Charles Stanley?

</font>[/QUOTE]I agree. Like I said, his wofe ran off on him and I'm not going to hold him responsible for something his wife did. As far as I can tell, he did everything reasonably possible to reconcile.

 

Ah, yes....who cares if the Wor dof God declares him unqualified...we must take a vote as to our opinion on the matter.("our" being members of FBC ATL)

Nothing like subjectivity. No wonder so many of our churches have little to no respect for Scripture. People on here are ready to bow to democracy over Scripture...and then hide behind church autonomy. Sad.

 

On one hand I completely agree, autonomy is a very important Baptist distinctive, but on the other hand distinctives are outranked by the Bible. I guess I would say he should NOT be a pastor, that said, it doesn't disqualify him from being a tv preacher or an author or CEO of "In Touch". I would not belong to a church in which the pastor was divorced. I am not sure, but it my understanding that this was one of the main reasons Andy (Stanley) left Fisrt Baptist. I can, however, greatly benefit from the teachings of one of the greatest preachers of our generation.

Posted by by JGrayhound

I promise I am now not being a smartie, why does this disqualify him from being a teacher and author?

 

He can be an author.

In my comments (as you quoted) I was saying that this isn't an issue of, "well, everyone sins..so this is no different" (that is what can be inferred from your comments-which you also quoted above).
This issue is over certain sins disqualifying men from the privilege of serving as pastors. I believe that Paul is quite frank that certain things cannot be tolerated if men are to be pastors.
I, for one, want to hold all men (myself included) to those strict standards, rather than finding ways around them or ignoring them. A church vote does not veto God's Word.

That being said, I could care less if the people at FBC Atlanta want him to stay...he should not because he is disqualified. I don't have to be a member of their individual church to say that. He represents the body of Christ, of which I am a part. I will call sin "sin" if that's what it is, and all of you should as well.

 

We are more in agreement than disgreement. I think Charles Stanley is a great teacher and author, however, he is biblically disqualified from being a pastor.

 

Agreed.

(I personally don't enjoy his teaching or books, but that is neither here nor there.)

 

1 Question is why is divorce unpardonable more than any other sin... God hates all sin, however, the commission of sin does not preclude us from being qualified to be a pastor.

Before I get flamed, let me say that I have been really praying and studying upon this very topic. I have held the position that this would preclude a person from holding any responsible or leadership position in a church. I was asked to review my position based purely upon scripture and not what I had been taught previously. I have been praying and studying the context of divorce and I believe I am finding that if you are innocent of wrongdoing then the divorce is not your personal sin. Such as if your wife decided to cheat on you....

Also, the Bible teaches that He will forgive any sin if you confess it ( of course you have to repent of it too). So why would this sin be unforgiveable but adultury or some other sin like lying be forgiveable... Just really looking into this for myself and asking God to guide me in His teaching about this issue. also asking for some insight from my fellow Baptists.

 

In case you missed it in the previous posts, Jim Jones (the religion writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram) has a tape recording of the interview with Stanley that contradicts Stanley's allegations about being misquoted.

Jones has interviewed Southern Baptists before and knows how important it is to have a tape recording of interviews so that Southern Baptists can't successfully accuse him of misquoting them.

Of course Baptist Press ignores the existence of the tape...

 

In case you missed it in the previous posts, Jim Jones (the religion writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram) has a tape recording of the interview with Stanley that contradicts Stanley's allegations about being misquoted.

Jones has interviewed Southern Baptists before and knows how important it is to have a tape recording of interviews so that Southern Baptists can't successfully accuse him of misquoting them.

Of course Baptist Press ignores the existence of the tape... </font>[/QUOTE]I had missed the previous posts about Jones's interview but do believe Dr Stanley confirmed to Baptist Press his honest convictions.