What do you do if someone you know claims to be a Christian but you know they are not and you want to help them?

This is a fantastic question! We do need to be a little careful when we start assuming that we know if someone is a Christian or not. Are you basing that on their actions or what they say they believe? The reason I’m saying that is because there is a BIG difference in the two.

There are a lot of people who say they’re Christian and may not act like it but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are not Christians. The Bible tells us that we all sin and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 6:23). In fact, it also says there is no one righteous, not even one (Romans 6:10). Just because someone sometimes does doing things that Bible says they shouldn’t do or doesn’t do things they should do doesn’t mean that they haven’t accepted Christ into their heart. We have no way of really knowing a person’s heart but we can judge their actions and we can gently remind them that Christ Followers don’t act or think like that.

Now, if a person claims to be a Christian but tells you they believe something that contradicts what the Bible says is true, that is a completely different matter. For example, let’s say someone says to you, “I don’t believe that Jesus was really God’s son. I think he was just a man.” That is wrong thinking. The Bible clearly tells us that Jesus was God’s one and only Son in John 3:16. Or let’s say they tell you that they believe in reincarnation … we know that belief is Biblically wrong. So, how do we help our friends see the truth?

Whether someone is not acting like a Christian or claiming something contrary to the Christian belief, we treat them the same way. With love. The Bible tells us to, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone that asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3:15)

It is not our job to judge a person’s heart … that’s God’s job. But, we can judge their behavior, speech and beliefs and respectfully tell them what we believe. Whether they choose to believe you or not, is their choice. I can promise you this:  God loves His people. He doesn’t want any of us to miss out on knowing Him. He will use the Holy Spirit to help someone that really wants to know who God is. Your mission is to share God’s love with them so that they can make a wise decision.

How can I love God and other people like God loves us?

That is a very awesome question! And the honest truth is, you can’t! I have to tell you that up front so that you don’t put so much pressure on yourself because the truth is NO ONE can love as unconditionally, immensely and infinitely as God can.

The reason is because God’s love is perfect. He can’t ever not love us! He can’t hate us. He can’t get sick of us. His love is unconditional. The Holy Bible uses a Greek word, “agape,” to describe God’s love for us. There isn’t even an English translation for it. It’s basically a deep, deep, unconditional love for us.

So, why can’t we love God or others like that? It’s because of our sin nature. This is the sin that was handed down from us from the time of Adam and Eve, Our sinful nature puts conditions on our love … sometimes even with God! We are imperfect beings so we can’t love perfectly. At some point will get mad or hurt and pull our love back just a bit. God doesn’t do that.

But, does that mean we shouldn’t love God or people? Absolutely not! In fact, when asked by His disciple s what the greatest commandment was, Jesus said:

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

Do you see what Jesus says? Not love the Lord with all His heart but our own! Our own imperfect hearts … the hearts that sometimes break, the hearts that sometimes grow tired of loving and the hearts that sometimes falter because of anger. So, we’re to love God with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our mind. We’re to love God as best we can. Then, we’re to love our neighbor as ourselves.

So, how can we do that? Through prayer. Through service. Through random acts of kindness. Remember what Jesus says:

“Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” (John 14:21)

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:12)

“This is my command: Love each other.” (John 15:17)

“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40)

God bless you!

Why was Jesus so nice?

That is an awesome question! I think that the most important thing to remember about Jesus is that He is not only a man but He is also God. While God has many attributes, one of His most incredible qualities is His capacity to love us. In fact, one of the most well known Biblical passages is John 3:16, which reads:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son and whoever shall believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

This shows us how much God loved us! Jesus is a physical representation of that love. If you ever want to know how to be like Jesus, just look at the “fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5:22. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Jesus was a living example of the fruit of the Spirit. That’s why He was so nice!

Do you have to like everyone to go to Heaven?

The simple answer is no, you don’t have to like everyone in order to go to Heaven. God does tell us to, “Love your neighbor as you would yourself.” (Matthew 22:39) But, even that isn’t a requirement to get into Heaven.

Honestly, there is only one way to get to Heaven and the great thing about it is that it doesn’t involve you or me having to be good! The truth is: Jesus is the only way to Heaven. He makes this quite clear in John 14:6, when He says, “I am the truth, the way and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” It’s not about being good because we can never be “good enough.” It’s about being forgiven and being saved through the grace of Jesus Christ.

It’s not about liking people but, really, isn’t it easier to like people than to hate people?

