5 minutes a day 5 days a week - a year of Bible Wisdom

Hi, I had a dream a few nights ago; I was outside, and it was daytime.  I looked up at the sky, and I saw a few clouds, and something red was in the clouds.  It was like a human shape; it was red.  I couldn’t see a face or hands; I don’t know what it was.  Then I saw three or four, maybe even five, moons in the sky.  What does this mean?

Sincerely,
New Moon

Dear New Moon,

It means you had a weird dream.  The days of prophecy and visions are over.  The purpose of prophecy was to bring God's Word to us.  Now that we have the complete and perfect word of God, there is no more need for visions and dreams (1 Cor 13:8-10).  God's Word is complete, and it has once and for all been given to mankind (Jude 1:3).  We all have odd dreams from time to time; they are caused by strange events in our lives, eating something disagreeable, or any number of other factors... but they have no divine significance.

We recommend you read "I Dreamed A Dream" for more information.

5 minutes a day 5 days a week - a year of Bible Wisdom

I have a quick question about the mark of the beast; I like to read others’ questions on this website ‘cause it helps me learn more about the Bible.  Often I have some of the same questions myself, so it helps a lot.  My question is about the "RFID CHIPS".  I’ve been looking at videos about them, and it seems that people will be putting computer chips into their hands to "buy stuff" and, of course, many other things.  It seems that the world is going to be pushing people to get these things one day, and maybe it would even be required.  This scares me because this sounds like the mark of the beast to me.  I admit I could be wrong, but I wanted to know what you thought about these so-called "chips".  I don’t know if this is the mark or not, but I do not want to risk it.  What do you think?  Thanks for your time.

Sincerely,
I Don’t Want Stuff In Me

Dear I Don’t Want Stuff In Me,

Nope, RFID chips implanted under the skin (although ridiculously creepy) are not the mark of the beast.  The topic of the book of Revelation was the battle between Rome and the church.  It has nothing to do with modern society or modern technology.  When John wrote the book, God told him the vision was "shortly to come to pass" and "at hand" (Rev 1:1-3).  That vision was dealing with a specific problem that the first-century christians were about to face - physical persecution at the hands of Rome.  Although the book of Revelation provides great encouragement to christians today through its message of hope through trials, it is not specifically applying to us.  The mark of the beast was most likely the practice of burning incense to Caesar as a god.  In Roman society, anyone who wouldn't burn incense to Caesar as a god was persecuted and often killed.  The only people unwilling to do that were christians.

Is it wrong to bring a drink into church?  I know in 1 Corinthians it discusses this, and I think it's clear cut, but I've noticed members bringing in water bottles, then it became flavored/colored waters, and now I've seen coffee and whipped coffee drinks in the church building.  This bothers me, but maybe I should not be so worked up about this either...

Sincerely,
In A Froth

Dear In A Froth,

1 Cor. 11:22 addresses how the Corinthian church was treating the Lord’s Supper like a common meal.  It is always wrong for the church to become a social organization and add social functions to the work of the church or the worship services.  However, we would not go so far as to use that verse to bar all food or drink from the church building.  Bringing in a bottle of water or a baggie of Cheerios for your child is not the same as having a social meal.

Where the line is between a handful of raisins for a fussy child and a sinful situation that involves a feast replacing the Lord’s work… that is a matter of wisdom.  That is what you are asking about.  It takes wisdom and maturity to discern between good and evil (Heb 5:14).  If not careful, a congregation can easily drift into liberalism (Heb. 2:1).  A congregation’s leadership, which is hopefully an eldership, should be ever vigilant to protect against such drifting.