After reading the Wall Street Journal article (posted by Sonchild yesterday), I found myself cheering the brave pastors who took a stand for unity in their houses. While it was obvious the article was sympathetic to the church members who were shunned or asked to leave or repent, it was a true testimony to the condition of the current church. There is a pervasive spirit of rebellion in the house of the Lord marked by the refusal to submit to authority. If anyone disagrees or thinks public admonishment for unrepentent sin is too "harsh", then consider how God dealt with Miriam:

3 (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)

4 At once the LORD said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, "Come out to the Tent of Meeting, all three of you." So the three of them came out. 5 Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the Tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them stepped forward, 6 he said, "Listen to my words:
       "When a prophet of the LORD is among you,
       I reveal myself to him in visions,
       I speak to him in dreams.

7 But this is not true of my servant Moses;
he is faithful in all my house.

8 With him I speak face to face,
       clearly and not in riddles;
       he sees the form of the LORD.
       Why then were you not afraid
       to speak against my servant Moses?"

9 The anger of the LORD burned against them, and he left them.

10 When the cloud lifted from above the Tent, there stood Miriam—leprous, [a] like snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had leprosy; 11 and he said to Moses, "Please, my lord, do not hold against us the sin we have so foolishl committed. 12 Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother's womb with its flesh half eaten away."

13 So Moses cried out to the LORD, "O God, please heal her!"

14 The LORD replied to Moses, "If her father had spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the camp for seven days; after that she can be brought back." 15 So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on till she was brought back.

If you are a Christian who attends a church, do not murmer or complain against your church leadership. The only time the Lord permits action against a leader is if they are propogating unrepented sin, and even then it is the Lord who deals with them. As you can see from Numbers 12, it is our duty to intercede for the sinning individual so they may be repentent and come back into the church community. God is very, very specific about dealing with sin, especially sin that could affect other members the entire church. The Spirit of the Lord will not operate where there is unpentent sin. That is why in 1Samuel, the word of the Lord was rare in those days; it was because of the rebellion of Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas, and his failure to correct them. It wasn't until those sons were gone and Samuel became the righteous prophet, that the word of the Lord returned. Praise God that some leaders are taking the necessary steps to put out of the sheep fold the wolves that seek to devour the unity in a church. If you think these pastors' actons are harsh, read the bible and see what God thinks of rebellion. He deals a bit more harshly: Global flood, hail, meteors, pestilences, famine, the earth swallowing people up...consider the choice to repent or be banished a blessing.

Numbers 12

Miriam and Aaron Oppose Moses