Tuesday 30 June 2009

If God and Jesus are the same and God can't see us because he is so holy, how can Jesus come and not make God not holy because they are the same?

Hmmm…this is a very well thought-out question. And, to be honest, I’m not quite sure what you are asking but here goes:

First of all, God and Jesus are the same person. In fact, God is a…get ready for a new word…triune being. Triune (pronounced tri-yoon) means that God is three separate and distinct personalities in one being. He is God, the Father; God, the Son; and God, the Holy Spirit.

This was one of the hardest things for me to grab hold of when I first became a Christ Follower. But, here’s a simple way to explain it: your dad is a father to you. He is also a husband to your mom. And, he is also a teacher in T.R.A.C.K. One person but three different and distinct personalities. Does that make sense?

Okay, the next part of your question suggests that God can’t see us because He is so holy. I think this is where the confusion is setting in. You are correct in that God is holy and perfect. But, God is also all-powerful, all-knowing and ever-present. Not only that but God is aware of everything and can perceive everything too. So, God can see us. Not only can He see us, He knows everything about us! God knows every little detail about you all the way down to the number of hairs on your head and the thoughts in your brain! He is with you all the time when you are awake and when you are sleeping.

So, now that we know God can see us, let’s look at the last part of your question. You asked, how can Jesus come and not make God not holy because they are the same? Remember, Jesus, even though He was a man, lived a perfect and sinless life. Jesus was holy just like God. I know that is hard for you to imagine because it is hard for me to imagine! I mean, c’mon! Jesus was a carpenter! You don’t think at some time when he was building something He didn’t hit his thumb with a hammer and get mad at the hammer??? But, you know what? According to the Bible, Jesus was without sin. He was perfect.

So, Jesus never made God “not holy.” And (here comes another confusing part), remember what we said about God earlier, that He is a triune being? Because God is holy and perfect and without sin, Jesus is also holy and perfect and without sin. And, because Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is holy and perfect and without sin.

So, just to wrap this up in a workable package, Jesus is God and is holy and perfect. He came to earth as a man but is still holy and perfect during His life. Because Jesus is God but is also a man, He sees us and experiences all the same emotions and feelings that mankind experiences and feels. Jesus, all the way up to His death on the cross, never sinned but took the sins of the world on his shoulders.

Now picture this. Here is a perfect, sinless man who ends up taking the sin of the world on His shoulders and dies on the cross for us. Here is a man who was with God His entire life but who had to be separated from God in order to take that sin for us because a holy and perfect God can’t even be in the presence of sin. Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, experienced the separation from God that sin creates. This is the same separation from God that occurs when we sin against Him. Every time we sin, at that very moment, we are separated from God.

But, here’s the great news. Jesus redeemed us. All that means is that Jesus traded His life for us so that we wouldn’t perish but have eternal life. Because He gave His life for us, He provided a “bridge” for that separation from God. Remember what Jesus says in John 14:6? He tells us all that, “I am the truth, the way and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Monday 29 June 2009

How big is the shield in Bible times?

Shields came in different sizes depending on what position you took in battle. Those soldiers that were at the front of the line had full length shields to protect their entire body. Those in back had smaller shields that allowed better hand-to-hand combat. They were also lighter so that it only took one arm to hold so that they could hold a sword in the other.

Because you asked, “How big is THE shield in Bible times,” I’m going to assume you are referring to the shield of faith. I’ll answer that with a question to you: How big is your faith? My shield is HUGE!!!

Sunday 28 June 2009

Is God a man or a woman?

God has chosen to be known as having a male character. Everywhere in the Bible, God is referred to as "Him" and "He." So God wanted people to understand Him as a "Him" and a "He."

What is a little confusing for people is that there are both masculine and feminine names for God. For example, the name of God used to describe God as being just (as in justice) is masculine, while the name of God used to describe God as personal and close is feminine.

Names, especially in ancient days, reflect the attributes of God. Attributes are His qualities and His characteristics. For example, I might act "motherly" to a baby child, cooing and rocking and loving her, but that does not make me a woman. I am still a man; I am just acting motherly. It is the same with God. Images and names of God acting both fatherly and motherly can be found throughout the Bible. God displays a perfect mix of masculine and feminine qualities such as unconditional love, infinite patience, immense strength, and never-ending support!!

God, however, is neither a man nor a woman. He is not physical as we are. Likewise, He does not have a hand or a finger or a face or a back or any other physical part because He is NOT physical. He is Spirit.

What is truly remarkable is that God chose to reveal Himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ, who was born a baby boy and grew to be a man! He has also chosen to be known in the Trinity as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Saturday 27 June 2009

If a baby dies at birth, how old will it be in heaven? Will it stay a baby and not know anything in heaven?

This is a set of big questions, and the answers are also big, so follow along with me.

First – how old will the baby be?

God is the Creator of everything – including time (and also matter, energy, space, relationships, intelligence, emotions, etc etc … really … everything.) And time helps us understand where we are in this physical world. Typically, we say we are in a place at a time. We have a place and a time where we are.

But that changes! God is outside of time, and eternity is outside of time. By “outside” of time I mean that you cannot measure it. Remember the beautiful song, “Amazing Grace”? Remember the words, "When we've been there ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun, We've no less days to sing God's praise Than when we'd first begun"?

Read on to understand a bit better what we will BE like in heaven…

Second – will it stay a baby?

