2 replies to this topic

[homeward bound]

http://www.linkedin....reth/33/253/623

Does the preacher on this page look like a drunk?

[JackA]

Not knowing this preacher personally, but from what I just read concerning him I would say yes. But not with alcohol or drugs, rather he is addicted to Jesus.

Bobby Landreth's Summary

I have a little different approach to things. I believe That Jesus Christ set the very best Example and I have sold out to HIM. In doing that, everyday HE allows me to be here, I will be following HIS instructions.

I never know when my time be up, however when ever I have the chance, every person or group of folks that HE leads me to, will hear about HIS Love, HIS Grace, HIS Mercies and HIS Forgiveness.


Eph 5:15-21

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil. 17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; 21 and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. (NASB)

[homeward bound]

JackA, on 28 November 2011 - 10:37 AM, said:

Not knowing this preacher personally, but from what I just read concerning him I would say yes. But not with alcohol or drugs, rather he is addicted to Jesus.

Bobby Landreth's Summary

I have a little different approach to things. I believe That Jesus Christ set the very best Example and I have sold out to HIM. In doing that, everyday HE allows me to be here, I will be following HIS instructions.

I never know when my time be up, however when ever I have the chance, every person or group of folks that HE leads me to, will hear about HIS Love, HIS Grace, HIS Mercies and HIS Forgiveness.


Eph 5:15-21

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil. 17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; 21 and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. (NASB)

This preacher’s church put an advertisement on pastorfinder.com several weeks ago. I sent an email asking if the church had a parsonage. When I received a reply saying that a parsonage may be available I sent a 2^nd email to explain my situation:



My mother’s mother was from the earliest Lutheran/German Reform families to settle in western North Carolina. My mother’s father was likely raised as a Southern Baptist, but he was a practicing Roman Catholic before my mother was born, and I think he returned to Catholicism just before he died of cancer. But I never knew him to be anything but an atheist and all-around miserable human being.



My father’s family was Southern Baptist (his grandfather pastured a church in the 1920s). But my father’s family never went to church; they did all of their worshipping at the First Baptist Church of Anheuser Busch.



I became a Christian when I was 5 years old. My parents divorced shortly after that, and I’ve had little contact with my father since then (and zero children at the church with the knowledge and consent of the church’s governing board.



When I was a teenager my mother had to give up contact since the summer of 1983). My mother isn’t saved and has no interest in being saved, so I wasn’t raised in a Christian home. While growing up the only church that ever sent a Sunday School bus through my neighborhood started paying children to go to church so I stopped going. It has since been made public that this Baptist church’s founding pastor had been molesting the best job she ever had when her employer, a Southern Baptist deacon, wanted her to be his mistress. He has since done jail time for child-molestation.



When I graduated from college I began thinking about establishing a non-profit private school for Christian students. I investigated about 250 local churches, but I was unable to find one that was willing to let me borrow or rent classroom space. Most churches here will not even answer their telephone, return a phone call when the pastor is not present or acknowledge a personal letter.



I turned down the first job I was offered as a Christian school teacher when I found out that the Baptist pastor that owned the school was using 20 year old textbooks and offering me a salary that was half what he was telling parents he was paying.



I lost my first job as a Christian school teacher when I refused to give out good report card grades just to keep the parents happy and the tuition money coming in.



I quit my next Christian school teacher job when I found out the Baptist administrator had promised me $4000 more in pay than his company had authorized him to offer. He was later fired for making sexual remarks to some of the female students.



I was working as a private tutor when my uncle died unexpectedly in 2005, and I inherited a fair amount of cash. I wanted to devote this money towards building a church/school facility. I offered the money to at least a hundred churches and other organizations in Florida, Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas hoping that I could find one that could provide land to build on and a volunteer labor force, but to no avail.



I am the only care-giver for my mother who has been disabled with lupus since the late 1990s. Her health took a turn for the worse after her brother died. She had surgery in 2008 for a perforated bowel and this lead to an E. coli infection and an 8 month stay in the hospital. She is currently recovering from more surgery that was needed to fix the damage done in 2008.



