Article deleted per Pastor Briggs' facebook IM threat. See below:
Here's the link to the article:
http://ntccpasadenatx.org/blogs2/?p=717
Gregory
PASTOR BRIGGS' FACEBOOK THREAT MESSAGE TO ME:
Robert Briggs October 25, 2010 at 2:34pm
Subject: I knew you were stupid enough to do this (sic)
It would serve you to read a web site before you break copywright (sic) laws. You vailed (sic) to read the following (sic)
© 2010 New Testament Christian Church, Pasadena, TX. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use prohibited. NTCC, Pasadena copyright materials may not be reproduced in whole or in part by persons, organizations or corporations other than the NTCC, its affiliates, divisions and units without the prior written permission of the NTCC, Pasadena (I did read it; it just didn't legally prevent my use of this article...also this notice did not prevent me from using his material for the purpose I did anymore than not having the notice).
So, you have 24 hours to take this unauthorized posting of my article on your site before I file suit (yet, it turns out he didn't wait that long to take any action).
Thanks Greg (why so informal, since I always use Rev. or Pastor when addressing him)... You just made my day!
QUESTION: Is he asking me to take this down or ordering me to put it on our blog? The way it's worded it seems he will file suit if it's not on our blog. Is he jealous of the exposure Pastor Davis, and Pastor Kekel receives? And doesn't Pastor Briggs have an accredited college degree?
I know 'fair use' covers our using his material, so I was not going to delete it, but Jeff counseled me too, since he (Jeff) said that Pastor Briggs was just the kind of Christian to sue over this.
Gregory
This Blog includes my early experiences while part of NTCC (pre-1980...but also until 2008). A time before most of my gainsayers were a gleam in their first Pastor's eye. Also addressed is NTCC's wresting of scripture.
Matthew 18:15-17 (King James Version)
But everyone knows the KJV is the anti-NTCC Version.
Matthew 18:15-17 (King James Version - the mandatory harmony and reconciliation Bible)...Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
Matthew 18:15-17 (King James Version - the mandatory harmony and reconciliation Bible)...Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
Proverbs 6:16-19 (King James Version)
Proverbs 6:16-19 (King James Version - the straight-talk Bible)...These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
Proverbs 31:10-28 (King James Version)
Proverbs 31:10-28 (King James Version - the pro-working-woman Bible)...Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar. She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens. She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms. She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night. She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet. She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple. Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land. She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant. Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.
4 comments:
I stood there, in the dark, listening to the hustle and bustle of activity on the inside. With a cold gust of wind I was reminded that that cool Missouri night would soon give way to the bitter cold of winter all too soon. And for me, somehow, the slight chilling of the night air represented in a tangible way what I had felt going on in my heart: A slight, yet steady cooling of my enthusiasm and with it my joy. My heart was getting cold, and I knew it.
Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t that I doubted my salvation, or that I was disgruntled with Holiness, or anything of the like. And no, my head was not beginning to turn towards Sodom like a modern day (male) Lot’s wife. No, it was just that questions concerning the whys and wherefores of organizational direction and leadership were beginning to bring confusion within my mind. I knew this was wrong, and wanted it to stop but it just wouldn’t do it. And the longer that it lingered, the harder it became to pray about it.
Now, on the third night of conference I stood in this cold night air waiting for Rev. Olson to step outside the Lodge for a quick discussion. My arms instinctively wrapped themselves around my chest in a bid to find a little buckler from the cold. I could have come in, Sister Kekel had smilingly invited, but I felt that I could not; I knew what was at stake. And so, I waited.
When he emerged from the light filled room I noticed that very familiar twinkle that always seems to find its way to his eyes when he smiles.
“Hello Brother” he said in greeting “how can I help you”.
“Hello sir” I answered in reply.
But the next words were not as easy to say. Over the years though I have found that it is easiest if I just say what I need to say rather than spend days and weeks afterward regretting I had not said more. So I began:
“Sir, Zig Zigglar once said, when you hire out to a man you hire out to do all that man asks you to do. And if in good conscience you cannot do everything he asks you to do, do him a favor, do yourself a favor and find a new job” I started. “I guess what I am trying to say is that I must resign”.
I never thought these words, or any like them for that matter, would ever come from my mouth but they had. And it felt weird to say the least. In fact, cold chills washed over me as if I had touched some unclean thing. It was an awful feeling.
Ok now, before your mind indicts a great matter against me, understand that I felt that I had no choice. The difficulties that drove me to this place were to me un-fixable. I needed help that could only come from one source and that was my Pastor, yet I was afraid to come to him. My fear was not simply that of facing a man who had been my friend and mentor for years but, far greater, the fear of his reaction to what I had to say, and that kept me from going to him for help. I realize that the thoughts I was having were built up in the theatre of my mind over many and varied rehearsals of this imagined conversation but they produced a very real fear within my
heart which at this point was insurmountable. I felt for sure I knew what he would say and what would be the end result.
I am, as anyone who really knows me can attest, a very passionate individual. That’s in reality a nice way to say that I have warm blood. I recognize this about myself. It has served me well in the 41 years of my life but it has also made me eat some pretty disgusting humble pie too. And where Pastor was concerned I did not want this to be the case. Maybe you don’t understand what I am trying to say and maybe you do but to ensure you walk away from this article with the right thoughts about me and this situation let me put it this way. Twenty-two years of my life have been in and around this Organization, and twenty of those years have been with Pastor R.W. Davis as my leader. He has seen me at my best and worst.
When I have been flying high on the adrenalin of success facing him was very simple, and I sought for it. But when the elevation of my life descended above the mountains of success and landed in the valley of defeat, I always seemed to withdraw from him. Now, on this particular instance success in my work was not the issue. No sin had beset me to trip me up. But doubts and questions about certain things were plaguing my mind and causing me to withdraw, to, as the Bible says, walk away backward.
