When is the Sabbath?  The Bible says its the seventh day.  Why do so many keep Sunday as the Sabbath?

Sincerely,
A Day To Remember

Dear A Day To Remember,

Saturday is the Sabbath day… but christians don’t have to worry about keeping the Sabbath.  The word ‘sabbath’ means ‘rest’.  The Sabbath day was a day that the nation of Israel was told to rest, stop working, and make holy to the Lord (Ex 31:15).  This rule was so strict that a man was once stoned for collecting firewood on Saturday (Num 15:32-36).  However, this was a Jewish command, not a Christian one.  The Sabbath was part of the Old Testament law – a law that christians are no longer under (Gal 3:23-25).  We are specifically told not to let anyone bind the Sabbath on us (Col 2:16).  Christians worship Christ on the first day of the week – Sunday (Acts 20:7, 1 Cor 16:1-2).  We are not bound by the strict rules of avoiding all work like the Jews were, but we are told to treat Sunday as “the Lord’s day” (Rev 1:10).

When Jesus talked to His disciples, He said, "When you fast..."  Later, in Pauline epistles, we read about the early church, and fasting is still referred to sometimes.  As christians, my understanding is that today we are to follow the Word by its commands, inferences, or practices.  So when it comes to fasting, are we as christians to be fasting?  It's interesting to me that we are told what to do when we sing and why, what day of the week to gather together by example, but nothing that I have found has made it clear to me details about fasting.  So should we be regular "fasters" today?

Sincerely,
Snack Time

Dear Snack Time,

Fasting is a Biblical practice, but there are no specific guidelines for when to do it.  Fasting is the practice of not eating for a designated period of time.  Jesus once fasted for forty days (Matt 4:2).  Fasting is often associated with times of grief and difficult decisions (Joel 2:12).  The New Testament doesn’t require fasting, but it also shows the benefits of fasting during times of difficulty or when important decisions needed to be made (Acts 14:23).  Jesus’ disciples were noted for not fasting as often as the rest of the Jewish community (Matt 9:14), an indication that fasting doesn’t have the same level of emphasis in the New Testament.  There is a time for fasting, but it is purely up to personal discretion.

What does the Bible say about marriage?

Sincerely,
I Do

Dear I Do,

The Bible says quite a bit about marriage… more than we can cover in a single AYP post.  We can try and hit the highlights though.

1. Marriage is between a man and a woman (Gen 2:24, Matt 19:5).  Homosexual relationships are not, and cannot be, marriages.
2. Marriage is intended for a lifetime – God hates divorce (Mal 2:16).
3. The husband is supposed to lead his family and love his wife as Christ loves the church (Eph 5:23).
4. The wife is supposed to respect her husband (Eph 5:33).

As we said, those are the quick highlights.  If you have more specific questions, please feel free to write back in.

What is a graven image?

Sincerely,
Feeling Wooden

Dear Feeling Wooden,

A graven image is a carved statue, trinket, figurine, etc. that is used for idolatrous worship.  A graven image is something that has been molded, carved, painted, etc. to depict a false god (Isa 44:17).  Many cultures, from the ancient Romans to the Mayans, had graven images as a regular part of their art.

I am a member of a Baptist church, but I was thinking about changing.  What is the difference between Church of God and church of Christ?

Sincerely,
Just Browsing

Dear Just Browsing,

The Church of God and the churches of Christ are vastly different.  The Church of God is a name used by numerous, mostly unrelated Christian denominational bodies, most of which descend from either Pentecostal/Holiness or Adventist traditions.  Most groups that use the title Church of God believe in speaking in tongues, modern prophecy, and visions.  All of these things are false teachings.  See “Speaking In Tongues”, “The Lost Art Of Prophecy”, “I Dreamed A Dream” for further details on what the Bible says about these behaviors.

Churches of Christ are all individual congregations (we have no centralized leadership other than the Bible) that simply try to follow the Bible pattern for everything they do.  This is not the case with every church of Christ, but it certainly is for us in Monroe, WA.

Everything a church does (worship, membership, how they teach to be saved, how they spend their money, even their name) needs to have Bible verses backing them up (1 Tim 3:15).  A church needs to be able to explain the reasons for why they do what they do (1 Pet 3:15).
Our congregation here in Monroe goes by the name ‘Monroe Valley church of Christ’ because ‘church of Christ’ is a Biblical name for a congregation (Rom 16:16).  We worship by singing (Col 3:16), studying the Bible (1 Tim 4:13), praying (2 Thess 3:1), taking communion (only on Sundays – Acts 20:7), and taking up a collection (also only on Sundays – 1 Cor 16:1-2).  We teach that you must hear God’s Word (Rom 10:17), believe God’s Word (Jhn 3:16), repent of your sins (Mk 6:12), confess Jesus as your Savior (Lk 12:8), and be baptized to be saved (Acts 2:38, 1 Pet 3:21).  We do all these things because they are practices found in the Bible.  Our philosophy is simple: if the Bible speaks, we speak; if the Bible is silent, we are silent.

Hopefully that helps to clarify the differences for you.  A faithful church of Christ is simply trying to do just what the Bible says… no more, no less.