Why does God reach out to us?

That is a great question! Many Biblical scholars do studies on why God does certain things and I think sometimes they try so hard to find an answer that makes sense that they miss the big picture! The truth is that God reaches out to us because He loves us.

If you look at the entire Holy Bible, both the Old Testament and New Testament, it tells of God’s unending love for us and how He has constantly looked to have a relationship with us. From the time of Adam and Eve, when God had a perfect relationship with them (until they sinned), God has wanted to have a relationship with us. Why? Because He loves us!

Don’t believe me? How about this: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son and whoever shall believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but to save it through Him.” (John 3:16-17) Or this: “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

The Bible tells so many stories and there are so many examples where God rescues His people, despite their sins. You see, we are the ones who push God away not the other way around. God loves us unconditionally. We’re the ones who put conditions on the relationship not Him.

God is and forever will be there for you. The only way He won’t be able to help you is if you turn away from Him. But, He is always there, waiting patiently for you to come to Him. And the best part is: when you come to Him, He will run to meet you! He won’t make you wait. He loves you that much!!!

Why does God let us do things he knows we will do?

Wow, that is an awesome question! Let me start by answering your question with a question. Why does God let us do things that He knows are bad? Here’s why: Because God gives us “free will.” God could easily control every aspect of our lives, if He wanted. He could have created a world without sin, wars, sickness or death and made a world where everyone was blissfully happy without having a care in the world.

But, if that were the case, what meaning would love have? If God “made” us love Him then what value is there in being in love? If God forced us to think or act only the way He wanted, what sort of life would we have? How good would we know something is good if we didn’t have a “bad” to contrast it with?

God gave us the ability to make our own choices even though He knows every choice we’ve made and will make. And, He gives us the ability to make both good and bad choices. Think about it, by giving us this “free will” it gives so much more value to love! The reason is because it’s now a choice instead of being forced on us.

Also, when you make a bad choice, there are consequences to that choice. God wants you to recognize those consequences and then make that conscious decision to not make that bad choice again. As you grow and mature and begin making wise choices, you will become more like the person God wants you to be because you will be more of a representation of God’s character.

If you ever want to know what God’s character is, look no further than the fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22)

When you do things freely, that honor God, and mirror God’s character, He will honor and bless you!

How does God live?

That is a very awesome question! It’s also a very difficult question to answer because most of us cannot understand who God really is.

The problem is God is not human. Remember, we were created in His image not the other way around. Can we assume that He has a form that looks like us since in Genesis 1:26 God says, “Let us make man in our image; after our likeness.”?? Does that mean He has a head, a body, two arms and two legs? Or does that refer to His character? The answer is …. His character!

We want to be a reflection of God’s character because we are created in His image.

What is that character, you ask? The character of both God the Father and Christ the Son is that of spiritual holiness, righteousness and absolute perfection. God’s character might be summed up in the one word “LOVE.” It is the way of giving, serving, helping, and sharing. God’s nature is the way of peace, of justice, mercy, happiness and joy flowing out to those He has created!

In the book of Exodus, in the Old Testament, when Moses asks God what God’s name is, God replies, “I AM.” (Exodus 3:14) That means He’s always been here and always will be here!

So, to sum it all up, I think the best way to answer how God lives is by saying He just is. And the amazing thing is that He lives through us when we reflect His character! Wow!

If God loves everyone so much, why would He kill so many people in Haiti?

Wow, awesome question! And it’s a difficult one to answer because we do not know how God’s mind works. Even though we know God’s unstoppable plan by reading the Holy Bible, we cannot fathom some of the things He allows during the course of that plan.

But, we do know some things as absolute truths. We know that God is good all the time and that He cannot do evil. We know that He loves us deeply and because of that He “knit us in our mother’s womb” and we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:13-14) We know that He thinks about us so much and so often that the sheer number would outnumber the grains of sand on a beach (Psalm 139:18).

So, knowing about God’s goodness and His love for us, it’s only natural to ask why He killed so many people in Haiti. But, here’s the thing: God didn’t kill anyone. He allowed certain things to happen and He allowed some people to die but He didn’t kill them. I know it’s hard to understand but God doesn’t kill people, either out of anger or to punish them. But, He does allow it and He does have a reason for allowing it to happen … we just don’t know why or can understand God’s thinking. God is a “big picture” kind of person and we’re more the “in-the-moment” thinkers and reactors.

