Since late last year, and I do mean late, think like September 2013, the pastor of my church has been like a alien possessed being that has acted like he is God. Not the word of God but God himself.
The first that I heard of it was when he, in what seemed like a totally random move, decided that as of January 2014, church would begin at ten A.M. He didn't ask anyone he decreed it. In my mind, it honestly didn't matter. I'm rarely on time for church when it started at eleven so starting it at ten just meant that I would still be late just earlier than I had always been. NOT A BIG DEAL.
Oh but it was. In church meetings it was a HUGE issue. This one solitary hour caused an uproar that I'm pretty sure that Satan himself heard and probably steepled his fingers ala Monty Burns and said Excellent.
I couldn't understand it. I honestly didn't much care but I still couldn't understand it. It was one freaking hour. And despite many complaints, come January church did indeed begin at ten. The bell schedule was off for a few months and people still were late, but even those that fought the new time so vehemently STILL SHOWED UP AT TEN.
In March I got a job so many of the things going in in my church began to fall past my notice. Sure I was there and I had Sunday's and Fridays off but let me tell you, Most Friday's I was lucky to be awake long enough to care and most Sunday's I put my head down, played on my Tablet and called it a good Sunday. Then I began to work on Fridays so I missed the gossip. Then I began to close on Saturdays so getting up for Church... yeah... that was hit or miss. If you thought I was late before that, my schedule on Sundays was comical. I'd be on time but church service became an extension of my bed meaning I slept. And slept hard. Noticeably.
Also somewhere in there, PAstors wife left him and to my utter disgust (A word I NEVER thought I would say in reference to my church) pastor began to preach about sex. From the Pulpit. Yes Sex. Do you have any idea how may Sunday's I went home and felt like I needed a shower? And people fell away.
But there was so much more happening behind the scenes that none of us had a clue about. Money was getting tight but he got an $11,000 dollar raise. He went to Africa and the church paid a good part of that I think. We didn't have it but we did it.
And then the big one. It seems as though Pastor lied on his application. He said he'd never been pastor of another church. His resume said nothing about it. But at a church function, members of the church he didn't claim to know anything about, came to our members and said that he had been their pastor for three years. THREE YEARS!! Even my mom read his resume. He filled that gap quite nicely so that there were no questions. The church in question also deleted his name from the history and searchable database effectively doing his work for him. Did they know that this was going to help him? I don't think so. I think they just wanted to pretend that the cancer that was Jon Edwards never appeared to have sullied their church.
I'm told they asked him about it and he said wrong person. So they let it go. And a few months later, it came to light that this time, HE was lying. It was him.
Rather like Mrs. White. In the ballroom. With the Candlestick. It was Edwards. In the pulpit. With the Bible.
Aside: Please don't think that by referencing The SImpsons or the game CLUE I am trying to make light of any of this, I am trying to keep myself from bawling because of the pain this is causing a lot of good people.
Anyway, it was him. He lied. Law says that even if you work somewhere for thirty years and it comes up that you lied on your resume, you can be fired. And that's what the trustees did, they terminated him but he refused to leave.
You have to understand. Admittedly It had been hubub for awhile now that he was bleeding our church dry and we couldn't take much more and maybe they were looking for a way to legally fire the man, I don't know but this glaring lie gave them the chance they needed and they took it. Rightfully so if you ask me, which no one has. The point being made here is he lied. To a Church. And now he needed to pay for that lie.
But the fucker won't leave. If I knew that I wasn't wanted someplace I would sure as hell not try to stay there just to be there. I would pack my things and go. I wouldn't try to grasp straws in hopes of staying. I wouldn't try to divide the place into factions that are basically at war now.
My church is at war. My church has become a pissing ground and a huge game of "My dog is bigger than your dog." Certain people, Who granted favors to, seem to think that he was dismissed unfairly. The rest of the church agrees that if you lie, you pay the price. Hence the pissing contest. One side is waving half the information, the other side is waiting for the other side to realize that they are wrong.
I've got news for you:
IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO'S DOG IS BIGGER. IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO CAN PISS FARTHER. GOD IS BIGGER THAN THE BOTH OF YOU AND SOONER OR LATER, IT'S GOING TO HAVE TO BE SHOWN JUST HOW BIG HE IS...
IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO'S DOG IS BIGGER. IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO CAN PISS FARTHER. GOD IS BIGGER THAN THE BOTH OF YOU AND SOONER OR LATER, IT'S GOING TO HAVE TO BE SHOWN JUST HOW BIG HE IS...
And you will lose. BOTH of you. Because no one wins when they bet against God.
