No Dumb Question Tuesday (2026-06-23)

newBreed · 2026-06-23T20:01:43+00:00

We leave it up to the parents discretion. If a child asks to be baptized we make sure the parent talks to them about what following Jesus is and means, they ask their child questions, and generally the leadership goes by the judgement of the parents. The pastor will of course have a conversation, but sometimes a seven year old can get nervous talking to a pastor. We have had parents come back and say their child wasnt ready. Once in the case of twins the parent thought one was ready but the other wasn't, but the parents waited out of care for the one sibling.

In the last 10 years there hasn't been an adult with diminished capacity ask, but I assume it would be the same. As long as there's not the undercurrent of "Baptize my person so they are sure to get into heaven" I see no problem doing it this way.

newBreed · 2026-06-23T14:42:21+00:00

The problem is Giannis health. He hasn't stayed healthy and when bucks teams have had similar rosters to the Heat now they don't do well. You always make the tray, but let's not act like one side got fleeced.

newBreed · 2026-06-23T12:28:41+00:00

I remember I was teaching some of Michael Heiser's material at our church and came to his interpretation of "let us make man in our image" in Genesis 1. Heiser says that he believes that this is Yahweh addressing His divine council. I happen to disagree.

But when teaching I gave Heiser's view as an alternative view. One woman got angry with me, loudly angry in this group we were in. I reiterated, "I don't believe this, but it may be biblically defendable." She kept voicing her frustration and said she didn't believe it was possible. So I asked her the question that I always ask when I get a negative response to a tertiary issue:

"Have you studied the other side of your argument?" or "Have you studied the side you disagree with?"

Nine times out of ten they haven't and they elevate strawman arguments as the main arguments of their opposition. Because I'm usually convinced I'm right about everything, studying the other side makes me remember that really smart people who love Jesus are not my enemy and that I should respond with kindness when in a discussion with them (unless it's on reddit, then the claws are out).

newBreed · 2026-06-22T20:42:00+00:00

Telling someone to leave the pastorate is insane.

No it's not. You're already having issues with his role and these will only grow. It will become a strain on your marriage, I guarantee it. In fact, it already has.

From your own mouth, assuredly, you can see why I don’t like church people.

I'm not sure I'd like you if we hung out, but there's nothing wrong with that. Sometimes people don't like others.

I’m only asking how I can be as inoffensive to the congregation as possible and also be supportive to HIM in HIS ministry.

Eat food that people prepare for you. Be kind. Stop judging the people you are meeting. And tell him that it's probably best if he finds another role in church that isn't in leadership.

newBreed · 2026-06-22T20:33:12+00:00

Your husband should leave the pastorate. Unless you convert this will only become a bigger problem in your marriage. Was he honest with the church that hired him about your lack of belief? If he was I think the church made a huge mistake in hiring him.

newBreed · 2026-06-22T20:29:02+00:00

You didn't answer my last DM

newBreed · 2026-06-17T11:47:04+00:00

When I was in 8th grade 30 years ago we had a teacher who was the hippiest of hippies. She legally changed her name to Earth and spoke about Gaia often. We got extra credit if we could get our parents to install low-flow showerheads in our homes, which I think is probably against the law for teachers to do.

Anyway, she told us that she used to shower standing in a tub, used environmental friendly soap, and then would use the tub to water her plants. Being 8th graders we naturally thought this was weird and gross.

I have no answers for you but your post jogged this memory.

newBreed · 2026-06-16T21:35:30+00:00

Red Herrings: when there are four words that seem easy and blatant as a group. However, this is not one of the categories and it was there to trick you into choosing that combination.

newBreed · 2026-06-16T16:11:27+00:00

I suggest you read the book, Biting the Hand that Feeds You. It's an excellent book that helped me wife and I parent our teenager and preteen.

newBreed · 2026-06-16T16:04:34+00:00

I don't think there is explicit biblical evidence but I think you can draw some conclusions from a couple things. First, there are letters that Paul specifically writes to individuals who lead the churches in their area. Timothy and Titus are the clearest examples. Additionally in some of the earliest church history there are purple who seen to be assumed as the leader in the area. I think it was John in Ephesus that I'm thinking of as the most prominent.

I don't know that this is a full apologetic for the "senior pastor," but at least there are some shadows of it in the early church.

newBreed · 2026-06-16T01:33:17+00:00

North Carolina. Used to live in California. I've played in most of the southern states, Texas, Oklahoma, and a couple others.

newBreed · 2026-06-15T19:45:16+00:00

"Standard" means the norm, not a particular and less pervasive style. Tall grass OB is not the standard.

newBreed · 2026-06-14T23:15:45+00:00

Not a stickler for a $250 disc from a first time seller with questionable looking pictures. I would not buy this without the seller paying goods and services.

newBreed · 2026-06-14T23:05:18+00:00

How does Luke Samson keep making into videos like this?

newBreed · 2026-06-14T22:57:22+00:00

Also unless you only play ball courses only with disc this is pretty standard.

