I don’t know IF this is an issue in other bible centered churches since Granada has been my only church. I have never been an elder so i don’t know if it ever comes up amongst the elders as a point of discussion and eventual decision. I do know that the Apostle Paul said, in essence, that he does not allow a woman to teach (with ‘thus saith The Lord’ authority) in the churches he establishes. There are many scriptural teachings that i find extremely difficult to obey, many conversations with the indwelling Spirt where i become dangerously close to insubordination with God... however, it always comes back to what it says in the scriptures and whether or not i want to obey or disobey the written word.
I would say that we, the Church, just continue the way we have in this area for the last 2000 years. It has gotten us this far and seems to work well, if it is not broken, why tinker with it IF that tinkering could be going against the Spirit-led practice of an apostle who had an extremely unique personal relationship with the risen, ascended Son of God, which none of our elders seem to have.
You land on a good point, Dennis. If the Bible mandates a command that men always need to be a church's leaders, then we need to follow its wisdom whether we like it or not. The big question is: is that what the Bible is teaching us?
I don’t know IF this is an issue in other bible centered churches since Granada has been my only church. I have never been an elder so i don’t know if it ever comes up amongst the elders as a point of discussion and eventual decision. I do know that the Apostle Paul said, in essence, that he does not allow a woman to teach (with ‘thus saith The Lord’ authority) in the churches he establishes. There are many scriptural teachings that i find extremely difficult to obey, many conversations with the indwelling Spirt where i become dangerously close to insubordination with God... however, it always comes back to what it says in the scriptures and whether or not i want to obey or disobey the written word.
I would say that we, the Church, just continue the way we have in this area for the last 2000 years. It has gotten us this far and seems to work well, if it is not broken, why tinker with it IF that tinkering could be going against the Spirit-led practice of an apostle who had an extremely unique personal relationship with the risen, ascended Son of God, which none of our elders seem to have.
You land on a good point, Dennis. If the Bible mandates a command that men always need to be a church's leaders, then we need to follow its wisdom whether we like it or not. The big question is: is that what the Bible is teaching us?
Oh yes, and I'm pretty sure I could a lot about faith, love, and hope from any and all of our elders.