The Bible Line - January 21, 2014

In Ps. 91 where it talks about the lion and the cobra, the lion thought a reference to lions was always a reference to Christ/Messiah.

John, Round O, South Carolina - I have a question concerning the dietary laws of the Old Testament. I have heard some defend their position by saying, "Well, if Jesus and the disciples ate this way, and we want to be Christ like, then we should eat the food of Jesus and the disciples." Can you please shed some light on this?

A listener has a Christian friend who suggests he learn more about the teachings of Joseph Prince. What does Pastor Broggi think?

What does the Bible say about birth control?

A caller says that Christians have varying views on baptism. Some believe baptism is not necessary for a believer, some believe in full immersion and some believe in sprinkling with water. What does the bible say?

A listener is a Christian who was baptized by full immersion in a church that was led by a female pastor. This listener is now more discerning and realizes this was not the model outlined for a church in the Bible. Is her baptism valid?

Our next caller has a question regarding the Lord's Supper. In his church, they all drink from one cup. In this day and age what does Pastor Broggi think about this.

Sheryl , Worcester, Massachusetts - If someone leaves a local assembly because they believe there is sin going on and they have followed Matthew 18 and 1 Timothy 5 to try to resolve the issues, is it appropriate for other members to ask the people who left why they left? Over the course of the past few years, quite a few mature Christians have left our church, including several upstanding deacons. They leave quietly and when asked why they left, they say they don’t want to discuss it for fear of being accused of being divisive. Certainly, we don’t want to be divisive. But if there is a problem in our church that might put our family in spiritual or physical danger, I think we should know about it. We should know so that we can protect ourselves and the saints in our assembly, and we should know so that we can follow the biblical course of action to bring the person or persons who are sinning to repentance. Is it wrong of us to want to know the facts behind why people are leaving? We don’t want to gossip. We don’t want to be divisive. We want to edify the congregation, maintain purity within the church, and encourage restoration to those in sin. We just want to hear, “We left the church because [this sin was going on], we went to the brother(s)/sister(s), followed the Matthew 18 guidelines, received no resolution, and felt we had to leave for our family’s spiritual well-being.” I know that people leave their local assemblies primarily for the wrong reasons. They leave because they don’t like the color of the carpet, the type of worship music, or the style of a pastor’s preaching. I have a long list of “don’t likes” about our church, but I won’t leave because of those things. If a brother or sister left because of reasons like those, I would lovingly rebuke them. But if they are leaving because of blatant or “respectable” sins, I think we should know what’s going on.