CHARLENE G.

Can godliness be taught? I would think that it comes from each persons relationship with the Lord. Our leaders can lead by example. Seeing godliness in others makes me strive to draw closer to the Lord. A church leader MUST be godly to have a healthy body of christ. To be godly our leaders must have a strong personal relationship with the Lord. Those that do, encourage the church body to strengther their own relationships with the Lord.

The differences I see are that the elders follow a stricter guideline. The elder must be a proven leader while the deacon can be newer in faith. The elder must drink no wine while the deacon may have a little. And the elder is considered a teacher.

Church leaders should be above reproach because they represent the Church. They must be sober, dependable men who love the Lord and serve the people.

I would think a man with more than one wife would have his hands full at home and that would take away from his duties as Pastor. If a leader doesn't have control over his personal life it indicates that he's weak, and being a Pastor requires strength, patience and leadership abilities. We wouldn't trust our finances to someone who's bankrupt. In the same way we would doubt a man of Gods abilities who's household us unstable.

This is a delicate subject. I have heard some very good women Preachers and teachers. Also, we read in Galatians 3:28 (King James Version) 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. It seems to me that as long as the gospel is being preached in truth and people are being saved then it's a good thing. I'm married to a messianic Jew and he says that it was custom for men and women to be separated during services. There was a large curtain separating the two groups. Women were told to be quiet because they would of been shouting questions across the curtain, disrupting the service. And it stands to reason that if they were separated during the services it would of been out of the question for a woman to cross the barrier to teach. Paul's letter makes me wonder if 1 Timothy is the first recorded attempt of a women's lib movement. LOL

Let me start off by saying that I like how you worded this. I think anything that takes the focus off of God and puts it on our surroundings is not a good thing. There should be no distractions when we are in the house of the Lord. \ We are and should be set apart. People should be able to look at us and know that we belong to Christ. I'm not saying dresses down to our ankles no make up or anything but Christian women should dress modestly. Charlene1956

True worship comes from a pure heart. When we're focused on God and his holiness we enter into true worship. If we have discontent and strief in our minds we aren't focusing on God. God knows our innermost thoughts. He KNOWS who are worshiping and who are just going through the motions. There is nothing more beautiful than a group of people worshiping in one accord. ALL focused on the Lord. That's when you feel the Holiness of God's presence. PRAISE GOD!! \o/

Christ paid the price for all our sins. HE is the mediator between us and God. There is no other way to Heaven except through him. Works will not get us there. Neither will being good and following the laws of Moses.

Why does Paul emphasize salvation of all mankind in this letter? Our Lord doesn't want any to perish. He wants ALL to be saved. What does this suggest about the practice of evangelism in the Ephesus church It reads as if the church wasn't evangelizing?. Maybe, like many churches today, they were becoming internalized. Looking at themselves as the "favored" ones and everyone else as those condemed to hell. And not doing anything about reaching out to the lost. God told us to tell the world about his grace and love. To preach the gospel of salvation through his sacrifice. How many of US are actually doing that. Not me, I'm sorry to say. I need to work on that.

Me too. Often on the way to work I praise him and thank him for the beauty around me. I live in east Tennessee and there is so much to praise him for when I look around me. The mountains are God's creation and there are days when the sun is hitting the valleys just so......Glory!. Or when the sun shines through the clouds in beams that shine down on the mountains. How can anyone see the beauty that God gave us and NOT praise him?

Charlene1956 [ It reaffirms that God is forever and worthy of our praise. Verbal praise is powerful. God's word is powerful. I often praise him in Psalms out loud or just praise him from my own heart. Our Lord is awesome, wonderful, worthy of all praise. To God be the GLORY! Often, verbal praise brings me to tears or laughter. The power of the Holy spirit moves in verbal praise.

I think that Paul was telling them that None of us are perfect. We all came out of sin into redemption. he's about to chastise them but before he does he's reminding them of where he came from before God's grace saved him. Also he's saying that what he did before was done out of his unbelief. He didn't know any better. In essence he's saying "OK, you were behaving this way because you didn't know any better. But I'm about to enlighten you, so pay attention and change your behaviour." Charlene1956

I agree with that. There are christian message boards that are a good example. While the idea is a good one, a place where Christians can get together to discuss the Bible and fellowship, It often becomes a battleground of beliefs and chases away those who are truly seeking to know God. Charlene

From what I gather some of the results were that the people were being led down a false path. They were getting off track. Or as my Pastor would say, chasing rabbit trails. Any controversy hurts the church because it takes the focus off the Lord. We become entangled in man's opinion instead of trusting scripture. A church that's not scripture based cannot grow spiritually. It may grow in size but if it's teaching false doctrine and leads people astray from God's truth they will have to answer to the Lord.

Hi Charlene: I'm Charlene too and grew up in Georgia. :~) Nice to meet ya.

Hello everyone. My name is Charlene and I'm from Tennessee. I've never done an online bible study and I'm excited to ba a part of this one. I'm 52 years old and happily married to Bill who is a Messianic Jew. We've been married for 33 years and have 3 children and 6 grandchildren.