I am not a Biblical scholar by any means, but it certailnly seems to me that only men should be pastors. Not only do I think this is Biblical, but with men losing so much authority in society as a whole, and with the absence of fathers in so many families, and the number of single mothers,  I think that the retention of the traditional role of men as the authority in churches is vital to the survival of society. As men are more and more denigrated in the society, their authority in the churches should be magnified as a counterbalance.
Not that I see this happening!  It seems to me that more and more denominations are giving in to pressure and allowing women pastors.

So in Matthew 25, why does the Lord specifically l ink feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, etc. with being blessed and inheriting the Kingdom, while those who did not do such things are told to depart into everlasting fire?  Were the good works of the first group the result of their faith?
I am not very clear on the difference between the judgment at the moment of bodily death,  and the Last Judgment.

Thank you for the replies.  I am still not sure what to make of Gov. Huckabee, because I was reading an article yesterday which said that many  Southern Baptists do not support him (even though he is a Southern Baptist) because when they recently had a doctrinal split, he went with the l iberals. The conservative Southern Baptists are supporting Fred Thompson.

Also--if Gov. Romney wins the GOP nomination, should Christians vote for him?  I would vote for ANYBODY rather than Hill lary, but Mormonism denies the fullness of Christ, voting for a Mormon would make me very uncomfortable.

Thank you for replying to my question.  I'm not sure I understand your answer--are you saying that Gov. Huckabee is a true Christian, and therefore he is being persecuted by false Christians?  Sometimes (well, usually) I have to have things explained in pretty plain terms so I can understand them. 

But what about Matthew 25: 31-46 ?   What are 'the nations'  ?  ('Goyim' in Hebrew,  to Jews meaning those who are not part of God's chosen people).  Judaism has always been very compassionate of non-Jews, not condemning them for unbelief but saying that God deals with them mercifully in accordance to their adherence to the basic, natural law given to the sons of Noah. Which basically means that the 'goyim'  (which in the Matthew verse could mean non-Jesus-followers) are to be saved, or not, because of their works.

P.S.  I believe that Christians are saved by faith, and I am endlessly grateful to the Lord for this; my question concerns 'the nations'.

Hi everybody!   I wholeheartedly agree that there is one body, the body of believers, but that doesn't explain why there are still so many different denominations.  There are dozens of different denominations just in the small suburb I live in; it must be very confusing to non-Christians. Also, it worries me that church after church seems to be caving in to the greater society and allowing women pastors, which I think is unBiblical.  And the government has been meddling in religious issues in the name of 'equality issues', and it may not be long before churches are ordered to hire women pastors.  Then I will have to look for a denomination that stands firm, despite the cost.

What would be the Biblical way to handle this? I often attend a friiend's church, a large and Bible-based one, but it bothers me that the preaching never, ever mentions abortion or euthanasia or the necessity of Christians to vote for pro-life poiticians. Should I ask the pastors, or just leave it alone?

Hi! I just joined this forum, so please excuse me if this question has been dealt with already.  I watch a lot of political coverage on TV, and I can't understand the reaction to Gov. Huckabee from other Christians. People who share his principles ,object to him being too openly Christian. The ad with the apparent cross in the background is an example---there was a Christmas tree, and he said "Merry Christmas", so what difference would it make if there were a cross, or not?  But the head of the Catholic League criticized the ad as "subliminal advertising".  Other Christian commentators criticize his Bible-based beliefs, but don't even look at some of the basic Mormon beliefs of Romney; I looked into Mormonism a while ago, and some of their teachings on the nature of God and the destiny of man are very strange, more like science fiction than theology.  Yet Romney is not having his beliefs questioned as Huckabee is.  Nor do I remember Jimmy Carter being criticised for being a Baptist; of course, he puts liberalism before Biblical authority, so I suppose that kind of wishy-washy Christianity is  OK with the commentators.