Question:

Is anger sin?

Answer:

Sometimes.  “Be ye angry, and sin not” (Ephesians 4:26).  “God is angry with the wicked every day” (Psalm 7:11).  He is also merciful when they come to Him.  God is just and holy.  The Israelites killed nations to take the Promised Land.  Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed.  These are results of sin.  “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25).  The penalty of sin is death.  The nation of Ninevah repented and was spared.  Jesus came to save sinners.  Jesus got mad at the sellers in the temple.  They were cheating the people.  Jesus didn’t lose control.

Gary sat by someone on the plane with a huge ring.  It looked like a Super Bowl ring.  In an interview on the TV program “60 Minutes” with Tom Brady (NFL quarterback), he mentioned that though he has 3 Super Bowl rings, he knows there’s something more out there for him than just rings.  He said he doesn’t know what that is.  “What would you say to Tom Brady?”  Psalm 107:9 says, “He satisfies the longing soul.”  “What would a man profit if gained the whole world but lost his soul?” (See Luke 9:25.)  Don’t be distracted with the world.  Jesus values your soul so much that He died for you.  “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).

Question:

Why was God sorry He made Saul king?

“The Lord repented that He had made Saul king over Israel” (1 Samuel 15:35).

Repent means to change one’s mind.  God is all knowing.  God does not repent in that He changes His mind but was sorrowful that Israel wanted a king.  He was sorry that sin was in the world.

Question:

If the Romans had already written how Jesus was going to die and described the Saviour in their prophecies, why is it that the Jews did not read the prophecy and see that Jesus was the Son of God?

Actually, it was not the Romans who were used to write the Word of God, but Jewish people.  The Scriptures did speak of the birth of the Lord Jesus (Micah 5:2). It spoke of His life (Isaiah 53:2).  It spoke of His death (Psalm 22).  It also spoke of how the Jewish people would reject Him (Isaiah 53:3).  It was not that the people could not see that Jesus was the Son of God, but that they would not see Him as the Son of God.

Question:

What would people say if you asked them who Jesus is?

Answer:

– Son of God             – the Man Upstairs   – my Saviour and my God

The answer should be that He is our Saviour.  We need a relationship with God, need sins to be gone, trust Jesus as Saviour and receive eternal life.  Jesus paid for it.  It is free for us.  If you believe the gospel and call on Him, you’ll be saved, a child of God.

Question:
Has the importance of virginity been downgraded as an important factor in the world today in a Christian’s walk with Christ?

Answer:

Yes, the importance of keeping one’s self pure before marriage has certainly undergone much criticism and mockery.  The Scriptures are very clear that one should abstain from sexual intimacy until marriage. (Read 1 Corinthians 7:2; 1 Thessalonians 4:3,4; Hebrews 13:4.)  Although today’s attitude towards the value and preciousness of one’s virginity has changed, we must realize the unchangeableness of God and His Word.  “I am the LORD, I change not” (Malachi 3:6).

Question:

If you are a sinner, does God answer your prayers?  Does God always hear you if you find yourself distant from God?

“Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth His will, him He heareth” (John 9:31).  If one refuses to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour, does it not seem strange that this person would pray and make requests from the Lord?  The Lord will not hear that person’s prayers.  While the Lord may bless a sinner as a response to a believer’s prayer (such as a parent praying for the safe-keeping of their unsaved child), the Lord does not respond to the prayers of one who has rejected His gift of grace.  The Lord will always hear the prayer of a believer if two conditions are met.  First, the request must be according to His will (read 1 John 5:14).  A Spirit-led prayer will always be “according to His will.”  Secondly, if we continue in sin, our fellowship with the Lord is affected and may cause Him to not hear our prayers (read Psalm 66:18).

Question:

Why is it that some people’s faith gets wishy-washy every now and then?  Why do you feel like abandoning the faith when things are not working out for you at the moment?  I know the Bible says that your heart gets harder when you are drawn away and get enticed by your own desires, but how can one’s heart get harder for something else when he or she has been faithful to God for a long time?

“And He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). “I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31).

