Fornication:

From Bob; - Feb. 2003 I have heard some people argued that fornication mentioned in Matthew Chapts 5 & 19 refers to a sexual sin during the betrothal period (Joseph and Mary is their prime example). These people usually are broken into two groups. The first group claims that regardless of when your divorce and remarriage ocurred (you are living in adultery) and the other one claims that there is no more divorce and remarriage after salvation. I have to admit that if there definition of fornication is true there is king size problem here. How can you put away woman that is your betroved wife for fornication? A wife is not a single person whether she is betroved wife or a married wife? Another thing about the betrothal period is that the marriage was consumated by sex and the man would have the token of her virginity. If he did not, she could be stoned to death by the elders of the city. If these peoples' definition of fornication is correct a man could not put away his married wife after he found out that she was not a virgin on there wedding night. In the case of mary, it was obvious to Joseph that something had happened, but unknown to him at that time she was not guilty of a sexual sin!!! Is this your definition of fornication? Thanks and God Bless- Bro Bob Bob; Thanks for your email and thanks for viewing my web site. First I guess I should say that the term fornication is defined by the Holman Bible Dictionary as "various acts of sexual immorality" and is considered a synonym with adultery. So, just because someone is married, does not mean they can not commit fornication. The best way to explain it would be that adultery is a sub-group of fornication. All adultery would fall under the heading "fornication"...however, you have to be married to commit adultery. I hope that clears things up some. As for the passages in Matthew 5 and Matthew 19. Jesus said that if you divorce a woman for anything other than a sexual sin, and that woman remarries, you are causing her to commit adultery. He must have meant what he said because he said it twice. And you are right, that causes great problems in the society that we live in today. Does that mean that if you divorce for any reason other than sexual sins, that you should not remarry? It sure sounds like it to me. As unpleasant as that prospect might sound. However, if someone remarries before salvation, that doesn't mean that their new marriage is a sin. I think the whole point Jesus is trying to make is don't divorce. So, they should remain married. Hopefully, that answers your question.

  Women Prophetess:

From Gina; - Feb. 2003 I believe that the bible clearly teaches agianst women teaching or preaching over men, but I am confused because there are women listed as prophets in the old and new testement. How can we coincide this together? Thank you for your time. Gina Gina; Thank you for your email and thanks for viewing my web site. Concerning the women listed as prophets in the Bible, I've gone back over every reference that I can find and all of the women were prophets not teachers or preachers. The difference is that a prophetess would be imparting direct revelation from God. This is seen in old testament times because at that time the Word of God in written form was not complete and readily available (the exception would be in Act 21:8-9 which is New Testament. However, the same would apply at the time that Acts was recorded; Bible not complete, not readily available). Deborah was a judge in Israel. The judges were generally the one that the Israelites came to for settlement of disputes between individuals. Deborah did more than this though, she was also a prophetess and she went with them into war. However, she did not preach/teach. It may seem like a very small distinction between the two offices. However, Paul clearly sees them as two distinct offices in the church. I would refer you to Eph 4:11 "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers." I hope this helps answer your question.

  the Kingdom:

From Mahlon; - Jan. 2003 Hi, I have a question regarding Christ's statement of the passing away of heaven and earth before the law does(Matthew 5:18). What are your thoughts on this scripture and other "difficult" scriptures dealing with the word "generation" spoken by Christ? Would "all things be fulfilled " upon the "generation" of Christ's day before He comes again as implied in Matthew 24:34? What are your thoughts on the "Pretrest" viewpoint on the return of Christ in 70 AD. Hope to hear from you. God bless. Dear Mahlon; Thank you for your question, and thank you for viewing my web page. If I understand your question correctly, you are asking for my view of the end times. If you look at Matthew 5:18 and 24:35, it seems that Jesus is saying that even heaven and earth will not outlast God's Law. There is nothing "difficult" about this statement. We know that earth will be destroyed and there will be a new earth at some point in the future (2 Pet 3:10, Rev 21:1). But this will not change Jesus' words or God's Law, in fact, it will fulfill it. Now, concerning Matthew 24 and the preterist view, there are many fine Christian brothers and sisters that hold to the view that all of the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25) was fulfilled in 70 AD. And while I understand how they come to this conclusion, I have to say that I strongly disagree. There are several reasons for my conclusion, but I will try to briefly give you the highlights. When I study the Olivet Discourse in conjunction with the events described in the book of Revelation, I find that there is a direct correlation. In other words, Jesus is giving the disciples a brief outline of the events that are shown to John in detail. Jesus says in Mat 24:21 "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." That would certainly describe the events in Revelation, but would not describe the events in 70 AD. As bad as the tribulation the Jews suffered in 70 AD was, it does not come close to the world wide tribulation that the book of Revelation details. Also, the events in 70 AD are not the worst tribulation that the Jews have suffered. Therefore, I believe that Mat 24:21 rules out that period of time as the time Jesus is discussing in the Olivet Discourse. Concerning the verse that mentions "this generation," by the time we get to this verse in the Olivet Discourse, Jesus has spent a great deal of time outlining the events that will take place in the end times. Looking at Mat 24:5-31, it would be safe to say that all of these events have not yet been fulfilled. For this reason, I have to conclude that when Jesus said "this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled," he was not speaking of the generation of the disciples or the men living at that time. I believe that "this generation" refers to the generation of people living at the time of end. I think Jesus is telling us that the events are going to take place within one generation of time. Now, as to which generation that is....well, that's the big question isn't it? I realize this is a very brief answer to a very deep topic, but I hope that gives you an idea of where I stand on the topic. If I had to put a label on my views, I'd have to say that Pre-Wrath, Pre-Trib. would best fit. Thank you for your interest, and God Bless.

