Fourth Year Ministries

Q: For the Christians now, after Jesus came, do we need to literally take a day of rest (sabbath) and keep it holy by not doing work? A: Great question! This is a very important and potentially massive area of study for the interested believer. A quick glance through a concordance, such as Strong's Exhaustive , will reveal that the Sabbath is mentioned at least once in 145 different verses of Scripture (I used my Bible searching software, BibleWorks 8 to find these references). While a true “Sabbath theology” can only be constructed and understood after careful study of all of these passages in their context, the question above can be answered without such in-depth consideration. For the purposes of this answer, we will cover a basic understanding of Sabbath theology with an emphasis on how this relates to the New Testament follower of the Messiah Jesus. If you are interested in a more in-depth study of the Sabbath as it was revealed through the Hebrew Bible (our “Old Testam

Question –“What do you think about: gold dust, diamond dust and gems appearing in church services? Do you think they are from God?” A: I have to admit, when I first read this question I had no idea what the Questioner was talking about. I had not heard of these things or even similar things happening. So I figured I had better find out if in fact they were happening and under what circumstances. With a little surfing of the Internet, I was able to find several stories relating to this claimed phenomenon. Case One: A small church in San Juan, Puerto Rico, had reported that precious gems had miraculously appeared during their church services. These included what appeared to be diamonds, gold, silver, topaz, emeralds, and rubies. They also claimed that mysterious oil with the fragrance of roses began pouring from their ceiling and walls. They assert that the numbers of precious stones that appear are based on their worship and adoration as they praised God. They even claim th

Q: In 1 Timothy 4 we read, "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth." (vs 1-3). I believe that one could see this in the history of the Catholic church (as an example) in that priests were not allowed to marry and meat was to be abstained from on Fridays. Is it going too far, and going beyond what Scripture says, to apply this principle to the other extreme? Can, by a seared conscience, a teacher indicate that anything is permissible (opposed to "forbid" and "abstain") as the believer is the 'Righteousness of Christ' and is already forgiven? And when I say "anything", I mean thi