The answer lies in understanding Jesus after his resurrection. Here we go …

Read Philippians 3:20-21 starting with “And we eagerly await….” What will Jesus transform? [to transform is to change the form of something]

Put you answer here: __________________________

What will Jesus transform the “our lowly bodies” into? To be like his what?

Put your answer here: __________________________

Our lowly bodies, that is, our earthly bodies, whether baby or adult, will be transformed to be like his heavenly body! Wow, huh?

Now go to 1 Corinthians and read chapter 15, verse 35 through the end of the chapter.
Pretty cool, huh?

Did you notice the key 44th verse? There is a natural body, the one we live in now, and there is a spiritual body, the one we will after our earthly death!

Right now you know by experience that life is much more than just our physical body, right? We have an intellect, we have emotions, we have relationships, and we have a spiritual part of our being. Sooooo … wanna know what a baby’s new spiritual body looks like?

Go back to 1 Corinthians 15:49. “And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man [Paul is talking about the first created man, Adam], so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven [that is Jesus].

So the baby, and you, and me will all bear the likeness of Jesus after our earthly death.

So wanna know what Jesus looks like in his spiritual body? [If you don’t, just stop reading here, but if you do, keep reading …]

Go to the account of Jesus’ transfiguration. Read Matthew 17:2, Mark 9:3, and Luke 9:29. [The word “transfiguration” refers to Jesus’ appearance when the disciples saw him changed.]

What is wild, is that just as you have a physical body, so did Jesus. But when Jesus was transfigured, his disciples caught a glimpse of his spiritual body. We can’t know exactly what’s up with that body, and the disciples barely had words to describe it. We can’t really wrap our brains around what that new body will be like, but we do know that, “so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.”

Third, will the baby know anything?

Follow me carefully now … while we see a little baby, helpless, limited in knowledge & strength & intelligence, this is not what God sees. God sees a perfectly and completely formed spiritual being! [This may also help you understand how God sees disabled people, poor people, widows, orphans, and – honestly – all the rest of us who just ain’t exactly “perfect!”]

The theologian C.S. Lewis said that you will NEVER look upon an ordinary person. ALL of God’s children (doesn’t matter how old) are EXTRAORDINARY because they all bear the image of our Creator!!

The Bible doesn’t speak specifically to babies in heaven, but the nature and character of God point to that baby as someone who also has a spiritual body and who will share in the blessings of heaven. Cool, huh?

Friday 26 June 2009

In Matthew 10, out of all birds, why sparrows?

Yeah, I agree! Why not robins? Or eagles? Or roadrunners?!?! Of all the birds around, why did Jesus refer to sparrows???

Remember, Jesus is the Master Storyteller and he used parables to make a point. In the day of Jesus, sparrows were the lowliest bird around. In fact, they were evidently the cheapest of all birds used for food. These tiny little birds were often eaten in the same way we eat chickens. Jesus, no doubt, saw poor widows in the marketplace counting out their coins to see how many sparrows they could purchase. These little birds were considered of so little worth that for a small coin (literally an assarion, which was less than five cents!) you could buy two sparrows!

So what Jesus was trying to show was, as lowly and insignificant as these birds were, God considers them of value. And, if He considers these birds of value, how much more valuable are you to Him? Jesus was trying to make a point as to how much God loves you.

Thursday 25 June 2009

What if God worked through the disciples to raise the dead? Is it still a sin?

That is a very intriguing question! First, we have to see if the disciples ever raised someone from the dead. The answer is: yes! If you read Acts 9:36-42, you will see that Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples, raises a young girl named Tabitha (also known as Dorcas) from the dead. The question now is, was that a sin?

Remember, Peter did this under the authority of God. God worked through Peter. Only God has the power and the authority to create or give life. And God cannot sin. God allowed Peter to raise this young girl from the dead to make people believe in Him. So, that means that it wasn’t a sin to raise Tabitha from death.

What’s also remarkable about this act is that it shows the level of Peter’s faith too! Earlier in the Bible, Peter couldn’t even cast out a demon! He whined to Jesus and asked why he couldn’t do it. And do you know what Jesus said to him? He accused him and the other disciples of not having enough faith! (Matthew 17:20)

Peter was also the disciple who denied knowing Jesus three times, including one time to a servant girl, because he was so scared and didn’t have faith in Jesus! (Mark 14:66-72)

BUT, once he saw the resurrected Christ, Peter changed and his faith was powerful. He became a bold believer in Jesus and preached about Jesus even at the cost of his own life.

Wednesday 24 June 2009

Do I have to read the Bible every day?

I’m going to answer that question by asking a question of my own…do you have to talk to your parents every day? I’ll bet you’re thinking, well, of course I have to talk to my parents everyday. Maybe you’re saying, well, no I don’t have to talk to them everyday but I like talking to them everyday.

Well, guess what? The Holy Bible is God’s Word. And, it’s God’s way of talking to you. It’s His way of letting you get to know Him and He really, really wants you to know Him.

There are some incredible stories in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament. The story of Adam and Eve, the story of Moses, the story of David and Goliath or Samson and Delilah, the story of King Solomon…I could go on and on.

Do you like love stories? The Holy Bible is the greatest love story ever written! The stories of God’s love for us are endless. My favorite is how He gave His one and only Son to die for us so that we could have eternal life with Him in Heaven!

