Bible Issues Library

"Thy word is true from the beginning:
and every one of Thy righteous judgments endureth forever."
--Psalm 119:160

• The Gift of Tongues This file looks at the passages in the Bible that reference the Biblical Gift of Tongues.

• Pastor... is the office Scriptural?  God has from the beginning ordained that there be those who have the gift and responsibility of leadership, both within the confines of the family, as well as the broader context of the Church.  Church history shows that all of the major assemblies had a plurality of elders but it seems clear that the Biblical pattern shows one leading elder (called a pastor or bishop) who is responsible for the direction and oversight of the local assembly.

• Faith-Does it come in Gallon Buckets or Not?
  William Eaton said "Faith is simply believing God. It doesn't come in gallon buckets. Faith is hearing a promise and believing that promise."
  Someone took issue with my statement and wrote  >>>"There are a huge number of problems from what you wrote- for one thing the bible does teach measures of faith. It teaches that you can have little faith or great faith, faith the size of a mustard seed, and NO faith. (It does not teach in little salvation or great salvation, salvation the size of a mustard seed. With Salvation you have it or you don't!)"<<< Well, that sounds logical, but is it the right perspective?  I say NO!
  FAITH for salvation, FAITH for deliverance, or FAITH for healing?  Find out if you've "got the right stuff!"

• Titus Study
  Led by Barbara Smith (BWSmith)
  [T]hose 46 verses were written by Paul, who you know has a gazillion ideas in each sentence! He wrote shortly before his death to Titus, who was pastoring a new church in a community of folks who shared many of our own trials and triumphs, and our "limitations." (Titus 1:12)

• Women In Ministry???
  This is a compilation of several threaded discussions on the Bible Issues section. The first poster asks, "So I have to ask,after reading all the posts on submission and cultural interpretations how do you all feel, react or handle women in ministry? Do you think they are out of the Lords will? Just curious for other thoughts."

• Divorce and Remarriage
  Divorce and remarriage is a *hot topic* in most Christian circles and the discussion here was no exception... we covered a lot of ground!

• Divorce and the Call to Ministry
  I was asked by group leader in my Bible study if I'd consider a leadership position. I prayed and felt it was a good thing, my dh and kids supported me and I let them know I could do it. I was then interviewed for the position. It started out great. I shared my testimony of coming to know Christ as Lord and was just so enthusiastic. Then, the bomb came...I had been divorced years ago. This eliminated me from leading a group of women... With this plea for wisdom a great discussion was born! The divorced and ministry, are the two compatable?

• Church Government
  Ever wonder where you fit in? Perhaps this will help you understand what type of ministry you have within the Church. Also included is a strategy for evangelizing a billion souls!

• What's missing from Ch__ch? YOU ARE! You and Your Gifts!
  Is the Church a building or is it the people? What happened?

• Receiving The Holy Spirit at Salvation #1
  This was a discussion that outlined the reasons for believing that a person receives the Holy Spirit when he/she is born again. The view that the Holy Spirit is received as a separate experience after salvation is set forth in the next file "Have You Received the Holy Spirit Since You Believed?"

• Have You Received the Holy Spirit Since You Believed? #2
  This is an answer to the above discussion "Receiving The Holy Spirit at Salvation". The reasons are set forth for believing that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is a second experience that occurs after salvation.

   

• Can a Christian Blaspheme the Holy Spirit?
  This is a very long discussion on the possibility of a Christian committing blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.  Of course the subject of  "once saved - always saved" was broached!

   

• Headcovering Discussions
  This page is a compilation of several discussions on headcoverings.

• New Bible Study -- 3 weeks on Habakkuk
  Led by Barbara Smith -- started on Sunday, 4 October 1998, at 9:11 p.m.
  Habakkuk: Two Problems — Two Solutions — One Prophet's Prayer. Most all of the Old Testament prophets direct their messages to God's people — Israel — who were transgressing the Law: not upholding their part of the covenant. This "minor" prophet has a major message, however: What do we do in the face of injustice, violence, and how do we cope with the fall out of God's justice?

• Song from Habakkuk 3:17-18
  Recorded by Kevin Megill
  I recorded a song we learned at a former church taken from Habakkuk 3:17-18, using our 5$ microphone and Microsoft Sound Recorder. I thought it might be of interest to those in the Habakkuk study.

• Nehemiah Bible Study
  Led by Barbara Smith -- started on Tuesday, 17 March 1998, at 3:18 p.m.
  Barbara led a Bible Study titled, "Building with Ancient Blueprints (or, using Nehemiah's plans in your home school!)". "The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire." (Nehemiah 1:3) This file contains all of the messages posted over the three months of this online Bible Study. Visit Barbara's Web site, Third Floor Publishing at, http://www.chfweb.com/smith/, for more information about her upcoming book on Nehemiah, Building With Ancient Blueprints (or, using Nehemiah's plans in your home school!).

• Where do emotions come from? Are they from the world or created from the mind of God? (long)
  Message Thread starting on Friday, 11 September 1998, at 6:14 p.m.
  The issue that I would like to address is the statment that you make that: "Emotions are of this world."

• Would anyone like to discuss how to teach a Gospel?
  Kevin Megill on Wednesday, 9 September 1998, at 9:31 a.m.
  I read something really interesting recently about the book of Mark. Let's see if I can get this straight. ... Here's the really fascinating part. Up until this century, many scholars tended to see Mark as a collection of important stories of Jesus' ministry with sort of "filler" material gluing it all together. But this "filler" material apparently has recently taken on new meaning since C.H. Dodd published a paper on it in the 1930's.

• Comments and Outline of 1 Cor 11:2-16
  by Kevin Megill
  "One of the things I try to do whenever I study something Paul wrote is to get a sense of the outline of the passage, to understand the flow of thought as he moves from one point to the next. Paul usually intermixes the points he is trying to make with his arguments for their truth. If we can separate the things he wants to convince us of from the arguments he uses to convince us, it sometimes helps."

• Death and its theological ramifications
  This discussion about death led to some interesting theological concepts that ultimately ended with a new discussion that dealt with the nature of Christ's death. See Nothing but the Blood for the continuation.

• Nothing but The Blood!
  Did Jesus Die Spiritually? The answer is a resounding NO! Theological concepts concerning the nature of Christ's death are examined.

• Overcoming Opposition
  by William Eaton
  A study using Mark 5:1-20. Jesus had suggested the trip and the disciples had willing followed. As they followed the instructions of Jesus they were met with opposition from the devil, i.e. the storm and the raging sea. Opposition could be expected since they were going about the business of plundering strongholds of the enemy.