Examination of a Wise Man, a Novice, and a Fool

You were called of God and went to your Pastor and asked him to assist you in fulfilling your calling. (Beginning Novice showing respect)

You offered your Pastor to work as a sunday school teacher, youth leader, home cell leader, give Bible studies, or where he needs you. (Novice showing unity of purpose)

You developed a good one on one friendship with the Pastor and are his friend and supporter. (Novice who has genuine love)

You ask your Pastor to tutor you and give you the names of books he believes would help you develop your ministry. (Novice developing wisdom)

You observe the way your Pastor operates and runs the church, the service, and his relationship to others and have learned to duplicate it. (Novice subjecing himself to his leader)

If your Pastor should go on a trip and put you in charge of the service, you would change nothing and do it just as if he was there doing it. (Novice showing himself a pattern of good works)

A church member calls you and ask you to give some spiritual advice and you tell them they should go talk to the Pastor and not you. (Novice who refuses to get entangled with the members)

Some members talk of quitting and going to start a church and ask you to come be the pastor and you refuse to accept. (Novice who shows wisdom and loyalty)

You disagree with the Pastor over a teaching or doctrine but do not challenge him or threaten to leave and go on your own. (Novice who wants a right spirit in him to prevail).

You are being used in the Ministry and the Pastor has helped you tremendously: but you feel it is time to be ordained and move out on your own, yet you stay when the Pastor says it is not your time yet. (Novice who shows ordination is not a release but an honor bestowed)

Your Pastor tells you he wants you to wash his car weekly, cut the church grass monthly, and make sure the Church is closed down and locked after each service. You tell him you will gladly do it. (Novice who sees this as training for the future, not as the Pastor using him)

Another Pastor invites you to his campmeeting, revival, or special meeting, and you tell him you have to talk to your Pastor about it first and get his permission. (Novice who seeks permission will also be one that shows he is humble)

You are going to take a vacation and want to visit another church while away. You ask your Pastor about visiting that church and he tells you he would rather you did not. So, you do not visit that church. (Novice but one who learns his Pastor's wisdom has a purpose)

Your Pastor gives you permission to vist another Church to preach and the Pastor there gives you an offering. Your Pastor has taught you to give back the tithe on the offering before you leave. So, you give the host Pastor the tithe on the offering. If he declines to accept it, you give it to your Pastor. (Novice who learns how to give just like other great men of God do it)

Your Pastor ask you to take up a toliet and replace the wax seal ring. You go buy the .99 cent wax ring and do so. (Novice who shows he is willing to please God doing all things)

The Pastor has not been holding men's meeting but says he will start them back up after his missionary trip. But you decide to not only call one anyway, but choose a topic that is designed to subtilly attack another brother in the group and his wife. (Double Fool)

You have been in many churches under many Pastors and you have no Pastor whom you would call your Pastor. (Novice Fool)

You took some members from a Pastor and went out and started your own Church. (Novice Fool)

Your Pastor would not ordain you because of bad conduct and character so you went to another church and ask the Pastor there to ordain you and he did because he did not like your Pastor. (Novice Fool)

You have your own ministry but it is not under the spiritual covering of your Pastor. (Novice Fool)

You had a disagreement with your Pastor and decided to confront him in front of Church members. (Novice Fool)

You had a disagreement with your Pastor and he told you if you did not repent and humble down he would disfellowship you. You jumped around and say you would disfellowship him and stomp off. (Novice Fool)

There is no man in your life whom you can call your Father in the Faith because you have had many Pastors and for one reason or another quit them all. (Novice Fool)

You want to be all on your own and so you have little or no association with your Pastor or Father in the Faith. (Novice Fool)

You want your own identity and recognition and so do not want to be associated with the name of your Pastor or Father in the Faith. (Novice)

Your Pastor ask you to take care of the Church while he makes a mission trip and you decide that when he is gone you are really going to tell the members what you disagree with the Pastor over. (Novice Fool)

The Pastor goes to a meeting and leaves you in charge and so you put your daughter on the platform to play music because the Pastor would not allow her when he was there. (Novice Fool)

The Pastor does not believe in drinking wine except for the Lord's Supper. You disagree and believe a person can drink it any time they want. So, you sneak and drink wine and do not let the Pastor know of your conduct so he will not remove you from the platform and preaching. (Novice Fool)