I remember when I first became a Christian and I picked up a Bible. It was so thick! I thought to myself, seriously??? I’m supposed to read this whole thing? Ummm, are there any DVD’s I can watch or maybe a thinner version? I didn’t even know where to start! Do I read it like a book from one cover to the other? Or, do I start with the Old Testament then read the New Testament? It seemed so overwhelming.

But, then, my small group leader said, “Start with the book of John in the New Testament.” He said it was all about God’s love for us. So, I flipped to John and saw that it was only twenty-one chapters. I said, “I can handle this!” And, before I knew it, I had read an entire book of the Bible. It was awesome!!! It made me want to read more. So, I started reading books of the New Testament. Then, my wife said, “Try reading a Psalm and a Proverb a day.” And she meant just one psalm and one proverb, not the whole book of Psalms and Proverbs. How easy is that???

And because it’s God’s way of talking to you, you end up wanting to know more and more. You find yourself just immersing yourself in God’s Word! Believe it or not, every little thing you will ever face, good and bad, is mentioned in the Bible. Every question you’ll ever have, God has an answer for and it’s in the Bible.

So, to answer your question…do you have to read the Bible everyday? I guess you really don’t have to but why wouldn’t you since God really wants to talk to you every day.

Tuesday 23 June 2009

When you want to ask God a question but then you don’t want to ask, what do you do?

I am going to ask you to read something, and then I am going to ask you two questions before I answer your question. Ok, here goes …

Please read Psalm 139; read the whole thing. Go ahead and do that right now, and then finish reading this note.


Pretty awesome Psalm, isn’t it? So now here are my two questions for you …

1. After reading that Psalm, do you think God knows you?

and 2. do you think that you can trust God?

Take a minute and really think about those two questions. When you are done answering those questions, then read my answer to your question.


Answer: God is really much bigger than we can imagine, or know. The deal is, he is not so big that he is like a far away God even though there are millions of other people in the world. Instead, he is so big that he can and does know you even though there are millions of other people in the world! That’s an amazing God! He knows everything about you. Sometimes you want to hide some stuff from him, but you just can’t. Now, if you’re not honoring God, then the idea of him knowing everything about you is kind of uncomfortable. However, if you need him – no matter what for – then its very cool to be able to lean on him and ask him anything and talk to him about anything.

Check this out – he will never love you any more and he will never love you any less than he does right now! God loves you completely and perfectly, and he will never abandon you, no matter what! You may ask God anything at any time, no matter what.

So what do you do? If you need to let him know something, just let him know. Ask for forgiveness if you need to (get honest with him, ok?), and then talk to him and ask him your question.

Monday 22 June 2009

My cousin doesn’t know if he wants to divorce or not and I want to help him with that decision by using Bible verses. Can you help me find some?

Thank you for your courage in asking a difficult question.

I suggest you go an excellent Christian website called Bible Gateway. Go to http://www.biblegateway.com/ and enter the Keyword “divorce” into Quick Search.

Quick Search allows you to see how many times any one word (like divorce) is used in the Bible. It shows every verse where that word is used. When we plug in the word divorce, we get 33 Bible verses. That’s a lot of Bible verses!

First, if you look through all those verses, a lot of other questions and issues will pop up, and I think it would be a good thing if you used Bible Gateway with your mom or dad so that they could help you right away with other questions that might come up.

There are a couple of big ideas that come out of all these verses. Here are a few of the important ones – (1) divorce happens, even in the Bible, even with God’s people (2) there are certain times when God allows divorce Matthew 5:32 (3) God still hates it, though Malachi 2:16 (4) divorce is not God’s plan for a marriage Matthew 19:4-6.

Much of what the Bible has to say about divorce comes from the perspective that God wants the very, very best for His people. He asks His people to be holy (set apart, committed to him, different than the world) because He is holy (perfect and pure). The whole book of Leviticus (which talks about divorce a lot) can be summarized in one verse "Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy" Leviticus 19:2. So God asks for His people to live to His high standard, not the world’s standard, because He is our Creator, He loves us, and He wants the very best for us.

Since your cousin may not know what the Bible says about divorce, probably the best way you can talk to him about this is to let him know that you care about the trouble he is having in his life. By showing him that you care, you will be the light of Jesus and the love of God to him. Even if it is not possible to prevent this divorce, we can always know that no sin is too much for Jesus to forgive. And please don’t give up on him. And please continue to pray for him. Most of all, I hope that your cousin can learn about how much God loves him, and begin to make his choices based on a relationship with God.

Even though I do encourage you to know what the Bible says about divorce, and I do encourage you to connect with your cousin and share your concern about him, the responsibility for how this all ends up belongs to God. It won’t be your fault if you try to reach him and he still gets divorced. That is God’s responsiibilty. I am proud of you. I will pray for you. Keep in touch. Let me know if I can help you. Thanks for a fantastic Apple Box question.

Sunday 21 June 2009

Who made God? If God has no beginning, how can he exist?

This is an incredibly good question!

Here is the history that the Bible gives us about God: Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." That’s all we know! When you read the whole Bible and put all the pieces together, basically it looks like God has always been and always will be. I know that’s difficult to understand especially because we think of everything in terms of time. The earth revolves, and we call it a day. The earth goes around the sun, and we call it a year.

But God is different: In the beginning God created everything. When the Bible says “heavens and the earth”, that was a way of saying “everything”, and everything includes … time! God even created time!

The Bible says that God does not have a beginning and an end. He is a spirit. No mom and pop. Just God. Revelation 22:13 says I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Wow!