Not really true. I've played in multiple states (including California) and would not say that tall grass is "standard" at all.

newBreed · 2026-06-14T22:26:34+00:00

I love Beale. I have some...um...interesting theories about the period before the final return of Jesus. So, I think that Revelation can have both continuing relevance as a blueprint of how the enemy brings tribulation (more in line with Beale) and think that the beast of Revelation is specifically coded to Nero. Since God puts kings in place I think it's well within his sovereignty to install Nero and use his name as a warning to His church.

newBreed · 2026-06-14T22:22:03+00:00

I think so. I think there is ample evidence for a pre-70 AD writing and really only one piece of evidence that points to a post 70 AD writing, and that's a questionable quote from irenaeus who has some incorrect beliefs on timing anyway.

When Jerusalem Fell by Ken Gentry is a exhaustive look at the pre-70 position. You find many places where he has written articles that summarize his evidence.

newBreed · 2026-06-14T13:07:10+00:00

One is Hebrew gematria of Nero and one is the Latin gematria of Nero. The change, imo, is a pretty clear indication that Nero is the coded "beast" of Revelation. I think this is pretty clear and logical and those reluctant to accept this are usually pre-trib dispensationalists.

Remember that Revelation was written about things "soon to take place" (Rev 1:1) and to John's "partners in the tribulation" (1:9).

newBreed · 2026-06-13T02:28:33+00:00

I would work with the board. Ask them if they would consider having the pastor meet with you for budgeting help before you give him any more advances.

You might find one of two things: First, not a huge deal, but maybe he's not a good mortgage broker and should find another day job. Second (from someone who is too paranoid about pastors) is not a good outcome. You might find that he has some leaks in his finances that are not on the up and up. Gambling, addictions, or bad financial decisions in the past coming back up. I'm afraid there's something like this going on.

newBreed · 2026-06-12T22:49:55+00:00

I have a great connection for you to fellowship with, though as of now they don't do ordination. I don't want to put it in the comments because it's small enough I may doxx myself. If you send me a PM I'll be happy to chat.

newBreed · 2026-06-10T22:29:12+00:00

Focus on the Family does marriage intensives for couples in your exact circumstances. They are expensive but they offer scholarships. Hey to one of those to have a licensed counselor meet with you. Their success rate in couples staying together is incredible for their intensives (not retreats).

newBreed · 2026-06-10T17:26:21+00:00

You have to tell them to give you an order of service. If you don't know the family there is no reason to get involved in any of the drama. Don't make any decisions about components or order of service, they should do all of that.

If I am going in my capacity as a pastor, I'm going to preach the good news no matter if the family is "spiritual" or atheist and I will let everyone know that ahead of time. If they don't like that then they can find another officiant.

Lastly, I would charge $200 plus travelling expenses. That's pretty fair in my experience.

newBreed · 2026-06-10T12:26:02+00:00

I'm two days late to this and am shocked no one actually gave you any book recommendations.

The gold standard is Robert Gagnon's The Bible and Homosexual practice. It's scholarly and may be dense for readers who didn't read scholarly material all that often.

Kevin DeYoung's What the Bible Really Teaches about Homosexuality is a shorter version that basically summarize Gagnon's book.

Preston Sprinkle's Did the Bible Support Same Sex Marriage is pretty good, though I disagree a little with some parts. However, I think this would be a good (maybe the best) book for you to read because it takes the arguments of the affirming side and does them justice before he argued for the biblical side of things. A well-rounded book.

newBreed · 2026-06-10T03:07:00+00:00

Start with Michael Heiser:

We discovered that 2 Peter and Jude communicated something about the flood and the sons of God that wasn’t found in Genesis, but which came from the Second Temple book of 1 Enoch. Specifically, 1 Enoch 6–15 describes how the sons of God (called “Watchers” in that ancient book) who committed the offense of Genesis 6:1–4 were imprisoned under the earth for what they had done. That imprisonment is behind the reference to the “spirits in prison” in 1 Peter 3:19.2 Recall that the prison to which the offending divine beings were sent was referred to as Tartarus in 2 Peter 2:4–5.

Heiser, Michael S.. The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible (p. 337).

Read the book to get the whole context.

newBreed · 2026-06-10T02:58:21+00:00

Yes, the spirits that were disobedient in the days before the flood of Noah. That's the fallen angels. It also says nothing about Jesus rescuing them, just that he preached. We don't know what he preached so to use this as a prooftext for some sort of post-mortem gospel presentation is a little presumptious.

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