You believe when god breathed into Adam his breath that the life in Adam was then God. Therefore Adam is a kind of God manifest in the flesh. You believe no man can do anything unless it is God within them doing it. You beleive when John baptized Jesus that it was really God in John baptizing Jesus. The Pastor tells you not to teach or preach these doctrines. But you do it anyway in a service when he is not there. (Novice Fool)

Your Pastor sits you down from all ministry on the platform because you talked back to him. He is teaching a lesson about wolves and sheep and how they are easily distinguished: you jump up, do a jig, then announce to the church you are leaving. You take your family in a show and march out of the church. (Novice Fool)

Your Pastor accepts your calling into the Ministry and invites you to speak at the next service on water baptism. You decide you will teach on wearing jewelry instead. So, when the service comes you teach on jewelry. (Novice Fool)

You have a geat burden to see souls saved. The Pastor ask you to preach something evangelistic on Sunday nite. You preach about the woman and the issue of blood and press your point to press until you touch Jesus. Many are blessed and come to the altar. It is a good service. (Novice whose desire to see souls saved controls his zeal)

You are now three years with a Pastor and he has refused to ordain you. You ask him about it and he says he will ordain when God tells him. You humble down and remain with the Pastor determined like Jacob not to turn loose until you get your blessing. (Novice who respects the Pastor's walk with God and his judgment)

You hate it when your Pastor refers to you as a novice. Dosen't he know you can preach better than he? Doesn't he know you are in great demand by other Pastors wanting you to preach and he won't release you? When will he quit being jealous of you and make you his equal and stop his prejudice that you are still beneath him? If he does not ordain you soon you are leaving. (Novice Fool)

You have been a good son. Your Father in the Faith has treated you well. The time has come and he has said he will ordain you. You are ordained. Soon afterward some church members want you to leave and start a church. You decline. (The novice begins to become a wise man)

You are ordained and still working under your Pastor. You feel it is your calling to stay here in this church and assist the Pastor. And if one day he retires you desire to replace him. (The novice has grown into a wise man of God)

You are in a church under a Pastor and have faithfully filled in when asked. Yet you have not been ordained. Since you have no plans to become a Pastor any time soon, you remain humble and do not seek ordination just as a formality. (The novice here is developing wisdom)

You are a Pastor and there appears at a service some members from another Pastor's Church. You ask them why they are there and they report they have quit the other Pastor and want to come there. You tell them you will not take them in until you talk to the other Pastor. (A wise Pastor will not invite another Pastor's trouble into his Church, if he does he will show disrespect to the other Pastor)

You are a Pastor and there appears at a service some members from another Pastor's Church. You don't really like that Pastor very well so you cozy up to them and make it clear you would like to have them as members. (Foolish Pastor, who will reap his own trouble and hurt from these same people later on)

You observe some young ministers in another Church and think in your heart how much you would really like to have them in your church. So you plant the seed in some other young men's minds and they make contact. Over some months of fellowship which the other Pastor knows nothing about, these are invited to come and join that church. These men do eventually come and join but not before creating church trouble and causing some members to quit their Pastor's Church. The coveteous Pastor is overjoyed that he now has these men in his church. (Foolish Pastor, who will in time regret he played the part of a foolish novice)

Some ministers come complaining they have not been ordained by their Pastor and want you to ordain them. You see no reason not to ordain them so you do it because you were asked, not because God told you. (Foolish Pastor, whose ordinations are not respectable nor will God honor them)

Note: The majority of Church problems today are a result of bad men of God, novices who are out of order, and fools who want nothing better then to see what they cannot have destroyed. The Church is preparing to go into the time of tribulation and if there ever was a time to know those who labor among us it is now. It is time to guard the house of God with greater wisdom. It is time to close the ranks against rabble who have no desire for a perfected church, but rather only to be seen and heard. We must purge from our midst all the novices and fools who will not humble down and stay in their place within the body. If they will not remain in their place it is time to cut off the branches. The olive tree needs to be pruned. Dead branches need to be lopped of. We should keep our eyes only on that which is bearing good fruit.

The Lord Jesus bless all of his great men of God.

Thank you Pastor G. Reckart for your words of encouragement and inspiration. God bless you and the wonderful people of Cebu, Philippines, always.