Question:
What is the belief of TCF on a) women pastors and b) the gay marriage issue?
Answer:
I'm sure the other pastors will want to weigh in on this but I couldn't resist getting my 2 cents worth in just for fun....;) (Actually, the more opinions we offer, the better a picture you'll have of our collective heart on these issues).
Question:
I recently saw a video of a lady preaching and she experiences a stigmata in her body. You could easily see that on her hands. There seems to be three groups of thought on this: One says it is a sign from God, another says it is fakery, the last says it is a sign from the demonic. I am curious. Is this something that God would manifest in the physical? Thank you for your input.
Answer:
Regarding the phenomena of stigmata I must confess a full-orbed agnosticism on the matter. Within the pages of scripture we do not read of any of Christ's direct apostles being marked with stigmata (unless that is what the enigmatic "thorn in the flesh" that the Apostle Paul bore in his body). In Christian history the first recorded person to receive the stigmata was St. Francis of Assisi in the 13th century and although some at the time sought to discredit it as fiction, there were also many credible witnesses who testified positively in the matter. Following Francis, there have been others (although less than 100) to experience the stigmata and many of these cases have been well-documented. One thing that is difficult to understand is that to a person, everyone bearing the marks of Christ's wounds that has been documented has been Roman Catholic. Perhaps the reason for this is Roman Catholicism tends towards a greater focus on the suffering of Christ whereas Protestants and Pentecostals tend to emphasize the victory of Christ. As for being fakery, I think the evidence shows otherwise. Of those cases we know of, the persons bearing the stigmata were greatly troubled and suffered great pain from them. They also were not prone to exhibiting them, but rather sought to conceal them from the public and considered them to be a real burden that they wanted lifted. If this was about public attention and had been self-inflicted, one would expect more of an effort at self-promotion and definitely eventual deliverance. Demonic activity related to stigmata also seems suspect. Those who have received the stigmata are people deeply devoted to Jesus Christ and fully identify with Him in his suffering and ministry. I would think the last thing I would want to do if I were a demon would be to call any attention to Jesus. What if someone accidentally got saved? So, is it a sign from God? If it is, it is not something He has explained to us in Scripture nor is it something He has widely distributed within the experience of the Body of Christ. And since God doesn’t need our permission to do things, we would probably be wise to commit ourselves to a healthy "I don't know" in the matter and trust that God has His own purposes in certain matters that defy human explanation. After all, God doesn’t need our permission.
Pastor Chris
Question:
Hi Chris, I was a little confused by something at the Muslim Workshop. On the one hand the guest seemed to say that Muslims believe in one God and we believe in the Trinity
(1 vs 3), so he said they are not the same God. Yet later he implied that Allah (Elohim) was the same God we believe in, and was here before Islam. And the Jews only believe in one God, not the trinity, and yet we think the Jews and Christians have the same Father God. So in a nutshell, is their God and our Christian God the same one?? or not? He seemed to never be quite clear on that. Or maybe I just had a hard time understanding his answer. Some pastors say the Islam God is a god of hate, and not our God, but he implied at times that it IS the same God as ours. ????
Confused,
Thanks,
Nikki
Answer:
Hi Nikki,
This should be easy to clear up. He was actually referencing a
controversy in missions/Bible translation about using the word "Allah"
in Arabic Bibles for the generic noun "God". He was pointing out that
Muhammed's father's name was Abdullah which means servant of Allah.
Thus, before Islam the religion existed, Arabic speaking people used
Allah as a generic name for God. Muslim people do not believe in the
Trinity, Jews would not properly believe in the Trinity. Islam is a
corruption of Judaism and Christianity and therefore I would say they
are referencing the same God as we do but their understanding has been
greatly defaced even though they are not entirely incorrect. Hope this
helps.
Christopher
Question:
To Pastor Chris:
I'm confused about the Trinity...Father, Son and Holy Spirit...I believe that Jesus Christ is God's begotten son and that God and Jesus Christ are not one in the same...Is that correct? What does the bible say? What parts can I read to help clarify this for me? Thanks in advance.
