FANTASY CHURCH

FANTASY CHURCH

We live in a world of fantasy. One can play in fantasy sports leagues – fantasy football, fantasy baseball, and fantasy basketball are among the most popular. One can even go on a fantasy vacation; and if a person enjoys taking a cruise for vacation, there is even a ship called Fantasy.

Fantasy sports are the rage, right now, and perhaps the most popular among them is Fantasy Football. The Fantasy Football League, The Bishops, held its 2007 draft on August 21, 2007. This is a league whose owners are made up primarily of ministers. It is a wonderful way to enjoy some pleasant competition and amusing bantering between friends.

The primary premise is that the team with the most points wins, and at the end of the season, the team with the most wins is the champion. Scoring is based on yards gained and points scored on the offensive side; fumbles, yards advanced and points scored on the defensive side. It is common for teams to score in the triple digits; and, of course, high scoring games and winning teams possess all bragging rights.

Considering this, it seems that another category of fantasy has emerged in our society: that of Fantasy Church.

In this Fantasy League, “points” are scored based on the number of members they claim, on the talents of the worship leader and his team, on the facilities, and on the marketability of the ministry staff. Of course, the greatest “scoring” factor here is the number of members claimed by a local assembly. The church with the largest number is crowned as champion and anything that pastor says or does must be copied should another desire to compete in the league.

The issue here is NOT large churches, not even mega-churches. Most men who are at the helm of these large congregations are incredible men of principle and conviction. They have used the talents God has given them to grow their churches into evangelism centers that offer hope for the hopeless and healing for the hurting. These churches are like an oasis in the desert of an unloving, uncaring and cruel world.

The focus of this article, rather, is on those select few churches, ranging in size from below 100 to over 20,000, who have foregone the teaching of sound doctrine for that of the more palatable pop-psychology. The leaders of these Fantasy Churches are the men of Colossians 2:8 who, “through philosophy and vain deceit,” take people captive, enslaving them with men’s ideas of the material rather than the spiritual. The congregations these men preach to are made up of those who “will not endure sound doctrine;” and, who, because of their itching ears and their lack of stomach for solid, biblical teaching, will gladly fill up on the spiritual junk food these men prolifically produce.

In these last days, where carnal people in the pew have rendered the pulpit powerless, and where unqualified men occupy positions of spiritual authority, sound doctrine has been traded for the pleasant sound of humanistic philosophy with just a dash of scriptural spice to give sermons the appearance biblical theology. The preachers who are at the helm of these Fantasy Churches have foregone the idea of changing lives through the power of the Holy Ghost and sound doctrine. Instead, they avoid preaching on doctrine, social issues, and sin altogether with the hope that people, regardless of their spiritual status, will be comfortable enough to support the local church with their attendance and finances.

It is the opinion of this writer that we cannot focus on numbers to the detriment of doctrine and call it church growth. Numbers are an indicator of growth and, to some degree, success. However, if those numbers come at the expense of teaching sound Christian doctrine and principles, all one is experiencing is Fantasy Church.

A sinner can never be forgiven of sins he or she has not repented of. And those sins can never be remitted unless and until the sinner has been buried with Christ in baptism (Acts 2:38; Romans 6:1-7). Having obeyed the command of Scripture by repenting and being baptized in Jesus’ name, that person will then receive or receive the Promise of Holy Spirit baptism, which, according to the incidents recorded in the Book of Acts, is evidenced by speaking in an unknown tongue (Acts 2; Acts 10; Acts 19, etc.).

The church ought to be a place where lives are changed, where hope is found, where healing takes place, and where spiritual direction is attained; and that’s the least of it.

Fantasy Football is a blast! I understand from those who play other fantasy sports that they are equally as much fun. That should be the sum total of our involvement in the fantasy realm, though. When it comes to church, we need the kind of church that “turns (our) world upside down” through sound doctrine, anointed preaching, and the power and demonstration of the Holy Ghost.