The Lord’s guidance and warning to believers is that we take up our cross daily and that we die daily.  The life of the believer is one of constant dependence, denial, and putting to death the desires of the flesh.  When we were saved, our flesh (our natural desires) was not changed at all.  Our flesh will always want to have its way…no matter how long we have been saved.  We must “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).

Question:
How would you really know if a person’s life is really changed?

Answer:

While only God can see the heart and “the Lord knoweth them that are His” (2 Timothy 2:19), we discern a true change of heart in a person by the new life that is now exhibited in his or her actions and desires. “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20).

Question:
How many chapters and verses are in the Bible?

Answer:

It was pointed out that Psalm 118:8 is the “middle verse” of the Bible.  It was also pointed out that the chapter and verse number is also the number of chapters in the Bible: 1188.  What does the middle verse of the Bible say?  Look it up!!!

Question:
How many books were in the Bible in the time of Jesus?

Answer:

Today, we have 39 books in the Old Testament.  These are the same books that were in existence in the days of the Lord on the earth.  While the books may have been separated differently than what we have today (1 & 2 Samuel were probably one book, etc.) the content is the same as what we have today.

Question:

I want to know who made the Bible.

“For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21). “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets” (Hebrews 1:1).

Question:

If you are a Christian, but one day you commit suicide, will you still go to Heaven?

No clear thinking person would ever commit suicide.  If someone is in a deep depression, it could greatly affect his/her thinking…even to the point of giving up and thinking there is no way out.  People such as Elijah and Jonah became depressed, possibly suffering from depression.  Both expressed a desire to die.  If a true believer should take his own life, there is great comfort in knowing this person would go to be with the Lord.  While we need to realize this is sin, and something that the Lord does not want, we still have the promise of His Word that, “…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

Question:

How did God get here?

Although everything we can see and touch has a beginning and an end, God is not like that.  In fact, He IS the beginning and the end (Revelation 1:8).  As we read from Psalm 90:2: “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.”

Question:

Name one word that describes the Lord.

Answer:

Wonderful, awesome, perfect, magnificent, grace, love, peace.

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and His name [singular] shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

Question:

Is it a privilege to be a servant of the Lord?

Yes!  The Lord puts His people into “the body of Christ” (which is composed of every believer) where He wants us to use the gift/gifts He has given us: “Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ” (Ephesians 4:7).

Matthew 25:14-30 talks about 2 servants who are faithful but then one who is lost, wicked, and lazy.  This is a picture of Jesus in heaven and how He left us gifts to serve Him.  We should not neglect the gift the Lord gave us but we should use it.

Invest the talent the Lord has given you.  Don’t be afraid to share with people.  Peter made a mistake and cut off a soldier’s ear trying to protect Jesus.  We may make some mistakes as well, but just as Jesus healed the soldier’s ear and fixed Peter’s mistake, He is able to fix our mistakes.  A wise man may fall 7 times…and rise again (Proverbs 24:16).

Question:

If your mom says, ‘Clean your room,’ what does that mean?

Do it now or get in trouble: “ Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother”—this is the first commandment with a promise: “so that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth” (Ephesians 5:1-3, NRSV).

Jesus said you must be born again (John 3:7).  To refuse Jesus Christ is to disobey God. 

God gave you directions: “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:22).

Question:

What proof do we have that we have been born again?

Answer:

Faith.  “Without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

Everyone that loves is born of God (1 John 4:7).  Start loving our brothers and sisters.  We are children of God by faith in Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:26). 

The Bible is our proof.  “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God” (1 John 5:13). 

If we believe on Him, we will not perish.  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

A sign that you have been born again is a desire to have the sincere milk of the Word of God—hunger for the Word and wanting to share it: “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious” (1 Peter 2:2, 3).

Also, the Spirit of God reveals sins and bad habits: “And this is His commandment, That we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as He gave us commandment. And He that keepeth His commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him. And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us” (1 John 3:23, 24).

Reading the Bible will make you happy:  “More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward” (Psalm 19:10, 11). “Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper” (Psalm 1:1-3, NRSV).