Question: If God understands my humanity and sin nature better than I do, why does He still hold me accountable for what I cannot help doing?” Answer: A good question.  When my children were young, I understood their “humanity and sin” better than they did. Despite this, I held them accountable for their actions because […]

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Question: I wanted to thank you for your last email and for answering some of the questions I had. I appreciate you taking the time out of your undoubtedly busy schedule to do so.It helped me greatly. I hope I do not wear you out with my somewhat simplistic inquiries.    The reason for this question […]

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Question: I have recently been troubled by a theological dilemma regarding 1 Corinthians 11 and veiling. Actually, I should say I’ve been wrestling with it for years and the conflict comes and goes.   How can we as disciples of Jesus KNOW that Paul is speaking culturally? I know that David Bercot is popular throughout churches […]

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Question: One of the main reasons our founding fathers declared independence from Britain was because of taxation. Based on what Jesus said about” render unto Caesar…” in reference to paying taxes, were our founders going against what Jesus had said? Answer: This is a fun question.  Probably there is no practical implication of this since […]

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Question: Are Christians in danger of committing idolatry by having crucifixes,and pictures of Jesus, statues of Saints and Archangels, praying for those saints and Archangels to intercede for us in God’s presence? Answer: I think you put it well. Christians are “in danger of committing idolatry” when they use crucifixes, pictures of Jesus, statues of […]

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Question: In Acts 10:44 Peter is at Cornelius’ house and the spirit of God falls on the Gentiles pre-baptism (while they hear the testimony of Jesus from Peter). Most commentaries suggest that this is more crucial to the argument of Jew v. Gentile and all being alike now, but how could the Holy Spirit come […]

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Question: I have a question about sharing my faith with a Catholic friend who is mid-line atheist about why the saints are idolatry and about the holy trinity. Answer: For a person who is a mid-line atheist probably the question of whether worshiping saints is idolatry is irrelevant.   If a person believes that there is no […]

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QUESTION: A friend of my brother asked me some tough questions. He was born into a Christian family, but couldn’t accept the religion because of his belief about God. The friend wants to believe that there is something/someone out there.  Some points he made were:   God is not:  all-powerful  all-knowing  or all-loving.  He believes that God […]

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Question: A remake of the Left Behind movies is being filmed this summer. It is starring Nicholas Cage, and so will probably be shown in mainstream theaters everywhere.  Your opinions of eschatology are already provided in your website articles. The topic may suddenly become very mainstream due to Nicholas Cage, though. Do you have any […]

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Question: What is the context of 1 Corinthians 12:3?   If a Christian confesses Jesus is Lord before baptism, when we do not have the Holy Spirit yet, then there appears to be a contradiction here.  What are your thoughts? 1 Corinthians 12:3 NIV “Therefore I want you to know that no one who is […]

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QUESTION: I have a question regarding the Messiah and his purpose. It seems to me that the Bible is clear that the Hebrews are never to worship any thing or anyone but God Himself and that He is ‘One’ and that there is no other besides Him. When did He change His mind and tell […]

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Question:   [editor’s note: this lengthy question and points being made come from a Jewish Christian who believes that Christians are required to obey kosher food laws, such as the prohibition of eating pork and shellfish.  The article he and I both refer to is one about the interpretation of Acts 10.  I am attaching […]

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Question: Why do some Christians believe homosexuality is acceptable whereas in the Bible it is clearly condemed? Answer: Why do some people who call themselves Christians believe homosexuality is acceptable? I am afraid you will have to ask these people why for yourself. It is not my job to judge the motives of other people. I […]

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QUESTION: Is religion merely a psychological phenomenon, as is commonly pushed by so many atheists? I have heard reports of studies that show there is some kind of “God part” of the brain or some kind of brain part that is sensitive to religious experience. How do we respond? Answer: I am assuming you are […]

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QUESTION: This is a question about Hebrew 6:6. If an apostate realizes the errors in his way and comes back to the religion, truly repents, and confesses; does this verse say that God will not forgive that person and that the person is permanently condemned? Answer: Your question is based on a premise which, according […]

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Question: What do I do?   I am 19. I have been a Christian for 3 years now and just recently I have started asking myself some very tough questions which in turn has left me very doubtful of my faith and left me oftentimes in despair.  The questions include:  Couldn’t God have saved us another way?  Why did […]

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Question: In the Bible it says the fall of man was the result of natural evil (carnivores,hurricanes,explosions,etc…), so my question is this:  If that is the case, then why does science show us that dinosours and many others animals where carnivores.   If God created carnivorous animals and he says it was good, then doesn’t this reflect […]

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QUESTION: I am taking a Introduction to the Old Testament and the professor stated that the first phrase in Genesis, “In the beginning,” has been mistransated and the better phrase is “When God began creating the heavens and the earth.” She states that the former gives the impression to the readers that this was the […]

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Question: Do we need to keep Sabbath? Which Bible verses supports your answer? Are the Ten Commandments important? Answer: There is no indication in the New Testament that Christians are required to keep some sort of Christian version of the Sabbath. All the evidence from both the scriptures (Acts 20:7 which says that the church […]

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QUESTION: I recently made a statement in my sermon that I strongly believe that it is not our place to take matters into our own hands as Moses did by killing the Egyptian who was beating the Israelite slave.  I referred to the scripture in Romans 12:17-19, “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave […]

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QUESTION:  How do we know that Satan didn’t write the Bible?   How do we know that the true religion isn’t Buddhism for example and the Old and New Testament are the works of a devil/demon/Satan trying to trick us into doing wrong things like stoning adulteresses and non-believers? Satan could reveal himself as Jesus, claim […]

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Question: As I write, I am thinking of Eccl 1:9, there is nothing new under the sun. As I think about theological/scriptural/Christian ideas, I believe that others have considered and discussed the same ideas sometime and someplace in the past. I am just ignorant. I was watching TV a few weeks ago—a scene where a […]

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Question: “I have two questions for you, what is the doctrine of Soul-Sleep and did the thief immediately go to Paradise with Jesus? A friend of mine believes in the doctrine of soul-sleep.” Answer: Thanks for the questions, below are my answers I hope this helps! What is The Doctrine of Soul-Sleep? The (false) doctrine […]

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Question: Hi, John! I want to ask you about the informaiton at this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helena_Roerich         What do you know about this teaching and her influence on Christianity today? (In my church there is a member who believes in this teaching. And she doesn’t want change it)  Your book about Daniel is very good! I am enjoying it! Answer: […]

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Question: I read your response to the inquirer about ‘Will homosexuals go to hell’. I agree with your answer to the question. Would you give me your Biblical insights on ‘besetting’ sin. For example, what if a homosexual repents of their sin, accepts Christ as Lord and Savior but continues to practice homosexuality? In that […]

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Question: In baptism, the church I go to does a good confession by saying “Jesus is Lord” and there are scriptures that supports it like Romans 10:9.  How can we be sure that we are doing it the way the early Christians did?  Did the 3000 baptized in Acts 2 undergo the same practice as we […]

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Question: I was studying the Bible with a friend and she told me that in John 3:1-5 when Jesus states that you must be ‘born again’ to see the Kingdom of God he is referring to amniotic fluid, not baptism. In other words, she said that Jesus is stating that one must be born again […]

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