So if God had no beginning, how can he exist? Your question is very good. The answer is not simple, but the answer the Bible gives us is that God does exists, and that he always did, and that he always will.

Saturday 20 June 2009

I have a book that said people existed in dinosaur times. Is that true?

People probably did not exist in dinosaur times! Let me explain.

For right now, science doesn’t have enough evidence to be able to give us a definite answer. The cool thing, though, is that science gets better and constantly changes as new ideas pop up and new things are discovered. And the Bible simply doesn’t speak of dinosaurs because it’s a book about God’s relationship with man, not God’s encyclopedia of interesting stuff! Kind of a bummer, because dinosaurs are super interesting.

Most scientists who study the early earth and early plant and animal life (paleontologists, evolutionary physiologists, biologists, etc) agree that the last dinosaur died about 65 million years ago.

Most scientists who study early man and early civilizations (anthropologists, archaeologists, historians, etc) agree that the first man existed on earth somewhere between 50,000 and 1 to 7 million years ago.

Now, there are about a gazillion disagreements about all this – like I said, science isn’t accurate enough and the Bible doesn’t say - BUT we can at least recognize that even if the numbers are WAY off, it doesn’t seem that dinosaurs walked the earth with man. They were created long before man was created.

You know what I wonder? I wonder if you might become the scientist who loves God and who figures this all out! Wouldn’t that be cool?

Friday 19 June 2009

How could Jesus be tempted?

That is an awesome question! If you read the very first line of the Book of Matthew, Chapter 4, Verse 1, it says, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.”

So, just by this verse alone, we learn two things: 1, God (the Spirit) was involved in this plan and 2, he allowed Jesus to be tempted. You see, it is not a sin to be tempted. The sin is giving in to that temptation.

You wanna know what’s really cool? Jesus is God. And, Jesus is man. I’m telling you this because, if Jesus had wanted, he could have made Satan disappear with a thought or the blink of an eye. But, instead (and this is the part I love), He responded to Satan as a human to set the example for the rest of us humans. He showed us through His actions how to resist temptation!

Jesus set the example for us. He accessed God’s strength. He used the passages from the Bible to give Him the strength He needed to resist Satan’s temptations. He did that to show us that if we can access God’s strength through prayer or knowing God’s Word and trusting in God’s Word that we can also resist temptation. Because, guess what? We can’t do it alone. And Jesus was showing that He couldn’t do it alone as a man.

Remember 1 Corinthians 10:13? It said, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But, when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” That is a promise from God to you. God knows we can’t do it alone. Jesus knew it and that’s why He showed us how to resist temptation by turning to God and by turning away from Satan and to keep walking away from him.

So, how could be Jesus be tempted? Because God allowed it to show us how we can resist the devil. The key is that Jesus did not give in to the temptation and He turned away from it.

Thursday 18 June 2009

How do you know God’s real?

I know God is real because I see his hand in creation. When I look in amazement at the stars and the universe, when I realize that cabbages and kangaroos exist on the same planet, when I see a child being born, and when I try to understand how unbelievably complex living creatures are – then I know God is real.

Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

I know God is real because I see his hand in history. I have studied history, and especially the Bible and the history of the Bible, and I am amazed at the generations and generations of people – for thousands of years – who have worshiped God and followed his commands, who have grappled with the same questions and issues and challenges that you and I grapple with today, and who have written down so many of their experiences in the pages of history.

Job 19:25 I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. (Job lived somewhere between 1400 and 700 BC, a very long ago! He is an awesome example of a man who trusted God when all was well and who continued to do so when everything went wrong.)

I know God is real because I see him working in the lives of people. I know (because of history) that he has worked in the lives of millions of people, and I also know that he has been at work in my own life, and the lives of people with whom I hang out every day – and that includes TRACK kids! The stories I have are just awesome!

Romans 8:16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.
and John 1:12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—

I hope my answer helps give you some extra confidence that God is real. He is very real, and even better – he loves you, and he wants you to know him. Now that’s cool!

Wednesday 17 June 2009

Why did God reject Cain’s offering?

Awesome question! God rejected it because Cain’s motive wasn’t right. His heart wasn’t in the right condition. You see, Cain gave his offering without putting much thought into it. He didn’t honor God with his offering and he certainly didn’t give his best crops as a joyful offering.

Abel, on the other hand, picked his finest sheep and brought the fat portions of the firstborn of his flock. He wanted to honor God and gave with a joyful heart.

God tried to give Cain a second chance to make it right and even warned Cain that sin was crouching at his door but did Cain listen? No! Instead of going back and finding the best crops and giving it joyfully to God, Cain killed Abel.

And so we have the first murder ever recorded in the history of man. See what sin can do?!?! Yikes!!!

Tuesday 16 June 2009

How do we repent? And where?

You asked, “How do we repent?” and “Where?” In order to understand how we repent, we need to know what it means to repent. In the easiest terms, to repent means to change the direction you are going in regards to sin (doing bad things). It means making a complete 180-degree turn and walking the other way. It is an action verb, which means you have to do it. It is not something that is done to you. So, to repent from your sins means to turn away from them completely and to walk the other way.

