The vast majority of those called feel they are called to the office of " Pastor / Preacher " ..... and in fact that office is one of the most necessary offices, in this day and age, within the Christian Church if it is to survive and spread the Gospel of Jesus the Christ !

         Now I personally have in fact " preached, and/or teached in multiple local churches " on more than one occasion ..... and I've even, due to being ordained, married multiple couples as well ..... however ..... I know that " God the Father " has called me to serve within the church in the role of a " Bible Teacher ! "

  Isaiah 6:8

 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us ?
Then said I, Here am I;  send me.

         In today's " local Christian Churches " there seems to be a confusion, if you will, about two roles.   Those being the role of the " Pastor " and " Bible Teacher ".   For a " local Christian Church " to function as they were scripturally intended both roles need to be separate and independant of each other.

         However ... over time the role of " Bible Teacher " has been combined as part of the role of the " Pastor ".   When actually, I'd assume due to economical reasons, it greatly hinders the " local Christian Church " and those that are members of the church when the two are combined.

         As noticed in the early Christian church the " Bible Teachers " were given a special ability to explain and interpret the truth of God’s revelation to mankind.

         Now to many today that sounds like the job of today's " Pastor ".   However giving a sermon and actually teaching the bible are two very different things entirely.   A " Pastor " does indeed teach while giving a sermon but they have a limited time to get their message across and are normally giving a message on one subject ... therefore they have to get to the point of their sermon quickly.

         However if you've ever been in let's say a " Sunday School Class " where a " Bible Teacher " is teaching on the Book of Ephesians you will of course notice, " due to the Bible Teacher going more indepth in their research and also due to personal classroom participation ", you end up learning a lot more about specific bible verses.

         A " Pastor's " job is to give you a sermon basically on one specific point ..... a " Bible Teacher's " job is to teach you a more in depth look at specific verses and how they relate to other verses in the specific section of study ..... as well as the verses relationship to the rest of the Bible as a whole ..... Therefore the " Bible Teacher's " role is this :

         Now, as I previously noted, I personally have in fact " preached, and/or teached in multiple local churches " on more than one occasion ..... however ..... I know that " God the Father " has called me to serve within the church in the role of a " Bible Teacher ! "

The word " know " is described in the dictionary in " 3 main ways ":

•   To be aware of through observation, inquiry, or information.

•   To have " knowledge " or information concerning something.

•   To be " absolutely certain " or sure about something.

         I became a " Born-Again Christian " back in the early 1970's.   In the early days of my Christianity I started attending a twice a week early morning breakfast Bible Study that included about 10 other men.   Now all the men in this Bible Study were old enough to all be my Dad and some old enough to be my Grandpa ..... And I can say without a doubt that this Bible Study, which lasted for years, became a foundation of my walk as a Christian .....

         One of the older men in particular use to " challenge me " with questions about my faith.   Little did I realize then that he was " actually teaching me " about my faith as well.   And one cold and rainy day after the study as we were going out to our cars he asked me this:

" Do you believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and died for your sins ? "

I responded, " Yes I do. "

He responded, " Well I don't believe that. "

I looked at him with a concerned look for sure and said, " You really don't ? "

And his response did more for my Christianity than any other thing I ever heard !

And this is what he said:

And with that said he told me " Think about that. " and simply got in his car and left.

         And with his message to me on that cold rainy day .... I understood what he was saying and over the years since then it's become a personal christian foundation to me and listen to this " Very Carefully " .....

         When you tell someone that you " believe " something it basically means " you aren't sure of it " and you are really just " guessing " about whatever you happen to be talking about.   That is ... its your " theory " concerning the subject and not actual " knowledge " that you have.

         And no matter what the subject you and that other person are talking about ..... your brain immediately says to you, sometimes without you even realizing it, ..... that what the person is telling you " may or may not be actually true ! "

         Now you may also " believe " that there is no way any person can " Know that Jesus did indeed die for their sins ! " ..... " OR " ..... " Know that Jesus was indeed the Son of God ! "

         But how did I " Know " that I was called to be a " Bible Teacher " instead of one of the other Church Offices ?   That decision for me centered around three reasons:

  First ...

         As a young Christian back when I started with the morning Bible Study with the older men they noticed, and said to me multiple times, that my insight into bible verses seemed to be remarkable and different.   This Bible Study was basically a verse by verse study with someone reading a verse ( or small group of verses ) and then they would go around the table and each person was able to say what that verse ( or verses ) meant to them.   As an example on my " first day " in this study the following verse was read and we were all asked to tell what it meant to us personally:

I Timothy 1:15

This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners;  of whom I am chief.

 I was the last person to give my response to this verse and I said this ( and its something I still believe to this day ):

" The only reason that Paul could say that he was the Chief Sinner was because Russ Pickett hadn't been born yet ! "

         They were all surprised by this answer, and not only to this verse, but also to many other verses during my years within this Bible Study ..... and more than one of them remarked over those years that I should consider being a " Bible Teacher ! "

    Second ...

         As my life went on I joined a lot of different Bible Studies and 9 out of 10 times others within the studies would eventually ask me to lead them.

         Over the years I was asked to lead multiple Bible Studies during Sunday Schools in multiple different local churches.   I didn't ask anyone within these churches if I could lead a Bible Study ..... but instead I was asked by others within the churches, and most of the time it was a pastor, to lead them.

    Third ...

         I'm also someone who God has blessed with " Asperger's Syndrome ".   One of the main problems with someone who has " Asperger's " ( which is a autistic neurodevelopment disability ) is that it affects their ability to effectively interact and communicate with other people in a " one on one long term relationship ".

         Now that doesn't mean that they can't have a one on one relationship ... but basically it only allows them to have " ONE or TWO " one on one type of relationships with others .....
( Thank God for sending me a wife who understands this and loves me just the same )

         They basically become, as I have, very lonely people for the most part ..... other people don't understand that they are a little different and that causes others to avoid them and not build a friendship with them.

         Now the helpful side of me having " Asperger's Syndrome " which formed me and guided me into the knowledge that " God the Father " wanted me to be a " Bible Teacher " are these:

•   It has given me an above average intelligence ( and thats not me bragging, it's just the way it happened ).

•   It has given me the ability to remember anything I'd like to remember.

•   It has given me the ability to focus intently on a specific topic to the point it would be considered " obsession ".

•   And it has given me the ability of intense focus which allows me to concentrate on scripture for prolonged periods for a better understanding of them.

         And like many others that have " Asperger's " I've learned to adapt to the world around me and have also learned to hide my symptoms to basically appear to be neurologically typical even though I'm not.

          

---

 Basic Training  Systematic Theology  Statement of Faith  Our Mission  Heaven ? 

---

Send E-mail to Russ:
webslave for Christ

" or "

( russpickde@comcast.net )
with questions or comments about this web site and it's content.

Last modified: Monday, February 8, 2021