Truthseeker

Thanks, friends!  Lots of good things here:  Pinklady-essentially to not lose sight of the forest for the trees (verse over context) and that is so true.  Very good point of refocusing for me. 
    Greg-So true…and I, too, have wondered about the chainlinking of certain verses to make others ‘hold’ true.  It was said to me by the main pastor of my husband’s church that these various New Testament letters were ‘pastoral’ and thus broad or applicable for all time in their scope  yet he doesn’t require all the women to wear head coverings or go without gold adornment, etc., because that was ‘a cultural issue for their time’!  Furthermore,  supposedly these various epistles were shared amongst the churches and Paul ‘knew’ that when he wrote them, so thus they are meant to be applied to all churches.  This some-things-are-cultural and some-are-for-all-time twisting and turning is so hard to get them to see.  I have decided that perhaps I must do more question-asking, and less stating of things so that they/whomever will have to really think about what they are saying and its impact. 
     Paula, extremely good point and I had forgotten about that verse.
     Don, I frankly agree with you and have pointed out to my husband that he ought then to not need to listen to any sermons or teachings unless they are simply strict readings of the bible, and then who needs to go anywhere for that?  I haven’t received a good reply to that one yet.  It is vitally important to know what the bible’s message meant to the people of the time.  We have to distill from it the main points, the principles, and discard the shell of the things that are simply clues to context rather than binding rules for all time, critical for determining context and then principal, but not new rules in themselves.
     Most of all, I pray that I will engage in this whole exchange with my husband and other comps with proper humility, gentleness, respect, love, and yet steadfastness in holding to the truth.