Q&A - Part 2

Blessings to Israel presents, Deserting the Times, a program committed to encouraging you to view current events through the lens of the Bible. Now in honor of the one and only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, please join us for today's program. Welcome to the program.

My name is Brian Thomas. So great to be with you once again this week. As I always state, your eternal state is far more important than your current state.

And some may say, do you have to say that every week? But I stress that because I see so many people, even those who are Christians that are clinging so tight to this side of life that they lose sight of the future, which is eternity. And for those of us who have put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, eternity is going to be the best beyond what we can ever imagine because the Bible says eyes and ears have not heard and seen the great things that are in store for those who put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. So I just want to encourage you if things in life have not played out the way you had hoped for, the best is yet to come.

Again, that is for those who have received Christ, but for those that have rejected him, you were headed to eternal damnation in the lake of fire. So I encourage you to come to Jesus Christ today, receive his gift that he gave us at Calvary by dying on the cross. Well, I'm bringing in today once again, my cohost, Dr. Bruce Logan, and we're going to be addressing listener questions that have been submitted and we're going to answer them on the air. So doc y'all strapped in and ready to go once again this week. Yes, sir. Let's go.

All right. And we have another hot button question to kick things off this week that was submitted. And that question is, does the Bible permit women to be pastors? So yeah, this one, this one here is a doozy. So here's my take on it, sir. Yes, it is.

Yeah. One of the, this is one of the most hotly debated topics in the church today and, and many leaders avoid it because of how we can stir things up. But just like you said last week, doc, we can't steer clear of things just because they are tough or controversial.

You know, we have to take it on. I believe the Bible does not allow for women to be pastors. Now there is no one passage in the Bible that states a woman shall not pastor a church.

So let's examine scriptures to see how I come to this conclusion. Let's start with the first Timothy chapter two, verse 12, which addresses conduct of men and women in church. It says, and I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. So it is clear that a woman is not permitted to teach or have authority over a man. If a woman were a pastor, she is teaching and having authority over a man. The thing about it is God does not just do things though haphazardly.

There's a purpose behind his ways. The apostle Paul continues in first Timothy two 13 by stating for Adam was formed first then Eve. So God's order is that man is the leader because he created Adam first Eve was then created to be Adam's helper.

We find that in Genesis two 18. So if we continue with first Timothy two 14, it states and Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression. So the different roles that God gives to men and women are based on the way mankind was created and the way in which sin entered the world.

And it is for these reasons that women are not to exercise spiritual authority over men. And one of the consequences of Eve's disobedience was your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you. That's Genesis chapter three verse 16. I know it's not politically correct to quote these scriptures, but folks, this is the Bible like it or not.

This is what the Bible says. Paul lets us know that this order applies to the church by making the correlation of the husband and wife relationship with Christ in the church in Ephesians chapter five. Now, if we find further evidence that women are not to serve in the role as pastor in first Timothy chapter three, verses one and two, which reads, this is a faithful saying, if a man desires the position of a Bishop, he desires a good work. A Bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife. So Bishop, overseer, pastor, and elder, those are all interchangeable titles for the leader of a church. So this passage is only references a man and not a woman.

So that is my take on it. And let me just say this before I toss it to over to you, Mark, that concerning the scripture that I read, which it says for a woman to be in silence, we have to look at it in its proper context, because that was a time in which with that church, the women were seated on one side of the church, the men on the opposite side. And during the church service, the women would shout questions over to their husbands. And so Paul was saying, you're, you're being disruptive, wait until you get home and then ask your, your husband's, these questions will be in silence. But if we look at that passage, along with other scriptures, I think God's order is showing that women are not to be pastors, but does it, that does not mean women cannot minister for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So doc, what's your take on it? Well, basically, I really love the way you broke that down. And especially when you added that historical context at the end, because that's one of the things that often gets missed when we're interpreting scripture, and especially controversial passages like that, without what you have to understand what the context was. And you know, what I always say when interpreting scripture, the context is king. And the context, as you pointed out, was the fact that women were sitting on one side, men were on the other side, and women were yelling across, and it was kind of being disruptive and disorganized and disorderly. And so Paul was basically stating that, you know, wait and hold your question till you get home and then ask your question, you know, because just that's just a point of order.

So that was just that point. But then, also, as that pertains to, as you also pointed out, to a woman actually pastoring versus ministering, is that when you pastor, you can't, there's no way to pastor without observing authority. And I believe that there's no way of getting around the fact that, or the idea or the passage that women should not observe authority over a man. Now, I also recognize that we live in a culture where men or manliness has become something of an anathema, where men either voluntarily or, you know, through cultural transitions are abdicating our manliness or our authority as men. That's something that's becoming dominant in our culture.

