Q&A #226 - Jeremiah repeats, sex rules from the bible, women protecting and more

Pastors answer the following questions

u. I’ve been going to this church for 14 years and I’ve witnessed several times when it felt like a large part of the congregation left. This last year it feels there has been a lot of offence taken and hurt feelings and families leaving for multiple reasons. I have a lot of mixed emotions every time this happens. I have a few questions. My questions are not to blame or cause even more division. I am seeking wisdom and clarity to help process the feelings and thoughts I have on this experience. First what are your thoughts on why this happens? When I talk to families who leave, seemingly some of the decisions to leave are tied to people feeling hurt by the leadership of our church. What are you thoughts on that? I understand that the leadership of our church are people who are learning to follow God the best they can and obviously can’t be expected to be perfect. What accountability and relationships do each of you have in your life to help you handle the difficult conflicts that arise between you and members of our church so that you have wise counsel in handling the conflict the way God would want you to? Again my questions are from a broken heart and I’m just trying to understand, not trying to cause any damage.
v. Jeremiah 17:8 essentially says the same thing as Psalm 1:3. The first is attributed to God (speaking to Jeremiah), and yet it comes centuries after David and Solomon, the two that scholars say may have written Psalm 1. Is the Lord reminding everyone of that psalm of old? Is it possible the psalm is of Jeremiah's time? Or did God just give this visual twice?
w. In much of Christian culture we talk about sex needing to be within marriage and I’m wondering where this comes from biblically. There doesn’t seem to be any explicit verses that say”you must be married before you have sex.” There is a lot of wisdom in waiting, but I don’t see where it is a command and then a sin if you do have sex outside of marriage. Do you think the church has moved too far on this?
x. I am wondering how your Christmas ornaments are hung. Everything I put up seems to fall to the floor sometime in the night. Thank you.
y. On a more serious note, what does Jeremiah 31:22b mean when it says “The Lord will create a new thing on earth— the woman will protect the man.”


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Q&A #225 - Humans before Adam and Eve, Christmas traditions, people leaving our church and more...

Pastors discuss the following questions from our backlog.

1. Were there human beings before Adam and Eve were created? When Cain was driven away by God into banishment because he murdered Abel, it says in Genesis that he took a wife and had children and then succeeding generations. Thank you
2. Should Christians participate in the classic Christmas traditions (decorating a Christmas tree, putting up lights, trading gifts) or is there reason to give them up to focus better on celebrating Christ? Would we be better off to adopt more Jewish traditions around this time (e.g. Hanukkah) that would allow us to connect more directly to traditions that are relevant to first century Christians?
3. I’ve been going to this church for 14 years and I’ve witnessed several times when it felt like a large part of the congregation left. This last year it feels there has been a lot of offence taken and hurt feelings and families leaving for multiple reasons. I have a lot of mixed emotions every time this happens. I have a few questions. My questions are not to blame or cause even more division. I am seeking wisdom and clarity to help process the feelings and thoughts I have on this experience. First what are your thoughts on why this happens? When I talk to families who leave, seemingly some of the decisions to leave are tied to people feeling hurt by the leadership of our church. What are you thoughts on that? I understand that the leadership of our church are people who are learning to follow God the best they can and obviously can’t be expected to be perfect. What accountability and relationships do each of you have in your life to help you handle the difficult conflicts that arise between you and members of our church so that you have wise counsel in handling the conflict the way God would want you to? Again my questions are from a broken heart and I’m just trying to understand, not trying to cause any damage
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Q&A #224 - Historicity of the Bible, Is Jonah literal? thoughts about Joyce Meyer and more...

Pastors discuss the following questions from our backlog.

p. Where can we turn for evidence of the historicity of the Bible, especially of the Old Testament? How much weight should we put on evidence - or the lack thereof - of the historicity of the Bible in our faith? For example, if there isn't obvious historical evidence of the Exodus from Egypt outside of Hebrew literature, does/should that affect how we read the Old Testament?
q. Kyle a while back you touched on the book of Jonah,do you view it as Literal or historical?
r. What are your views on Joyce Meyers teachings ,and do you consider her a prosperity preacher?
Thank you

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Q&A #223 - Christian bubbles, purity culture, the New Testament sacrificial system and more

Pastors discuss the following questions from our backlog.

k. Do you find it problematic in today's society with some Christian's raising their children without any secular culture? Ie. Creationist science, or no popular music etc. Is it damaging our children?
l. Do you believe that youth and young adults that are raised exclusively in purity culture are adequately prepared to have healthy sexual relationships after they are married?
Do you ever feel like purity culture also perpetuates rape culture in some instances?
m. While Jesus was on Earth, do you think the disciples kept up animal sacrifices? What type of sacrifices do you think the disciples would have offered upon Jesus death, esp. Peter? When did animal sacrificing disappear (for the most part—I have seen it done in different countries) and was it gradual, or was there a decree?

