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To: SeekAndFind

Here is my response to a previous post...

The Bible says that a Bishop (church pastor) must be the husband of one wife.

1 TIM 3:2-7

2: A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

3: Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;

4: One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;

5: (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)

6: Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.

7: Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

Having a wife is a specific requirement to be a Church Pastor (A Bishop). The moment he becomes single he is no longer qualified and thus must step down as Pastor.

Now there are people like Charles Stanley who remain pastor of a Church even though his wife divorced him. This was done by Church by-law or a vote but the Bible is very clear on pastoral qualifications.

The verses above even place a requirement that the Pastor’s children be in subjection to him which means that if he even has unruly children he is disqualified from being a Pastor.

Benny Hinn fails the above tests on multiple levels. Benny likes money, he is not blameless (above reproach because of his lifestyle). And he does not rule his house well since his wife filing for divorce is clearly rebellion. And if Benny committed adultery and thus caused his wife to file for divorce, then he is not blameless and thus is still disqualified.


108 posted on 02/22/2010 1:13:16 AM PST by ColdSteelTalon (Light is fading to shadow, and casting its shroud over all we have known...)
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To: ColdSteelTalon
Having a wife is a specific requirement to be a Church Pastor (A Bishop). The moment he becomes single he is no longer qualified and thus must step down as Pastor.

I don't interprete the passage that way. St. Paul himself pastored the Ephesian chuch for close to 3 years before he left and and he was SINGLE (see Acts 19:9-10). He later asked Timothy to pastor the church ( and we don't know if Timothy was married at that time. We know that he was youthful when he took the position ).

I read this passage to mean that a pastor is to be “a one-woman type of man.” This does not necessarily mean that he needs to be a married man, but if so, he is not to be a polygamist. To have one wife means to have one wife at one time. If a pastor’s wife dies he may remarry, but he is not to be a man who has divorced his wife to marry another. Whereas polygamy and divorce were common among both the Jews and Gentiles, pastors are to stay especially clear of those sins.

That for me, is the correct interpretation of St. Paul's letter to Timothy.
114 posted on 02/22/2010 7:04:04 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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