Month: November 2012

BSF Study Questions Genesis Lesson 11, Day 4: Genesis 12:4-9 & Hebrews 11:1, 8-10, 15

by atozmom, posted in BSF Genesis 2012/2013

Summary of passages:  Genesis 12:4-9:  Abram obeyed God and set out for Canaan at the age of 75 with his wife, Sarai, his nephew, Lot, and all the possessions and people they had acquired in Haran.

At the tree of Moreh at Shechem the Lord appeared to Abram and told him he will give Abram’s offspring this land (which was currently occupied by the Canaanites).  Abram built an altar there for the Lord.

Abram continued on his journey, stopping at Bethel to build an altar to the Lord and call upon his name and then continuing towards Negev.

Hebrews 11:1, 8-10, 15:  Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.  Abraham had faith when he answered God’s call and traveled to Canaan to receive his inheritance even though he had no idea where he was going.  He moved to a strange land, lived in tents, and raised his family–all while looking forward to the city of God.  He was looking for God’s heavenly country and not a country on Earth.

Questions:

7a)  FAITH

b)  Personal Question.  My answer:  I think we all have experiences if we follow God most days of our lives.  For God is in the little things just as much as He is in the big things such as moving.  God wants all of us all the time.

I have been praying and praying about my husband’s job for he will be moved across country again.  I have been praying and praying about what God wants me to do with this talent I have.  The key is to respond in faith and live faith every day of your lives.  I homeschool my kids cause I believe that is God’s calling for me.  I write this blog every day as I believe that as well.  I write my heart into the stories I write and weave God into them through faith in Him and what He wants me to do with this life.

c)  “Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.”

8a)  Verse 4 (“So Abram left) and verse 5 (“took…all the possessions they had and the people.”

b)  God, Sarai, Lot, other people from Haran

9a)  “To your offspring I will give this land.”  So not only to Abram but to his kids as well.

b)  He built an altar and presumably worshiped God and offered sacrifices

c)  Personal Question.  My answer:  Through all my husband’s layoffs, we have been provided for.  All the moves have been in His plan.  Right now, I am doing my work in Faith.

10a)  He moved on to Bethel and built an altar to the Lord and called on His name and then he continued toward the Negev.  In essence, he continued following God’s plan for him.

b)  Colossians 1:23:  Continue your life in faith and not moved from the hope Jesus gave us.  Verse 22 adds we are reconciled to God through Christ if we continue in faith.

Colossians 2:6-7:  Continue to live in Christ Jesus, rooted in him, strong faith in him, and overflowing thankfulness in him.

Hebrews 6:1:  Continue to mature in Christ, continue faith in God and repenting from acts that lead to death

Hebrews 10:35-38:  Persevere in God’s will for your life so you will receive what He has promised and live by faith.  Have confidence in what God is doing with you.

1 Peter 2:2:  Continue to grow in God’s goodness (verse 3) and in your confidence in your salvation by craving God’s goodness and purity

Conclusions:  BSF should subtitle the Study of Genesis as the Study of Hebrews.

If you haven’t gotten it yet, Abram was FAITHFUL.

However, IMPORTANT NOTE:  Abram did not obey God fully.  The Lord says in verse 1 “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household”.  Abram did not do this.  He brought Lot and other people from Haran with him.  We will soon see how Lot turned out.  Like the rest of us, Abram is human, too.

Also, a big deal is made in Hebrews about tents.  Even today people who live in tents are travelers, not permanent settlers.  Like when you go camping.  You pitch a temporary home.  The writer of Hebrews is trying to drill that point home.  Abraham lived in tents because he was looking forward to his permanent home in God’s kingdom, heaven.  He could have built a house once he settled but he didn’t.  He was just passing through this world.

End Note:  Map of Negev HERE.  The Negev is a desert region in Israel where Abram was headed.  It still is called the Negev today.

BSF Study Questions Genesis Lesson 11, Day 3: Genesis 12:1-3

by atozmom, posted in BSF Genesis 2012/2013

Summary of passage:  God calls Abram to leave his country (Mesopotamia) for the land He will show Him (Canaan).  God promises Abram to make him into a great nation and He will bless him.  He will bless those who bless him and curse those who curse him. ALL people on earth will be blessed through Abram.

