Question:

1)    What are some reasons that people gossip?

2)    What are some of the consequences of gossip?

3)    What are some of the ways we can protect ourselves from gossip?

Gossip can become a real problem in our relationships because it breaks trust and hurts others. 

We discussed the following questions:

1)    What are some reasons that people gossip?

Some reasons that the young people came up with were pride, jealousy, and to impress their peers.

2)    What are some of the consequences of gossip?

 Gossip hurts other people by damaging their reputation.

 Gossip can also discredit your character.

3)    What are some of the ways we can protect ourselves from gossip?

Do not associate with a gossip – Proverbs 20:19.

Conceal the matter – Proverbs 11:13.

Let no unwholesome word proceed out of your mouth – Ephesians 4:29.

Another idea that was brought up was the difference between gossip and profitable speech. Profitable speech is being in an appropriate position to deal with what you’re talking about, and planning on doing so.  In other words, it is to gather information that you need rather than being entertained by what you are asking.

I challenged the young people to guard themselves from gossip and to be aware of the damaging effects that it can have in our relationships and in our assemblies.

Question:
How can I be prepared to meet God?

Answer:

First, understand that death is not natural, but the result of sin.  Our first parents disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden and death has plagued the human race ever since.  We read in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death.”  We are not ready to meet God naturally; sin has separated us from Him.  Thus, we find ourselves in a frightful position!

Hope does exist, however, but it must be on God’s terms, for not only is He the One our sins offend, but He also paid a terrible price to provide a way of salvation.  The latter part of Romans 6:23 is, “But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  God yielded up His beloved Son for us. 

Many people try good works, baptism, keeping commandments, etc. to get in good with God, but they forget the sacrifice of His Son for a sinful and lost human race.  It would be an insult to God’s amazing love to put these things before Him instead of the merit of His Son.  Take His gift of eternal life through the Lord Jesus Christ.

In closing, consider the following verse:  “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36).  Also, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).  If any of those five girls personally knew the truth of these verses, they were prepared.  It is the hope of the author that the same is true for you!

Question:
How do you know what spiritual gift you have?

Answer:

All spiritual gifts are given to serve the Lord, edify the church, or lead people to Christ for salvation.  Some gifts that are mentioned are found in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4.  It may not be necessary to know what your gift(s) are.  Sometimes, if we think we have a particular gift, we may limit our labors for the Lord based on that gift.  We should “stir up” (2 Timothy 1:6) our gift by using it, but be ready to be used of the Lord in whatever way He wants to use us.

“Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church” (1 Corinthians 14:12).

Question:
Is there one version of the Bible that is the right version to read?

Answer:

There are many good versions of the Bible in print today.  Most people have their preferences like KJV, NAS, NIV, Darby, etc.  While some are translations of the original languages, some are merely paraphrases of English versions.  We should pray about what version we should use and the Holy Spirit will lead us to understand what we are reading.

Question:
If in the beginning there was only Adam and Eve, then they had their children, where did their children’s wives come from?  If it was only Adam and Eve, does this mean that biologically we are all related?

Answer:

While the Bible is silent on this, we can only believe that as Adam and Eve had more children, they would marry each other and have children.  While this may sound terrible to us today, it was not until the giving of the Law that one was forbidden to marry a close relative (read Leviticus 18:6-18).  Yes, we are all biologically related.

Question:

How can we lower the poverty level in Nassau by using the Bible?

Answer:

One said we should follow the Word that says that we should do unto others as we would want them to do to us (Matthew 7:12).  Other verses that were offered include Matthew 25:40 and 1 John 3:17.

Question:
What is your view of hanging of sinners (capital punishment)?

Answer:

There were many thoughts expressed on this question.  Some thought that no man should take the life of another.  Some thought that ‘an eye for an eye’ is proper.  Genesis 9:6 says, “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made He man.”  This means that the punishment should fit the crime.  Some expressed concern that although capital punishment may be right, sometimes innocent people are put to death.  What do you think?

Question:
Is it okay to be afraid to die?

Answer:

Many Christians, while not being afraid of being dead, have a fear of dying.  Will it hurt?  How long will I suffer?  What will it feel like to go through the process of dying?  Being afraid of something you have never experienced is natural, but believers are assured that when we pass away, we will be in the presence of the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8).  One camper remarked, “If one is not saved, they should be afraid to die.”