  Women Ministers:

From Norma - Dec. 2002 The bible says God is no respector of persons. Does this include gender? There are a lot of men ministers who I question if the Lord really called them to be ministers. But who am I to question the annointing of God on His chosen individual? Who is any man to question who God annoints to minister his Gospel? If God seeks a woman to preach his Word...should she say...NO to God...reminding Him that she is a WOMAN? The passages of scripture from 1 Cor 11:3 and Eph 5:23-24 are regarding a husband and wife; not a woman ministering God's word. In II Tim. 3:1, 6-7, isn't this passage regarding a group of women who was causing a major disturbance in the church and Paul silenced them? He silenced that group of women not ALL women...what do you think? I think this is a ploy by men to subdue and control women; this is not God's Will. Please respond back...I'm very interested in learning and gaining knowledge and understanding regarding this issue. I am a WOMAN, I'm not a minister nor do I desire to be one; I am a born again Christian and I spread the Gospel of Christ at every opportunity I get. Thanks Norma Norma; Thank you for your email. I was pleased to see that there are folks out there reading my web site. Concerning the topic of women ministers, I understand that this is a very controversial topic within the church today, and I know that not everyone will agree with my conclusions. Having said that, I welcome the opportunity to discuss it openly with you, one born again believer to another. First let me say that I believe the Bible to be the inspired, infallible Word of God (as I'm sure you do too). So, the trick is trying to come to an understanding of exactly what God intended when he inspired the passages in question. First you mentioned the verse that God is "no respecter of persons" (Acts 10:34). There are other verses that say the same thing (Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.) While we are all one in Christ, that does not mean we all are to do every job or office within the church. As we see in 1 Cor 12:28, God has ordained different people for different offices. Every place I can find in the Bible that says we are all equal in Christ, it seems to be referring to matters of salvation. You then asked "Who is any man to question who God anoints to minister his Gospel?" As born again believers we are actually commanded to judge whether or not the person teaching us is a true teacher, or a false teacher. It is our responsibility to be very vigilant in this area. I would refer you to the following verses: Mat 7:15, Mat 24:11 & 24, Mark 13:22, Gal 1:8, 1 Tim 1:3-7, 1 Tim 4:2-7, 2 Tim 4:3, Titus 1:1-16, 2 Pet 2:1, and finally, I think 1 John 4:1 sums it all up nicely: "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." As you noted, there are many men that should not be teachers/ministers. The Holy Spirit that dwells in you has shown that to you. The verses in 1 Cor 11:3 and Eph 5:23 are in fact talking of the relationship between a husband and wife. I only included them in the section pertaining to women ministers to emphasize the verse 1 Tim 2:12 "But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence." I went back and reread the passage in 2 Tim 3:1, 6-7 and frankly, I don't see anything in that section of scripture that would suggest that Paul is trying to silence a group of women causing trouble in the church. In fact, it seems that Paul is warning Timothy about false teachers. Paul mentions "silly women" that are lead astray, and that reminds me of the verses in 1 Timothy that said that Adam was not deceived but Eve was deceived. I get the feeling that the Lord is telling us that women may be more prone to this than men. And I would mention that on a personal level, I have noticed that the denominations that have ordained women ministers, seem to be heading in a liberal direction, away from the authority of the Bible (that is just my observation). I guess it comes down to this, when I look at 1 Timothy, chapter 2, it seems very clear to me that women are not to have authority over men, and that would include an office in the church (such as minister). Personally, if our church brought in a woman minister, I don't think I would raise a big stink over it, I'd just find a new church. If asked "who am I to say women aren't to be ministers?" I would respond by saying "who are we to say that they should, if God has said that they shouldn't?" As I mentioned earlier, there are many that disagree with my conclusions. I hope I've been able to explain my position a little better. Love in Christ

  Comment:

From Dave - Nov. 2002 We are studying the gifts of the Holy Spirit and I thought of your lists and was looking for something on powers of the Holy Spirit, miracles, healing, speaking in tongs ect and was suprised to see that you hadn't put ony of them in yet. I haven't looked in detail in the other areas in detail, but I like the idea of quoting Bible scriptures to explain things. Maybe you can add a section on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. I'll send you what I find if and when I get it done. God bless your efforts.

  Comment:

From Denise - Oct. 2002 Excellent...what a service and ministry! Thank you!! Denise

  Comment:

From Donna - Oct. 2002 I have been reading over your new site and find it very informative. You have done a great job. It's nice to have a place to look up things so quickly. Keep up the good work.