hear our prayer for PASTOR STEVE WILBURN and those of his "ILK" ...steve started a church called "CORE CHURCH LA" and he is a hi-energy pastor...this is NOT a negative critique of his ministry per se, nor per those of his ilk, who I will name in a moment, but just a bit of constructive criticism of Steve & his ilk. The tendency of some of these "independent" pastors who don't seem to be part of any denomination per se, but rely upon their own personal energy & charisma and the help of their followers. I am NOT saying they are not a true church, or not part of the true church. I am not a Catholic speaking down about them, nor some other denominational Christian speaking condescendingly. I am simply warning of some of the dangers that seem to be associated with this independent style church & pastor. This includes Greg Laurie (Harvest Ministries), Tim Celek (the crossing, costa mesa), Rick Warren (Saddleback), and some others, but also even a few long-time American Catholic priests (meaning "local" priests born and bred in L.A. who have stayed in L.A. and managed to raise funds for a new building in some cases, which gives them a HUGE ego boost and sense of permanence and pride, maybe sometimes too much individual pride, without, perhaps, true appreciation for the help of others,
So some of these "individualistic" pastors & priests tend to take maybe a bit too much personal pride in thinking of "their church " as theirs because they "started" it...; even using these words about a local church/congregation feels contradictory. No single pastor, even if they were the inspirational force behind the start of a church should think of "their" congregation or "their" church as "theirs." Sure, if you challenge them on this, they will say, OF COURSE, ...but in reality in some cases, not all, there is too much personal pride involved in their ego & "their church." They might become a bit overbearing, maybe a bit controlling, demanding, etc because it is "their" church and they don't answer to anybody because they started the church,and look how successful it is , right? Well, yes and no. Without the people, and without the right location, and without the Holy Spirit and many other aspects, where would "their church" be? Do these individual "star pastors" deserve the credit, or many other people and influences, not to mention GOD HIMSELF?
Here I go again, intending NOT to become sarcastic, perhaps I have become sarcastic. Not my intention. I just wanted to offer some constructive criticism and a prayer request ...that we pray for some of these pastors ...in contrast to the average pastor or priest who gets assigned to a parish, does an average good job, and doesn't feel he (or she in some cases) deserves extra credit for doing their job as a pastor because the church is a "team", not a solo effort. It takes many people and influences for a church/congregation to do well. SO let's pray for this, to be remembered, and for some individual pastors to check their ego a bit, ...they need constructive criticism too. Hear our prayer, Lord: Father Son Spirit.
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(& priests such as Dave Sork at St John Fisher palos verdes, Fr Kerry in Newport Beach, Fr Jeremiah Murphy West Hollywood, et al
" If u declare with your mouth,
"Jesus is Lord," & believe in your heart
that God raised Him from the dead,
u will be saved."
Romans 10.9
