This man is not my pastor. He does have a small church that resembles the church in the wildwood and is very small. My daughter goes to the Vacation Bible School Activities. She loves the interaction with kids her age and I am particuliar which place and instruction she receives.
We have a good AME church but they have no children activities and I go to this other church a block away when we don't get to our regular services. Well, when I don't skip church altogether. I have simple rules for attendance by me or the kids. Don't preach politics from the church. I make that pretty clear. Don't judge. Stick to scripture and not a version or opinion of what YOU think it means. When people have asked us to church..I make those rules very clear. So far that has been the situation
thus far down here in Liquid sunshine state. My family walked out of about 9 churches before we found these two. I decided before wasting my time and energy after these
things were met, when invited back, I lay out my rules for attending and if met with
"Well, keep looking"..so be it...I have been OK with these two churches because I feel that my faith has been hijacked by the extremists. .I've never been shy. Wrong maybe, but not shy.
The preacher of this second church we attend stopped by the other day to check on Jack. He never met him but once. He also wanted to talk some music. Since I don't know what his political view is, I was very interested in his take on a subject matter and we discussed it. In my home and not in the presence of others and not in church.
He mentioned that he was originally from Michigan and was a retired union auto worker.
This does not mean he was a dem but it gave me a clear signal that he was educated oregarding unions and the common folks.
He said, " You know, I hear a lot about removing government programs, but if the churches did their job, there would be no need for them". I replied, " Well, that is the point isn't it"? The churches did not nor do not do their jobs so therefore we need government social programs." He agreed whole heartily. I then said, " Mega churches and even mini churches have become a social club without cocktails. He nodded in approval of this statement. He then mentioned how he wanted some ladies to start a little group regarding abuse. My interest peaked. He told my husband and me that he felt there was definately a war on women. He expressed his concerns of physical, mental, and sexual abuse that was happening to the women of this country. He stated some stats just from the church going crowd that were alarming. He informed us that he knew that at least 70 percent and that number is high...of the women attending church had been abused in a relationship or assaulted. His wife got involved with the stats when they heard first had reports of abuse and one from their daughter who recently left her husband. I asked him what did he think should be done. The man's answer surprised me. He said, " Education is the key and serious counseling by professionals. I asked, " Do you mean secular counseling"? He answered, Anyone who has been trained to deal with these horrible issues". he added, "It is ruining lives, it is not bibilical to stand by without standing up. " I was shocked. My husband
said, "Man, you just hit the nail on the head ". He never mentioned politics in the sense of a democratic or republican way and I still do not know his political views but this much I do know. He has the right compass to teach the B attitudes. He met my
expectations on not judging and wanting to help people who were downtrodden.
The gentleman was sincere and acted as though he had met resistance in some of these subject matters maybe within his own congregation but it gave me hope. He could not help but see our Not a Republian bumper sticker proudly displayed on our car. I wondered if he needed to vent some frustration of the churches, and so called conservatives and right wingers of today.
I knew our other preacher was a democratic person and believed in core principles such as this family has but I feel nowadays, that we must not affiliate with those who hide behind pews and Amen corners and a world of hypocrisy. I am glad he stopped by and glad he found out that not all liberals or people who display Not a Republican on their car share in his views of wanting their families to work with less fortunate, to call out hypocrisy, and speak up against injustice. What impressed me is that he is a 60 ish
white male. This gave me hope that people are tired of dogma, greed, and abuse in the richest country on earth. We are truly better than that. It gave me a glimmer of hope to know there are still some people of faith who want more than Faith based programs. It gave me hope that others are tired of hijacked and twisted belief systems. This guy is the preacher/pastor of a Baptist church but not affiliated with associations.
I still don't know how he votes. If he votes his values as spoken to me and my husband, there is no way this guy will vote Romney.