Answer:
God is the general English language name that we give the all-holy
Deity. In the scriptures He says of Himself that He is one. Yet, He
also reveals Himself as three distinct persons--The Father, The Son, and
The Holy Spirit. Each of these Persons are co-equals which means they
are all fully God and yet one God! Thus, God obviously exists in a
dimension we cannot fully understand because we have no corollary in our
existence. We have a faint hint of this in that we are made in the
image of God. We exist body and soul and have a spiritual relationship
with Christ which seems a form of triunity. A married couple is united
in soul and body and begets children. Together they are one family, yet
distinct persons. The Church is a multitude of different people in
unity with one another and Christ. Once again, a multi-faceted unity.
But as I said, these only give us a faint hint of God's triune dimension
of living, they are not analogous to it. This partially explains to us
the importance of Jesus Christ. For in Him the fullness of deity
dwells. Thus, Jesus was truly the God-Man which becomes a point of
reference in our existence to understand who God is and what He is
like. Jesus says, if you have seen me, you have seen the Father. He
also says He will send the Holy Spirit, which the Apostle Paul says is
the Spirit of Christ. This would mean that encounter the Holy Spirit is
to encounter Christ which is to encounter the Father. Now, you see why
theologians refer to the Trinity as a mystery!
Helpful Scriptures: Gen. 1:26, Ex.20:1-3, Deut.6:4-5, Jn. 14:7,17-18,
Col.1:13-20, Heb. 1:1-3
Pastor Chris
Question:
I would like to know how to encourage an unsaved friend to stay married to her drug addicted husband. I believe the only way for her husband to truly change and experience life long recovery is through salvation, but what if she is not open to that truth? How can I witness and encourage her?
Answer:
Question:
Does the bible prohibit cremation? Or is the any reason the dead should not be cremated? Thank you.
Answer:
What is the belief of TCF on a) women pastors and b) the gay marriage issue?
Answer:
I'm sure the other pastors will want to weigh in on this but I couldn't resist getting my 2 cents worth in just for fun....;) (Actually, the more opinions we offer, the better a picture you'll have of our collective heart on these issues).
Our bottom line is God's Word....even where we still question or feel we don't have a complete grasp of what He's trying to tell us in a given passage, we are compelled to receive the Bible as God's revelation to humanity....His "written speech" through human authors inspired by the Holy Spirit. Having established that, we can look at your questions....
The first is not too difficult.....Given the nature of the mandate given by God concerning the union of men & women (Gen 2:20-25, repeated by Christ in Matt 19:5 and Paul in Eph 5:31), it's pretty clear that marriage as we know it is something only a man & woman can enter into. The idea of civil unions is a sociological function of secular government and one our culture will have to figure out...but whatever they decide, it won't be a Biblical union.
There are a raft of verses which make clear the sinful nature of homosexuality....not that it's worse than adultery, idolatry or fornication...it's sin because its hurtful to the human spirit & body. It represents a submission to the appetites of the flesh....a spiritual slavery no Christian can endorse. We are commanded to love gay people (among many others) and as a church we haven't done a great job of that...I hope we improve. But as for endorsing a violation of Scriptural admonition in the name of political correctness...we can't do it. All we ask is that the gay community be subject to the same subduing of the flesh that every Christian must struggle with (we ALL have issues in this area). Our challenge is to offer the same welcome, forgiveness, encouragement & loving support to a gay Christian that we would offer to any other sinner seeking to achieve a true surrender to Christ.
