Quote:
Originally Posted by John
ToGodAlone,
I had a much longer response that was unfortunately lost in the realms of cyberspace. It's a shame...I put a lot of time into it. Time which unfortunately does not come back and so I give you a much abbreviated version.
1) Scripture regarding the positions of teachers/pastors.
Ephesians 4:11-14
11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.
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The word pastor may be substituted for shepherd in other translations (this is NIV if you were wondering), but the meaning is the same.
2) God can move in different types of meetings. Each person is free to go to the type that best helps him/her to grow to know Christ more. I like mine with a bit of structure and leadership...great, God will use that. You like yours to be free flowing...great, God will use that too. One should not be held in higher regard than the other. If there was "one true way" to meet that God wanted us all to do, we probably wouldn't be having this discussion. I don't think God is partial to our methods of doing certain things so long as they are done.
3) 1 Cor 14 is not the be all end all of how meetings should be held. If so, then all women should be kept silent.
That's more or less a summary of what I had before...it's a shame it has been lost, but there it is nonetheless. I hope you don't find anything I said as attacking or offensive as well.