WesleyGospel Ministries

Near the top of the list of requirements for the offices of elder or overseer (corresponding to a pastor) is that they shall be “the husband of one wife” (1 Timothy 3:2, 12; Titus 1:6, KJV). In Greek, this reads literally “one-woman man.”

The more common question is whether this passage refers to one spouse at a time or one spouse for an entire lifetime. Does it mean that elders and deacons could not remarry after being widowed, could not remarry after being divorced, or, if married, must be married to one person only (i.e., no polygamy)? The General Council of the Assemblies of God has adopted the interpretation that the “one-woman man” restriction applies to individuals in a heterosexual, monogamous marriage for which divorce is not an option except under specific conditions. If those conditions do exist, remarriage becomes allowable for divorced ministers.

Those conditions must be exceptions that follow Biblical teachings about marriage, conversion, and the value of human beings. This includes the allowance of remarriage when the divorce occurred prior to conversion (because we are now a “new creation”), as a result of the previous spouse’s sexual infidelity, because of abandonment of the believer, due to domestic violence aimed at a spouse or child, or in recognition of an ecclesiastical annulment due to fraud, willful lack of consummation, or lack of freedom or consent in entering the marriage.

–ASSEMBLIES OF GOD, “DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE”–

STRONG.

A mighty fortress is our God
A bulwark never failing
Our helper He amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing
For still our ancient foe
Doth seek to work us woe
His craft and power are great
And armed with cruel hate
On earth is not his equal

Did we in our own strength confide
Our striving would be losing
Were not the right Man on our side
The Man of God’s own choosing
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is He
Lord Sabaoth His Name
From age to age the same
And He must win the battle

And though this world
With devils filled
Should threaten to undo us
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us
The Prince of Darkness grim
We tremble not for him
His rage we can endure
For lo! His doom is sure
One little word shall fell him

That word above all earthly powers
No thanks to them, abideth
The Spirit and the gifts are ours
Through him who with us sideth
Let goods and kindred go
This mortal life also
The body they may kill
God’s truth abideth still
His Kingdom is forever

–Martin Luther, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”–

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Romans 16:19 says
Romans 16:19 says

Be excellent at what is good
Be innocent of evil
Be excellent at what is good
Be innocent of evil

And the God of peace will soon crush Satan
Yes God will crush him underneath your feet
And the God of peace will soon crush Satan
Yes God will crush him underneath your feet

–Bob Fitts, “Romans 16:19”–

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To preachers in the Southern Baptist Church, my theological selections might seem to be very eclectic, strange, or foreign to you. But that’s because you’re a Baptist! The highest level of agreement in my approach to Romans would be found in the following churches; and it would be preachers who are fans of David Wilkerson, Leonard Ravenhill, and A. W. Tozer: the Bible Methodist Church (i.e., major user of Schmul books), Churches of Christ in Christian Union (CCCU) (e.g., this is a Charles Finney church, a cappella only, baptismal regeneration, Fudge’s annihilationism, debate culture, rude elders, cessationism), the Evangelical Methodist Church, the Free Will Baptist Church (e.g., I once heard a country preacher say, “He’s a no good drunk” from the pulpit, anti-tongues), and the Christian & Missionary Alliance (e.g., tends to have soft, seeker-sensitive, easy believism preachers). The holiness schools that would be agreeable are most likely Allegheny Wesleyan College, Penn View Bible Institute, God’s Bible School & College, Kentucky Mountain Bible College, and Hobe Sound Bible College.

The Pentecostal churches–Assemblies of God (i.e., dominated by seeker-sensitive and positive thinking preachers), CHURCH OF GOD (CLEVELAND) (e.g., I had a country preacher for two years who fervently preached against sin, he appreciated Ravenhill’s urgent passionate indignant preaching style, and he owned a collection of Spurgeon’s sermons), and the International Pentecostal Holiness Church–while doctrinally fine, they’ve lost their vitality because of televangelism influences from TBN, Daystar, PTL, Jimmy Swaggart, and Joel Osteen. Seeker-sensitive, prosperity gospel, and positive thinking tendencies are strong; and holiness preachers are ostracized and marginalized as fanatics. Easy believism is prevalent. THE PENTECOSTAL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY and Assemblies of God Theological Seminary are their top schools.

Church of the Nazarene, the Wesleyan Church, and the Free Methodist Church–the rural and country churches might be okay–but these tend to have pockets that accommodate theistic evolution, LGBT people, and weak views on Hell. Be really careful with these ones. But the older Nazarenes produced some really good systematic theology textbooks through Beacon Hill Press.

Dr. Martin Luther, Commentary on Romans (Kregel, 1976).

—. “Lectures on 1 Timothy” in Luther’s Works, vol. 28 (Concordia, 1968).

Dr. Adam Clarke, Christian Theology (Schmul, 1967).

Ray Comfort, The Way of the Master: Basic Training Course (LWP, 2005).

Dr. Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline (HarperOne, 2018).

Dr. Henry Rack, Reasonable Enthusiast (Epworth Press, 1989), pp. 143-144.

Dr. Charles Carter, ed. A Contemporary Wesleyan Theology, 2 vols. (Zondervan, 1983).

Dr. H. Orton Wiley, Christian Theology, 3 vols. (Beacon Hill Press, 1952).

Dr. Thomas C. Oden, John Wesley’s Scriptural Christianity (Zondervan, 1994).

Dr. French Arrington, Christian Doctrine, vol. 2 (Pathway Press, 1993).

Being lazy will make you poor,
but hard work will make you rich.
–Proverbs 10:4 (GNT)–

Flee! Run for your lives; become like a bush in the desert. Since you trust in your deeds and riches, you too will be taken captive, and Chemosh will go into exile, together with his priests and officials…Make her drunk, for she has defied the Lord. Let Moab wallow in her vomit; let her be an object of ridicule…We have heard of Moab’s pride—how great is her arrogance!—of her insolence, her pride, her conceit and the haughtiness of her heart…So my heart laments for Moab like the music of a pipe; it laments like a pipe for the people of Kir Hareseth. The wealth they acquired is gone…How shattered she is! How they wail! How Moab turns her back in shame! Moab has become an object of ridicule, an object of horror to all those around her…“Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in days to come,” declares the Lord.
–Jeremiah 48:6-7, 26, 29, 36, 39, 47 (NIV)–

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Alex Hormozi, $100M Leads (Acquisition.com LLC, 2023).

Zig Ziglar, Secrets of Closing the Sale (Simon & Schuster, 2004).

Richard Steele, The Religious Tradesman (Sprinkle Publications, 1989).