If you want to understand why America cannot discern between what is good and what is evil, you need look no further than its churches.
“America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”
― Alexis de Tocqueville
An Alabama pastor has betrayed his calling to the Lord and may have sentenced some members of his parish to a death filled with anguish and shame because of their shared sins.
Juan Demetrius McFarland, pastor of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, reportedly confessed to parishioners in a series of sermons beginning September 14 that he has AIDS and has had sex in the church building with women of the church, according to WSFA-TV.
McFarland, who is also the head of the Alabama Middle District Missionary Baptist Association Inc., a 34-member church association, reportedly said that he contracted HIV in 2003 and was diagnosed with AIDS in 2008.
The preacher, who has served at the church since 1990, also allegedly admitted that he had misused church money and abused illegal drugs while pastor.
“He concealed from the church that he had knowingly engaged in adultery in the church building with female members of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church while knowingly having AIDS,” Nathan Williams Jr., who has attended the church for more than 70 years, told WSFA-TV.
While some of the members of the church are calling on Pastor McFarland to resign, there are many members coming to his defense.
Deacons reportedly voted October 5 to remove McFarland, but it seems there’s some internal debate raging among members over that decision. Some at the church want McFarland removed, brought up on charges and held accountable for his purported actions.
“Our moves are going to come directly from counsel. We want peace and we want to do things right, legally,” Williams, who said the church has obtained legal counsel, continued. “We are not looking to hurt him. We are looking to get the church back. That’s our theme: Get the church back. We want the church back. That’s it.”
Police were called to the church this past Sunday, with Williams claiming that he believes someone called authorities on those who voted for McFarland’s removal; no one was removed from the church during the incident, which involved infighting over the unanimous decision.
Locks on the doors were also reportedly changed by McFarland and some of his new appointees Monday morning, with the church’s old deacons now talking with lawyers about how to take back control of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church.
Churches have been moving away their scriptural foundations, if they indeed had them. Many so-called believers do not recognize God’s authority in their lives or the fact that if they have submitted to the lordship of Jesus Christ, they have submitted to His commands as well.
When believers reject the Word of God they reject Jesus Himself because He is the living word. As go America’s churches so go America. We are being warned by the Lord to repent of our wicked ways and return to Him and His Ways.
