Results 4201 - 4220 of 4325
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
4201 | Elder must be 'the husband of one wife'? | 1 Tim 3:2 | Hank | 7058 | ||
JVH, You are so right in your belief that it was never my intention for case history to supersede Scripture. And I do not believe that any such notion was expressed or implied by what I posted. Frankly, I'm becoming rather gun shy and reluctant to post anything on this forum for fear that my molehill will be turned into a mountain. As one whose major study in school was the English language, I'm starting to wonder whether, at this late stage in my life, I have forgotten (or perhaps never really learned) how to construct a single clear and unambiguous sentence. Have I become all of a sudden bereft of any ability to communicate? --Hank | ||||||
4202 | Elder must be 'the husband of one wife'? | 1 Tim 3:2 | Hank | 7037 | ||
Dear Ed, I'm afraid you read into my account of the divorced pastor more than I said. I reported what I know. I did not say, implicitly or explicitly, that "I know someone that has done it, so therefore it must be okay. It has absolutely nothing to do with logic. And I, by relating the story, was not attempting in any manner to sanction divorce or to promote it as the treatment of choice to resolve the conflicts between a man and his wife. The norm may well be that both parties in a marital crisis have serious problems; I don't argue that. But there are other instances, fewer in number perhaps, in which the problem is basically unilateral. I know a man who was unbelievably, psychotically jealous of his wife, all without cause. His aberrant behavior grew worse and worse, his wife suffered a nervous breakdown, and a divorce followed. Alcoholism, drug addiction, marital infidelity -- all these and more can be one-sided and may not indeed be caused by or aggravated by the spouse. In my 66 years I have seen the ugliness of divorce. but having been married to a fine Christian woman for 42 years, have never experienced it and pray that I never shall. But it is not my burden to adjudicate in divorce cases, nor point a finger, nor cast a self-righteous glare. And even less to impugn the wisdom and grace of God. --Hank | ||||||
4203 | 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 | ||||||
4204 | Is Steve really all wrong? | 1 Tim 3:2 | Hank | 6988 | ||
Amen, Nolan, Amen. You have spoken the truth, and you have spoken it well. --Hank | ||||||
4205 | Is Steve really all wrong? | 1 Tim 3:2 | Hank | 6983 | ||
Hello, Tim. This is the first time I've had the pleasure or occasion to respond to your posts, which I've followed with interest.....Regarding the issue at point, I would echo your words about the problems engendered when we as limited human creatures, having, all of us, a measure of bias and prejudice I suppose, are vulnerable to reading into Biblical passages things that simply are not there. And, for the same reasons, we sometimes fail to see what is as plain as day. Contrary to those who may think that there is too much ado about context, it seems to me that context is all important. Many errors of Bible interpretation -- yea, even Bible doctrines -- could be averted if passages were truly viewed within their context. Sometimes "context" may mean simply a passage of several verses. In other instances, "context" may need to be considered in a much broader spectrum -- entire books, entire New Testament, or even the entire Bible. But without proper context, interpretation becomes pretext. Some time ago, before you joined the forum I believe, I gave an extreme example of the hazard inherent in lifting a passage out of context but at the same time, mind you, reading it quite literally. That passage had to do with God's command to Noah to build an ark. My question, of course, was "Should we not all go to a lumber yard, buy some gopher wood, and start building our arks?".....Now the question strikes us as comical and we chuckle. But, aren't some beliefs in Christendom today based on little more than picking a verse or two here and there out of context and calling it sound doctrine? There seems to be a little mule-headedness in all of us. Once committed to a view, sound or not sound, it takes an industrial-sized crow-bar to pry us loose! A good prayer to pray before we approach God's word in study and meditation, I feel, is to ask God to open our eyes that we may see his wonderous truth with clear and unfettered eyes....I extend to you, Tim, every good wish that God will bless you in your ministry and in your walk with the Lord Jesus. --Hank | ||||||
4206 | More on 1 Tim. 3:2 | 1 Tim 3:2 | Hank | 6951 | ||
