A couple of years ago I preached a sermon called "AIDS: the Judgment of God" that brought the wrath of the Sodomite community down on our church. They went on a campaign to attack our church in many different ways, and one of the things they did was call down the list of the churches that we recommended in our church directory and complain about our church being so harsh to the "LGBT community." This prompted several pastors to write to me and tell me that they wanted to be removed from the directory because they did not want to be associated with that type of preaching.
The same week I received an email from Pastor Chris Corrigan of Sligo Baptist Church asking to be removed from the directory without stating a reason. I wrongfully assumed that he was one of the pastors who had a problem with my preaching against the Sodomites, and included him in a blog post listing pastors who had discouraged me during that time of persecution. It turns out that he was asking to be removed because of an unrelated incident that had happened in his church where someone who listened to my sermons online had been causing problems. The timing was coincidental, and I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions and lumped him in with the others who stated why they wanted to be removed. I apologized to Pastor Corrigan for my mistake.
Another moral of this story for those who listen to my sermons is that you should try to be a blessing in your local church and not go in there expecting it to be identical to Faithful Word Baptist Church. If you want to go to FWBC, then move to Phoenix and go to FWBC. If you attend a different independent fundamental Baptist church, then you should respect that pastor's authority and get on board with the program of that local church. Don't just march in and start handing out copies of "After the Tribulation." Focus on what you like about the church and the things you do agree with, and let that church be a place for you and your family to grow, and thrive, and serve the Lord. Over time, you can be a positive influence in that church, but make sure you have the right attitude and are not filled with pride. Also keep in mind that you are not the pastor of the church.
Here is a blog post on 3 Ways to be a Bad Church Member.
Here is an old sermon from many years ago that I preached called "Too Puffed Up for Church."
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