The following is a chat conversation between myself (Doc) and “Pastor Bill”, a former college schoolmate of mine. We have been friends throughout the years, and have worked together and ministered together as well. I have edited the conversation for places, dates, etc, and I have also used a bit of editorial license to make the conversation flow better.
This is the first of a three part chat conversation. I needed to break it up because of length. Be blessed!-Doc
• Bill: Hey Doc
• Doc: Bill! Long time
• Bill: How do you like Korea?
• Doc: I like it a lot. I am staying very busy with the school and church.
• Bill: Yes, I saw your newsletter. I have visited Korea a couple of times, and really liked it.
• Doc: It is an awesome place. How is the church in ‘High Falls’?
• Bill: Still growing. We want to build a new place in the next year.
• Doc: That is great! From small beginnings….
• Bill: Yes, ten years.
• Doc: Really? Wow.
• Bill: Doc, can I ask you something?
• Doc: Anything?
• Bill: Are you mormon?
• Doc: LOL! No, what makes you ask that?
• Bill: A mutual friend said that you were.
• Doc: A mutual friend said I was mormon?
• Bill: Yes.
• Doc: Any idea why this ‘friend’ would say that?
• Bill: Because he noticed on your facebook profile you had friends who were mormons, and some friends who were in to polygamy.
• Doc: I see.
• Bill: Is it true?
• Doc: Are you asking me if I have friends who are mormons and friends who are in to polygamy? If so, then the answer is yes.
• Bill: He also said that you were involved with some sort of polygamy group.
• Doc: And?
• Bill: And what?
• Doc: And anything else?
• Bill: Doc, do you believe in polygamy?
• Doc: I believe that in the definition of Biblical marriage that one husband can have more than one wife. It is called polygyny.
• Bill: Oh wow, I did not believe it.
• Doc: LOL, are will still friends, or are you ready to cast me into outer darkness?
• Bill: We shall see.
• Doc: Polygamy is too broad a term for what I believe, but it is the word that most people understand.
• -LONG PAUSE-
• Bill: What about God condemning Solomon for all his wives?
• Doc: God did not condemn Solomon for having many wives. He condemned Solomon for allowing his wives to lead him astray to worship other gods. 1 King 11 says that Solomon married wives from nations that God had already condemned. 1 King 11:9-10 says Now the LORD was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not observe what the LORD had commanded.
• Bill: Yes, but if he had obeyed Deuteronomy 17:16-17, he would never have sinned.
• Doc: Why? Because he had too many horses? LOL
• Bill: No, the Scripture says clearly that he was not to multiply wives.
• Doc: It also says not to multiply horses, and silver, and gold. How many horses did he have? How much silver? How much gold?
• Bill: We are talking people, not horses.
• Doc: Bill, you don’t get to dissect a verse. It’s all in.
• Bill: 700 wives is too many.
• Doc: By what measure? Let me ask you a question, Bill: do you own a horse?
• Bill: No, I don’t own a horse.
• Doc: Why not?
• Bill: Because I live in the city, and I have no place to keep a horse.
• Doc: If you had a place to keep a horse, would you want one?
• Bill: No, not really.
• Doc: Why not?
• Bill: Because I don’t have the money to take care of a horse, and I don’t have the time to take care of a horse.
• Doc: Ok. Let’s say that you had the money, and the time, would you want a horse?
• Bill: Sure. It would be great to go horseback riding, and for the kids to have a horse.
• Doc: If you could afford it in time and money, would you want MORE than one?
• Bill: Yeah, I guess.
• Doc: How many?
• Bill: Oh, four. One for me and Michelle (his wife), and one each for the kids.
• Doc: No more than that?
• Bill: Oh no! I couldn’t take care of more than four!
• Doc: Bill, do you have any silver or gold?
• Bill: My wife has gold necklaces.
• Doc: How many?
• Bill: I’ve lost count! LOL
• Doc: Bill, if you could afford to do it, would you like to own more gold and silver?
• Bill: Sure, if I could afford it.
• Doc: How much?
• Bill: How much what?
• Doc: How much gold and silver would you like to have? How many gold necklaces would you like to give to Michelle? How many silver earrings would you like for her to have?
• Bill: As many as she wants!
• Doc: Bill, how many is too many? Ten necklaces? Twenty? Fifty? One hundred necklaces?
• Bill: I don’t know.
• Doc: How about a tractor trailer load of necklaces? Is that too many?
• Bill: Yes of course
• Doc: Why?
• Bill: Because there would be no way I could take care of that much gold.
• Doc: Do you think anybody could?
• Bill: I suppose somebody could.
• Doc: That person would need a lot of wisdom, right?
• Bill: They would need a truckload of wisdom.
• Doc: Sounds like Solomon to me.
• Bill: What?
• Doc: God gave Solomon the wisdom to rule the assets in his care. 1 Kings 4:26 says that Solomon had 40,000 stalls for horses. God did not condemn him for having that many horses. 2 Chronicles 1:16 says that Solomon caused gold and silver to become as common as stones. God did not condemn him for having gold and silver. God blessed Solomon with horses, gold, silver, and wives, with which the wisdom that God gave him, he seemed to manage pretty well. Where Solomon fell short was in DISOBEDIENCE, not to some imaginary rule about numbers of wives, but that God had STRICTLY FORBIDDEN any Israelite to marry from condemned peoples. Solomon had great wisdom, but he was STUPID in this area.
