As our pastor has a jail ministry, many come to our small church after they are released. It is getting to be an issue for our family. Twice the church has had to tell him no-this sex offender should not be around our children. He gets very upset because “they are now saved” and therefore changed. First one proved he was not changed, second one is still in a halfway house so time will tell.
Currently there is a guy who makes me extremely uneasy:
-His name is Mohammed
-He brings a backpack every Sunday but never takes a Bible, notebook, pen, etc out of it
-He stands during songs, but when we remain standing for the reading of God’s word he sits down. Stands again when Bible reading is over
-He leaves his backpack to use the restroom during the sermon, conditioning us perhaps??
So it’s not just what to do about work, what do people do as believers? The only way for a true change is for one to repent and turn to Jesus-how can we work towards that while keeping the flock safe?
It sounds like his heart is in the right place but he's got Fruit-Loops for brains. He may claim they are "saved" but that should not be grounds to immediately permit them unfettered access to anything and everything.
Regarding the pastor. He should be more considerate of the whole situation including yours but not yours alone. Those “saved” very much need descipleing The ratio of those “saved” in prison and those in the church is about the same in my opinion.
Regarding Mohammed. Test the situation. Ask he what he heard in the sermon. What he has read in his Bible recently. But of course we better be able to answer such questions. His words will reveal his heart, just like ours do.
Regarding you and me. Maybe the flock is not to be safe in a worldly sense? I know what you are saying though but my reading of the Bible lately is that testing is appropriate and God gets involved personally, not from afar off.
Malignant people target nice church people. Nice church people are willing to forgive and overlook a lot of stuff. Church is one of the places where you most need to be on guard because in amongst the good people are many evil people who are specifically there to target the naive.
FYI: Bill Warner is a brave man who knows Islam. He and his wife have devoted their later years to teaching others about the political aspect of Islam. He stated in one of his recorded messages (the one in Chattanooga) that the “pulpit” in America is wide open for infiltration by Islam. He almost pleads with us all to educate ourselves regarding their prophet so we can engage and educate others.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0Uu4XnRS1hiz3JCpNFIuUg/videos
May God bless and keep you.