Questions:

5a)  I (I being God) will:

1) Make you into a great nation.  This is the Jewish People and the Old Testament chronicles this through Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and down to Christ. Genesis 13:16

2)  Bless you.  Philippians 4:19  “God will meet all your needs…in Christ Jesus.”

3)  Make your name great.  Abram is honored by Jews, Muslims, and Christians.  I would wager most people know who he is.

4)  You will be a blessing.  Matthew 28:19-20.  I think the biggest blessing we can be is to tell others about Jesus.

5)  Bless those who bless you.  Matthew 16:19

6)  Curse those who curse you.  I see this in God’s punishment of the nations who are against Israel (Babylon, Assyria, etc) as attested throughout the Bible, history, and today.

7)  All peoples on earth will be blessed through you.  Through Jesus and our faith the Gentiles are children of Abraham. Galatians 3: 7-9, 14-18,29, Genesis 22:18, Acts 3:25-26

b) I’m using Genesis 17 for all of these, where God re-affirms His covenant with Abram (ham) and gives him the sign of circumcision to seal the covenant.  Joshua 21:43-45 confirms Israel took the land and that “every one (promise) was fulfilled.”

6a)  Ephesians 1:3:  Every spiritual blessing

b)  Ephesians 1:18:  Know the hope He has called us to and the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints

c)  Ephesians 2:6-7:  Raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realm; Shows us the incomparable riches of His grace

d)  1 Corinthians 2:9-10: We receive His Spirit so we may know what God has prepared for those who love Him (us)

e)  Psalm 16:5-6, 11:  We have an assigned portion that is secure and pleasant which is a delightful inheritance.  Know the path of life, the joy in your presence, eternal pleasures

Conclusions:  A lot of looking up and researching with the challenge question.  Writing out God’s promises is a powerful reminder that God is for us–not against us (Romans 8:31).  He is our greatest cheerleader and our greatest protector against the enemy.  God is good despite all the bad that sometimes surrounds us.

With these promises, He expects us to be a blessing.  We must show God’s love.  Always.

BSF Study Questions Genesis Lesson 11, Day 2: Genesis 12:1-3

by atozmom, posted in BSF Genesis 2012/2013

Summary of passage:  God calls Abram to leave his country (Mesopotamia) for the land He will show Him (Canaan).  God promises Abram to make him into a great nation and He will bless him.  He will bless those who bless him and curse those who curse him. ALL people on earth will be blessed through Abram.

Questions:

3)  Country, people, relatives (father’s household) so family.  Basically, everything

4a)  Matthew 4:18-22:  Peter and Andrew left their livelihood (fishing) and James and John left their boat and father (livelihood and family) to follow Jesus when he called. Called to stop whatever you are doing.

Matthew 8:22:  Jesus told one disciple to “let the dead bury their dead”, meaning let the other family members who were not alive in Christ bury his father (verse 21) who just died.

I take this not as callousness of attending a funeral but that Jesus had to attend to the living.  He had more important work for the disciple to do than funeral arrangements that someone else in the family could handle.

Mark 8:34-36:  “He must deny himself, take up the cross, and follow me….loses his life for me.”  You no longer live for yourself but for Jesus.  Deny your desires and embrace His.  Surrender yourself to Christ.

The meaning of cross bearing today is a bit different from Jesus’s time.  If you bore a cross in 1st century AD, you were sentenced to death.  You were dying and there was no going back.  Today it has softened to meaning bearing something irritating like “grin and bear it.”

Jesus meant there is no going back.  Surrender your life COMPLETELY to him.  Not just put up with Jesus.

Luke 14:26-33:  Must “give up everything he has” in order to follow Jesus.  Jesus must come before family members.  Allow nothing to come between us and God.  Even good things such as family.  We must abandon all striving after our own interests–die to self. Be like Jesus.  Not like our sinful self.

1 Peter 2:9; 1 John 2:15-17:  God chose us so we must declare the praises of him to others.  We must do the will of God in our lives and forsake everything in and of the world which will inevitably pass away.

Conclusions:  This lesson reminds me that everything has a cost in this world; nothing is free.  The same with following Jesus.  Once accepted, we are called to more.  Sinful living is no longer acceptable.  Jesus demands a lot from us:  total commitment to him! For he gave himself for us.

God’s will must be first above all else and anyone else.  It’s what He desires for your life not what you desire.  If it’s not for Him, it’s meaningless.  We must yield completely to Him and surrender all self-interest in order to follow Him.  We must think of ourselves as dead, yield our life completely, and place it in God’s hands.

