JD: A Pastoral transition can actually be one of the most dangerous times in the life of any church.
DJ: Well that’s true, you know I meet with a lot of people from all over the United States in the world and the way people in churches, leaders, deacons, and elders as a result of not being prepared for these transitions not going smoothly. A lot of times there are church splits; there are a lot of times where things happened that weren’t anticipated. It really does become a dangerous time for the church because the local church is the local expression of the universal body of Christ. We know that the local church comes under satanic attack and Satan wants to destroy the local church and he does that many times as through these Pastoral transitions.
JD: I notice that a number of your questions seem to focus especially on the Pastoral candidates view of the Bible, salvation, and of course future prophetic events.
DJ: These are the current hot button issues. Fewer and fewer
people are taking the Bible seriously; the few are taking it literally and that
goes back to the hermeneutic. There is a tremendous trend to be
anti-dispensational and this goes back to the hermeneutic. They say Israel
doesn’t have a future in God’s program; Christ isn’t going to rule for a
thousand years and then there are issues related to salvation. Both of these
are connected with this movement of reformed theology that is sweeping through
the churches. And unfortunately a lot of guys who are applying for Pastoral
positions in churches they hide what they believe about these things. So, these
questions need to be asked directly so that a lot of these young guys are not
putting all their cards on the table. We need to be asking these kinds of questions
to prepare for these transitions for the success and the on going ministry of
any local church.
JD: David James with sound Biblical advise for a Pastoral
transition in your local church.
We report this information because it is setting the stage
for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.
God’s plan for this time in history is the local church. The
church actually came on the world scene on the day of Pentecost some 2,000
years ago and will be on earth until the rapture when Jesus will take us the
church to be with him in the heavenlies.
Until that time the church is to evangelize the world and
then educate the church Biblically. Paul the apostle in first and second
Timothy instructs the church for this age. As David James told us selection of
a Pastor is a key component for every local church. We as the church must be
preparing for the next event in Bible prophecy and that’s the rapture of the
church as foretold in I Thessalonians 4:13-18.
