Inquiring Minds Week 3 2-15-09

Inquiring Minds Week 3
Questions I would like to ask a pastor:

The Bible

1. What is the purpose of the Bible?
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:16
The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving (KJV converting) the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. Psalm 19:7
Simply, the purpose of the Bible is to help us become and stay connected to God. (Show picture of smiley-faced man with Bible in hand.)
2. Why are some people so passionate about their beliefs of the Bible?
Show picture of smiley-faced man with Bible in hand. Remember the purpose of the Bible? Some believe that God is weak and is hurt if someone doesn't like the Bible. Some religions have people who will kill you if you question their holy book. Others raise the Bible to the level of God. They confuse God with the Bible and have forgotten the purpose of the scriptures (finger pointing at the moon).
3. Is the Bible God's literal word? If so, how do we explain the contradictions and deviations of the Word over time? If not, how are we sure what's important and true?
This is a very holy-sounding issue, but there are real semantic problems. Literal.....yes, I believe I literally mean that God speaks through this. Are you going to take every word literally?
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell. Mark 9:47
Anone who curses his father or mother must be put to death. Exodus 21:17
Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. Exodus 31:15
Contradictions.......3 denails or 6? What about everything being 40 days long? A figure of speech? Millions of years? Was the Good Samaritan a real person? What about deviations over time? What is important and true...it's all true, when you understand its setting and purpose. It is all helpful. The Bible is converting.....that is its purpose.....don't get stuck on every little thing. Honor the scripture, respect the scripture and capture the spirit speaking to you through it and let it change you.
4. Can you be a good Christian if you don't take the Old Testament stories literally?
What is a good Christian? Loves God, loves neighbor, gives self away in the name of Jesus.
He answered: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind," and, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Luke 10:27
Can you be a good Christian? Sure, if you want to be. You can be a bad Christian and believe every Old Testament story too. We need to draw fewer lines of separation and more circles that take people in.
5. Can you believe in evolution and modern science and still be a good Christian?
See previous question.
6. The Bible says no swearing; does that mean that we should not say an oath in court?
Taking a scripture given for a moment and trying to make it apply to everything.
Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' But I tell you, Do not swear at all; either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is His footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. Matthew 5:33-37
Too many examples of oaths made to God and oaths made by God exist in the scriptures to understand this any other way than people were playing games. Jesus had something to say to them...them, there, then.
7. What do you tell someone who says he believes in God but not the Bible, since the Bible was completely written by man?
Love them. Encourage them. Don't try to convince them. The goal of life is relationship with God, not knowledge or even belief. More flies are won with honey than with vinegar. Bumper sticker -- Hell is real, repent now.
8. What does the Bible mean when it talks about predestination? What does it mean that 'God is in control', in view of God's gift of 'free will' to humankind?
This is an enormous question. It is one of the great theological questions of all time. Calvinism vs aminianism. Here is my take: God is in control, but God is not controlling. Don't believe that you are a marionette or that God's hand is in every single little thing that you do. You are responsible. Take responsibility. Your choices matter. God is in control, but not controlling.
9. Are we all smeared (sinners by nature) or does God love all of us unconditionally?
Both.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Romans 3:23-24
Sin is about selfishness. This just means that we are all selfish by nature. Babies come out totally self-consumed. It is the human way.
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes 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 the world through Him. John 3:16-17
10. What does it mean to be a godly wife? What is expected in the home? What do the scriptures teach?
The scriptures teach that Christian relationships are about mutuality, love and respect. Submission cannot be coerced...it is a gift. Paul lived in a culture where women were property. We no longer live in a culture of dominance. Even Paul said, "in Christ we are all the same, there is no male nor female, no bond or free. Women have heard and been crushed by this verse.
Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. Eph 5:22 This passage is given to one church, not to all of them. There was something going on there, that they needed these words. Put these words in the context of some women in the Ephesian church. In the scriptures there are several examples of women who are active leaders for God and who exercise authority over men. There was something at Ephesus that called for these words. David had many wives and concubines. That does not mean that you should become a polygamist or worst. Women have been manipulated and crushed by the words of Eph 5:22. What about the words of 5:21? Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Eph5:21 If a husband can be a spiritual leader, great. Good leaders create a team. It is not about dominance -- it is about love and mutuality.

--- WHEW!! ---

Prayer

11. Does it matter where you pray?
Yes, pray somewhere where you can relax.
12. How do you pray, how do you talk to God? Should I pray to God, Jesus, Father, Holy Spirit?
13. If I pray out loud, can the devil hear that and use it against me?
Some Christians have created a theology that actually glorifies Satan. They assume that Satan is the opposite of God. He is not, nor is he the opposite of Jesus. He is the spiritual counterpart of Michael and Gabriel. If you have a theology that the devil is at your house, tempting you daily, then you should also have a theology that Michael and Gabriel are personally protecting you every day. Stop living a life of fear. The Bible says that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. Will your life be dominated by the fear of evil or by the Holy Spirit that lives within you?
14. Is it ok to pray for prosperity?
I think we can pray for daily bread. Remember that? When we pray for more and more, we run the risk of receiving this answer: When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. James 4:3 I am fine if you pray for prosperity, but remember, to whom much is given, much is required. You are blessed to be a blessing. All of us have room to grow in living generously. Remember, people in Africa already think that you have prosperity.
15. What about cremation?
So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 1Cor 15:42-44
16. I have a problem that I am having trouble turning over to God. I want to trust Him for the plans He has to prosper me and hope and future, but I seem to be stuck.
We are not promised a life free from problems.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LROD and shun evil. Prov 3:5-7
17. If I believe in God, why do I fear death so much?
Trust in the Lord. Give it up to Jesus.
Draw near to God, He will draw near to you. James 4
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4
This is the hope that we have in difficult times.....God is with us.
18. I wonder since my life has been so good up to now -- how can I ask for more?
Then God remembered Rachel; He listened to her and opened her womb. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, "God has taken away my disgrace." She named him Joseph and said, "May the LORD add to me another son." Genesis 30:22-24