Steve, Titus 1:6 no more supports your belief than 1 Tim. 3:2 does. Read both passages within their full context. And Paul was not a leader because he traveled? Surely you can't mean what you said! Paul, personally chosen by the Risen Christ. Paul, the apostle whom Christ entrusted to take His precious gospel to the Gentiles. Paul, who wrote more books of the Bible than any other man on earth. Paul, whose words you are using to try to prove your case. Paul not a leader?...... Look at Titus 1:6 again. Look at the phrase "having children who believe." If we go with your view that a church leader must be a married man, "the husband of one wife," we must, to be consistent, teach that he must also have children. Steve, the Scriptures simply don't support your view. I challenge you to present this forum with a single credible Bible scholar, with just one responsible New Testament exegetist, who supports your view.........By the way, here's what the NASB Study Bible has to say on Titus 1:6: "husband of one wife" -- Since elders, by definition, were chosen from among the older men of the congregation, Paul assumed they already would be married and have children. A qualified unmarried man was not necessarily barred. It is also improbable that the standard forbids an elder to remarry if his wife dies (cf Rom. 7:2-3, 1 Cor.7:39, 1 Tim.5:14). The most likely meaning is simply that a faithful, monogamous married life must be maintained. Your turn, Steve. Bring on your witnesses. --Hank | ||||||
4207 | WEB Bible and capitalization. | 2 Tim 3:16 | Hank | 6939 | ||
You're quite on target, JVH, about the capitalization of personal pronouns that refer to Deity. In some sentence constructions it may enhance clarity concerning who the antecedent of the pronoun is. But, as you point out, in certain passages of the Old Testament, the process can force the translator into the role of interpreter. Moreover, whether writing "He" or "he" brings any more or any less honor to members of the Godhead is, it seems to me, rather a moot issue. Clearly with nouns, capitalization is of prime importance; for example, we understand that "God" can mean only one person, the God of the Bible, but that "god" can refer to a pagan deity, or even to wealth, as in "making money one's god." Preoccupation with this subject can become almost a fetish. One thing is certain: We'll never know how the writers of the Biblical autographs viewed the issue, because their vehicle of expression, the ancient alphabets, gave them no choice in the matter. --Hank | ||||||
4208 | NASB95 study bible??? | Bible general Archive 1 | Hank | 6859 | ||
Chris, ditto to your enthusiasm for Spiros Zodhiates' Key Word Study Bible, published by AMG, Chattanooga, TN. As you noted it is currently available only in the 1977 NASB. One can hope that AMG will address this and print a 1995 Update soon. For those of us whose knowledge of ancient Greek and Hebrew is limited or non-existent, this Bible is an invaluable resource when one wishes to mine the ore of God's truth in greater depth than is generally possible simply by reading the text in English translation. I have the genuine leather edition which seems to be well constructed. The spine is thread-sewn instead of glued, the paper is opaque allowing very little bleed-through, and the print is decent in size and clear. --Hank | ||||||
4209 | Study Bible Forum -- or Circus? | Gen 1:17 | Hank | 6845 | ||
EdB, thank you sir, for a most astute and timely answer to the problems this forum faces. I'm grateful that you and other users have chosen to respond and support the movement for decisive changes. It gladdens my heart, to be sure, to know that we have at least a good-sized nucleus of folks who are concerned about the problems that you and others of us have done our best to point out.....One additional request that I would offer is that we join together in prayer for this forum. I still hold that it can be a blessing both to the saved and the unsaved. My heart joins yours in concern that a sincere seeker for God's eternal truth, whether Christian or otherwise, could easily be mislead by false teaching that he might view on this website. Furthermore, would an honest seeker looking for honest answers be disappointed, rebuffed, and very likely disgusted as he read the foolish, flippant, uninformed, unbiblical, divisive and opinionated posts that have, alas, become more the norm than the exception?....Again, EdB, my sincerest gratitude to you for coming forward and speaking forcefully and truthfully to this vital issue. --Hank | ||||||
4210 | Can we work our way to heaven? | Rom 2:7 | Hank | 6814 | ||
Dear Brandi, never, never in my view is there need to apologize for length when one has something worthwhile to say and says it well, and you score highly on both counts. You honor my question, this forum, and our Lord when you take the time and make the effort to post such a fine and well-reasoned answer. Thank you. God's blessings. --Hank | ||||||
4211 | Not my will? | Rom 5:6 | Hank | 6741 | ||
Joe, I don't understand what your correspondent says you would understand if you were wise. Perhaps it's because I'm not wise. By the way, where is this discourse headed and what's the point? --Hank | ||||||
