Hi Adrian,
I'm praying for God's wisdom for you in your selection of a church
home. I have been without one myself from time to time, and it
truly is not good. You need brethren that you can share with, pray
with, worship with.
As to your questions regarding head coverings for women, and
silence of women in meetings, they have, as you might imagine,
been hashed out for many years by some of the best Bible
expositors, and here is my humble opinion:
1) It cannot be proven biblically that the call for women to have their
heads covered, or for women to be silent in the meetings, are
universal requirements from God.
2) You will find those who argue it CAN be proven, but they are
wrong. If they were right, than all churches who don't practice
these things should immediately begin the process of church
discipline, but even they have the Spiritual "instinct" that this
would be absurd.
3) The more you study the culture of Paul's time, and much of the
Middle East/Mediterranean culture today, the more you realize that
some things are SO "culturally incorrect" as to bring dishonor on
those who practice them. Paul was exercising WISDOM in his
directives.
4) There are universal PRINCIPLES implied in Paul's directives,
however. They involve the headship of a husband over his wife, and
ANYTHING husband or wife do to disgrace or undermine that
headship is unspiritual. Radical feminism is a clear example of
the breakdown of these principles, but so is uncaring dictatorial
domination of a husband over a godly wife, who should be loved
as Christ loved the Church. The World has squeezed many into
its mold in this regard.
5) As in all things, "Walk according to the Spirit and you WILL NOT
fulfill the lusts of the flesh". And so it is (as always) a HEART THING.
"Love God and do as you will" in these things.
Be being filled with the Spirit.
Walk with Jesus,
commune with Him,
be obsessed with His presence and know the depth and breadth and
height of His love for you. He is everything. And He is at work in you
both to WILL and to DO of His good pleasure.
I pray that's helpful, brother.
Terry Rayburn
Clarksville, TN
Adrian Russell <agerussell@...> wrote:
Dear Sounders,
It has been awfully quiet recently, I hope you aren't all away! I
assume that many of you are from or are involved in a Baptist church. I
am from a Plymouth Brethren church. I was wondering if some of you
could comment on a few topics for me or direct me to where I might find
some good scriptural information. My questions specifically are:
1) Are women supposed to have a head-covering (1 Cor 11) on when the
church gathers for a meeting (ie worship, preaching, prayer)?
2) 1 Tim 2:12 states that a woman should be in silence during the
gathering of the church. I understand that this entails preaching and
teaching but does this also apply to prayer meetings? If there was a
prayer meeting where both men and women are gathered is it right for
them to pray out loud? Are they taking a leadership role within that
group by praying out loud? To me it seems that when a person prays out
loud they are praying on behalf of the group and therefore are leading
the group.
To some of you this may seem petty and divisive but right now I am in
great need of good scriptural council. I have grown tired in my young
age of man's (or woman's) opinion. What I want is scriptural truth. I
pray that you all won't dismiss this e-mail because this topic is of no
interest to you.
My wife and I have left our home church and are presently without one.
We are at a loss as to what to do. All there is here in Victoria right
now is a small Free P work. We have no sovereign grace baptist pastor
starting anything here! I have prayed that God would send a man our
way. I have friends who are pushing for us to simply start a meeting
but I am not sure if it is as simple as that.
So, if you would be kind enough to comment on my questions I would
greatly appreciate it.
In Him,
Adrian
--
Read the Sound of Grace pages at
http://www.soundofgrace.com
To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: soundofgrace-unsubscribe@...
To view our online archive go to our web page at
http://www.associate.com/groups/soundofgrace
Visit "Grace For Life"
An Oasis of Rest For the People of God
http://www.graceforlife.com
---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - 50x more storage than other providers!
--
Read the Sound of Grace pages at
http://www.soundofgrace.com
To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: soundofgrace-unsubscribe@...
To view our online archive go to our web page at
http://www.associate.com/groups/soundofgrace