Your other question is more difficult (you did choose some good ones Sis!...;). We often ponder how we can honor the gifts and ministries of our beloved Sisters....obviously men aren't smarter or holier, so what's the holdup on equal representation? Well, the Bible presents a picture in which men & women have differing roles in accordance with their "hard-wired" distinctives. It's likely that Paul's admonition to the Corinthian women (ch 11) carried some cultural application that would not carry the same authority today...plus he was clear to identify & honor the women ministers who taught and worked under his "umbrella" so to speak. Still, his cautions are there and as we consider that Jesus chose only men as His disciples we are drawn to a conclusion that seems to endorse women for every position in ministry except that of "elder" (episkopos in Greek). There is much more evidence to consider but it all seems to point in the same direction. So even if we were to desire a more egalitarian stance (which I'm very much in sympathy with), our reliance on the authority of Scripture compels us to observe a more conservative policy. We do let women teach here at Trail (like our keynote speaker at a Biblical Gender Conference this coming week) and several women on staff fill positions that are pastoral in all but name (Sunday School, Womens' Ministry, etc) but only under the clear covering and authority of the Board of Elders.
Figuring out what the Lord has to say on these and other issues is a full time job for those in ministry and we take it very seriously (and hopefully don't take ourselves half as seriously....;). I hope my response has provided you clarity & satisfaction. Please feel free to press for more detail & discussion should you feel the need.
Blessings on you,
Pastor Matt
Pastor Matt
Question:
I recently saw a video of a lady preaching and she experiences a stigmata in her body. You could easily see that on her hands. There seems to be three groups of thought on this: One says it is a sign from God, another says it is fakery, the last says it is a sign from the demonic. I am curious. Is this something that God would manifest in the physical? Thank you for your input.
Answer:
Regarding the phenomena of stigmata I must confess a full-orbed agnosticism on the matter. Within the pages of scripture we do not read of any of Christ's direct apostles being marked with stigmata (unless that is what the enigmatic "thorn in the flesh" that the Apostle Paul bore in his body). In Christian history the first recorded person to receive the stigmata was St. Francis of Assisi in the 13th century and although some at the time sought to discredit it as fiction, there were also many credible witnesses who testified positively in the matter. Following Francis, there have been others (although less than 100) to experience the stigmata and many of these cases have been well-documented. One thing that is difficult to understand is that to a person, everyone bearing the marks of Christ's wounds that has been documented has been Roman Catholic. Perhaps the reason for this is Roman Catholicism tends towards a greater focus on the suffering of Christ whereas Protestants and Pentecostals tend to emphasize the victory of Christ. As for being fakery, I think the evidence shows otherwise. Of those cases we know of, the persons bearing the stigmata were greatly troubled and suffered great pain from them. They also were not prone to exhibiting them, but rather sought to conceal them from the public and considered them to be a real burden that they wanted lifted. If this was about public attention and had been self-inflicted, one would expect more of an effort at self-promotion and definitely eventual deliverance. Demonic activity related to stigmata also seems suspect. Those who have received the stigmata are people deeply devoted to Jesus Christ and fully identify with Him in his suffering and ministry. I would think the last thing I would want to do if I were a demon would be to call any attention to Jesus. What if someone accidentally got saved? So, is it a sign from God? If it is, it is not something He has explained to us in Scripture nor is it something He has widely distributed within the experience of the Body of Christ. And since God doesn’t need our permission to do things, we would probably be wise to commit ourselves to a healthy "I don't know" in the matter and trust that God has His own purposes in certain matters that defy human explanation. After all, God doesn’t need our permission.
Pastor Chris
Question:
Hi Chris, I was a little confused by something at the Muslim Workshop. On the one hand the guest seemed to say that Muslims believe in one God and we believe in the Trinity
(1 vs 3), so he said they are not the same God. Yet later he implied that Allah (Elohim) was the same God we believe in, and was here before Islam. And the Jews only believe in one God, not the trinity, and yet we think the Jews and Christians have the same Father God. So in a nutshell, is their God and our Christian God the same one?? or not? He seemed to never be quite clear on that. Or maybe I just had a hard time understanding his answer. Some pastors say the Islam God is a god of hate, and not our God, but he implied at times that it IS the same God as ours. ????
Confused,
Thanks,
Nikki
Answer:
Hi Nikki,
This should be easy to clear up. He was actually referencing a
controversy in missions/Bible translation about using the word "Allah"
in Arabic Bibles for the generic noun "God". He was pointing out that
Muhammed's father's name was Abdullah which means servant of Allah.
