Post by TheFirebrand on Aug 16, 2012 0:47:04 GMT -6
In my first message from my "Not Of This World" series I made mentions of a few times in my life that invloved homelessness and churches ...
I have experienced many things in my travels with my involvement in one corporate church organization over the last 20 years ...
I'm going to tell the highlights of a few instances between myself and some of that organization's Pastors ...
I remember the Pastor who was my dear friend and who also had allowed his congregation to control his decisions. Well the thing you must first grasp is that the congregation was ultimately jealous of our friendship and that stirred up a lot of malice behind my back ...
Later, after accusing me of being every thing I hate and pretty much encouraging every rumor spread about me, causing a spirit to get on me. A spirit he brought into the church with him that day ... after all that, he later tells me he just wants me to be saved ...
Keep in mind I spent every night in that sanctuary privately praying rebuke and reproach against the goings on of the congregation. Essentially I pushed the devil's buttons to turn them against me ...
After that our friendship basically ended and some weeks later I was voted out of the church (allegedly against his will) he seemed to genuinely regret his actions and decision. He informed me that if I ever get in a bind to call him ...
This event eventually caused me to be homeless for the second time. I was in Des Moines on the streets when I called him. I asked him to help me with a hotel over that weekend ... he said "go sleep in a shack, what do you want me to do?"
Another Pastor in Des Moines of the same organization also turned me out leaving me in the streets even after I had been attending services and helped with work being done on the church ...
The first time I was homeless was in Oklahoma City. When I contacted my home church (again of the same organization) the Pastor at that time was only told that I was a disturbed individual trying to get money. I do not know who it was but I could narrow it down to a few people ...
I later discovered my home church was suffering from divorce and many backslid youth. I say backslid loosely since these churches are quite worldly ...
I ended up homeless in Oklahoma City because the church I was a part of at the time basically decided I wasn't worth the trouble of keeping around despite my personal contributions. So an old couple from that church who I had been working for on their farm drove me to the city and dropped me off at a horrible, criminal filled homeless shelter. The significance of this is that at the same service after I lost my home there was a young couple who was friends or neighbors with one of the church members. They had apparently also lost their home. Well I sat there in that service and watched the congregation collect almost 1000 dollars to help them out. A week later I was taken hours away to the city shelter ...
Of all the emotional losses I suffered from that the worsed was having to leave my dog behind after spending so much time and energy with her and training her, even playing frisbee with her ... That was the one thing I cried over. I still miss my dog after all this time ...
The wealthy church I attended while in Oklahoma City (also part of the same organization) did little things here and there for me, but nothing substantial to help change my situation. There were people could have employed and housed me. Even the Pastor who donates 1000's of dollars to foreign affairs and organizational activities only gave me a 10 dollar bill via his Assistant Pastor. He rarely ever acknowledged me despite my personal contribution to the church, including working maintenance in the building regularly and helping out with various functions ... someone else was given the credit. They were ashamed to be "represented" by a homeless saint ...
There are more stories of times when I was turned away or betrayed or mistreated by Pastors. Many occasions when church members took unholy attitudes towards me. Many times when I realized so many churches are not doing things the way the Bible mandates ...
I'm not going to name the organization or the Pastors, and I have been badly treated by much of the world as well. But to be perfectly honest. I may have suffered just as much if not more persecution from so called Christians as I have from the world ...
I have experienced many things in my travels with my involvement in one corporate church organization over the last 20 years ...
I'm going to tell the highlights of a few instances between myself and some of that organization's Pastors ...
I remember the Pastor who was my dear friend and who also had allowed his congregation to control his decisions. Well the thing you must first grasp is that the congregation was ultimately jealous of our friendship and that stirred up a lot of malice behind my back ...
Later, after accusing me of being every thing I hate and pretty much encouraging every rumor spread about me, causing a spirit to get on me. A spirit he brought into the church with him that day ... after all that, he later tells me he just wants me to be saved ...
Keep in mind I spent every night in that sanctuary privately praying rebuke and reproach against the goings on of the congregation. Essentially I pushed the devil's buttons to turn them against me ...
After that our friendship basically ended and some weeks later I was voted out of the church (allegedly against his will) he seemed to genuinely regret his actions and decision. He informed me that if I ever get in a bind to call him ...
This event eventually caused me to be homeless for the second time. I was in Des Moines on the streets when I called him. I asked him to help me with a hotel over that weekend ... he said "go sleep in a shack, what do you want me to do?"
Another Pastor in Des Moines of the same organization also turned me out leaving me in the streets even after I had been attending services and helped with work being done on the church ...
The first time I was homeless was in Oklahoma City. When I contacted my home church (again of the same organization) the Pastor at that time was only told that I was a disturbed individual trying to get money. I do not know who it was but I could narrow it down to a few people ...
I later discovered my home church was suffering from divorce and many backslid youth. I say backslid loosely since these churches are quite worldly ...
I ended up homeless in Oklahoma City because the church I was a part of at the time basically decided I wasn't worth the trouble of keeping around despite my personal contributions. So an old couple from that church who I had been working for on their farm drove me to the city and dropped me off at a horrible, criminal filled homeless shelter. The significance of this is that at the same service after I lost my home there was a young couple who was friends or neighbors with one of the church members. They had apparently also lost their home. Well I sat there in that service and watched the congregation collect almost 1000 dollars to help them out. A week later I was taken hours away to the city shelter ...
Of all the emotional losses I suffered from that the worsed was having to leave my dog behind after spending so much time and energy with her and training her, even playing frisbee with her ... That was the one thing I cried over. I still miss my dog after all this time ...
The wealthy church I attended while in Oklahoma City (also part of the same organization) did little things here and there for me, but nothing substantial to help change my situation. There were people could have employed and housed me. Even the Pastor who donates 1000's of dollars to foreign affairs and organizational activities only gave me a 10 dollar bill via his Assistant Pastor. He rarely ever acknowledged me despite my personal contribution to the church, including working maintenance in the building regularly and helping out with various functions ... someone else was given the credit. They were ashamed to be "represented" by a homeless saint ...
There are more stories of times when I was turned away or betrayed or mistreated by Pastors. Many occasions when church members took unholy attitudes towards me. Many times when I realized so many churches are not doing things the way the Bible mandates ...
I'm not going to name the organization or the Pastors, and I have been badly treated by much of the world as well. But to be perfectly honest. I may have suffered just as much if not more persecution from so called Christians as I have from the world ...
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