Results 1 - 9 of 9
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Elder must be 'the husband of one wife'? | 1 Tim 3:2 | Hank | 7001 | ||
It is not a given by any means that a divorced man (or woman either) will necessarily lose their effectiveness in the church and in their personal witness. It depends on the reason for the divorce. I have a friend who is the pastor, and an unusually effective one at that, of a good-sized church. He is highly respected in his church and in his community. A number of years ago, his wife deserted him, their marriage, and their children. He raised the children by himself and they turned out fine. The Lord continued to use this man in His service and uses Him still. Indeed there was disruption and what might be called chaos in this man's life for a season, but he persevered and prevailed, keeping his faith, doing the work the Lord called him to do, and winning in the process the admiration and esteem of his fellow Christian believers. His capacity to lead, his credence in personal counseling, his influence in preaching the gospel and leading sinners to the Savior was not diminished by what befell him. They were, if anything, enchanced by the deep faith and inner strength this man clearly demonstrated by the manner in which he dealt with such a stunning adversity in his life. One would be hard-pressed indeed to find a single verse of Scripture that would justify casting the first stone at this man of God. --Hank | ||||||
2 | Elder must be 'the husband of one wife'? | 1 Tim 3:2 | EdB | 7022 | ||
Hank again I ask that you take no offense, and I’m not impugning someone I don’t even know. The fact remains after years of marriage counseling I have never seen a problem marriage that both parties didn't have major issues that needed to be dealt with. Were those issues severe enough to take a man out of ministry, I don’t know but God does. I too have known men and women that have successfully carried on in the ministry after the disaster of divorce. But I’m forced to ask a question was it God’s perfect will or something else? Just because they succeed, and just because they did good things does not mean God preferred or even wanted it that way. Surveys today say an alarming percentage of clergy and missionaries are involved in internet pornography, are they still ministering? Yes. Are they successful? Some are some aren’t. I heard a testimony from a man that had a very fast growing church in the south and it was happening while he was up into ears in porn, seeing hookers, and thinking about suicide. He had the gun to his head before he broke. Praise God! God is still on the throne. The man came to senses, resigned his church, sought help and is well on the road to recovery. Please brother this was not attack against your friend or his ministry. I’m just raising a question of the logic that says I know someone that has done it, so therefore it must be okay. |
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3 | Elder must be 'the husband of one wife'? | 1 Tim 3:2 | kalos | 7023 | ||
EdB: I have no quarrel at all with your point (if I understand you correctly) that case histories alone do not prove anything, except that a certain thing was true in at least one particular case. I would never put a case example above Scripture. And I believe it was not Hank's intent to do so, although I neither could nor would attempt to speak for Hank, who is quite capable of speaking for himself. (No offense, Hank, if you are reading this.) You write: "I too have known men and women that have successfully carried on in the ministry after the disaster of divorce. But I’m forced to ask a question was it God’s perfect will or something else?" Is it God's will is always an appropriate question. And, as we know, God's will never goes against His forever-settled-in-heaven Word. But does the Bible prohibit ALL remarriage after divorce? "Some believe that Paul here excludes divorced men from church leadership. That again ignores the fact that this qualification does not deal with marital status. Nor does the Bible prohibit all remarriage after divorce (Matt 5:31,32; 19:9; 1 Cor 7:15)" (John MacArthur). EdB, I am not deliberately attempting to antagonize anyone. My only intent is to provide information related to this thread. :-) |
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4 | Elder must be 'the husband of one wife'? | 1 Tim 3:2 | EdB | 7052 | ||
Okay I yield (whew! finally the man shuts up). I saw something in Steve's argument that I thought was interesting. It seems it interests me only and to pursue this any further is non productive. Again I did not get involved in this discussion to be a thorn in anyone's side nor to threaten the health of the forum in any way. |
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5 | Elder must be 'the husband of one wife'? | 1 Tim 3:2 | kalos | 7053 | ||
EdB: I for one never thought your intent was to be a thorn in anyone's side nor to threaten the health of the forum. Footnote: EdB, this is not a criticism of you nor is it directed toward you, OK? I am not singling out any individual or group. What I say now generally applies to anyone and everyone on this Forum, including myself: "Every man* has a right to his own opinion; but no man* has a right to be wrong in his facts." ---------- *man. better worded as 'person'. |
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6 | Elder must be 'the husband of one wife'? | 1 Tim 3:2 | EdB | 7055 | ||
I know you said this didn't apply to me, but considering it's placement one could almost consider that a cheap shot ;-) | ||||||
7 | Elder must be 'the husband of one wife'? | 1 Tim 3:2 | kalos | 7063 | ||
Well, at least I have something in common with the Bible. Some do not believe the Bible means what it says. And some do not believe I mean what I say. I don't need to take cheap shots at you or anyone else. If I have a point to make, I make it on the basis of the Bible and reason. I never started out on this Forum to take an offensive stand of any kind. But experience here has shown me that I do need to be ready with a good defense, as needed. At least I have begun to succeed at my ambition to be like Hank Hanegraaff. Everybody hates him because he discards all preconceived notions, all superstition, all traditions of man, and all denominational bias. Then all he has left is the Word of God, the only true source of Christian faith and practice. Not comparing myself to him, but we are both alike in that we are both hated for taking an unpopular stand when that stand is based on sola Scriptura and contradicts someone else's pet doctrine. |
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8 | Elder must be 'the husband of one wife'? | 1 Tim 3:2 | EdB | 7067 | ||
Whoa! I apologize. It was a feeble and from you reaction poor attempt at humor. I just thought it was funny you said what you did in the response to my message. I sat here and chuckled over how you had constructed that response I thought you had done it intentionally to get a laugh. I'm sorry I took something you evidently meant to be taken literally and seriously and tried to turn it into fun. Did you notice my smiley face winking ;-) verse a straight smiley face :-). I think we all need to take a deep breath here this forum is getting way too serious and everyone including myself seems to be on the defensive. PS not everyone hates you or Hank Hanegraaff, I like you both. Your Brother in Christ. |
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9 | Elder must be 'the husband of one wife'? | 1 Tim 3:2 | kalos | 7073 | ||
EdB: Apology accepted. Thank you for the kind words. It is I who owe you an apology. I feel badly that I took offense when none was intended, then launched a counter-offensive against you. There is no excuse for my behavior; it's just that my writings have been mocked and ridiculed so often that I've become a bit gun shy. (Not unlike when I was in Vietnam and found myself with heightened alertness, listening for the least out of place sound that might indicate rockets or artillery being fired at us.) EdB, I do appreciate you. I never did take the position that I could only be friends with those who always agreed with me. If I did take that position, I would never have any friends. :-) I'm very impressed that you wrote so promptly to clear up our mutual misunderstanding. It's a relief to know that we're not on opposite sides. :-) Keep on reading, studying, and posting, Ed. Take care. -- Your brother, JVH0212 |
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