Was it God's intention for the pastor to be both a pastor and an evangelist who travels and holds weekly meetings in other churches?

Sincerely,
Ramblin’ Man

Dear Ramblin’ Man,

A pastor is not the same office as an evangelist.  Timothy was an evangelist (2 Tim 4:5), but he was not a pastor.  In fact, Timothy was told to appoint pastors in the congregation where he preached (1 Tim 3:1).  A pastor is the same as an elder (1 Pet 5:1-3).  An elder/pastor is also called a bishop (Tit 1:5-7).  An elder/pastor/bishop is appointed to oversee the work of a local congregation.  He only has authority in that particular congregation (the church “among them” – 1 Pet 5:2).  The qualifications for a pastor are laid out in 1 Tim 3:1-7 and Tit 1:5-9.

An evangelist is an entirely different position.  ‘Evangelist’ means ‘proclaimer of a message’.  An evangelist is the same thing as a preacher.  Preachers and evangelists have no decision-making authority within a local congregation.  They are only tasked with preaching and proclaiming God’s Word from the pulpit (2 Tim 4:1-5).

An elder may also serve as an evangelist, but the two jobs are separate.  Peter was an apostle (Matt 10:2), an elder/pastor (1 Pet 5:1) and an evangelist (Acts 2:14).  Peter fulfilled all three roles, but each role was distinctly different.  A man can go preaching and holding meetings as an evangelist at multiple congregations, but he is not a pastor outside of his home congregation.

Is there any where in the Bible that dictates how many children to have?

Sincerely,
Three or Twelve?

Dear Three or Twelve,

No, the amount of children that a married couple has together is a matter of personal preference.  God never stipulates how many children a couple can (or cannot) have.  There are examples of faithful married couples having no children (such as Hannah and Elkanah – 1 Sam 1:1-2), and there are examples of faithful couples having a dozen children (like Jacob’s family – Gen 35:22).

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Our pastor has recently started studying books on John Calvin – the 5 steps (TULIP).  I don’t agree with a lot of its content and statements.  What are your thoughts?

Sincerely,
Taking A Step Back

Dear Taking A Step Back,

There is a reason you don’t agree with a lot of the content – it disagrees with the Bible.  A while back, we wrote a large post dealing with the five steps of the TULIP theory.  The post is entitled “Calvin And Sobs”, and it will give you a detailed answer to your concerns.

The short answer is that John Calvin believed that all humans are born sinful and incapable of doing anything pleasing to God.  This goes directly contrary to the Bible’s teachings.  The Bible commands us to turn to God (Acts 3:19), a command that makes absolutely no sense if we are incapable of choosing to do good.  Furthermore, Calvin taught that once you were saved, you could never be lost.  This also is false.  Heb 6:4-6 clearly states that we can fall away if we stop being faithful.

Calvinism destroys the hope for the lost, and it removes the importance of a lifetime of service to God.  It is in direct contradiction to the Biblical teaching that all can be saved in Christ (Jhn 3:16).

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