Question:
Is there such a thing as evil?  Are people naturally evil or is it because they do not know what they do?

Answer:

It is in our fallen nature to do wrong. We are born in sin and shaped in iniquity (read Psalm 51:5).  The Bible tells us that there is none that does good (see Psalm 14:3; 53:3), and that our hearts are only evil continually (see Genesis 6:5).  That’s why we need the Lord Jesus as our Savior.  We cannot save ourselves.

Question:

Why are men said to be superior to women even hundreds of years ago?

While many men may act like they are superior to women, the Bible tells us plainly that this is not true.  Ephesians 5:21 instructs men and women to submit themselves one to another in the fear of God.  This means that although husbands are to be the head of their wives (Ephesians 5:23), they are on equal terms.  Even though Christ submitted Himself to His Father, He could say, “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30). 

Question:

If a Christian commits suicide, will he go to Heaven or Hell?

Answer:

While the Lord prohibits murder of any sort (even self-murder) (Matthew 5:21; Romans 13:9), we are assured from 1 John 1:7 that, “…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”  No one, while thinking rightly would take his own life.  Even if one is truly a believer, he may be suffering from severe depression or trauma, and take his own life.  How reassuring to know that this precious soul would go to be with the Lord.

Question:

If Christians are supposed to be examples to sinners, why are there so many problems in the churches…members, pastors, etc. not getting along; some starting their own churches, wanting to be in charge; pastors taking all the money for themselves?  Why are they acting that way?

From the beginning of the church, it has been attacked by Satan.  Paul said in Acts 20:29, 30: “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.”  This shows that some from outside the church (“wolves”) would attack them, and also some from within (“also of your own selves”) would attack them.  Satan’s desire is to dishonor the Lord and he often seeks to do it among those that profess to be Christians.  This gives the world the wrong impression about the Lord.  Some, like Diotrephes in 3 John 9, love to dominate the Lord’s people.  Some love to have a following, and some greedily seek after money (read 1 Timothy 3:2, 3).  We need to read God’s Word so that we can discern what is proper and what honors the Lord, then follow after those things that honor Him.

Question:

What does it mean to truly fear God?

Answer:

Often the Bible speaks of fear to indicate ‘godly fear’ or reverence to the Lord, such as Hebrews 12:28: “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.”

However, those who do not know Christ as their Savior have every reason to be afraid of the Lord, such as in Matthew 10:28: “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him [God] which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Question:
Why do you feel men should not date other men?

Answer:

The scriptures are clear in telling us that this is sin.  Sometimes, those that totally reject the Lord are given up to vile affections, such as homosexuality (Romans 1: 26-28).  In the Old Testament, it is called an abomination (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13).  Change from homosexuality is possible through faith in the Lord Jesus (read 1 Corinthians 6:9-11).  If one is living a homosexual life, we should still seek to show him/her the love of Christ and lead them to salvation.

Question:
What were the names of Jesus’ brothers?

Answer:

Matthew 13:55, 56 tells us that Jesus had four brothers (James, Joses, Simon, Judas).  He also had some sisters, but we are not told how many.  While Jesus’ brothers did not believe on Him while He was on the earth (John 7:5), it seems that at least some of them believed on Him after His death and resurrection.  The books of James and Jude were probably written by brothers of Jesus.

Question:
What happens during the rapture?  Will unbelievers have a second chance to be saved?

Answer:

We read 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 to show that those who had rejected the Gospel of Jesus Christ will have no second chance to be saved, but the Lord will send a strong delusion that they might believe Satan’s lies.  It is so important to believe on the Lord Jesus now, before it’s too late.

Question:

Why did the three Hebrew boys have girls’ names?

Although the Hebrew names of the young men in the book of Daniel may sound feminine to us (Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah), they are men’s names.  We realize that Nebuchadnezzar changed their names to the Babylonian names of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Question:

How long does it take when a person is put out of fellowship to be allowed back?

