Lin

Joe, I suggest you buy Cheryl’s CD series on this before you jump to that conclusion.

Terry wrote: “It is like building a house, the foundation must be built first, and it must be built soundly in order to maintain the rest of the structure.”

Terry, I agree totally. I am wondering if that ‘foundation’ really lies in a true NT understanding of ‘authority’. All authority. Sometimes when I read the NT, I can only wonder what happened to our churches? The church today resembles more of an OT gathering than a NT gathering. Where in the NT is a pulpit? The office of ‘pastor’? Where is the big building? Where is the ‘chain of command’ we see in so many churches?

I see Paul persuading, rebuking and pleading in love, not demanding or giving orders.

We really are to be a Holy Priesthood. All believers are ‘ministers’ in some form.