In the midst of all of this my own health has gone bad. I have an elderly friend who was put in a nursing home against her will in 2005. Her husband died in 2001 and her only local family was a brother who was abusing her. The pastor of her church refuses to have anything to do with her (despite getting her tithes). My mother and I are the only people that have ever visited her. I went 23 years without any illness more serious than a cold or sinus infection. But after visiting the nursing home in September 2008 I had a bout with pneumonia that aggravated a leaky aortic heart valve, that I didn’t know I had, and this put me in congestive heart failure. My heart function normalized after taking medication for several months (I still face the possibility of open heart surgery some day to deal with the bad valve). But I am supposed to take 5 different medications for high blood pressure. I stopped after 2 years because I cannot tolerate the side-effects of the drugs. My BP is sky-high. I also have gout and arthritis that keeps me from driving and will likely cripple me if I live another 10 years. But precious few self-proclaimed Christians I have found will even offer me their prayers.



By all accounts I should have a low opinion of organized churches, particularly Baptist churches. I have never once asked a church for help, either for myself or on behalf of someone else and had any help be forthcoming. But still the Lord has burdened me with a wish to pastor a church. I don’t know if I would make a good pastor, but pastoring a church would be better than what I am doing now- just waiting to die. I would appreciate any consideration your church could provide me for its pastoral position.



I had received no acknowledgement of my 2^nd email to the church when I found a second advertisement for the church on pastorfinder.com. I responded to this ad with:



I know your updated advertisement on pastorfinder.com says to not re-send anything, and I have already contacted your church regarding its pastoral position. But I haven’t even received any acknowledgement of my last email, and I am sick and tired of being ignored by churches that say they need help but refuse to talk to me. So I am replying again.



We have 104 Members with 20 attending on Sunday's and 2-5 on Wednesday night.



You have 104 members but only 20 show up on Sunday and no more than 5 come on Wednesday night, then how do you have 104 members? I gather that your church would not consider me for its pastoral position because I am un-churched. But from the sounds of it so are the members of your own congregation. You cannot condemn me for not going to church and give your own congregation a pass without demonstrating rank hypocrisy.

We are looking for a Shepherd who is willing to lead our flock, to Minister to us and the community in which we live. Someone who is more interested in building their Treasure in Heaven at the moment.
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If you want someone who can minister to your community, what kind of ministering to your community do you already do? You cannot expect someone to take your pastoral job if your congregation isn’t willing to back him up with their own time and effort. The fact that your church is practically non-existent suggests that your congregation isn’t ministering to your community as it is. What guarantee can you give that this will change if you hire a pastor?


We believe that Jesus will bless the right person. This is a GREAT Small Church family.

Family is what I have never had and what I desperately need- not that any church has ever cared.



This would be a great experience for someone who can work another job and live off what our Church can offer right now.
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So you want a part-time pastor because you are content to be a part-time church. If you asked for a full-time pastor, perhaps the Lord would consider letting you be a full-time church.



We do not have much money, however we believe the money will be there in the future.



You seem to be putting everything in terms of money. Is this where your heart is?


1-We can offer ONLY OFFER RIGHT NOW 100.00/week which includes Sunday 11 am Service and Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting. <BR style="mso-special-character: line-break"><BR style="mso-special-character: line-break">

I have money in the bank that isn’t earning me anything in interest, and my health is so bad I won’t live long enough to see any return on any long-term investment I could make with it. I face the possibility of catastrophic medical expenses due to a bad heart, but I have offered to pastor several different churches for as little as room and board for me and my cat, but no church has been willing to give me the time of day.


2-We CAN NOT pay to re-locate however we do have lots of love.



You equate love with money?

3-No earthly benefits<BR style="mso-special-character: line-break"><BR style="mso-special-character: line-break">

Why would a legitimate pastor be concerned with earthly benefits?


4-This is Part-time/Bi-vocational<BR style="mso-special-character: line-break"><BR style="mso-special-character: line-break">

Again, why do you wish to be a part-time church?


5-The unemployment rate in the state of Georgia is 10.3%<BR style="mso-special-character: line-break"><BR style="mso-special-character: line-break">

Not much different than it is here. But I am not married and have no children.



We are looking for someone who has God's hand on them and has the Heart of Christ. Being Licensed for the Gospel and ordained would be nice, but not mandatory.