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Q&A #222 - Catholics different bible, Accommodating ministry, evolution of souls, Christian bubble and more...

Pastors discuss the following questions from our backlog.

h. In the sep 29 q&a, it was mentioned that catholics have a different Bible - could you please explain that?
i. I heard that the church is going to an accommodating perspective on serving, does that allow same-sex couples and trans people to serve in all areas of the church like kids ministry, or worship ?
j. If the majority of scientific evidence is correct and the earth is billions of years old, and animals do not have eternal souls, was there a specific point in evolution where humans were endowed with eternal souls? At what point were humans the only ones endowed with eternal souls

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Q&A #221 - Blessed Fertility, Antichrist appearance, Texts predating the bible and more

Pastors discuss the following questions from our backlog.

1. The second part of Galatians 4:27 says, “Because the deserted woman will have more children than the woman who has a husband.” Was Sarah deserted for Hagar? Perhaps after the sacrificing Isaac incident?
(Aside: Kyle, you know who this question is from)
2. Where do you think the Antichrist will first appear? Politics? popular media? or possibly within the church itself?
3. What are your thoughts on texts such as The Epic of Gilgamesh that are dated thousands of years earlier than the Bible? Is it possible that these ancient stories influenced the old testament?

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Q&A #220: Pastors discuss the following questions from our backlog.

1. What are your thoughts on the book of Enoch? How do you think Christianity would be different if it had been added to the Bible?
2. Can you speak on Revelations 16:12?Been hearing alot about the Euphrates river drying up close to the end times.Is this Literal or Symbolic? Thank you
3. What is your favorite fictional story that reminds you of Jesus?
4. What is something positive you have learned from studying a different faith or interacting with a person of said faith?

Q&A #219: Pastors Doug , and Kyle discuss the following questions from our backlog.

1. Old Testament… do you think it is written from the church leaders as a lesson or history?

2. When presenting scripture to children or giving them thier own Bible should violent/explicit passages in the Bible be censored or "rated" in the same way movies are?
(Example: Ezekiel 23:20, Ezekiel 16:17, Hosea 13:16, II Kings 2:23-24)

3. How literally do you take the book of Revelations? Do you believe all of these events will come to pass?

Q&A #214: Pastors Kyle, and Blake discuss the following:

1. What is your view on Pastafarianism?

2.I know this is a United States issue... but I have a teen daughter and I'm having a really hard time explaining to her how women are actually being treated and respected in the world today; especially with the Texas abortion ban. I'm a Christian woman but I am struggling to find the right encouragements for her and myself these days. How would Jesus have handled this? It seems like we live in a world that is so anti woman these days. And I'm struggling

3. The Jewish Council seemed to be behind the plot to have Jesus crucified and in Mark 14, they all seem to be working as one. Yet, we know that Nicodemus was sympathetic to Jesus' teachings and Joseph of Arimathea (“an important member of the Jewish council”) was also a follower of Jesus, who boldly went to Pilot to get Jesus' body, and lovingly took care of it. Question: Are there other writings of that time period that describe more about the Jewish Council? They seem to be an interesting group which did not agree as much as we are led to think. If not, maybe there are some more modern books? Thank you

Q&A #214: Pastors Kyle, and Blake discuss the following:

1. My wife and I (I am a woman), have been watching your services while looking for a new church in Airdrie/Calgary. We love your messages and the idea of becoming love. On watching last week’s podcast, we know you are not an ‘affirming’ church and we’re ok with the idea of an ‘accommodating’ church but were wondering what that looks like in our case. As an openly gay couple, would we be welcomed and encouraged to participate and serve in your church?

2. Does Living Springs pay federal taxes? What is your view on tax exemptions for churches? Does that contradict what Jesus said in Mark 12:17?

3. Does Jesus call his followers to complete pacifism? If so should Christians be participating in the military, the police force, or owning firearms for personal protection?