Once again, thank you for sharing your time with me. I wish you the best.
Blessings,
Tim Kelley

Tim's Musings: Ministerial Ethics

Tim's Musings: Ministerial Ethics

Ministerial Ethics

The following was posted to UPCPastors_helper, a Yahoo group designed for Pentecostal ministers, in May, 2007. I felt that it was something that merited a place in this blog. Being new to "blogging," I am uncertain as to whether or not anything I write will be of any real value to those who might read the material. I certainly hope that the reader finds it worth their time invested in reading it.

Thank you for sharing your time with me. Now, here is that post on Ministerial Ethics...


I could not help myself. I just got through reading the opinion page in the newest Perspectives magazine and I had to write.

You see, it seems to me that ministerial ethics as it relates to members of another church attending one's local church has become outdated. Correct me if I am wrong but it seems to me that very few pastors today practice this old-fashioned form of ethics.

For instance, one pastor writes, "God has not given me the authority to place ownership on His property: a soul. The doors of His church are open to whomever and it is God who will lead and direct that soul to his or her destination spiritually." This same person does not believe that it is necessary for a wanderer to have a letter from a previous pastor, because "individuals have the option to worship wherever they may choose and wherever they feel that they will spiritually grow."

First of all, ethics as I understand ethics is NOT ownership of a soul. It is what it is. When a member of a neighboring church attends services at the church I pastor when he or she should be in his or her own church, ethics stipulate that the pastor of the church visited call their pastor. It may be that the individual visiting (wandering) is doing so because his or her pastor actually sat them down and taught them a lesson in, say...ADULTERY AS A SIN. Wouldn't you agree that it is a sin for a man or a woman to commit adultery? Of course, that individual may not like the fact that his or her pastor still believes that adultery is a sin, and he or she decides to find a church where they will "grow."

Really, it could be any subject or doctrine to which we may refer. What about a scenario where the wanderer's first pastor sat them down from the keyboards because he or she would not pay tithes. Perhaps you would agree (then again, maybe not) that anyone in a leadership position such as musician, board member, Sunday school teacher, or any other such position should certainly pay their tithes. Of course, if we just accept that person into our local fold without informing their former pastor, we wouldn't know that - at least not until we have to do the same for the same reasons.

Allow me to give you an example: I know a man who was a very good drummer, but because of his affinity for minors, his pastor sat him down. Of course, this guy was not happy. How could his actions with minors have anything to do with his drum playing skills during worship service??? He left. Went to the church located less than 15 miles down the road. A very short time later, the first pastor attended a service in the neighboring church and was surprised to see his old drummer sitting comfortably upon the neighboring church's drum set. That pastor told me, "You know, I'm not even going to tell Bro. Neighboring Pastor about drummer boy's affinity for minors. If he were really concerned about the man's character, he would have called to tell me drummer boy's family had visited and desired to change membership locations. Then I would have told him what he was getting."

Whether the wronged pastor was correct or not in his decision to keep such pertinent information to himself, I will not judge. I will say, however, that if the second pastor had any ethics, he would have had some insight into the drummer's character before putting him in such a visible ministry.

Another pastor wrote that the letter of transfer should contain "limited information such as how many years they attended and what positions they held. It should be limited to the basics." I certainly agree with that, but I sincerely HOPE that the receiving pastor will have the decency, and the wisdom, to contact the former pastor and inquire as to the character of the transfers. I would never put in print (letter of transfer) disparaging comments concerning the transferee's character, but I would let you know in a phone or face-to-face conversation if that person has a questionable character. That is only right! At least the receiving pastor will have enough foresight to help him determine whether or not he can use the transferee, and if so, in what capacity.

