothy that the tempter had not been successful in persuading the followers of God in the city to abandon their faith amid the affliction and pressure to not speak truth (1 Thessalonians 3).
This shines a Biblical light upon the role of a local church and the man in the pulpit.
The church, if she is to be true to her duty, is to be a pillar and buttress of truth. That preacher in the pulpit is not called upon by God to create fancy ways to attract bigger crowds. That preacher has been called to be faithful to his called upon duty. Mainly, read this Scripture to God’s people, exposit this text with helpful application, and prayer. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t give compassionate care to the people or provide ministries to the widows, orphans, and poor among us. It means his first priority is to the word and prayer.
He is really like an ancient lookout in a fixed spot on the wall to point out the present dangers facing the city and point everyone to the savior, the one that will not disappoint. He is responsible to warn the community of the false teachers, the world philosophies, the traditions of men (Colossians 2:8). If he does not do his job, he should be removed because of his cowardice and laziness and replaced with one who will not be tempted to abandon his duty.
The one doing his duty under the authority of the word of God must answer to God, not man. The church doing its duty must love God more than the personality of the man in the pulpit. Then it is upon the people being saved to rejoice that God has given them a faithful man in the pulpit or for the people perishing to stiffen their necks and have nothing of truth to be heard on their streets. This tension will always be present. For the glory of God, may He bless the city with faithful pulpits.
“For now we really live.” (1 Thessalonians 3:8)
Paul Thompson is the preaching pastor at the Eastside Baptist Church located at 204 Eastland Drive North in Twin Falls, ID. More information can be found at www.esbcTwinFalls.com. Email Paul at paul@esbcTwinFalls.com. Call Eastside Baptist at 208-734-7041