Remember though, there are some miracles that have occurred down there too. I read a story about a child who was found alive after SEVEN days without food or water. How does that happen??? Even today, they found a 69-year old woman alive after TEN days. How is that possible??? Ten days without food or water??? I can’t even go a day without eating or drinking something. One survivor, who was trapped under a collapsed building, talks about confessing his sins and giving his life to Jesus … only to be rescued within hours of that prayer. Another woman was pinned under a house in a kneeling position and was stuck in that position for FIVE days. She said that during the entire time, THE ENTIRE TIME, she was praying to Jesus. And when they found her and dug her out, she was able to walk into her husband’s arms.

There was an orphanage in a small town called Petion-Ville called the Fr. Wasson Center. Do you know that while every building around the orphanage collapsed, including a building that housed volunteers, the main orphanage did not collapse and every child survived? How do we explain that?

How do we explain any of those miracles? I’m sure there are many more but those are the ones I can remember. It’s because God also has a plan for each and every survivor. Do I know what his reasons are? Absolutely not! But, my faith in God is so strong that I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that it fulfilled God’s overall divine plan.

One of my favorite Bible verses is a simple one and one that is easy to remember. It is Proverbs 3:5-6 and it says, “Trust in the Lord, your God, with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding but in all ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.”

We have to trust God’s will despite what we see as being so sad and so tragic. And know, just know and put your faith in, the fact that God is good.

Why did Satan tempt Adam and Eve?

So, that is a really awesome question!!! We know the story of how Satan appeared as a serpent and tempted Eve and she took a bite of the apple from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And the end result was that sin then entered the world. But, the big question is why it happened in the first place, right? Well, we also know why Satan did it…he wanted to rule Heaven and he felt that he could disrupt God’s unstoppable plan by bringing sin into the world. Satan has been battling God since the beginning and this was just another attack against God. But, what we really wonder is why did God allow it?

It’s important to remember that Satan is not God or the exact opposite of God. He is a created being, just like you and me. God created Satan. If God wanted to, He could defeat Satan with a simple thought, make him disappear forever and make all of us obedient to His will and be without sin. The problem then is that we’d all be like a bunch of robots, walking around chanting, “God is holy, holy, holy,” without giving it much thought.

God doesn’t want that. He wants us to love Him but He also gave us free choice to do so. He wants us to desire to have a relationship with Him and for us to recognize that we need Him. So, God allowed Satan to introduce sin into the world so that we would realize how badly we need a kind and loving God. When you seek out God and give yourself to Him despite Satan’s attempts to pull you away from God, it brings God great joy! Remember the parable of the Lost Sheep? God celebrates everytime a “lost” person finds Him. So, that’s why Satan tempted Adam and Eve…to try and stop God’s unstoppable plan by bringing sin into this world.

How come God loves the ones who sins?

It is because our God is a loving God. He has what's known as "agape" love for us...in fact, there really isn't an English translation for it...except to say that it is an unconditional love for us. He loves us completely and unconditionally.

We are His creation and we are fearfully and wonderfully made in His image (Psalm 139). What God hates is sin. We often say, "Hate the sin but love the sinner." Well, that's the way God is. God knows that we can never measure up to the level of perfection that Christ demonstrated. That's why He sent Jesus to us; to carry the weight of that sin. That doesn't mean there aren't consequences for sin. Think about it this way...your mom and dad love you unconditionally but they still discipline you when you do something wrong. It doesn't mean they don't love you; they are simply angry at the act of what you did. Your Heavenly Father is the same way.

Why do people like being obnoxious?

hmmm…I can’t give you a biblical answer but I will give you an intriguing answer, one that may cause you to think or reflect. Let me ask you this: Is there such a thing as an “obnoxious meter”? I mean is there a device that actually measures behavior and then starts going off when a person crosses a certain point and becomes obnoxious?

Well, we both know the answer, right? …there isn’t. So, at what point does someone’s behavior become obnoxious?

What you may see as obnoxious, I may see as funny. What I may see as obnoxious, you may see as inquisitive. You see, I don’t think people purposely go out to be obnoxious. I think they are trying to be funny or have things they want to say or that they just want to be heard. Sometimes they are hurting inside and just want attention.

I’ve looked through the entire Bible and I can’t find one passage where Jesus said, “Wow! That guy is obnoxious and is really getting on my nerves!!!” Jesus loved and accepted everybody as they were…just the same way He loves and accepts us. We are so lucky that He extends us that grace and mercy because I’m fairly certain at some time in my life, I was obnoxious!

