I am a bit confused why you advocate the catholic ideology despite not being a catholic.
I don't ADVOCATE Catholic theology. I know it and believe it is very misunderstood. I don't like it to be called a cult when I hear so many other incorrect doctrine in other churches. I just think we should call it incorrect doctrine. Not satanic and all those nasty words...
Regarding the Pope being the head of the Church, this is against the Bible.
The church has only one head and that is JESUS. Therefore it is wrong to call the Pope the head.
Yes, it is absolutely biblical for a church to have a leader in the form of an elder or an overseer or a deacon, etc
Jesus did pick Peter to be the rock upon which He based His Church. I've studied this a bit and it does seem like Jesus meant for Peter to be THE ROCK, not the LITTLE ROCK. But I don't dwell on this too much. If the RCC wants to go back and proclaim Peter the first Pope, let them. The Catolic Church DOES HAVE APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION. This cannot be denied.
Also, there may be elders in a Church, but every mainline denomination has a LEADER of the entire Church, and all the elders.
Someone MUST be in charge, just like a corporation.
A church leader must:
-be humble with a servant's attitude
-preferably be married with god-loving children (the bible says this more than once)
-point people to the Word of God, not to man-made dogmas or traditions
-teach sound doctrine that is in line with the Bible.
A person cannot be a church leader if:
-he considers himself infallible under any circumstance
-he forbids anyone to marry
-if he makes anti-biblical or extra-biblical dogmas and traditions that nullify the Word of God
-he allows anyone to bow down before him
-he allows anyone to call himself "father" or "Holy Father"
About giving importance to a leader, the bible tells us to give "double honour" to our leaders (it's in the Bible). However, we must not bow down before them and kiss their hands and exalt them to a pedestal, the way catholics treat the pope.
I agree. I do think of Protestant leaders though. Ceflo Dollar comes to mind immediately.
Which of your specifications does HE embody?? As you know, there are plenty more. Some have even been caught in adultery.
We have to keep our eyes on Jesus and not on men. If people want to kneel down to the Pope, they can't be stopped. Francis does pick them right back up --- I guess they just love him too much. Some child he blessed was healed...
Yes, Pope Francis seems to be very humble. However who is he to declare a particular year as the "Jubilee Year of Mercy" or invent concepts such as "Holy Door" etc? If he is humbie, why does he allow people to call him "Holy Father?" Why can't he do his job of pointing people to Jesus? Why does he allow the assembly of cardinals to bow down before him? Why does he call Mary the Mother of God?