But, here’s the best part! When you repent your sins and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, do you know what gift you receive? Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples, said it in Acts 2:38 when he said, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Do you know what that means??? It means that when you repent and turn away from sin, you don’t do it alone. The power of the Holy Spirit has been given to you through Jesus Christ! And remember what it says in Philippians 4:13, “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”

As far as your question regarding “where” you repent…you repent in your heart through prayer. You can do that anywhere. You can do it in the privacy of your bedroom, or in church, or with your family or with a group of your friends. It doesn’t matter as long as you’re sincere. God knows your heart and He loves you so much! He loves you so much that He gave His one and only Son to die for you so that you can have eternal life! Is that awesome or what??? And this is what is so wonderful about God…He didn’t wait for you, or me, to become good or perfect before He sent His Son down here. Romans 5:8 says that, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

You don’t have to be perfect for God to love you. You don’t even have to be good. God loves you no matter what! But, guess what? Good people don’t go to Heaven. Forgiven and saved people do. And in order to receive God’s forgiveness, you must repent your sins. Just stop doing them and purposefully walk away from them. It’s hard…I know! But, “I can do everything through Him that gives me strength.”

Monday 15 June 2009

Should I forgive someone if it’s not their fault?

Hmmm…interesting question! So, let’s look at it like this: You invite your friend over to play the Wii. During an intense game of Backyard Baseball, your friend is the batter and you’re the pitcher. You decide you’re gonna throw him your nastiest fastball. You wind up and make a throwing motion as hard as you can. At the same time, he makes a swinging motion.

But, because you’ve thrown this crazy pitch, you lose your balance and step right into his controller as he’s coming around to hit your pitch. He ends up hitting you right in your head. It’s clearly your fault because you fell into his space but your head hurts and you’re mad.

So…it’s not his fault, right? But, you’re still mad. Should you forgive him? Let me ask you this…what did he do wrong that needs your forgiveness? Why would you forgive someone that did nothing wrong?

My point is this: you should forgive only those people who have intentionally done something bad to you or to someone you care about. Now, sometimes mistakes happen and usually someone is at fault. For example, let’s say in the above Wii scenario your friend swung too hard and the controller flew out of his hand and hit your television breaking it. Now, it’s his fault EVEN THOUGH he didn’t mean to do it. So he apologizes to you. It’s your choice to forgive or not forgive.

Jesus makes it pretty clear that we are to forgive people because He forgave us for our mistakes. We are to love as Jesus loves.

Sunday 14 June 2009

If I am alive when Jesus comes again, how will I know it’s him so I can follow him?

I want to answer this in two ways. (1) How can you recognize Jesus? (2) How can you recognize the deceiver (the antichrist)?

(1) How can you recognize Jesus?

When John was on the island of Patmos, Jesus came to him in a vision. At first John was terrified. Revelation 1:17 says that John fell at Jesus’ feet as if he was dead! I remember when I was 16 and backpacking in the woods. I ran into a bear, and it charged me. I was so scared it felt like my legs were full of sand and I couldn’t move at all! Well, John was so scared that he completely fell down.

Right away (still in verse 17), Jesus says, “Do not be afraid.” Still, don’t you wonder why someone who has spent his whole life following Jesus would be so afraid of Jesus? Verses 12 through 16 tell us what John saw, and help us to understand. When John turned to see Jesus, John saw the light from seven great lamps. If you take seven really strong lights and look directly into them, maybe that’s kind of like what John saw! Standing in that super bright light was Jesus, his eyes “were like blazing fire,” his head and hair “white like wool.” Jesus’ feet were “like bronze glowing in a furnace.” His face was “like the sun shining in all its brilliance.” Everything, including Jesus, was just bright, bright, bright!

Then in Revelation 19:11-16, John writes about Jesus’ return. John describes Jesus as a rider on a white horse, and he gives Jesus several different names in those verses – that’s to try to describe how awesome Jesus is. Jesus is called “Faithful and True” and “Word of God” and Jesus has written on him two other names. One is “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” and the other one we don’t know (vs. 12). It says that Jesus is wearing a robe, and he is being followed by the armies of heaven, all on white horses, and all wearing clean, white robes. Wow! What a picture!

Remember, this is from John’s vision. Jesus doesn’t have to look exactly like that for this to make sense. Maybe that is exactly how Jesus will appear, or maybe John is simply doing his best to describe for us the awesomeness of Jesus’ return. John is definitely more concerned with what happens than exactly what Jesus look like.

So if you ask me how we will recognize Jesus when he comes again, I think we can know the answer from how John describes Jesus – Jesus will be absolutely unmistakable! When we see Jesus, even though right now we don’t know exactly what he will look like, we will for sure know it’s him!


(2) How can you recognize the deceiver (the antichrist)?

The Bible also doesn’t tell us exactly what the antichrist looks like. But John in his letters (1 John and 2 John) does say some important things that will help us know who the antichrist is so we don’t follow him. The Bible doesn’t say exactly, but the antichrist may be one person, or it may be a group of people. It doesn’t matter, though, because the Book of Revelation tells us that Jesus wins and Satan loses!

1 John 2:22 and 1 John 4:3 and 2 John 1:7 tell us clearly how to know who is the antichrist. Those verses tell us that those who deny that Jesus is our Savior, that Jesus is real, or who say that Jesus didn’t really come to earth are the antichrists. Wow! So what does that mean for you and me? Don’t ignore Jesus, or don’t accept a substitute religion that will turn your attention away from Jesus. That is what we would do if we were to follow the antichrist.