Only then can we live.

It is a Compulsion that I CANNOT Quench…

by atozmom, posted in Writing

…this thing called writing.

It just won’t go away no matter how much I try.

Yet this same compulsion causes me so much agony.

Because I see no results.

My works languish like a worn out farm tractor sitting in a field.

Relegated to word documents that sit on my computer.  Filed away on some hard drive never to be seen.

I pray, “God direct me.  Use me.  Use this gift.”

And I feel no answer.

It frustrates me.

I’m not getting any younger.

I feel called to something more, something great even, but it never comes.

Or it’s too slow in coming.

“God’s timing.”

Yep, got it.  Doesn’t help me much though.

My YA paranormal is going nowhere.  Discouraging.

I’ve basically given up on the thing.

“Who am I?”

Not Tim Tebow.  Jenny McCarthy.  Bill Clinton.  Sarah Palin.  Or anyone else famous who has written a book.

Started a new novel this morning.

Well, not new.  It’s a resurrected idea that I plan to completely re-write.

For I can only write what I know.  What I have learned.  What I think others NEED to know before they learn it the hard way like I did.

And tears are shed…

Still, my heart remains heavy.  No relief.  Just anxiety…

I feel lost right now.  Debating about taking unpaid work (being a columnist again) just to satisfy this yearning deep within…

Debating a lot of things I could do.  Trying to come up with new ideas.

Yet my dream remains the same.

There must be room for me.  Hundreds of books are published every year.  I have a niche…

Somewhere…

For everyone has a story to tell.

I just wish (and pray) I could pinpoint mine.

Summation of BSF Lesson 10

by atozmom, posted in BSF Genesis 2012/2013

Did you notice how many times the questions were about “you”?

“You” or “your” was used an eye-popping 26 times!  All I saw was a sea of yellow when I highlighted the words!

The preponderance of the word “you” in this lesson didn’t sit well with me.  It just didn’t. Because it is about God and not about what I think.  It just reminded me of today’s society and how people are so concerned about “me”, “myself”, and “I”.

It’s like when parents ask their kids:  “Jimmy, do you want to go to the grocery store now or later?”  Jimmy doesn’t have a choice.  If you need groceries, you go.  Not when Jimmy says so.  Yes, this is a real live example of one parent I know who does this.

If your mom or dad says “go”, you go.  If God says “go”, you go.  Like Abram did.  You don’t have a choice.

Yes, it matters to God what I think but my thoughts are molded by the Truth not by  “what do I think” opinions.

I want to know what is significant, not what I think is significant (for who am I?).  I want to know what is interesting not what I think is interesting (for who am I?).  I want to know the signs I am in Christ  for how do you know if you don’t know?

Yes, I am significant to God but when I read the Bible, I and who I am doesn’t matter.  It’s God and who He is.

Sure, you could argue, “Well, that’s just someone else’s opinion on what is significant and interesting.”  You know, the dreaded “commentaries.”

True, but hopefully these people are much more well versed in the Bible than I am and know through years of study.  I need to be led (like a pastor shepherds his flock as Jesus did).  Only then can I understand and then think how it applies to me.  I come for knowledge and others’ “opinions” so then I can form my own.

Lessons like these drive me nuts.  I call them “filler” lessons because I see them as primarily a way to extend the Bible Study.  Let’s just dive into God’s word about Abram and God instead of piddle-paddling around about it.

To me, this lesson was personal reflection and review.

Fine.  Now let’s move on to Abram.

BSF Study Questions Genesis Lesson 10, Day 5: Romans 4:13-25; Galatians 3:6-9, 16, 29; Hebrews 11:8-19

by atozmom, posted in BSF Genesis 2012/2013

Summary of passages:  Romans 4:13-25:  Abraham received God’s promise by faith, not by works or by following the law (which didn’t exist or hadn’t been given in Abram’s time).  For if you follow the law, then why would you need faith?

God’s promises are by faith in Him and by His grace to all who believe not just to those who follow the law.  Through hope and faith Abraham believed God when God said he would be a father of nations even though he and Sarah were almost 100 years old and were close to death.

Abraham was strengthened in his faith and gave God the glory when he had a son.  It was through his faith Abraham was righteous and it is the same for all believers who believe Jesus died for our sins and was raised from the dead for our justification.

