I recently read a book that said the 2015 Feast of Trumpets might be the first day of the 7000th year which arguably is the time for the Millennium, but if that were true then should not the rapture have taken place 7 years ago first? Or can it be possible that the rapture could still be considered the beginning of the Millennium?

In Matthew 12:22-37 I know the context is about the Pharisees saying Jesus casts out devils with help of Beelzebub. In verses 36-37 Jesus says “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgement for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” (NIV)

I don’t understand this to a degree. If we are saved by grace through faith, then by what merit of words will we be acquitted and by what merit words will we be condemned? Will all our words be brought before us at the Judgement Seat to give an account for? I’m struggling with this, and would appreciate any help regarding this. Thank you for your time.

Isaiah 45 says: I make peace, and create evil.  Please explain this verse to me. Thanks.

The church that our family attends is a typical Baptist church. We have attended for several years and even teach Sunday school there, but the people of the church are just going through the traditional motions. There is no excitement, no anticipation of Christ’s return, and the children’s ministry consists of coloring pictures and eating snacks. There’s a larger Baptist church down the road. We would love to go there instead because there’s excitement, anticipation, and great teaching for adults and children both. The problem is that we feel an obligation to teach our class (high school & college age), and feel like we’re abandoning them by leaving. How should we handle this?

I do not have understanding on 1 Corinthians 5:5. In my bible the heading for vs. 3-5 is “method of judgement for sin in the local church.” Even while I incorporate the literal, historical, grammatical, contextual method, I still cannot reason the meaning of this verse. How does one go about “turning or delivering” one over to Satan? How does one know when to enact such a seemingly cruel action? It doesn’t sound like grace but more like judgement.

Where do I find the verses that tell us that the faith for salvation is a special gift from God? The faith for the rest of our Christian life comes from reading the bible and hearing the word preached.

In your response to the question of how to prepare for the Rapture you said to remove as much debt as possible, or words to that effect. I was a member of a church where the pastor said that debt was not a problem. If the Church was in a lot of debt at the Rapture let Satan and his followers settle with the debt after the Church is gone. What do you think about that?

I was wondering why in the Gospel of Mark, generally characterized by using the word “immediately”, the fig tree cursed by the Lord did not appear to have withered until the following day whereas in Matthew, not necessarily a book of “speed”, the fig tree withered immediately.

The bible says that we are to confess our sins one-by-one and ask for forgiveness-and God will forgive us. I also understand from the Lord’s Prayer, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” that in both cases we ask God to forgive us. If someone has done wrong to me -why should I forgive them if they don’t ask forgiveness from me-when I have to ask God to forgive me of MY sins. And if I fail to ask forgiveness for an overlooked sin, will I still be permitted to enter eternity with Christ?

What is the right thing to do when someone who is a mature Christian who has been walking with the Lord for many years and has a good understanding of the Bible has now decided it is unbiblical to eat pork. This person is not Jewish. My understanding of Romans 14 is that all food has been declared clean and that it was the new or immature believers that had difficulty grasping this. The Bible also says that if someone regards a food as unclean then he shouldn’t eat it and it would be wrong for us to tell them otherwise. Yet should something be said to a mature Christian who has full understanding of salvation through grace in Christ who seems to be going backwards into legalism.