So what do you do? You do what you are doing right now. You are doing the right thing because you have faith in the right person – Jesus. Continue to ask me hard questions – that’s good. Continue to learn – that’s good too. Continue to worship God. Continue to have faith in Jesus – even though you can’t exactly understand everything about God and faith – that is exactly what faith is. You see, our Lord did not give John the command to write the Book of Revelation, or tell us about antichrists, or tell us about his return just to satisfy our curiosity. He has two reasons for sharing that stuff with us. One is to challenge us to be faithful to him. The other is to encourage us with the message that Jesus wins, Satan loses. Cool, huh?

Saturday 13 June 2009

What if you try to talk about Jesus to a friend a whole lot and they just look at you like you are crazy? What would you do?

Good questions! And guess what? There are going to be a lot of people that are going to look at you like you’re crazy when you try to talk to them about Jesus. Many people get really uncomfortable when they talk about Jesus. Think of the reaction Jesus, Himself, got when He was preaching in the various towns! All of the religious leaders looked at Him like He was crazy!

I say this to kids all the time: It’s easy to talk to other Christians about Jesus; it is a whole lot harder to talk to a non-believer about Jesus.

So…now that you know that, what do you do when your friend looks at you like you’re crazy? Let’s look at 1 Peter 3:15, which says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”

Talk to your friend with gentleness and kindness. Tell that person why you believe in Jesus and what Jesus has done for you. But, don’t push it. If they start arguing with you or start treating you like you’re crazy, just back off. Respect their resistance.

Remember, it is not your job to bring someone to Jesus. Your job is to plant seeds or to water some seeds that may have been planted by someone else. I always say that it’s the job of the Holy Spirit to do the “heavy lifting!”

You can also do a lot more by your actions rather than your words. Show your friend by the way you act, they way you talk and the way you treat people what a true follower of Jesus looks like. Believe me, they’ll see how different you are from other people.

By respecting your friend and backing off, you leave the door open for them to ask again. And when they do, you just keep repeating why you believe in Jesus and keep doing it with kindness and respect…in essence, with love! You never know when your friend will feel the power of the Holy Spirit and accept Jesus the way you have!

Friday 12 June 2009

How do you talk to God?

Awesome question! You talk to God through prayer. And guess what? It doesn’t have to be some fancy prayer either. All you have to do is talk to God like you would talk to your Father (because that’s what He is!). You don’t have to be ultra-religious…just talk to Him. Believe me, He loves to hear from you. He deeply cares about you and He knows every hair on your head! Isn’t that awesome?

I’ll give you a secret…but you can tell others this secret. I use a method called the T.A.A.R. method. It’s easy! Here’s what it stands for:

Thank God for everything He has done and created.
Acknowledge Him as the Creator of the Universe.
Apologize for any mistakes you made, either intentional or unintentional.
Request what you want or need. (Remember, He wants you to ask!)

Now remember, God always answers prayers. BUT, He doesn’t always answer them the way we want Him to…He answers the way He knows is best for you.

Wanna know another secret? Sometimes I don’t have anything I want or need. I just want to tell God how much I appreciate and love Him. Sometimes I ask Him, “What can I do today, God, to show my love for you?” I’m telling you He loves to hear that!

Never be afraid to pray or to talk to God. He loves you. He loves you so much He sent His one and only Son to die for you. He wants to have a personal relationship with you and when you talk to God every day He will never leave you or forsake you.

Thursday 11 June 2009

How do we know what God's plan is for us?

Excellent question!!! There are many references in the Bible as to what God’s plans for us are but my two favorites are John 10:10 and Jeremiah 29:11-13.

John 10:10 simply reads, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” That is how the NIV states it; some Bibles say that God came to give you life and to give it to you abundantly. That shows how much He truly cares for you. His plan for you is to have a life that is full of His grace and mercy!

In fact, in 2 Peter 3:9, it is written, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” So, you see, God doesn’t want anyone to perish (eternal death) but he wants them to have eternal life with Him in Heaven!

Jeremiah 29:11-13 reads, “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Wow. The Lord of all creation loves us all so much that He wants us all to prosper and to be protected. He also wants to have a relationship with us through prayer! You see, if you seek God with all your heart He will never, ever abandon you or forsake you!

Wednesday 10 June 2009

Should we love Satan because God says to love everybody?

Go grab your Bible right now, and I want you to read two passages from it.


First, read Matthew 22:37-39. In these passages, who are you instructed to love? Write your answers below.

(1) ___________________ (2) ___________________


Second passage I want you to read is 1 Thessalonians 5:22. This is a letter written from the apostle Paul to the church in Thessalonica. What do you think Paul’s answer would be if you asked him if we should love the devil? Circle the answer.

YES NO


So the Bible tells us that we are to love God completely, and that we are to love other people with the same kind of love we have for ourselves. And that we are to “avoid” all evil. Every bit of that is pretty challenging, isn’t it? Still, if we live our lives following these commands, we will live the best possible life, one with God in the picture.

Tuesday 9 June 2009

Is it OK to be afraid of the rapture?

The short answer is – as a Christ-follower, you don’t have to be!

Let’s get to my answer together. Go get your Bible and read Acts 1:1-11 once before you finish reading this any further.

.......

In the section you just read, Luke the doctor is writing his introduction, and he reminds his reader of what Jesus said about His second coming. Carefully read vs 7 again. What does Jesus say? (He says, “Don’t worry about it.”) Why does Jesus say that? Carefully read vs 8 again. What does Jesus say there? (I’ve given you plenty to do. I want you to spread the gospel throughout Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria – in other words, the world – so get busy and stop worrying about what you can’t know anyway. That’s just for the Father to know!”)

