I'm happy to discuss anything in the Bible with you. I know your specialty and delight is Mormonism. Ironically, this is a Catholic thread on the Mother of God, Mary.
To the Bible-believing Christian, like myself, the Bible is clear on many points, where you haven't had pollution by the philosophies of men.
So to your point, what should the True Church of Jesus Chris look like.
First the context of the Epistles is that they are letters to believing saints. Letters of encouragement and correct because apostasy is the steady state of man. Have you ever heard or sung the Robert Robinson and John Wyeth's hymn hymn, Come Thou Font of Every Blessing?
Here's Sarah Noelle's version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3w9nvXuVnk
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love; - Most apostasy occurs for 'good' human reasons. It's apostasy nonetheless.
So what do we read in the Bible in Ephesians starting at 4:11? Let's use the Weymouth translation:
And He Himself [Jesus Christ]appointed some to be Apostles, some to be Prophets, some to be evangelists, some to be pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ; till we all of us arrive at oneness in faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, and at mature manhood and the stature of full-grown men in Christ.
The first thing you might notice is that Christ must appoint the officers/officials of his church. This is clearly emphasized in Hebrews 5:4
http://biblehub.com/hebrews/5-4.htm
No man can take this honor upon himself or have it granted by another man via a graduation certificate, etc. Authority matters to God.
Before we delve into what the Bible has to say about the offices, let’s first look at the purposes as stated in Ephesians.
For this Young’s Literal is especially edifying: unto the perfecting of the saints, for a work of ministration, for a building up of the body of the Christ,
http://biblehub.com/ephesians/4-12.htm
The three-fold mission of the Church is iterated clearly as:
1. Perfecting the Saints
2. Missionary work
3. Building up the body of Christ (which as you know, said Christ opened the Gates of Hades)
#2 “for a work of ministration is best understood by knowing the Greek diakonía ("ministry") specifically refers to Spirit-empowered service guided by faith. The “Spirit-empowered service guided by faith” must be the spreading of the Gospel. What more better service could one man do for another than to share the Good News?
What about the necessary offices of the True Church of Jesus Christ as named in the Bible?
They are named as:
1. Apostles
2. Prophets
3. Evangelists
4. pastors
5. teachers
6. deacons
Do they have special roles?
Apostles are special witnesses of Jesus Christ, particularly his resurrection. You’ll likely recall from the Book of Mark that the first lie told about Christ’s resurrection was that it was fake. The witness that Christ lives is a critical one.
Prophets perform the function as you’d expect as an astute reader of God’s Holy Word.
Evangelists prove a sticky wicket for some. The Greek can bring some clarification: euaggelistḗs (from euaggelízō, "evangelize") – properly, an "evangelist"; someone with a vocational calling from God to announce the good news of the Gospel (see Eph 4:11).
Note Bene the call must come from God, but what is this ‘good news’? God saves individually. There is no group Salvation by Christ. It is one to one. So an Evangelist would bring the good news of the Gospel to… you personally.
Pastor/Overseer/Bishop is a role that is self-explanatory in that they watch over groups of Christ’s flock. Teachers is self-explanatory and Deacons is an errand runner and another office that an Elder in Christ’s Church may hold.
As for prophetesses, I don't know much about that. The Bible is fairly silent on women's roles in the Church. Take a look at 1 Corinthians 11:4-5 where reference is given to both men and women prophesying.
4Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head. 5But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her head, for she is one and the same as the woman whose head is shaved.
http://biblehub.com/context/1_corinthians/11-4.htm
I suspect our modern understanding is flawed in this case. Prophesying means forthtelling which reveals the mind (message) of God in a particular situation.
As you can see from above it is closely conjoined with prayer and I suspect may be the natural outcome of that conversation with the Divine. In this case, the personal response of God to prayer for an individual, married couple, family, etc. as they go about trying to live godly lives in a wicked world. The world of the NT was extremely wicked.
Do women prophesy in your church?
What other Bible questions do you have? If none, go my son and sin no more.
Sounds quite MORMON to me!
Why, yes I have...
In fact, 3 plus years ago, LDSLiving.Com had a Mormon "fave hymn" contest...and, per the Mormon mag, "Come, Thou Fount was the most requested write-in hymn from round one of voting..."
{A&E} 'Favoritest' Hymn of All Winner! [Two Fave Lds Hymns penned by Baptists!]
I posted that article in an FR thread about three years ago...and pointed out -- surprise, surprise -- that the two most "fave" Mormon hymns (one of those being Come, Thou Fount were written by Baptists!!!
I then added in the thread this link for Robinson: Robert Robinson (Baptist)
1010rd: "Most apostasy occurs for 'good' human reasons."
Did you REALLY just say that? REALLY?
(Yeah, folks. We apparently have an apologist for apostasy, attempting to make light of it by dismissing the outright rebelliousness of REAL apostasy)
Now why would such a poster do that?