And I believe that the reason why God even made the comment in the first place, women should not assert authority over men, is to prevent the very thing that we're seeing happening in our culture today. So I don't have anything else to add, just that. And, you know, other than to say that, you know, I really liked the way you broke that down. All right, good deal. Yeah, I appreciate your follow up on that as well.

That's good stuff. All right. So what do you have as our next question from our listeners? So I have a question here that's very, another doozy. And it says, when people die, do they go straight to heaven or straight to hell or is there a holding place?

Okay. And another very, very good question. And first of all, I just want to start by just kind of pointing out because there are three, well, there are more than three, but there are three primary schools of thought on this question.

So I just want to point these out first and then share what I actually think that the true answer is. First of all, the one school of thought is some believe that hold that, you know, when you, when you die, you actually go to sleep and you stay sleep, which basically that refers to an unconscious state until the final judgment, after which everyone will be sent to heaven or hell at that particular point. Others believe that at the moment of death, people are instantly judged and sent to their eternal destination. And I won't even bother addressing that because there's no biblical support for that at on any level. But then there's others that believe that when we die, their souls and spirits are sent to a temporary heaven or hell and wait the fight awaiting for the final resurrection, the final judgment and the finality of their eternal destination.

So what exactly does the Bible say happens after death? Well, first of all, it's important to remember that this body, when we're this body that we have this physical existence that we are in is not who we actually are. The Bible says that we are, we are so we have a spirit and we live inside a body. So our spirit being is who we actually are. OK, we we actually reside and exist inside of a physical body.

That's kind of very simplistic. But you know, the Bible speaks about us being body, soul and spirit. And when at the point of death, the only part of that trichotomy that actually dies is the physical body.

So that's also important to keep in mind. And but now just to just to kind of give a summary of the answer, there are two passages of scripture as to why I believe we go instantly to be with the Lord if we are a believer and we go to a holding area, which I'll talk about a little bit if you're not a believer. Second Corinthians, Chapter five, verses six to eight. Notice what Paul says here. He says in verse six, Therefore, we are always confident knowing that whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord.

Now, just kind of understand what Paul is saying here. While we are at home in the body, meaning that this physical body is only a temporary residence that the true person resides in. For we walk by faith, not by sight. And verse seven, verse verse eight says, We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body. Again, demonstrating that this body is temporary is just as our holy is where we reside.

The true us, the true Bruce Logan, the true Brian, we reside in the body. And so it says and be willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present from the Lord. So we it Paul is saying that it is better to for for the true us the true personage, or our true personage to be absent from the body and present with the Lord. So that's that's a direct quote from the Apostle Paul and then in another passage and Philippians chapter one, verse 23, it says, For I am in a straight between two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. So in other words, he is resting in his mind between which is better, is it better for me to depart and to be with the Lord?

Or is it better to for me to remain here and to be with you, which is what he was saying in the next verse where I have concluded basically, and I'm summarizing that it would be better for me to remain for your sake. So so those are the two passages that I would point to that would seem to indicate that we are the believer will instantly go and to be with the Lord upon upon death. And so then the question goes on, goes on to talk about the rapture, because there are two rapture passages in the Bible, First Corinthians chapter 15, verses 50 to 54, and also the more popular passage of First Thessalonians chapter four, verses 13 to 17, that says, describes the rapture, when the dead in Christ shall rise first, those that are alive and remain. Well, here's the thing about that is that what goes into the ground when we are buried, when the body died, the physical body that goes into the ground.

So there is what a distinction lies. The physical body goes into the ground, but our spirit goes to be with the Lord. And so what is believed is going to happen at the rapture is that the physical body, I'm sorry, I mean, our spirit will be reunited with our physical body. And then in an instant, in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, we reunited with our bodies and spirits, only the body will be glorified, because the scripture says that we will have a body that's fashioned after Jesus' glorified body. And you recall that when Jesus was resurrected from the dead, he was able to walk through a wall, he was able to be, I mean, he came, he walked through a door, rather, without the door being open. And it was, he went from a natural body to a supernatural physical body. And so the Bible tells us that we as believers at some point will have a body or glorified body as Christ. So in other words, long story short, that I believe, according to what I understand from what Paul was writing and saying, that as a believer, we immediately go from upon death into the presence of the Lord. Or our spirit rather, our spirit man goes to be in the presence of the Lord. Yeah, that's, that's good stuff, doc. And as you were talking about the resurrection, you know, our bodies being reunited with our soul and spirit, I'm sure somebody out there was thinking, well, what about people that were swallowed at sea by a whale?

