A. The prefix para means to be alongside of or resemble.  Paramedics and paralegals work alongside doctors and lawyers and do work that resembles theirs. They aren’t meant to replace doctors or lawyers, but to assist them.  Likewise, para-church ministries aren’t meant to replace churches but to assist them.  One of the ways they have done this in the past is by providing a more concentrated approach to various aspects of the Church’s overall mission than traditional churches could offer.  Evangelism is a good example.  Traveling crusades are para-church organizations that focus on evangelistic outreach to the exclusion of everything else.

But as Churches continue to move away from Bible based teaching para-church ministries have become a major source of Bible study.  The internet has been a convenient medium for these ministries because of the large numbers of people that can be reached. Today you can literally pick any topic you choose and have immediate access to some of the best teaching available to guide you in your study.  I think this is a fulfillment of Daniel 12:4 “Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.”

A. I think life on Earth could be very similar to what you’ve described.  But if you’re asking for personal reasons, keep in mind that being in the Church you’ll be part of God’s royal family.  You won’t live on Earth, but in the New Jerusalem.  The Bible gives only the vaguest description of your new home and says nothing at all about what your life there will be like.  I think this is because it will be so incredibly superior to anything we can imagine that until our minds are perfected we wouldn’t be able to comprehend it.

A. From the Biblical accounts of their lives it’s hard to believe that John the Baptist had doubts about who Jesus really was, and yet his question in Matt. 11:2-3 makes it appear that he did.  This is one of those cases where a little background knowledge is helpful.  In the Lord’s time there was a religious group called the Essenes.  Josephus called them the third major religious sect after the Pharisees and the Saduccees. We know them as the  source of the Dead Sea Scrolls.  They misunderstood messianic prophecy and believed there would be 2 messiahs instead of two visits by the same one.  They called one Son of Joseph after Jacob’s 11th son.  He would be the suffering servant who would die for the people.  The other would be a conquering King who they named Son of David.

According to tradition, John spent time with the Essenes.  I think he knew of this belief and wanted to set the record straight.  The question he sent his disciples to ask could be translated from the Greek as, “Are you the (only) one who was to come, or should we (also) expect someone else?”

In His response, the Lord reminded them of miracles He had performed (Matt. 11:4-5). The Essenes believed some of these miracles would be performed by “Son of Joseph” and others would be performed by “Son of David.”  In effect, by pointing to the miracles of both Jesus was saying, “I am the only one.”

A. Like many students of prophecy, I consider the Book of Revelation to be chronological.  Therefore I hold the position that the Seal judgments of Rev. 6 follow the events of Rev. 4-5 where the rapture of the Church takes place.

I think when you depart from a chronological treatment of the book, you can easily get hopelessly confused.  There is no theological reason to take the chapters out of order and it’s inconsistent with the literal interpretation to do so.   As for knowing the Seal Judgments are of God, Rev 6:16-17 says they are the opening events of the time we call the Wrath of God.  Notice, it doesn’t say His wrath is coming, but that it has come.

A. According to Jewish theology there are only three Temples in the Bible.  Two have been destroyed  and one is yet to come.  That’s the one the Jews are preparing for now. They call it the 3rd Temple or Ezekiel’s Temple, because it’s described in Ezekiel 40-46. (Millennium is a Christian term from the Latin translation of Rev. 20:2 that Jewish people  don’t use.)

Some Christians believe there will be two more temples, one for the Tribulation and one for the Millennium.  They base this on Rev. 11:1-2 where John is told to measure the Temple.  They believe this “Tribulation” Temple is the one the Jews are preparing for and that it will be destroyed after the anti-Christ defiles it.  Then Ezekiel’s Temple, the Millennial Temple, will be built after the 2nd coming.  Others, like myself, believe the Tribulation temple and Ezekiel’s Temple are one and the same.

A. Jesus had to be a biological descendant of King David’s in order to have a legal claim to David’s Throne (Luke 1:32).  Since He had no earthly father, His mother had to provide this link. Mary was of the tribe of Judah and the family of David, being descended from David through his son Nathan (Luke 3:31).  An obscure reference in Exodus 20:5 seems to indicate that the sin nature passes from the father only.  This explains how Jesus could be fully man but with no sin nature.

A.  1 John was written to believers.  In 1 John 1:9 John advised them and us to confess our sins in order to be purified from all unrighteousness.  This has nothing to do with our eternal salvation, but rather with our earthly relationship with God.   Unconfessed sin can cause interruptions in that relationship, depriving us of its benefits until we admit that we’ve sinned.  Whether you ask Him to forgive you or thank Him for already having done so is not as important as acknowledging the sin and expressing remorse.

Think of Adam and how different things might have been if he had simply confessed instead of trying to blame somebody else.  God already knew he had sinned and never intended to disown him.  But their relationship was certainly different after it happened.  I find it interesting that the Bible doesn’t mention whether Adam ever confessed.

A. From the outcome of your phone conversation, I think it’s safe to say that further discussions on the issue probably won’t be fruitful.  That’s not to say it’s a hopeless case, but that you should focus your continuing efforts on praying that the Lord would reveal Himself to her, if He hasn’t already done so.  Remember, the only true Church is really composed of people who’ve given their hearts to Jesus, trusting Him alone for their salvation, regardless of what the sign on their building calls them.

A. I don’t think it’s an “either / or” issue.  There are places in Ezekiel that say David will be Israel’s King in the Millennium, and there are places where it says he’ll be their Prince.  The King is obviously Jesus because He was promised David’s throne forever (Luke 1:32-33).  But the Prince has to make offerings for himself (Ezek. 46:2) and he will have sons (Ezek. 46:16) so he must be a man in his natural state.  In other words there has to be a human descendant of David’s in a subordinate position to the Lord, just as a Prince is subordinate to a King.   Whether a passage is talking about Jesus or a descendant of David’s depends on whether he’s called the King or the Prince.

A. There’s absolutely no Biblical reason to believe that Joseph was married before and brought children into his relationship with Mary.  Nor have I ever seen any credible extra-Biblical evidence.  This is something put forth  by those who want to maintain Mary’s status as a virgin for religious reasons.  Speaking of Jesus, Matthew 13:55-56 says,

“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”

The clear implication in these verses is that Joseph, Mary, Jesus and all His brothers and sisters were of one family. John, who also knew the family spoke of the Lord’s brothers in John 7:3-10.  The only ones to whom it’s important to portray Mary as a perpetual virgin are those who venerate her as more than a Jewish woman who was blessed to give birth to the Son of God.