As soon as the one under discipline is restored to the Lord, the assembly should receive him back into fellowship.  There is a proper order before someone is disciplined by the assembly (Matthew 18:15-18), and ministering to a person’s needs is so important (Galatians 6:1,2).  Discipline is the last thing the assembly desires to do, so efforts must be made to restore the offending brother or sister.  If this fails, the assembly, in dependence on the Lord, may feel it necessary to administer discipline.  Even then, the assembly should continue to work to restore this one to the Lord and the assembly.

Question:

How do you know when you are saved?

Answer:

This is an important question.  We need to rely on the authority of the scriptures to teach us of salvation and to assure us of our salvation after we have believed on the Lord Jesus.  A few verses that tell us how to be saved are: Acts 16:31, John 3:16, Romans 10:9-13, Philippians 2:5-8.  We need to rely on these verses if we ever question the fact of our salvation.  What do the scriptures tell us we need to do to be saved?  According to these verses (and others) it tells us to put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  If we have done that, we are saved.  We should never rely on our feelings to tell us whether we are saved or not.

Question:

What was it like before the resurrection of Jesus?

Question:
Why doesn’t the Bible tell Lot’s wife’s name?

Answer:

We can rightly assume the Lord did not want us to know her name.  Perhaps the answer why can be found in Proverbs 10:7: “The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.”

Question:
Did dinosaurs exist?  If so, when?

Answer:

That’s a difficult question.  Some say that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago and died out before man was created.  Death came by sin (Romans 5:12), so it seems that nothing would have died before man sinned in the Garden of Eden.  Before the flood, man lived hundreds of years before dying.  Perhaps reptiles, living for hundreds of years, continued to grow and became great creatures…much larger than we have today.  Some things are just not revealed to us (Deuteronomy 29:29), so we may have to wait until we see the Lord and He reveals so many new things to us.

Question:
Why did God create all the other planets if we are the only people inhabiting a planet?

Answer:

All things were made for His own glory and pleasure.  “For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him” (Colossians 1:16).

Question:
Why did God take away Zacharias’ speech and make him dumb?

Answer:

Zacharias was a priest of God.  Although he and his wife were old, Zacharias had been praying for a child.  One day, the angel of the Lord told him that his wife, Elisabeth, would bear a son (John the Baptist).  Zacharias doubted God and said, “Whereby shall I know this?”  As a priest, and an aged man, he should have not doubted God, but he should have believed the words of Gabriel, the angel.  Because of this unbelief, Zacharias’ voice was taken from him.  His voice was returned at the birth of John, when he wrote on a tablet, “His name is John.” (Read Luke 1:5-22 and Luke 1:57-64.)

Question:

Why did parents give their children such difficult names in the Bible?

Answer:

The names given were in different languages than we use today and were not hard for those people at the time.  Often, names were given with special meanings, such as ‘Philologus’ in Romans 16:15, which literally means, “Lover of the Word.”

Question:
Why did a prophet marry a prostitute?

Answer:

The Lord told Hosea to marry Gomer: “The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord” (Hosea 1:2).  We learn in 1 Corinthians 10:11, “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.”  Hosea marrying Gomer is a picture of how the Lord loved Israel despite her unfaithfulness to God.  We learn so much about the Lord’s unconditional love to us, too.

Question:
Why didn’t Sarah leave Abraham when she found out he slept with her handmaid?

Answer:

The handmaid’s name was Hagar, and it was actually Sarah’s idea that Abraham lay with her.  (Read Genesis 16:1-3.)  This action had immediate negative consequences.  (Read Genesis 16:4-6.)

Question:
Why were some books chosen to be in the Bible, and some were not?

Answer:

There were strict standards that were applied to each book to see if it exhibited God’s exact inspiration before it was included in the Bible.  We trust that the Lord has preserved His Word, and given us exactly the books He wanted us to have.  We know that there was not room in the earth to write down everything the Lord did while He was on earth.  (Read John 21:25.)

Question:

Will God judge someone who has not heard the Gospel?

Question:

Why did Abraham have more than one wife? 

From the beginning, it was the Lord’s will that one man and one woman should be together in marriage.  (Read Matthew 19:5-9.)  It was not the Lord’s will for men to have more than one wife and there were consequences for having more than one wife.  (Read Galatians 6:7.)