Two of my friends are growing apart and are talking badly about each other to me. What should I do? Should I even be involved?

That is a difficult question and situation, isn’t it? But, I have an answer for you! We have been studying about love these past few weeks and the Bible verse we’ve been looking at is 1 Corinthians 13:1-7. I want you to look at verse 5, in particular, which states, “It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs.”

If you truly care about these two friends, think about the words, “It is not rude.” Hmmm…I wonder what that means? Do you know? Well, here’s what it means: it means you shouldn’t listen to gossip. You should love your two friends and tell them that they need to talk to each other, not you. REMEMBER, do this with kindness and gentleness!!! Verse 1 says that, “Love is patient, love is kind.”

Your friends are trying to make you pick one of them over the other so that they can boast to the other that you are on their side. Yikes!!! You don’t want to be in that situation!

Here’s what I’d do: tell each of your friends that you love them both but that they need to talk to each other. Tell them that you’re gonna pray for both of them and hope that God helps them become friends again.

To answer your second question, unfortunately, because they are both coming to you and gossiping about the other…you are already involved. It’s kinda hard to put the toothpaste back in the tube once it’s been squeezed out! BUT, you can tell them that you are not choosing sides and you really don’t want to talk badly about one of them behind their back.

If they say, “Yeah? Well, this person is really stupid so I’m not going to be their friend anymore!” You should say, “Well, have you talked to them about this? I mean really talked to them?” Then tell your friends it makes you sad to see them fighting. Encourage them to talk to each other.

Now, having said all that, I want you to be prepared for the fact that they may not ever be friends again (which I pray doesn’t happen) but I also want you to realize it’s not going to be because of anything you did or did not do. Please don’t put that kind of pressure on yourself, okay?

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.

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.

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.

Is God really next to you all the time?

Awesome question. Here we go … First of all, God is spirit only. (Read Nicodemus’ “Apple Box” questions in John 3 and Jesus’ response to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:24). There is nothing physical about spirit. You cannot touch, hear, smell, see, or taste spirit. Spirit has no shape, size, and weight, no color, flavor, odor, or texture. This makes God impossible to detect through our senses!

Let’s talk for a second about the space “next to you.” All space (the space right next to you, and all the space in the deepest reaches of the universe) was created by God, and God is not a part of anything that he created (read Genesis 2:1, John 1:3, Hebrews 11:3, and Revelation 4:11).

So now let’s imagine we are traveling through space in a space ship and we’re searching for God somewhere out there in space. Would we find him? The answer is no, right? Would we find him in deep space or in a galaxy far, far away? The answer is also no. Would we find him in space right next to us? The answer is still no. We won’t physically find God because God is not physically in his creation, nor can we physically sense him.

Some world religions believe that God is in everything. This is called “pantheism.” (The word pantheism comes from the original Greek root word “pan,” which means “all,” and “theism,” which means “of God.”) If God is in everything, then he would be in a soda can, and in an automobile engine, and in your hair – and this is not the case. If you comb your hair, you are not running a comb through God! That may seem obvious, but it is very important to understand that God is separate from his creation and he is not a part of that creation.

God is not physically out in deep space somewhere, and God is not physically right next to you. Since God is not physically in space at all, some people say, “Well, he’s in my heart.” Physically, though, he’s not in our hearts either, just like he’s not in your hair. Physically, you cannot put God in any one location. So when we say that we are only looking at the physical answer.

Now, here comes the “Yes, God is next to you” part of the answer. And this is the best part!!

First, knowing that God is entirely spirit (and not knowable by physical senses) will help us understand how God is next to us. Here is the truth about God: Spiritually, God is always at your side; God watches you constantly; God never misses a single thing; and God is always, always with you (read Leviticus 26:2; Deuteronomy 31:8; Job 9:10-11; Psalm 119:151; Psalm 139:1-18, 23-24; Psalm 145:18; Matthew 28:20b; 1 Peter 3:12). This is very, very awesome!

God did not just create you and then leave you alone, and God will not leave you when the going gets tough. God loved you completely and perfectly before you were born, he loved you when you took your first steps, he loved you when you when you first got mad, he loved you every day that you had “a bad hair day!” God was with you all those days, and all the days to come, no matter what! (read Psalm 23:4; Proverbs 3:23-26).

God is spirit and he is absolutely next to you all the time and available for you.