Isn’t it amazing how the human mind works? Think of it! When we are faced with a situation like this, and we know what we have to do, we tend to rehears the scenario over and over again in our central cortex examining it in every conceivable way. And when this is done, we tend to see only one inevitable outcome – defeat.
On an intellectual level I know this happens, and in fact, preach about how to identify and conquer it quite a bit. But when it is me standing in the fire my feet always seem to burn. It’s one thing to tell them “you can walk on hot coals and not be burned” but when I have to do it I wince in pain before ever I touch the ground. To tell Pastor about my questions and in at least one or two things my doubts about leadership’s direction was a bed of hot coal I just could not bear the thought of walking across.
Rev. Olson stood there and listened to what I had to say and he told me what I knew he would “Brother I will be praying for you tonight. Let’s just wait and tomorrow, when people start to leave and things quiet down come up and talk to Pastor. I will be there, and Pastor will listen”.
“No sir” I said as I shook my head. “I can’t do that, I know what he will say and it will have the same outcome anyway”.
“Brother Pastor loves you and he will listen to you as you will see”!
“Sir, I know me. I know my temperament, and I don’t want to show him disrespect. I love him. I would rather just resign then do something like that”.
I was afraid that I would possibly be curt or disrespectful and that was a thought I did not want to tolerate. But because of what I had to say I knew I could not just accept that I was wrong as I
had done in the past. Truth-be-told, the older I get the stronger my opinions seem to be. I cannot back up when I think I am right or that at least I have a valid point.
But somehow, Rev. Olson won the day. It really wasn’t that hard because I wanted to believe, I wanted there to be a ‘glimmer’ of hope on the horizon, so I agreed.
“We will see you in the morning brother” and he shook my hand.
Now began the long drive to the hotel and oh the hounds of hell did bay after me. Thoughts of every imaginable destructive end pierced my mind like a hot iron poking into flesh. In fact sleep could not be found that night at all. I prayed and prayed. I thought, and prayed some more. I walked about my room, but I could not rest.
As morning came a small bit of mercy shone through with the rising of the sun when I finally had a chance to get something to eat. It’s weird how times of great stress like this cause me to eat. I sat in the early morning hours at a table by myself. Just one other man sat in the restaurant, and some song from the 70’s played in the background. As I ate I wrote a list of everything I “wanted” to say. But the length of the night had taken its toll on my mind and the points I wanted to make were hard to produce. In that tired state I started to wonder if I had any point at all or if it was all in my mind.
This made regret start pouring into my brain. Why did I do that last night? Why did I knock on that door?! I’ve ruined my life for sure. Now there is no turning back. No sweeping it under the rug. It’s done and I can’t change it. As I thought about these things my weary brain started to believe the best course was to just leave without another word, but the man in me said “no” face your fears. I would not run, I could not hide, I had to make my way to the camp for what I thought would be my last time. And I am so glad that I did.
That hour of prayer on the campground was sweet for my soul. I’m so grateful that I went to pray. So much good comes when a person will simply pray. So many battles are won both in the flesh and in the field. And this prayer meeting would prove to be the same. Towards the end, but before the lights were turned on, Rev. Kekel approached me to give me some maps for some young people in my church that would soon be going to School. And, as he showed them to me I blurted out “Sir, you might want to give these to someone else because I think today will be my last day to be a pastor”.
Deep concern came over his face as he asked me what was wrong. I told him my story from start to finish. I explained my questions and told of my doubts. I simply talked to him as a friend. I was at a point where I needed that – a friend. And you know he was in truth just that.
“Brother” he said “you need to talk to Pastor” which I already knew but still my mind was resisting.
“He will listen to you. He’s not the way you think. Pastor wants us to be upfront with him. It’s true that you have to approach him the right way, but he can tell when you are sincere and he will listen to you”. I needed to hear that right then. We talked some more and in the end he said
he would also be there for me when I spoke to the man of God. That meant more then I could ever say.
It goes without saying that the service that morning was a blur. And as the moment to close approached my heart began to race. But I stood my ground and waited as I said I would. After the usual after service fellowship began to die down I saw these three men of God gather. Some talking ensued, and then a hand motioned for me to come. I took a deep breath and began to walk.
It’s funny, but the closer I got the more the twinge of fear began to dissipate. Maybe it was a figment of an over active imagination after all. Pastor pulled up a chair and asked me to sit. As I did he said
“Ok, you got me, what do you want to say”.
As I started to open my mouth he inserted:
“But before you do brother I need you to talk to me from your heart. Don’t hold back, and don’t tell me what you think I want to hear just talk to me so I can help you”.
Wow! None of my mental scenario’s started that way. And you know what? None of the rest of the conversation had ever played out in my head either. No, Pastor did not nod and agree with everything I said. And no he did not let me cry on his shoulder. But we did talk. Not quite in the terms of a friend with his equal. No, it was more like the way a man speaks with his leader in a friendly way. And the talk was good.
In the end my heavy heart grew light. My fears melted away. And my questions were answered. Thank you Pastor for your help! Thank you Rev. Olson for your advice and prayer. And Rev. Kekel, thank you for your friendship when I needed it most. These men are true leaders.
So why am I writing this article you ask? Simple I want you to learn from my experience. The men that God has placed over us are there for our good. They are truly men of God who care about us. They won’t always say what we want to hear, true. But they will always say what we need to hear. And though time constraints prohibit them from sitting with us all for 15 minutes at a time, they are always there any time we really need to talk. Please don’t be afraid to do just that!
When the idea comes that they don’t care and they will never listen to you, cast that wicked thought down like the devil that spawned it. Bring every thought into captivity to Christ, stele yourself against his devices and get the help that you need.
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