Question: Recently someone asked me about a comment a friend of theirs made. Their friend remarked about another person’s lack of belief in Christ saying, “It’s fine. They were not part of the elect anyway.” What does this mean and why do some Christians speak this way? Isn’t it unloving? This is a huge question because there have been volumes—not pages, but volumes—written on the Calvinism/Arminian debate. To complicate matters, very few Christians are completely in one camp or another. Many fall between them in recognized places ...

Question: How did Satan come to exist? The origin of Satan, or the Devil, is shrouded in mystery. Some point to Isaiah 14:12-14 and Ezekiel 28:12-19 as descriptions of Satan’s fall from Heaven. As much as we might like it to, Isaiah 14:12-14 seems to be pointing to an Earthly king and not Satan. Taking Ezekiel 28:12-19 and various New Testament passages into account, Satan was created by God as an angel whose heart became corrupted because he wanted to be God. Pride led to rebellion resulting in his removal from heaven to the ...

Question: What is the difference between different denominations (Catholic, Covenant, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, etc.)? As of this answer, there are over 38,000 denominations in the United States calling themselves “Christian.” Needless to say, there are differences between them. The first part of this answer is “what is a denomination?” Catholics, for example, do not refer to themselves as a denomination. A denomination is “a recognized autonomous branch of a church or religion.”[1] This is why the Catholic Church doesn’t ...

Question: Does God believe in second chances? If you mean does God forgive us of sin in this life and give us a fresh start, the answer is unequivocally yes. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Jesus also said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). There are countless examples of people who sinned and God gave them second chances…Adam and Eve, ...

1 Samuel 16:23 and 1 Samuel 18:10 record an “evil spirit” from God coming over Saul. How can this be!? Is this passage in contradiction to others stating only good comes from the Lord or is this one of those methods the Lord used to punish His disobedient servant? This has troubled Bible readers for a long time. It certainly seems strange to us, doesn’t it? Here are the two verses which birthed this question: 1 Samuel 16:23 (NIV) “Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief ...

In reference to 1 Peter 4:6: How can the dead hear the Gospel? 1 Peter 4:6 “For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.” Great question! The “now” in the first phrase is not present. The phrase, a little more literally, reads, “For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are dead…” Does this mean some kind of evangelism of those who have died ...

I was asked this question recently: Was Jesus indwelled by the Holy Spirit at His baptism? And was this indwelling/resting necessary for Jesus to perform His role as Messiah? There is a school of theology stating Jesus was indwelled with the Holy Spirit at His baptism thereby making Him “baptized in the Holy Ghost”. This Holy Spirit baptism, these adherents propose, made it possible for Jesus to perform the ministry in front of Him. I’ve heard of some going so far as to say the miracles Jesus performed would have been impossible ...

Judges 19. Of course…one of the most disturbing areas of Scripture. Great question and here’s an attempt at an answer. I apologize in advance at the length of this answer. Understanding of this passage is dependent on understand a great many other things in the Old Testament. The OT writers, unfortunately for us, do not remind us where we have been and where we’re going—not directly, at least. Judges 19 is titled in most Bibles as “The Levite and His Concubine”—already we know we’re in for some kind of adventure. Verse 1 begins ...

I was asked a question about the significance of Deuteronomy 22:6-7: “6 If you come across a bird’s nest beside the road, either in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs, do not take the mother with the young. 7 You may take the young, but be sure to let the mother go, so that it may go well with you and you may have a long life.” Before we answer this question directly, some background is needed. First, the preservation of life is typically mixed with the permission to take it. Note: we are ...

Christmas has started! For over 1,500 years, the church has celebrated Advent beginning four Sundays before Christmas Day and ending at the stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve (technically, that would be Christmas Day, of course). After that, Christians down through the centuries have celebrated Christmas for twelve days. We now join the cloud of witnesses of those who have gone before as we celebrate the Gift of Jesus. Christmas doesn’t END today, it BEGINS! “While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she ...

It is so hard to believe it is almost here! Christmas is next weekend! I still have presents to buy!!!! Before we get too excited, however, about the mistletoe, gifts, and the end of our laborious attempts to keep out Christmas trees alive, we have one more week of Advent. This week’s Advent theme is love. It was love that brought Jesus down here to clean up our mess. It was love that caused God the Father to send His one-and-only Son into the world to save it (cf. John 3:16-19). Today’s reading is John 1:6-8, 19 ...

Yesterday began the third week of Advent! This week’s theme is joy. Fitting that the theme is joy, since we now cross the halfway marker of Advent. The celebration of Christmas is just around the corner. Ironically, this month (and next) typically set the record for the year in terms of prescriptions for medicines treating depression, anxiety, and sleeplessness (and I don’t mean children on Christmas Eve!). All evidence seems to indicate we have forgotten about the joy of the season. What is the joy of this season? It all started ...

Yesterday was the second Sunday of Advent and we are now in the second week of Advent with the theme of peace. A few minutes of news from the Internet, TV, radio, or friends/family will quickly remind us we need peace. The night that Christ was born, the angels praised God and said, “Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests” (Luke 2:12). Too many of us think “peace” is a promise to the entire world. If the entire world accepted Christ as Savior and Lord, then there would be global peace, but like the ...

Welcome to Advent 2011! If you are new to Advent, follow this link to learn more about it. Really, it’ll help you. I’ll wait. We started yesterday with the firs t Sunday of Advent. The theme for the first Sunday (and this week) is hope. Indeed, Advent is a time for hope. This is not the “I hope I get an iPad for Christmas”. This is hope based on, and for, Jesus Christ. Think of Advent as a journey: here we are four weeks away from celebrating Christ’s birth. We hope. Read the following two passages of Scripture for ...

Unless you grew up in “liturgical” Christian traditions, “advent” might be a foreign word. I did not grow up in one these traditions but Advent has become something very near and dear to my heart. It's not something to fight over if your church doesn't do it, but it certainly helps me to focus at a time when focus is a littler harder to come by. “Advent” means “coming”. There are two ways this word is used. In one way it can be used as “the advent of our Lord” or “His second advent”. “The advent of our Lord” typically refers ...

After church this Sunday, someone gave me a question they needed some help with. Although they felt they had the answer, they were looking for help for a friend of theirs who struggled with it. Knowing that this is an issue many struggle with, I thought it best to throw out the answer for everyone to digest. Question: Do “good people”, like Gandhi, go to heaven even though they have not placed their trust in Jesus Christ as Savior? Answer: Let’s begin here with this...Romans 3:10 states, “There is no one righteous, not even ...