I received a copy of one of my favorite Christian publications and was amazed to see an article by the editor condemning presidential candidate Barack Obama because of the outrageous statements made by his former pastor.The writer inquired, how can we elect a man to run this country when he was anointed by this flamboyant and controversial pastor? How could Obama spend 20 years in a church and not be 100% in line with his former pastor.
Um... hello?
Is any Christian 100% in line with what his or her pastor says?
I mean... come on.
Really?
I attended a church for years where the pastor spoke against the gift of tongues. Unbeknownst to my former pastor, I had received this gift of the Spirit in my dormitory room during an hour of Bible study and prayer. I wasn’t seeking it... but God was gracious to give it.
I kept the fact of my gift quiet and just continued to, as my god-sister told me, chew up the meat and spit out the bones. In other words, accept those things that you can digest and ignore those things that you can’t.
Despite the fact that my former pastor preached vehemently against tongues, I continued to attend because I enjoyed many other aspects of that church:
- the music
- the fellowship
- the Bible studies
- the free fried chicken dinners
- the majority of the pastor’s teaching.
Whenever my former pastor said something that I didn’t completely cotton to, I would simply chew on the meat and spit out the bones. And, maybe pray that he would change his perspective on certain matters...
Eventually, I left that church... largely because my former pastor began to suspect that I was Spirit-filled and received a prayer language. Not sure how he knew, since I never spoke publicly (only in my prayer closet) and never told anyone.
Maybe he received a word of knowledge?
So I can understand how Obama could spend 20 years in a church and not be 100% in line with any controversial statements made by his former pastor.
Maybe he kept attending because of the chicken dinners?
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