A LETTER WITH COMMENTS

I am here within publishing another letter of comment that I received from a fellow minister who is disturbed with certain conditions currently prevailing among us. I realize there are those who object to the airing of our problems in this way. Unfortunately there are many who feel that there is, at this time, no other way to address these things. The re-institution of a real threshing floor, with elders giving final judgement, would de-necessitate this method of dealing with such matters. I would certainly be more than happy to forego this labor to see a return of the threshing floor (with government) format. The idea that if we ignore something long enough it will go away is not always either right or true. There are issues that demand our attention, and a conclusion that is concurrent with godly judgement and leadership. Anything that affects the whole of us qualifies as a demanding issue.

Paul B. Dyal

Dear Brother Dyal,

Greetings from your brother and friend. I am writing to you, my friend, because of the troubling conditions I see all around us. I am reminded of the scripture in Hebrews 2:6-9, "What is man?" I look at the problems in the world and the Body of Christ and I see a familiar pattern. Man, on his own, has no answers. Jesus made the observation when addressing the leaders of his day in John 5:39 "Search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life." These great Hebrew scholars could not come up with the answer. There was something stopping them, just as there is something stopping us now. He gives the answer in another place in Matthew 23:13. He says, "You will not enter into the Kingdom yourselves; neither will you let anyone else go in."

I will not deal with the issues of the world or the religious world in this short letter, but I would like to comment on the ones that pertain to us in The Body of Christ. As we look around and see some of the respected churches among us shrinkung, collapsing, and even abandoning some of the principles of holiness that mean so much to us as a people, we are in a very serious condition. We have just recently seen a church vote their pastor out of his position. Yet, we are aware of nothing this man has done to biblically deserve this treatment. This inherited problem existed because the founding pastor let the by-laws give the people the authority toremove their pastor, rather than leaving that authority to the Elders in the Body of Christ if a judgement was needed. I still believe that the proper order is to appeal to the Elders of the Body if a pastor has done things worthy of judgement. The Saints place is not to judge the ministry.

A situation on the west coast is similiar. If a man of God has done things worthy of losing his position, then a judgement must be rendered that he is not fit to lead the church. If, on the other hand, the people are wrong, then reconcilation mustbe made. The apostle Paul would not have allowed a two church solution. Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or say the tree is bad and its fruit bad.

The third condition we face is one of our leading pastors making statements about standards and seperation. These statements appear to demean all those who have faithfully kept these standards of seperation from the beginning. This new doctrine should have been discussed on the threshing floor, so that the entire Brotherhood could listen carefully to this brothers opinion and determine whether it is Biblically accurate. I still believe that new doctrines and interpretations should not be presented to the local congregation without first being discussed on the threshing floor. Refusing to openly discuss these new doctrines on the threshing floor is like eating your own bread in secret and then shouting on the housetop that you are right and your brethern are wrong. As James 3:10 says, "My brethern, these things ought not so to be."

Yours in Christ

Brother H. Finnicum

Pastor, Roanoke, Va.