Anonymous Asks (412)

“I believe our pastor is trying to introduce teaching and practices inconsistent with our church’s statement of faith. Should I respond, and if so, how?”

It’s not at all uncommon for Christians to attend a church whose statement of faith they disagree with in small ways. I’ve yet to fellowship with any congregation that was monolithic in its faith and practice. Doctrinal differences are to be expected, and our Lord anticipated them in his letters to the seven churches in Revelation. To the church in Pergamum he twice says some among them held teachings contrary to the faith.

Quietly holding a doctrinal error is a problem, but not as big a problem as being in a position to teach it. Being in a position to teach it weekly is worst of all.

Anonymous Asks (411)

“I recently came to faith in Christ and am living with an unbeliever. What should I do?”

An excellent question. A couple that attends our church’s Sunday morning service recently answered it: they got married. The man, definitely saved and growing in Christ. The partner of many years, possible. She comes out to the meeting. She looks, listens and lingers, but no definitive evidence of regeneration. Maybe she will follow her new husband’s lead. Maybe she will decide to turn back to Sodom and end up the spiritual analog to Lot’s wife. Nobody knows.

Come now, smart guys (of whom I used to be one): Why is there no easy, black and white, definitive answer for couples with one partner on each side of the line between heaven and hell?

Anonymous Asks (410)

“What does God say about avoiding sin just because we are scared of the consequences? Is resisting temptation meaningless if fear is the only reason we are godly?”

Jesus taught that love is the best motive for obedience, though he wasn’t the first to do so. Even the Law of Moses has the correct motive built right into it. When asked about the most important commandment in the Law, Jesus quoted two commands to love: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” and (in second place) “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Then he said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Love and avoiding sin go together better than chocolate and peanut butter.

Anonymous Asks (409)

“What is the great deception of the end times?”

The Bible portrays the final years of our present age as a period characterized by lies and deception, one in which truth will be very hard to find. Sometimes I wonder if we are getting close.

In Matthew 24, the disciples asked Jesus what signs will indicate the end of the age has come, and that the Lord Jesus is returning to earth as king. Among other things, he replied, “Many false prophets will arise and lead many astray”, including deceivers who claim to be the Christ. Paul would later write to Timothy, reminding him that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and the teaching of demons. Numerous other passages say similar things.

Anonymous Asks (408)

“Why are missionaries obsessed with getting everybody else to go to the ends of the earth with the gospel?”

If you’ve never had a missionary to another country visit your local church while on furlough, let me tell you what to expect. You will not get a nice little forty-minute message from scripture. You will definitely not get deep exposition that will help you to grow in Christ. You’ll get a rousing, urgent call to join the missionary out in the world somewhere preaching the gospel to the lost.

If you’re like me, you’ll end the meeting feeling slightly guilty and a little annoyed. I guess I’m saying I can relate to this question, and maybe you can too.

Anonymous Asks (407)

“What is the ‘marvelous light’ 1 Peter 2:9 refers to?”

Light is frequently a metaphor for truth, revelation or understanding, not just in the Bible but everywhere in Western literature and beyond. In English, we refer to becoming “enlightened”, meaning we have somehow received a more accurate way of looking at something we formerly did not comprehend. There is even a period in Western history we call the Enlightenment or Age of Reason.

Did this usage originate in the Bible? Perhaps. Many metaphors did.

Anonymous Asks (406)

“To what extent are friendships transactional?”

If you peruse secular media and believe what you read, your answer is probably a quick and hearty yes. Perhaps you have come across the expression “toxic friendship”. The line of thinking currently in vogue is that your friends exist to benefit you. When they stop being satisfying and become more trouble than they are worth, it’s time to give your old pals the boot right out of your life. In the words of Marie Kondo, “The space in which we live should be for the person we are becoming now, not for the person we were in the past. Keep only those things that speak to your heart.” By “things” she means people.

Hmm. Let’s see what the Bible says about that.

Anonymous Asks (405)

“How should the church deal with gossip?”

Words can be a deadly poison. The gossip presents himself in public as a friend, then stabs you in the back when you’re not expecting it. He betrays confidences, reveals secrets and causes endless unnecessary heartache. Jeremiah said that tale-bearing is characteristic of the “stubbornly rebellious”. That’s not a inscription I’d want on my tombstone.