4212 | What did women do in the early church? | Rom 16:2 | Hank | 6708 | ||
Well, my wife asked me to sing an ode to womanhood! Can you hear me? Another good answer, charis. -- Hank | ||||||
4213 | What was the problem in the church? | Acts 15:1 | Hank | 6704 | ||
Dear charis, yesterday I was granting "indulgences" (to JVH); today it's kudos, and you get the very first one for a clear, Biblical answer to the question. Clear, Biblical answers and notes posted on this forum really shouldn't stand out partcularly, but they do because they have become such a rare commodity. --Hank | ||||||
4214 | The burden of proof is on you. | Josh 10:12 | Hank | 6700 | ||
JVH, I responded to Disciple's note but am not the person to whom it was directed! I know you know that, but I wanted to clear the decks in case anyone mistook me for someone else or vice versa. My poor knowledge of astronomy is very limited, but at least I have enough gumption to know that the earth is round, except on the Mississippi delta. I lived in Blytheville, AR for a short time. The earth there is flat as a pancake! --Hank | ||||||
4215 | The burden of proof is on you. | Josh 10:12 | Hank | 6688 | ||
Good post, Disciple. You said some good stuff about gravity, the Joshua event, and Jesus' claim to being the Truth. May I share this with you and the forum? I have a grand-son, age 6, named Louie. If I told Louie the Joshua story about the long day, about how God made the sun stand still and the moon stop, would he believe it? Yes he would, without a hitch, if I know Louie. He would toss it off as no big deal. Why? "Because God can do anything He wants to do," would be the answer I'd expect of Louie. At age 6, Louie has not learned man's wisdom, but he has something worldy-wise man once had and lost. Louie has the pure, simple faith and trust of a child. Is it any wonder, then, that our Lord said that unless we become like children, we will not enter the kingdom of heaven? (Matt.18:3) --Hank | ||||||
4216 | Ten Commandments obsolete? | Rom 10:4 | Hank | 6687 | ||
JVH, I quite agree that in practice the Ten Commandments have become virtually obsolete in the United States, and beyond that, forbidden to be read in public schools or posted in public buildings. And in the wake of moral decay and spiritual bankruptcy inevitably come the societal scourges you cited in your answer. We haven't learned the lesson of Sodom today, but perhaps we will Gomorrah. --Hank | ||||||
4217 | How will Christ return? | Acts 1:9 | Hank | 6667 | ||
Brother JVH, unaccustomed as I am to granting indulgences, in your case I will happily make an exception. What a lovely lyric; first time I ever heard of the song. A companion piece of sorts might be that simple old hymn my dear mother used to sing to me when I was a child, "Face to face shall I behold Him, Jesus Christ who died for me." When I sing the lines of this hymn even now, I can hardly restrain the tears of fond remembrance of my mother and the tears of joy at the prospect of seeing my Savior face to face. --Hank | ||||||
4218 | Accusations obligatory? | Rom 5:6 | Hank | 6603 | ||
Orthodoxy, your performance on this forum says to me that you have acquired a certain amount of "book knowledge", a large amount of brassiness, a miniscule amount of wisdom, and no tact. You are on record as saying that you did not care to make friends. In that endeavor you appear to be succeeding quite well. | ||||||
4219 | More thoughts on the prayer of Jabez? | 1 Chr 4:9 | Hank | 6485 | ||
Joe, as it was in the days of Ecclesiastes "the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearing to the body", so it is today. Having but two eyes, one part-time brain, and just 24 hours a day, I long ago abandoned hope of even trying to keep up with all the new printed stuff that clamors for attention. "The Prayer of Jabez" is a case in point. I have not read it nor intend to. But it has made so much stir that I did manage to read a couple of fairly illuminating reviews. The apparent raison d'etre for the book is to teach its readers to repeat the prayer of Jabez daily for 30 days, I believe the review said, and "see what happens." I'm vague on exactly what is supposed to happen, but I take it that the writer implies that it will be good. If these reviews are on the mark, then the reviews are all I care ever to know of the book. It reminds me of the positive thinking aphorisms that the disciples of Norman Vincent Peale were to chant until they got rich and famous. --Hank | ||||||
4220 | Nebuchadnezzar a true believer? | Dan 2:47 | Hank | 6311 | ||
True enough, Nolan, and I think the Bible stops far short of providing any hard evidence that Nebuchadnezzar abandoned his Babylonian religion, albeit the argument has been advanced by some that he did. --Hank | ||||||
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