Introduction!

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Greetings in the Name of Jesus!

I joined this list yesterday (Friday) and wanted to introduce myself. 
I am from Louisiana and work for the state.  I am a social worker
and will be till I retire.  I live in rural areas of LA and work in Lake
Charles.
There is a small independent church just around the bend and is 
now pastored by my nephew.  A lot of my family have been there
for the nearly 60 years the church has been in service.  I must be
a part of a Oneness church because it is my heritage.  My dead 
Grandmother always used the word Oneness when she identified 
herself.  In this area we use "Oneness Pentecostal" more than Apostolic 
and if Apostolic was used it was 'Postolic!

I find the discussion on Pastors interesting.  To be bold, I will give 
my opinions on this.  (In my first post, no less!)

Pastor is from the word pasture.  And the term pastor simply put,
states the responsibility to take the flock to the pasture to graze and 
feed.  He does not feed them; he simply leads them to the food and 
they eat as needed.  Also, the chain of command (and family values)
are important here.  You have Jesus, who is the owner of the flock.  
Then you have the flock that He owns.  Then lastly you have the shepherd.  
The most value is in the flock and this is where the Lord is most involved.  
The shepherd is expendible.  The flock is His value. 

With this in mind, the pastor is only an agent of the owner.  The owner 
is not going to be there watching over and feeding the flock every 
minute but he appoints someone to do it. The word overseer is not 
in ruling sense.  The pastor (overseer) is much more a guardian.  He sees 
or senses danger and makes a decision to how best protect the Lords 
treasured flock.  (I am a member of the flock, not a pastor.  So I will say 
that sheep are some of the dumbest members of the animal kingdom.  
Well, hey I don't want the pastors upset at EVERYTHING I say!)
The value may be in the flock and the shepherd can be replaced, so 
much so that he is EXPECTED to die for the protection of the flock.  

One thing for sure, the pastor should keep the owner involved in every 
aspect of his job as pastor.  No matter what the problem is, he should 
let the owner make the decision and the pastor be ready to do as he is 
told.  It is to the advantage that the pastor let the owner make decisions 
regarding the flock.  

Most pastors I know, (especially in small churches) know that the church 
is sovereign.  They sometimes get to thinking THEY are sovereign and 
must rule with an iron hand.  Our little church had a pastor some time 
ago that would not visit the sick and elderly.  He would refuse and the 
board finally gave him an ultimatum.  You will visit the sick and elderly or
resign.  The situation got ugly BECAUSE he felt that he was a ruler that 
must be obeyed no matter what.  He wasn't sovereign and finally did 
resign.  Jesus still owns us, friends.  I, for one, like it that way! 

Hope I have not upset the pastors on my first post and sorry it is so long.