Thus, before Islam the religion existed, Arabic speaking people used
Allah as a generic name for God. Muslim people do not believe in the
Trinity, Jews would not properly believe in the Trinity. Islam is a
corruption of Judaism and Christianity and therefore I would say they
are referencing the same God as we do but their understanding has been
greatly defaced even though they are not entirely incorrect. Hope this
helps.
Christopher
Question:
To Pastor Chris:
I'm confused about the Trinity...Father, Son and Holy Spirit...I believe that Jesus Christ is God's begotten son and that God and Jesus Christ are not one in the same...Is that correct? What does the bible say? What parts can I read to help clarify this for me? Thanks in advance.
Answer:
God is the general English language name that we give the all-holy
Deity. In the scriptures He says of Himself that He is one. Yet, He
also reveals Himself as three distinct persons--The Father, The Son, and
The Holy Spirit. Each of these Persons are co-equals which means they
are all fully God and yet one God! Thus, God obviously exists in a
dimension we cannot fully understand because we have no corollary in our
existence. We have a faint hint of this in that we are made in the
image of God. We exist body and soul and have a spiritual relationship
with Christ which seems a form of triunity. A married couple is united
in soul and body and begets children. Together they are one family, yet
distinct persons. The Church is a multitude of different people in
unity with one another and Christ. Once again, a multi-faceted unity.
But as I said, these only give us a faint hint of God's triune dimension
of living, they are not analogous to it. This partially explains to us
the importance of Jesus Christ. For in Him the fullness of deity
dwells. Thus, Jesus was truly the God-Man which becomes a point of
reference in our existence to understand who God is and what He is
like. Jesus says, if you have seen me, you have seen the Father. He
also says He will send the Holy Spirit, which the Apostle Paul says is
the Spirit of Christ. This would mean that encounter the Holy Spirit is
to encounter Christ which is to encounter the Father. Now, you see why
theologians refer to the Trinity as a mystery!
Helpful Scriptures: Gen. 1:26, Ex.20:1-3, Deut.6:4-5, Jn. 14:7,17-18,
Col.1:13-20, Heb. 1:1-3
Pastor Chris
Question:
I would like to know how to encourage an unsaved friend to stay married to her drug addicted husband. I believe the only way for her husband to truly change and experience life long recovery is through salvation, but what if she is not open to that truth? How can I witness and encourage her?
Answer:
This is not an easy question to answer.
What you believe is true in regards to the husband. He needs Jesus. He needs the power of the Holy Spirit to break free from his bondage to chemicals.
He may need her to leave in order to wake up to the reality that he is showing his love for drugs more than he is showing his love for her.
But it is difficult to know what she needs. She may need space to breathe. She may need to break free from the maddening cycle of abuse and frustration.
Is your friend open to discussing the Lord with you? If so, then I would ask her if she would allow you to pray with her and for her for a week while she decides what to do. During that week you should pray that God will display his power and love toward this woman and her husband. Also that she would have God's perspective on what to do next.
Before you fight this battle in the seen realm, I would encourage you to fight it in the unseen realm on your knees. Ask the Lord for his wisdom and power to approach this woman caught in a very difficult situation. If she is not open to your input I would give her space and let her know you are available to talk if she needs someone to talk with.
Without knowing more details that is probably the best I can offer you.
Pastor Doug
Question:
Does the bible prohibit cremation? Or is the any reason the dead should not be cremated? Thank you.
Answer:
The Bible is silent on the issue of cremation. Which means you are free to decide based on preference or convenience or even cost. Out of six family members our family has buried two and cremated 4.
There is no reason the dead should not be cremated.
Further note on this...some people, who must have a very small view of God, have agonized over cremation as an option based on their concern of when Jesus returns and he resurrects the dead. They deduce that he will have difficulty piecing some people back together and that burial would make his job much easier. Billions of people have come and gone since the planting of Adam and Eve in the garden and I think we can rest knowing that the living God knows right where they all are and those who are his.
I hope this helps. If you have further questions or comments you can reach me Doug@trail.org
Warmly,
Pastor Doug