Reflections from a pastor

Do you remember the cry of the Reformation? It was as follows: "We will only do and believe what the Bible says." Well that sounds good but it doesn't play out too well in the good ole American culture. We are becoming a nation of the "Burger King" church - we are determined to have it our way!
Here is a sampling of some quotes I actually heard in 4 years as pastor:
"Why do you have to preach on sin?"
"The music sounds like nails going across a chalkboard" (By the way this person was referring to hymns)
"When I go to church I expect to leave with a positive, upbeat type of feeling"
"My wife would not go to a small group if it was next door to us"
"I am leaving the church because my small group leaders are leaving the church"
"I see a huge problem but you telling me to be part of the solution is making me want to leave and go somewhere else"
"I am not reaching out to anyone in this church until someone shows me some love"
"No, I can't support this behavior from the Bible"
"I don't trust you or the leadership here but I can't point to any reasons why"
"I do not feel good when I hear you preach"
"We are going to find a church where I kids want to go"
"Can we do more"
"Why do we have to do so much"
"I will not support the vision of feeding the sheep and reaching the lost" (I am not kidding someone actually said that and they were not on any mind altering drug)
"You don't like me and I don't like you and you are trying to run me out of the church just like you have others"
"Since Christ is the solution then why is it necessary to even talk about the problem"
"Why don't we have some audience participation during the preaching time"
"I am committed to this church no matter what happens" (this person was gone within a month of that declaration)
"The leadership can't be trusted" (this person was one of the key leaders)
"Your preaching has gotten worse since you went to seminary"
"Your preaching has blessed me like never before since you went to seminary"
"You don't need to study anymore of the Bible or go to anymore seminary classes"
"Church for us is basically driven by how we feel during the worship music"
"I will not support the leadership of this church but I still want to be actively involved in the leadership"
"I will not read this, I already know what it says" (Response from a person whenI handed out the Bible doctrine books in September of 2006)

My conclusion is that we, as the church, need to get back into the word of God so that the word of God can get back into us. Nancy and I remain at this time, by the grace of God, more excited and committed to ministry than ever before. Many of the relationships that we had are now gone but we consider the lessons learned to be a valuable ministry experience from the Lord. Even during the hardest of times our heavenly Father provided a remnant of strong believers that continued to encourage and speak truth with love into our lives. Today I am teaching again and enjoying it more than ever. It seems my verse throughout this time in my life as been Romans 8:28 - "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." What an incredible, awesome and infinitely great God we serve!