One very simple reason you don’t need to be afraid of the rapture is because Jesus instructs us to focus on the business He has given His followers to do – sharing the gospel! He clearly tells us not to stand around staring at the sky and fearing His return. Those are Jesus’ words.

OK, now I want to challenge you. You ready? Here we go …

Even though Jesus has told us in Acts 1:7-8 not to focus on trying to figure out exactly what the second coming of Jesus will be like, we are curious, aren’t we? God made us curious, so that’s OK. And we’re curious about Jesus’ second coming for many reason. Some people are hopeful, some are scared, some just love knowing stuff, and there are many other reasons why we have been trying to figure out the second coming. The funny thing is, we are not going to know, plain and simple, because Jesus said we weren’t.

But people try anyway. People read the Bible carefully and then they interpret what they read differently. By “interpret” I mean to explain or to understand or to shed light on. Answer this question – if you are trying to explain to an alien (OK, stick with me …) how our alphabet works but you only have some of the letters, do you think your explanation will be very good? Do you think the alien (even if it is really intelligent and really wants to learn) can understand? Both times the answer is nope!

And this is what has happened in our understanding of Jesus’ second coming. God has not given us all the answers in the Bible, and so our interpretations – our understanding – can be different. Just like the alien might not figure out the difference between “rant” “runt” and “rent,” we also can’t figure out the second coming when we’re missing some letters (some information.)

Do you wonder why I am saying all this? Here is the challenge – in our attempts to understand the second coming of Christ, of the rapture, of the final judgment, of the new heaven and new earth, and of the last days and the end of time – there are many different ideas, by many bright people who love Jesus, of what might happen!

I say this is challenging because there may not even be a rapture! Some people think there will be a rapture to lift God’s people off of the earth before a period of great suffering. Another group of people thinks that the rapture will happen after all the suffering (which means Christians will have to suffer, too!) Others think there will not even be a period of great suffering. And the ideas go on and on and on and on.

I want to challenge you to follow Jesus with your whole heart, while at the same time knowing that Jesus has asked us to focus on spreading the good news about Him. Trust Him, even though you will not know all the details of the rapture (or no rapture) and His coming again.

No matter what happens, eternity with Jesus is a magnificent eternity. For that reason, those of us who have given our hearts to Jesus have no need at all to fear the rapture!!

I want to leave you with one more verse – it’s Proverbs 3:5-6.

Monday 8 June 2009

Why did Moses die when he was leading the people into the promised land?

Wow, that is an awesome question! And I can see why you are confused because we both know that God specifically chose Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and the life of slavery they had been subjected to and to lead them to the land promised to them during God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It was described as a land that flowed with “milk and honey.”

Well, unfortunately, Moses was a man and because he was a man, he sinned. God says to him in Deuteronomy 32:51-52, “This is because both of you broke faith with me in the presence of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the Desert of Zin and because you did not uphold my holiness among the Israelites. Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance; you will not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel."

Ouch! That stinks, doesn’t it? Moses did a lot of great things for God earlier in the Bible. But, because he sinned against God, he had to suffer the consequences of that sin. BUT, I want you to understand something important here…even though Moses sinned and was punished by not being allowed into the promised land, Moses did make it into the Promised Land! Notice the capital letters? Moses, even though he sinned, was forgiven and went to Heaven!!!

So, why did he die? He died because he was a man and could not live forever. He died at the ripe old age of 120! And here’s another little bit of trivia: God, Himself, buried Moses somewhere in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor. But, to this day, no one knows where God buried Moses. Pretty interesting, huh?

Sunday 7 June 2009

Should I get baptized right away after I trust Jesus as my Savior?

That is very good question! There are many people who believe that baptism is necessary for salvation and they often quote the Apostle Peter in Acts 2:38, “repent and be baptized,” as evidence that asking Jesus into your heart plus baptism results in salvation. Well guess what? Scripture clearly doesn’t support that view.

For example, when the thief on the cross placed his faith in Christ, Jesus said to him, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43), even though the dying thief had no chance of being baptized. Then, as the book of Acts demonstrates, baptism is a sign of becoming a Christ Follower, but not the way we become a Christ Follower.

When the jailer asked the Apostle Paul, “what must I do to be saved?” Paul responded, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:30-31)

Baptism isn’t the way we’re saved, but it is the symbolic way we show our friends that we’ve turned away from our sin and have asked Jesus into our life. It’s a symbolic gesture to show everyone that we’re no longer our own – that we’ve been adopted into the family of Christ.

Bottom line, God knows your heart. He loves you because you are fearfully and wonderfully made! And, He knows you love Him. Whenever you’re ready to show your faith to your friends and family and you want that symbolic washing of the water, that’s when you should get baptized?

Saturday 6 June 2009

What about Adam and Eve, how were they tempted?

That is an awesome question! They were tempted by the serpent (who was really Satan, darn that guy!) who said to Eve, “Did God really say you mustn’t eat from any tree in the garden?” And poor Eve, replies, “Well, we may eat fruit from the trees in the Garden but God did say, you must not eat the fruit from the middle of the garden and you must not touch it or you will die.”

And that wily old serpent kept pestering Eve and kept tempting her, which distracted her and caused her to doubt. He lied and said, “Ohhhh, you surely will not die! For God knows that when eat of it your eyes will be open and you will be like God knowing good and evil.””