Listen, I've been on both sides of this issue (some have left our church; some have come to our church from an area church). What I find, however, is that only a VERY SMALL PERCENT of our pastors practice this part of ministerial ethics. And I have to be honest; a pastor who will not be ethical is a pastor I likely will not trust. Not only will he "receive" transfers out of your church, it is very likely he will do everything he can to entice members in your church to leave you and join his church. Crucify me if you like, but that is the simple truth. As for me, I still CALL the wanderer's pastor the first chance I get. If the individual desires to change membership to our local church, I ask him/her to get a letter of transfer, which offers both parties at least one more opportunity to sit down and iron out their differences if there are any. If that pastor informs me that the wanderer is rebelling against Bible doctrine or has a bad attitude about something the pastor has changed or said and has not spoken with that pastor about the issue, I would encourage the person to return home and sit down with the first pastor.

I understand that there are personality differences. I understand that there are dingbats who somehow get elected into a pastorate. I understand that the pastor can be wrong or have the wrong attitude. In fact, the pastor could be the one living in sin! None of this, however, negates the necessity of ministerial ethics. That pastor is still deserving of a call from the neighboring pastor to find out what his side of the story is.

Is this an unrealistic expectation? NO. What if the visited church is somewhat large? I am sure they have a system that "catches" visitors and discovers from where they hail. What if I am so new I don't know who is a visitor and who is a member? Do what I did: inform the ushers, the hostesses, the Sunday school department, media ministries, and anyone else you can think of to let you know if someone from a neighboring church was in service with you. They know! I've already made one phone call for this reason. The visitor, however, came to see his parents (who are members) while his pastor was on vacation.

Background checks? When I was starting out (almost 25 years ago) this was NOT a common practice, but I am sure that SOMEBODY was doing it. Today, I think it is an absolute necessity. I have run background checks on ALL of our Sunday school help (and that would include our youth pastor, whom I've known since he was a child). Before they elected me as pastor, they should have (and probably did) run a background check. I have no problem with that. I have nothing to hide. This will protect the church and it will protect the individual being checked out. Besides, I think that Church Mutual (which charges $6.00 per background check if they do it) will give the church a break in insurance rates.

Thanks for letting me vent!

Blessings,
Tim Kelley

Sad State of America

It is a sad day in which we live; and the state of mind in which America finds itself is a shame. Front page news reveals that Senator David Vitter (R-Louisiana) was among those listed in the little black book of DC Madame Deborah Jeane palfrey.
Now, while that is shameful enough in and of itself, that is not what saddens me. My heart is troubled by the fact that when asked "Are you surprised that a senator's name is on an escort service list?" 96% of AOL members who responded (over 181,000) responded "NO." And, if that is not bad enough, 97% of those responding (over 177,000) said that they thought more politicians would be implicated in this sex scandal.
It is honorable enough that Mr. Vitter would admit that "This was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible;" but it would have been much more honorable had he not gotten himself in such a predicament to begin with. America's problem, though, is that our moral fiber seems to be in such a sad state that hardly anyone is surprised when a public figure falls into an adulterous relationship.

One can be certain, too, that this lack of confidence in the moral integrity of our political leaders spills over into the church. Because of the ready access to lurid details of political leaders' mistakes and blunders, most Americans have little or no confidence in their politicians, and their confidence in those leaders who are not politicians are waning as well.

Far too many church members display the same lack of respect and confidence in the ministers who are called by God to lead them. The media saturation of the few who have blundered (from politicians to preachers) has had a terrible affect on the church and ministry. Some laity believe they are just as anointed and qualified as the ministry; therefore, when a pastor speaks and acts with pastoral/apostolic authority, they feel that they can question, rebuff, and outright reject his authority.
May God help America change her ways; and, may He bring the church back to the proper order of things. Of course, He cannot, and, therefore, certainly will not, force us to change our ways. That is the individual's responsibility. Paul commanded us to be transformed "by the renewing of the mind." We are to renew our own minds by making the decision to think differently, act differently, live differently. However, we can petition the Lord to "create in us a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within us." That is God's part, but it is in answer to our petition in prayer.

If you've taken the time to read this, thank you for sharing with me a few minutes of your time with me. I know that your time is valuable and I am honored that you shared some of yours with me.
Blessings,
Tim Kelley