Or what about those who, who were incinerated and there's no remnants of the body where, how does that come back together? But we're not going to tackle that today. We'll save that for another, another day in time.

Cause I know that's a loaded question as well, but yes, yes it is. But, but yeah, that's, that's good stuff. All right, folks, we're taking today listener questions and we are giving answers. So we're going to pause for a brief announcement, but please don't go away on the other side of the break. We'll be back with more of listener questions and answers.

Don't go away on the other side. You are tuned into discerning the times. You are tuned into discerning the times. If you believe in what we stand for, would you consider partnering with us? Our partners program is based on Genesis 12 three. I will bless those who bless you for a recurring donation of $12 and three cents per month. You can help us share the message of discerning the time as we await our Lord's return to Israel.

For more information, please visit our website, blessings to Israel.com or write to us at Blessings to Israel, Keobach, 266, 9th Dale, North Carolina, 27545. Now let's return to the conclusion of today's program. Welcome back to the program. My name is Brian Thomas being joined by my cohost, Dr. Bruce Logan. Once again, we are taking this week, listener questions and given answers.

And I just would like to add on doc, the, the answer that you gave before the break, I just thought was so great and so fitting. I had the privilege of speaking, giving some words at my grandmother's funeral a few weeks ago. And one of the things that I mentioned is that during her life, my grandmother would often tell me we would sit and talk and she was definitely a, a believer in Jesus Christ. She was saved. And she would often say, when I get to heaven and she would go on talking about what she's going to do when she gets to heaven. And so when I had the privilege of speaking at her home going service, I mentioned that she would always say that, but on the day when she passed away on that day, when I was standing there speaking, I said, now she's able to say, now that I'm in heaven, because I believe that as you stated absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. And I don't think she's in a state of soul sleep.

I think she is in his presence now in her spirit and she's enjoying the joys of our great Lord. So, so thank you for that. If you don't mind, let me just say one quick thing too, about the, how, how you closed off that last segment regarding, uh, you know, bodies that were incinerated and so forth. And let me just real quick, just throw in there and add, because that's a very important point that I probably should have mentioned. And that is the fact that we also always, when we're speaking about spiritual things that's related to biblical, biblical things in the power of God, we also have to keep, never lose sight of the supernatural component of God. And we're talking about a God, they created man, this complex individual, this complex body out of the dust of the ground and just poke it into existence into existence. You know, we're talking about a God that created a universe that, you know, we got satellites now that are discovering galaxies, you know, that's in the trillions. I mean, it just really, so we have to keep in mind that we're talking about the supernatural God who has the ability to call things into existence out of nothing. So just, I want to just throw that a little caveat in there.

Yeah. What, what may seem impossible for us, the Bible says is impossible with man, but with God, all things are possible. Cause folks there's nothing too big for God. He's the creator of it all. And he can do whatever, however he pleases, he can make it happen. So, so no need to worry about that whatsoever. All right.

Well, thank you for that doc. The next question that we have is will husbands and wives who were taking during the rapture and given glorified bodies, recognize each other as husband and wife, wife while in heaven during the millennial reign and the eternal state. So my take on this is that husbands and wives will recognize each other along with recognizing other relatives like sons and daughters, but they will no longer have a relationship of husband and wife. I believe they will recognize each other.

But again, they won't have that same type of relationship. And I draw that from, if we look at second Samuel chapter two, remember the account of King David, where he stated after his young son had died, he had a baby and the baby died. And David said, I will go to be where he is. He can not come back to me, but David said, I will go to where he is. So that, that lets you know that David knew when he, when he went to heaven, he's going to recognize his son and he would be reunited with him. So, so that lets us know that we will also recognize one another in the eternal state. Again, we will be able to still have a relationship with our loved one, but the Bible says it very clearly that for husband and wife, we will not have the same relationship.

It says in Matthew 22, verse 30 for in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels of God in heaven. So that is my take, doc. Do you have anything you want to add? Oh no, that was, that was great. Um, you, you just, you nailed that on the head and there's really nothing much more to add to that particular question. Cause I mean, you lay that out perfectly. All right. So, so what do you have as your next question?

All right. We have a question here. Um, another, this is a hot one and uh, and I hopefully, you know, one of my, one of our Catholic, uh, friends, you know, that, you know, you would kind of just, just, um, put your rabbit ears on and just pay attention because this is going to be something that's going to be up your alley. It says, why does the Roman Catholic church say that Peter was the first Pope? Now, of course they do entire, you know, courses on why Peter was the first, uh, Pope.