He played to her pride, making her think she could be like God. See? That’s what Satan does! Satan is smart…he won’t tempt you with things you don’t care about. He’ll tempt you in the area that he knows will push your buttons. In Eve’s case (and Adam’s too) he appealed to their envy and pride.

And so, Eve and Adam ate of the apple and their eyes were open but they certainly weren’t like God. They realized they were naked and were embarrassed. And, because of that small but significant act of taking a bite of an apple, sin entered the world.

But, it all started with the serpent tempting Eve and pushing the right buttons so she couldn’t resist.

Friday 5 June 2009

When people do bad things, is there anything (sin) unforgivable for God?

The answer for is – absolutely not! And that is great news.

I want you to do something. Go grab your Bible and read Luke 12:1-12. Read that right now, and then come back and finish reading this e-mail.


In verse 10 it said, “…anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.” That doesn’t sound exactly like my answer to your question, does it? Well, here’s the deal - In Luke chapter 12, Jesus asks that his disciples keep focused on God, and not be distracted, so they can walk confidently with him. So what’s the deal with blasphemy? Start by looking up the word blasphemy in the dictionary.

Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is more than just cursing God, even though that is what the dictionary says. It refers to a total rejection of God. This is not so much a sin of the moment as it is of one’s entire life, a rejection of God’s message and testimony. That’s a good way to understand it. Thoughts may pop into our head without our control or desire, we may say things (in anger or confusion) that are against God, and we may even intentionally do things against God that can be called blasphemy BUT BUT BUT that is way different than rejecting the Holy Spirit with your ENTIRE LIFE!!! If you have never given your heart to Jesus, and you reject him for your whole life, and then you die, then you have not received God’s forgiveness.

Did I explain the difference well enough between God forgiving any sin you ask him to forgive, and God not being able to forgive your sins because you refuse to ask him? He WANTS to forgive any and all sins, but he doesn’t if you don’t ask him.

Here’s a passage from Romans 5:18-19 from the Message (which reads a little bit different than our NIV Bibles). It captures the meaning of Jesus’ sacrifice for us really well. Check this out …

18-19Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one person did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death, another person did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life! One man said no to God and put many people in the wrong; one man said yes to God and put many in the right.

You see that? Even though Adam got humanity in trouble, Jesus died for us, and got us out of the mess we were in. That can’t be undone. You follow Jesus and if you have questions about your own sins, boldly ask Jesus for forgiveness, and he will forgive you.

Thursday 4 June 2009

Because I’m a Christian, I’m cast out. Why do people do that?

When we study the life of the Apostle Paul and how he was persecuted, we learn that faith and persecution can always be found together. The sad truth is that persecution (whether it is just teasing or actually killing) happens for many, many reasons.

Your question is very close to another question that has been asked many times by many great people during the course of human history! Why do people dislike (or hate) each other just because they are different? (like different religions, different races, different jobs, different educations, different physical abilities, and a million others!)

The answer to why this happens, to why people hate each other, and to why we sometimes feel “cast out” from others, has to do with sin. This is difficult to understand, but it is still true. Because of sin our connection with God and with others – which was originally perfect – is broken and messed up. This is sad, but this is the way it is right now.

It is comorting to remember that the Holy Spirit came to give us power. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to persevere, to hang in there, to be strong and to have courage. Paul wrote in his letter to the Philippians that “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21). Paul knew that even though there was persecution and trouble now, that to be one of Jesus’ followers meant that you could share in an awesome forever with Him, and that made everything better and OK for him!

Wednesday 3 June 2009

What does Satan look like? If you have a picture, please add it.

I’ll bet you’re wondering if he looks evil or if he’s red with horns and a tail. Well, let’s look at who Satan is…or was… His name was Lucifer and he was God’s Annointed Cherub (or angel) and he was set apart for God’s divine purpose. He was described as a being “of perfect beauty.” He was covered in every precious stone and had pendants and jewels of gold. He was an expression of God’s own beauty and power. But, when he sinned and his nature changed, his physical appearance could have changed too. We really don’t know what he looks like now.

Monday 1 June 2009

Why didn’t Jesus know His purpose on Earth when he was born?

Wow…that is a very interesting question! In order to answer that we have to remember two things about Jesus: He was God and He was man. I know, I know! That is a hard concept to grab!

But, since He was born a man, He was first a baby, right? Unfortunately, the Bible doesn’t say a whole lot about Jesus as a baby but we can assume He was like most babies and couldn’t talk and needed to be fed, held, loved and watched. So, based on those assumptions we could probably say that when He was born Jesus didn’t know His purpose on Earth.

BUT, the Bible clearly shows that, at some point in His adult life Jesus fully realized who He was and that He had been here since the creation of the Earth because he told His disciples and followers, “I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I AM!" (John 8:58)

We also get a hint that He might have known about His purpose when He was a young boy and got separated from His parents, Mary and Joseph, in Jerusalem. They were frantic and began looking for Him and found Him in the temple talking with a group of religious leaders. When Jesus’ mom, Mary, asked Him why He would disappear like that and make them worry, do you know what Jesus said? He told His parents, “Why were you searching for me? Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" (Luke 2:49) At the time, Mary and Joseph didn’t know what Jesus was trying to tell them but He knew that He was the Son of God at age 12!

So, to answer your question, Jesus probably didn’t know His purpose when He was born but sometime later in His life, He did realize who He was. We just can’t pinpoint the exact time He realized it.