(THIS IS THE END OF PART 1)
This is the first of a three part chat conversation. I needed to break it up because of length. Be blessed!-Doc
• Bill: Hey Doc
• Doc: Bill! Long time
• Bill: How do you like Korea?
• Doc: I like it a lot. I am staying very busy with the school and church.
• Bill: Yes, I saw your newsletter. I have visited Korea a couple of times, and really liked it.
• Doc: It is an awesome place. How is the church in ‘High Falls’?
• Bill: Still growing. We want to build a new place in the next year.
• Doc: That is great! From small beginnings….
• Bill: Yes, ten years.
• Doc: Really? Wow.
• Bill: Doc, can I ask you something?
• Doc: Anything?
• Bill: Are you mormon?
• Doc: LOL! No, what makes you ask that?
• Bill: A mutual friend said that you were.
• Doc: A mutual friend said I was mormon?
• Bill: Yes.
• Doc: Any idea why this ‘friend’ would say that?
• Bill: Because he noticed on your facebook profile you had friends who were mormons, and some friends who were in to polygamy.
• Doc: I see.
• Bill: Is it true?
• Doc: Are you asking me if I have friends who are mormons and friends who are in to polygamy? If so, then the answer is yes.
• Bill: He also said that you were involved with some sort of polygamy group.
• Doc: And?
• Bill: And what?
• Doc: And anything else?
• Bill: Doc, do you believe in polygamy?
• Doc: I believe that in the definition of Biblical marriage that one husband can have more than one wife. It is called polygyny.
• Bill: Oh wow, I did not believe it.
• Doc: LOL, are will still friends, or are you ready to cast me into outer darkness?
• Bill: We shall see.
• Doc: Polygamy is too broad a term for what I believe, but it is the word that most people understand.
• -LONG PAUSE-
• Bill: What about God condemning Solomon for all his wives?
• Doc: God did not condemn Solomon for having many wives. He condemned Solomon for allowing his wives to lead him astray to worship other gods. 1 King 11 says that Solomon married wives from nations that God had already condemned. 1 King 11:9-10 says Now the LORD was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not observe what the LORD had commanded.
• Bill: Yes, but if he had obeyed Deuteronomy 17:16-17, he would never have sinned.
• Doc: Why? Because he had too many horses? LOL
• Bill: No, the Scripture says clearly that he was not to multiply wives.
• Doc: It also says not to multiply horses, and silver, and gold. How many horses did he have? How much silver? How much gold?
• Bill: We are talking people, not horses.
• Doc: Bill, you don’t get to dissect a verse. It’s all in.
• Bill: 700 wives is too many.
• Doc: By what measure? Let me ask you a question, Bill: do you own a horse?
• Bill: No, I don’t own a horse.
• Doc: Why not?
• Bill: Because I live in the city, and I have no place to keep a horse.
• Doc: If you had a place to keep a horse, would you want one?
• Bill: No, not really.
• Doc: Why not?
• Bill: Because I don’t have the money to take care of a horse, and I don’t have the time to take care of a horse.
• Doc: Ok. Let’s say that you had the money, and the time, would you want a horse?
• Bill: Sure. It would be great to go horseback riding, and for the kids to have a horse.
• Doc: If you could afford it in time and money, would you want MORE than one?
• Bill: Yeah, I guess.
• Doc: How many?
• Bill: Oh, four. One for me and Michelle (his wife), and one each for the kids.
• Doc: No more than that?
• Bill: Oh no! I couldn’t take care of more than four!
• Doc: Bill, do you have any silver or gold?
• Bill: My wife has gold necklaces.
• Doc: How many?
• Bill: I’ve lost count! LOL
• Doc: Bill, if you could afford to do it, would you like to own more gold and silver?
• Bill: Sure, if I could afford it.
• Doc: How much?
• Bill: How much what?
• Doc: How much gold and silver would you like to have? How many gold necklaces would you like to give to Michelle? How many silver earrings would you like for her to have?
• Bill: As many as she wants!
• Doc: Bill, how many is too many? Ten necklaces? Twenty? Fifty? One hundred necklaces?
• Bill: I don’t know.
• Doc: How about a tractor trailer load of necklaces? Is that too many?
• Bill: Yes of course
• Doc: Why?
• Bill: Because there would be no way I could take care of that much gold.
• Doc: Do you think anybody could?
• Bill: I suppose somebody could.
• Doc: That person would need a lot of wisdom, right?
• Bill: They would need a truckload of wisdom.
• Doc: Sounds like Solomon to me.
• Bill: What?
• Doc: God gave Solomon the wisdom to rule the assets in his care. 1 Kings 4:26 says that Solomon had 40,000 stalls for horses. God did not condemn him for having that many horses. 2 Chronicles 1:16 says that Solomon caused gold and silver to become as common as stones. God did not condemn him for having gold and silver. God blessed Solomon with horses, gold, silver, and wives, with which the wisdom that God gave him, he seemed to manage pretty well. Where Solomon fell short was in DISOBEDIENCE, not to some imaginary rule about numbers of wives, but that God had STRICTLY FORBIDDEN any Israelite to marry from condemned peoples. Solomon had great wisdom, but he was STUPID in this area.
(THIS IS THE END OF PART 1)
Good job Doc!