We must remember Paul is writing explaining the Christian faith and just got done in Romans 3, saying we are righteous only because of faith in Jesus and nothing else.

Galatians 3:6-9, 16, 29:  Abraham believed God and was thus righteous.  Therefore, those who believe are children of Abraham and are blessed along with him.  The Scriptures say that God justifies the Gentiles though faith as evidenced when God said he would bless all nations through Abraham.

God’s promises apply to all if you belong to Christ.

Hebrews 11:8-19:  Abraham when called obeyed by faith to go to the promised land and make his home there for he was looking forward to the city with foundations (heaven).  Abraham became a father by faith and had descendants as numerous as the stars.

All of these people when they died were living by faith for they did not receive the promises in their lifetime on earth.  They were strangers in this land for their home was in heaven.

Abraham offered his only son Isaac as a sacrifice to God for he had faith that God could and would bring him back from the dead.

Questions:

9)  Personal Question.  My answer:  It all comes down to faith in God, who He is, what He says, and what He does. We have nothing to worry about if we have God.

10)  Genesis 12:3:  God says “…all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”  Galatians tells us that all who believe are children of Abraham and are thus righteous and blessed as God blessed all through Abraham.

11a)  Personal Question.  My answer:  He had unquestioning faith.  He never questioned.  God spoke; Abraham obeyed.  Even when it was scary, uncertain, or painful (like called to sacrifice your only son).  He believed in God’s promises.

b)  Genesis 21:12:  God says, “…it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”  The ultimate blessing is our forgiveness of our sins and salvation through Jesus Christ, a descendant of Isaac and Abraham.

c)  Personal Question.  My answer:  God’s promises have been the same since the Fall.  That He would provide us an eternal home with him.  He would cleanse us of our sins and redeem us.  He would provide the way.  And not only for God’s chosen people, the Israelites, but also for the Gentiles.  All through faith.

Conclusions:  Definitely dreaded this lesson after yesterday’s, especially when I noted nothing from Genesis (or the Old Testament) in the reading AND Hebrews 11 AGAIN!

Interesting how often the Bible does repeat itself or the same idea (like in these passages about Abraham’s faith) just in different ways.  Guess we have to drill it into our heads to get it!

This lesson brought to mind the study of Isaiah where the importance of Israel and the Gentiles was prominent.  Here, I first learned the significance of both and the difference.

Summary of today:  God’s promises are for ALL.  Which includes salvation.

 

BSF Study Questions Genesis Lesson 10, Day 4: Genesis 11:26-32; Acts 7:2-8

by atozmom, posted in BSF Genesis 2012/2013

Summary of passages:  Genesis 11:26-32:  The account of Terah from the line of Shem who was Abram’s (later Abraham’s) father.  Lot was Abram’s nephew.  Abram married Sarai (later Sarah) and she was barren (had no children).

Terah, Abram, Sarai, and Lot left Ur for Canaan but settled in Haran where Terah died.

Acts 7:2-8:  Stephen tells us the back story:  God appeared the Abram/Abraham while he was still in Ur in Mesopotamia before he left for Haran and told Abram to leave Ur and to go to Canaan.  So he went to Haran.  Then after Terah, his father, died God sent Abram to Canaan.

God gave him no inheritance in Canaan but He promised him his descendants would possess the land.  God told Abram his children would be strangers in the land and would be enslaved for 400 years.  But God would punish that nation and afterward they will come back to Canaan to worship Him.  Here, God instituted the covenant of circumcision as a sign of this covenant.

Then Abraham had Isaac whom he circumcised.  Isaac had Jacob who became the father of the twelve patriarchs.

Questions:

7a)  Ur, a city in Mesopotamia where the Chaldeans or Babylonians ruled at that time (approximately 2091 BC).

b)  Personal Question.  My answer:  That God told Abram beforehand that they would suffer and be enslaved before they would have their inheritance of the land.  Also, the covenant of circumcision was a sign of this promise.

8a)  Personal Question.  My answer:  I learned that Lot was Abram’s nephew and was one of those chosen along with Abram to share in God’s inheritance of Canaan.

b)  Personal Question.  My answer:  This one is pulling teeth.  Not sure how the facts of Abram’s calling encourage my family.

Conclusions:  My favorite part of this lesson was writing the summary.  The rest I could have done without.

I gave up on 8b after 20 minutes.  Couldn’t think of one thing.

This one was definitely a filler lesson in my opinion.

