We call them “Preachers.”
Back East they were termed “ministers” and there’s nothing wrong with that. Biblical terms include pastors, elders, and bishops, all alluding to some portion of the duties of the church leader. In Peter’s warning to us, God says “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.” (2 Peter 2:1 KJV.) In that verse, the New Testament teacher is at least generally compared with the Old Testament prophet, though the prophet of old was a “foreteller” and the church age teacher is more of a “forth teller.” Ephesians 4:11-12 tells us that God gave them to us as His gift “And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:” As always, God has provided for us.
The great Dr. Parker Daily once announced that he loved all preachers and all kinds of preachers, “preachers that screamed and preachers that softly uttered, preachers that snorted and preachers that snoozed, preachers that pranced and preachers that perched. (OK, I can’t really remember how he phrased it, but you get the picture!) Yes, there are sometimes charlatans in the chancellery, and no, Parker Dailey did not like them. But we had two of the great ones preach to us yesterday at Pioneer Baptist Church!
Evangelist Rev. Joe Doyle spoke in Sunday School and Sunday morning, reviewing the history of the blood of Christ, beginning with the protoevangelium in Genesis 3:15, and taking us step-by-step down to the birth of the Messiah, the Christ, in the New Testament. Then, in the second installment, Brother Doyel wonderfully and pointedly reminded us that it was the “Person of Christ” more than “The Provision of Christ” that we are looking forward to when we fulfill our innermost spiritual desires to “be absent from the body and to be present with the LORD” which is “far better.” (and that’s for sure!) As always, Brother Doyel brought a tremendous, scriptural message for one and all. We love him!
In our evening service, Pastor Enoch Hacbang put the icing on the cake of a fantastic Lord’s Day as he spoke on the subject of “paradigm shifts,” and how our paradigm shifts the proper way when we receive Jesus Christ as our LORD and Saviour, taking us away from the ungodly paradigm established and defined by the god of this world. It was a great message, emphasizing that in choosing whether to adopt the paradigm of the world or the LORD, we need “all of the pertinent information in order to make a good decision.” Pastor Hacbang pointed out that while it is generally a good and chivalrous thing for you to give up your bus seat to an elderly blind man, it isn’t such a good thing if you happen to be the bus driver! We need all the information regarding our paradigm choices! “If the blind drive the blind on the bus, both go over the embankment and great is the crash thereof!” Never allow yourself to turn what should be a simple gear shift into a bad paradigm shift! Let God drive the bus! It was a hard-hitting and highly entertaining message with a great scriptural emphasis brought by a great Bible preacher!
We call them preachers, and that’s what they do most and best. We had two of the finest yesterday at Pioneer Baptist Church!
Parker Dailey would be proud!
Love and Prayers to you all,
Pastor