By Ed Decker
This pastor had started pastoring a new SBC (Southern Baptist) church for several months and during a recent funeral for one of the church’s deacons, he saw most of his church leaders dressed in full masonic garb walking down the aisle in a somber procession. As he watched the rest of the ceremony, he was stunned by what he saw and afterwards he was concerned for all these men who literally ran the church through the entire leadership.
When we spoke, he asked me what he should do? He said that he loved each one of these men, but felt he should publicly renounce this dark, controlling spirit and expressed a desire to see his church free from the grip of the masonic lodge. He wondered if this new assignment was of the devil and not the Lord’s calling.
I told him that perhaps God placed him in this specific church because of its Masonic influence and his deep love for the members. I suggested that he put his and Christ’s love at the front of this calling and to pray for each of these men every day. I said that God will have the victory as he minsters to his congregation. Love will always win when the Lord is in control. He also needs to be obedient to the Holy Spirit leading him to feel a conviction of righteousness, to call out this evil and see these men set free from this demonic grip.
The Fruit of the Lord’s love is beyond measure. Like my late friend and evangelist T.L. Osborn has said, it’s time to shout it from the rooftops! Well at the very least, maybe we can quietly share it with the lost ones around you. Even the ones you want to hate.
Some years ago, before he passed away in February 2013, I had the pleasure of sitting next to, T.L. Osborn at a luncheon. Things were quiet as we were all eating. I took the moment to ask him, “You have been preaching to the lost and the found for 70 years. Brother Osborn, what should I be preaching? It was like I poked him with an electric cow prod. He looked me in the eye and at a volume set for a massive audience shouted, “The Cross! Preach The Cross and Jesus Crucified for our sins. Preach the cross!”
Everyone in the dining room stopped talking and just stared at us. The Word was out. “It’s not about us, he quietly added. He died for us, even the worst of us. He loved the world that much. All of us and we need to look at the world and lost just as He did. You need to have that kind of love before you ever preach to the sinner.” He had much more to share.
While I was studying in preparation for this phone call, I noticed my bible study software program shows there are 504 references for Love and surprisingly, only 65 references for Sinner.
I pulled up an old tract on Witnessing, where I had quoted from an old Jews for Jesus pamphlet. In my Witnessing to the Cults tract, I made the statement that we first need to love the lost and to:
Be ready to love that person just exactly as they are and where they are, even if they never leave that cult. The Jews for Jesus Ministry had the right perspective. Love always comes first.
We already know what is wrong with the cults, but we needed to move WHAT IS RIGHT about the Cross and move it to first position before we took on anyone lost in spiritual darkness. When, with Christ’s love, we shared what was right about the cross and our lostness without it, the fruit of our ministry took a leap forward.
18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— 19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. Ephesians 6.
Please join us and pray for this Pastor and his church!
- Please pray for the Holy Spirit to empower this Pastor with Love, Faith and obedience as he leads his church.
- Pray for this pastor’s strength, resources, family and marriage during this time.
- Pray that God would raise up Godly members to join with him in this endeavor.
- Pray that the Holy Spirit would convict the masonic congregants of righteousness.
- Pray their eyes, ears and hearts be open to see, hear and receive Jesus