Map of Abram’s Journey out of Ur to Canaan:  http://www.israel-a-history-of.com/old-testament-map.html#Peninsula.

Recommendation:  If you are interested in map work, I would purchase a good Bible Atlas.  The one I own is Zondervan’s Atlas of the Bible by Carl S. Rasmussen.  This has a much, MUCH better map of Abraham’s possible route than I could find on the Internet as well as detailed background information, dates, and what’s going on in the known world in the same time period.

I’m sure there are many more wonderful ones out there but the detail given in a book is invaluable to me as I need to picture Abram trekking through the desert in order to understand a world more than 4 millenia before mine.

BSF Study Questions Genesis Lesson 10, Day 3: Skim Genesis 6-9

by atozmom, posted in BSF Genesis 2012/2013

Summary of passages:  Please see previous posts.

Questions:

6a)  Personal Question.  My answer:  The judgment was final.  There was no going back once it began.  Once God closed the door to the ark God’s judgment had been complete. So it will be in the End Times for Jesus’s Second Coming.  No one will know when it will happen.  It will just happen.

b)  Believers are spared God’s punishment in terms of punishment.  We are judged for rewards for God has forgiven our sins.  Unbelievers are judged for punishments for their sins have not been forgiven.

c)  Personal Question.  My answer:  I am a Christian through faith in our Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit indwells my body to guide me in this life.

Conclusion:  Honestly, again, dreading the repetition.  But part b did give me a chance to clarify in my mind the Final Judgment and research the passages for this, which is important in explaining to others why they need to accept Christ.

Great, succinct answer to who is judged and when HERE

BSF Study Questions Genesis Lesson 10, Day 2: Skim Genesis 1-5

by atozmom, posted in BSF Genesis 2012/2013

Summary of passages:  Please see previous posts.

Questions:

3a)  Physical Needs:  God clothed them.  Food:  now man must sow the ground for his food.  The garden had provided shelter for man.

Spiritual Needs:  A Father (God) to lead man.

Man thought he needed the knowledge of good and evil (or of God and what God knows) but in all actuality man doesn’t.

b)  3:15  “…and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel.”  Matthew and Luke recounts how God provided Mary a child through the Holy Spirit.

4)  Faith is believing in what we cannot see and being sure of it despite this.  The writer uses the example that we believe God made the universe even though no one saw this happen and believing God made all we see from what we do not see.

5a)  Personal Question.  My answer:  Abel knew God demanded the best from him so he brought the best.  Just like God demands the best from us so we must give Him our best.  Whatever that looks like for each of us.

b)  Faith.  Hebrews 11:5:  “By faith Enoch was taken from this life…”

c)  Personal Question.  My answer:  I must keep the faith.  Hebrews 11:13:  “…They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them…”  Hebrews 11:39-40:  “…yet none of them received what had been promised.  God had planned something better for us…”

Even though I cannot see it, it is there.  God’s promises for me.  In Him.  And when I feel like this life sucks I must keep moving towards Him.  Through faith.  For He has a better plan.

Conclusion:  Interesting how 2 obscure men in the Bible (Enoch and Abel) who maybe have a dozen verses between them (that’s being generous) made such an impact on others who remembered their faith.  For we are not told much about what they did.  Only Enoch walked with God and Abel brought the fat.  That’s about it.  Then they die.

This gives me hope.  Currently, I am struggling with my life and its meaning.  I feel like God has so much more for me and here I am languishing.

For who am I?  Who was Abel?  Just a guy who had faith and got killed for it.  Who was Enoch?  Just a guy who walked with God and because of it was spared a physical death. Who will remember me?  No one will read about me when I die.  Yet there is something out there for me that will make an impact.  I just feel I’m not there yet.

End Note:  Admittedly, I skimmed this Lesson (a review lesson) and was dreading it.  I skimmed today’s passages and thought Not again!  I mean, how many times do I have to read Hebrews.  Seriously?

So I thought God must have something here for me.  So I read all of Hebrews 11.  And sure enough I came up with the answer to question 5c and the conclusion.

That even though I am only one person out of 7 billion people or however many people are on the planet now I can make a difference and an impact.  If I have the faith in God and trust Him to do it.  Not me.  But Him.  Just like all the people mentioned in Hebrews 11.  All had one thing in common:  faith in God.  And all accomplished His mission in their lives.