(Well ask him for his reasonings here)
However, I DO know that if I was a Mormon...
...And claimed that 100% of the founding fathers of this country were "apostates"
-- as Mormon doctrine teaches...
...And that the Christian hymn-writers who constructed 53% of the hymns within the Mormon hymnal (190 of 358) -- were likewise surprisingly written off as "apostates"...
...well, hey...
... ya just GOTTA somehow "soften" the harsh labeling that Joseph Smith unloaded upon Christians and the Christian denominations...
You know what I mean?
I mean...here...
...in THE MOST important section of peculiar Mormon "scripture" (referenced as their "first vision")... ...We find in this so-called "vision"...
...Joseph Smith CLAIMING these unnamed entities appeared to him, AND condemned Christians as follows:
(Smith had gone) "to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that ALL were wrong) and which I should join. 19 I was answered that I must join NONE of them, for they were ALL wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that ALL their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were ALL corrupt; that: "they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof."
Mormon 'scriptural' source: Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith History - chapter 1
Now Mormonism labels this passage as absolute "scripture" for them!
Don't ya just love these Mormons? (Like 1010RD)
On the one hand, Mormonism bashes us Christians as "apostates"...
...even beloved hymn-writers like Baptist hymn-writer Robert Robinson...
...YET Mormonism is so "inclusive" that they ensured that over HALF of their Mormon hymnal was written by us "apostates"...! (Woo-hoo!)
(Christians...could you imagine over HALF of your hymnals being written by people your leaders have deemed to be "apostates?")
After all, concludes 1010RD, "Most apostasy" -- including those hymn-writers like Robinson -- occurred "for 'good' human reasons."
Don't ya just feel all bubbly inside?
1010...let's start with #6 & move up, shall we?
Deacons...The apostle Paul also wrote 1 Timothy 3:12:
12 Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.
The Mormon Church has 12 yo deacons!!! (How is that a "restoration" of the NT church?)
Do Mormons marry off their 12 yo boys? Do they have children at age 12? Do they "rule households" at age 12? Really?
#4 Pastors...
THERE ARE NO --as in "zero" -- titled "pastors" in the Mormon Church!!!
#3 evangelists...
Since you say one the church purposes is "mission work," tell you what? I'll make a point over the next 2 days and count up the Mormon missionary training manual I've read and then come back to tell you how many times the manual mentions the word "proselytize" or "proselyte" or some variation...and how the Mormon Church routinely and intentionally uses that word in place of "evangelize" or "evangelist"...
I rarely see the Mormon church use the word "evangelism"...vs. proselytism.
#2..."prophets"...
1010, the last time I opened up a copy of a Mormon KJV Bible or Quad ... the following two verses from Hebrews 1:1 and 2 were in there:
1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake
Tell us, 1010, exactly how long have you had this basic problem of not knowing the basic definitions of "time PAST" versus "THESE LAST DAYS"???
And, since, in effect, Jesus is THE eternal "prophet," why do you keep putting mere men up on a pedestal replacing Him in that role???
#1...apostles...
Yes, God gave us apostles.
(a) "The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. (rev. 21:14)
(b)Tell us 1010...if there's been gobs of apostles thru the generations, why are there only "12" on the heavenly wall?
(c) Rev. 2:2 tells us: "that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not," -- yes many church bodies have "apostles" & claim to be a "restored" church...but "apostles (they)...are not" says John the Revelator. (Paul says same thing in 2 Cor 11:13 re counterfeit "apostles")
(d) Jude, Jesus' half brother, said "But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold." (Past tense...Not...listen to what your apostles ARE foretelling...present tense)
(e) I'll elaborate on this point more in my next post...the key questions to jumpstart this point are:
Was Barnabas an "apostle?" (yes, no, "I don't know" would suffice for an answer)
Secondly, did being an "apostle" in the early church always make you an "apostle" unto EVERYBODY -- universal-like -- in the early Church? (yes, no, "I don't know," "I haven't thought about it" would suffice as responses)
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Now, since you are apparently big on "church office titles" as some sort of "evidence" of what constitutes a "New Testament restoration church"...please enlighten us if you will...
Lds church leaders officially reference themselves as:
..."general authorities?" (Where is that found in the Bible?)
...What about "stake presidents?" Is that "scriptural?"
...Or "high councilors?"
Exactly Where do we find any of these titled leaders mentioned above in the New Testament?
Where is "president" in the New Testament? (That's a distinctly American term coined by George Washington himself...so the Mormon god follows George?)
And while we're at it, re: "Wards?" Where are those to be found in the Bible?
Where is "temple recommend" in any standard work?
(I mean, we can't even locate LDS' teaching of a supposed retrogression of Heavenly Father tracing him back to being some mere man somewhere in time!!!)
And here we thought the LDS church is "restorative"???