A legitimate man of God does not need any license or ordination from man. I am concerned that your congregation values such things. But maybe your desire to please man is what has driven your church to the point of extinction in the first place. By all right I should have a low opinion of organized churches, particularly Baptist churches. I have never once asked a church for help, either for myself or on behalf of someone else and had any help be forthcoming. But even though I have been un-churched my entire life I have not been without God. I have studied the Bible since I was 10 years old. I have spent a considerable amount of time studying the history of the Bible and the history of the Church. I have also studied creationism and Darwinism in great detail. Being un-churched means that man has had little opportunity to influence my doctrine. I am currently finalizing a systematic written declaration of my faith and doctrine that I have been working on for about two years now (after a lifetime of study). I likely know more than your average layman and I may know as much as most pastors.


If you have a video or audio message, by all means please submit, however that is not what we will be making our decision on. <BR style="mso-special-character: line-break"><BR style="mso-special-character: line-break">

I do not have ego enough to want to be in front of a camera.


Education required: Associates



I have a bachelor’s degree in biology with 40 credit hours in history from Emory University.



Experience required (years): 1



You have a congregation of 20 and are offering only $100 a week and you still want someone with pastoral experience?





Bobby Landreth responded with:



You do realize that the interview process started with your resume? Love you Brother and you resume has been sent to the committee. We have had over 65 resumes, we have choose not respond unless there is an issue.......I can tell you that this e-mail did not help you.



God Bless You



Courtesy demands that my email should have been acknowledged even if acknowledgment had been nothing more than a form letter. But I didn’t even get that. I took the time and effort to request this church’s consideration, and while I had no expectation that I would be given any consideration I should not have been totally ignored.



Bobby Landreth strikes me as a bully and I despise bullies- particularly ones that bully in the name of Jesus Christ. It is too easy for such people to lead God’s people astray because they lead by fear and intimidation. I found Mr. Landreth’s tone insulting and told him that his self-righteous attitude doesn’t help Christianity.



He replied with:



Thank you for your reply and I will pass all your info to the committee.

Thank you for attacks to my Christianity, I have not attacked yours, only the rudeness of your letter.

I did attempt to explain the process and have made the attacks. May God treat you as you have treated me and my Church Family.



I then sent my last email to him:



So much for your Bible's "love thy enemies" routine. You claim that I have attacked your Christianity. This is not true in the least. When I didn’t receive any acknowledgement of my previous email I assumed that your church, like every other church I have tried to deal with, was telling me to go to hell. So I haven’t attacked anyone’s Christianity.



But even if you choose to take my note as an attack, it is nothing personal against you. You are simply representative of the self-proclaimed Christians whom I have encountered in my life. Instead of expressing any genuine concern for me or offering me your prayers and blessings as the Lord Jesus Christ has commanded you to do (Matthew 5:44), you have chosen to call upon your god to damn me instead. Your attitude is precisely why I have avoided organized churches my entire life, and if others in your congregation behave as you do, it is no wonder that your church is on the verge of extinction- that and the fact that you've turned your church over to the false gods of eastern mysticism: http://www.urbanatla...-baptist-church "For example, we allow the community association to use our fellowship building for their meetings, voting is held in the hall, and a yoga class meets in it as well."



I sincerely hope that the Lord sends you a pastor that sets your congregation straight in His eyes so you can use the resources that the Lord has put at your congregation’s disposal to promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I would be more than willing to put my own resources at your church’s disposal should the Lord so desire. But I daresay your attitude would have to be changed first.



Bobby Landreth is exactly the kind of person that has kept me un-churched my entire life. There is no excuse for attitude towards me. He may have called for my damnation for religious reasons on his part, but the picture on the webpage I linked to tells me that part of his attitude may be due to alcohol.

He looks like he spends a good deal of time with a bottle, and he acts like he spends very little time with the Bible. He claims that I have attacked his Christianity. This is not true in the least. When I didn’t receive any acknowledgement of my previous email I assumed that his church, like every other church I have tried to deal with, was telling me to go to hell. So I haven’t attacked anyone’s Christianity.



But even if Mr. Landreth choose to take my note as an attack, it is nothing personal against him. He is simply representative of the self-proclaimed Christians whom I have encountered in my life. Instead of expressing any genuine concern for me or offering me his prayers and blessings as the Lord Jesus Christ has commanded him to do (Matthew 5:44), he chose to call upon his god to damn me instead.