And so I won't take the time to do that here, but, um, the Roman Catholic church, she, uh, sees Peter as the first Pope primarily. Uh, and I'm, and I'm just kind of giving a succinct answer, but it's primarily because of Matthew 16 and 18, where Jesus w with the time where Peter made that first proclamation, where Jesus asked, uh, what, who do men say that I am? And then he followed that up to Peter by saying, or asking him, who do you say that I am? And then Peter made his famous declaration, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God.

And from that, Jesus said, you have certainly answered the question accurately. And he says, upon this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell should not prevail against it. And so basically they interpret, uh, that act, uh, as Peter, you know, being the Peter was, uh, uh, made that proclamation. And because Jesus gave the followup response that Peter was the first Pope. And then when you add that to the fact that when the church was initially formed, and this is another part of an important, um, aspect to it, is that when a church was at Acts chapter two, when an official launching of the church occurred on the day of Pentecost, that it was Peter that preached the first sermon. And it was Peter who was the first leader of the church in the world, the church in Jerusalem and, uh, and, uh, I mean, primarily. And so it was the Peter who was that initial leader of the church. And it was Peter who preached the first sermon. Um, he preached the second sermon, you know, with 5,000 got saved and then another three or 3,000 got saved.

And another 5,000, uh, is recorded in the book of Acts. And so just succinctly, I believe that those are the reasons. And of course it goes into more depth, but, uh, again, I'm not a Catholic, but this that's much about it and I do know.

And so it's based on that history, why, uh, it's been prostilated that Peter was the first pope. Yeah, that's, that's excellent answer, doc. I agree with you on that.

All right. So our next question, this is really more of a cultural question more so than, than Bible, but it is still tied to the Bible though. So it's very relevant. The question is why does it seem that black lives matter is so pro LGBTQ plus this is referring to the organization black lives matter that we've known has really made a splash on the scene over the last what five to seven years, I guess maybe 10 years since some things have happened related to blacks in America and police.

It is really, really gotten a lot of traction. And so the, the answer that I have here is that in short, all of its founders are lesbians. So when we look at Marxism and socialism, that movement was not just about what was deemed as economic justice. If you do the study in of it, it was about human liberation, Carl Marx, who was the leader of that movement. He condemned societal norms about sexuality of his time and the social justice parties that adhere to the Marx's ideology. They fought against laws that deemed homosexuality a crime. So Marxism played a huge role in sexual liberation. An example of this occurred during the Russian Bolshevik revolution in 1917, the revolution established a radically democratic society that abolished laws against sex between men.

And so as a result, Russia became known internationally as the most enlightened country in the world. As far as the same sex relations is concerned. So the issue really is at the heart of Marxism, which is really what drives this black lives matter organization. And due to the fact that Carl Marx was a Satanist, it is not a coincidence that his philosophies track opposite of the Bible. And when it comes to the LGBTQ plus community, they view themselves as the most oppressed group in society, especially ones who are black. So therefore Marxism is very attractive to the BLM founders. They align with what they deem as the most marginalized groups, which they say are minorities, women, and the LGBTQ plus. So that is my take on it.

Doc, you have anything to add? Oh yeah. I mean, again, you, you, you kind of hit it on the head and I liked the way you associated the movement with Carl Marx. And sadly, however, the majority of people listening probably know little to nothing about who Carl, I'm sorry, Carl Marx was, and what he believed and what he stood for.

And it would be, it would be an interesting study for those out there listening who would want to learn more because Carl Marx, not only his philosophy, not only is influencing to this day, the various movements that we see, but the, this overall movement that we have talked about in the past and, um, on this program in regards to the movement toward globalism can all be traced and linked back to the doctrine of Karl Marx. All right. Well, that is going to wrap it up. I have enjoyed this series of question and answers. We will do this periodically. So please email questions to us. Anytime something comes in upon your heart and we'll definitely look to answer it on the air.

You can visit our website, blessings to Israel.com. If you will go there and just go to the contact section and that is where you can submit a question and we will look to get it answered during our question and answer series. So doc, great to sit with you and talk once again and look forward to being back with you next week.

Yes, I enjoyed it greatly. I'm looking forward to the next, uh, next episode. All right. And to our listeners, thank you for tuning in. Please come back next week as we continue to encourage you to discern the times by viewing life through the window of the Bible. Until then, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Bless God's great nation of Israel until the only wise God be glory through Jesus Christ forever.

Amen. Thank you for tuning into discerning the times. Please come back and join us next week as we continue to encourage you to view current events through the lens of the Bible. Until next time, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Bless God's great nation of Israel and seek first the kingdom of God discerning the times is presented by blessings to Israel.