This is my prayer for me and you:  keep the faith and accomplish His purpose in our lives.

Fun Fact:  Check out this website with cool charts on the world population throughout history:

http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/

Is It a Sin to Marry a Non-Believer?

by atozmom, posted in Faith

Our Bible Study Fellowship teaching leader flat out said this week, “It’s a sin to be married to a non-believer.”  I immediately blanched because I’ve never heard this before.

Being that we discussed marriage and the passages that believers use to assert this assumption last year in BSF’s study of Acts, I was indeed curious.  For this was never mentioned AT ALL.

All we talked about were Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 7:12-16 and not once did anyone say it was a sin to marry or be married to a non-believer.  It was all about IF you were married to one, what do you do?

Resolved to find the answer, I researched.

Again, it all comes down to translation of the Hebrew and Greek words that the Bible was originally written in.

The main passage people use to assert this assumption is 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.  For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common?”

The key word is yoked.  But this is the NIV translation.  This word is translated differently in other translations.

I’m curious as to what you all think.

Personally, I don’t think it’s a sin.

Remember the definition of sin, which according to Webster’s Dictionary is “a transgression of the law of God”.  Transgression means a violation of a law or command; to go beyond the limits.

According to my bible dictionary (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary by Douglas and Tenney) sin is “revolt against the holiness and sovereign will of God.  It is a condition of the heart and the outworking of that condition through one’s words and actions.”

I believe nothing in this world happens without God’s plan.  I believe God puts husbands and wives together for a purpose.  And I think one of these purposes is so you can influence your spouse and even save them through living a Christian life and in turn they turn to Jesus.

We are called to “be imitators of God” (Ephesians 5:1) and I believe it is our example that leads others to Christ.

If you love an unbeliever enough to marry him or her, then God loves them enough for you to save them for Him.  It’s the same for family members.  It is our duty to bring them to God.  To show them God’s love that dwells in us–for them.

I believe it is God’s will.

Now should you go seeking a marriage with an unbeliever?  No.  Should you be wary before you say I do?  Yes.  Is it prudent to marry one?  No.

But it’s God’s will.  Not our own.

I find it hard that Paul who spoke so much about marriage wouldn’t come out and clearly say, “It is a sin to marry an unbeliever so don’t.”  Thus, I just don’t see this as a “law” put forth by God similar to the Ten Commandments.

Again, it’s all interpretation and translation.  And since none of us lived in the first century AD or asked Paul himself what he meant here, we can’t say for certain.

And we all know how languages change (see my spiel on the nature of languages HERE.)  Some words just don’t translate perfectly into other languages.  If you’ve ever studied another language or lived in a country with a different native tongue, you know what I mean.

Even within the same language.  England has many phrases that do not translate into American and vice versa.  Same with Spanish.  The Spanish in Spain is totally different from the Spanish of the Americas and even within the countries of the Americas.  Just ask Chileans and their “modismos”.

To me, love is stronger.  Don’t condemn others because they married an unbeliever.  Leave that to God.  But love them instead.

I do find it hard to believe this wasn’t talked about last year.  I looked up my post from last year when we studied 2 Corinthians and I even said in my conclusions I was disappointed BSF DID NOT talk about this.  View the post HERE

We did discuss 1 Corinthians 7 (HERE) and only talked about what to do if you are married to a non-believer.  And no where do I remember the word SIN entering the picture.

Once again, I’m disappointed in BSF.  They probably didn’t want to offend people by bringing up this very important debate (I think) in today’s society.  Because I bet a good majority of people are married to unbelievers.

I want to know.  Is it a sin?  Am I wrong to think it isn’t?  What’s the Scripture that speaks to this besides the ones above?

I attend BSF to get answers to questions I have.  This to me is important.  I need to know this since marriage affects most of the world’s population.  I need to know this for those around me.  For my kids who will one day marry.

Maybe I’m just too much of a “complainer” as some of you think.  Or I expect too much.  Or I question too much.  Or there is obviously something wrong with me….

I just want to be challenged that’s all.  So I can grow and be more like Jesus and change my thinking if needs be.

To me, this is challenging.

END NOTE:  One post I found that proposes it is a sin to marry a non-believer:

http://www.reasonablefaith.org/marrying-a-non-christian

Another article that says we should ask instead “Why would you want to marry a non-believer?” but the author also believes it to be a sin:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/biblestudies/bible-answers/marriage/unequallyyoked.html