Let’s not kid ourselves. Gossip happens among Christians too.

Anonymous Asks (404)

“Is God opposed to pleasure?”

The Bible paints a consistent picture of a God who both experiences pleasure and designed his creatures to experience it too. The same is true of delight, if there is any difference between the two concepts. (Personally, I think delight is a little more intense, but I won’t insist on it as an article of faith.) A simple concordance search for either term turns up numerous references to things that give God delight and things that don’t. Likewise, scripture contains many references to things in which humans take pleasure, whether or not we should.

It would be strange indeed to find God comprehensively opposed to something he not only created, but which originates in him.

Anonymous Asks (403)

“How should a Christian respond to unreciprocated romantic interest?”

Christians are called to love one another, but it’s a very specific kind of love. “Just as I have loved you,” the Lord Jesus told his disciples, “you are to love one another.” That was the “new commandment” he gave them, and one of its purposes was to identify Christ’s followers to the world. “By this all people will know that you are my disciples.”

If the love the Lord commanded and commended is like his own, it should be obvious there is no element of romance in it.

Anonymous Asks (402)

“Is it wrong to be pessimistic?”

The New Testament epistles have much to say about Christian joy. Paul mentions it six times in each of 2 Corinthians and Philippians, and five times in 1 Thessalonians. Our joy is one of the ways the world know we are different. Peter, John, Jude, the writer to the Hebrews and even grumpy old James mention joy too. By my count, that’s every NT letter. Joy should characterize the Christian life.

Of course, joy is not mere optimism. It’s far more than that.

Anonymous Asks (401)

“Why is finding true love so difficult?”

The list of possible answers to this question is lengthy, so I won’t pretend to get to them all. Perhaps we can start with some of the features of our society that work against us when we are in the process of trying to pair up for life.

First on that list is an affliction sometimes called “oneitis”.

Anonymous Asks (400)

“What is apostasy?”

The word “apostasy” comes from the Greek ἀποστασία, transliterated apostasia. Very few English translations of the Bible use it much. Strong’s defines it as falling away or defection. It’s closely related to the word commonly translated “divorce” in the New Testament. One place we do find it is in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, where it refers to a major future event in which the “man of sin” is revealed to the world.

Anonymous Asks (399)

“What principles can we put into practice when it comes to Sabbath rest?”

I am finding this question and variations on it increasingly common in online forums with large numbers of younger commenters from theological systems in which Replacement Theology is a major tenet. In a way this makes sense for them. If indeed, as their system teaches, the people of God are a continuum from Abraham (or earlier) to present day — if the Church is Israel and Israel the Church — then why not practice Israel’s Sabbath rest in some form?

Anonymous Asks (398)

“Is Mary the mother of God?”

There is a kind of childish logical syllogism drawn by some in which the budding theologian goes from the true statements “Mary was the mother of Jesus” and “Jesus is God” to “Mary is the mother of God”. The final claim is simply untrue, not to mention blasphemous, depending on what those who say it or write it intend by it. The error is a decent example of the informal fallacy we call false equivalence, which involves consciously or unconsciously substituting one term for another in a syllogism where the terms are not precisely identical. Asparagus is a vegetable. That does not make it the only type of vegetable in existence.

Think of it this way: if Jesus is God, does that mean God is Jesus?

Anonymous Asks (397)

“Is nagging a Christian tactic?”

Nagging is often associated with frustrated wives and mothers, perhaps unfairly. Passive aggressive men do it too. Try the words “If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a hundred times” with a little ‘Y’ chromosome on them, and you’ll quickly think of somebody male in your life with the habit of saying considerably more than is useful or necessary. I definitely did.

In any case, neither of my parents were inclined to nag. My early home life was happily unmarked by the irritation that persistent verbal harassment provokes.

Anonymous Asks (396)

“What does the Bible say about ice ages?”

Weather and climate are two different things, a fact deliberately obscured by the Global Boiling true believers and those who make financial use of them.

Weather is short-term. It’s the state of the atmosphere at a given time and place. It happens today, tomorrow or next week. Ask me what the weather has been like this winter and I’ll answer that it’s been close to normal temperatures with perhaps a little more snow than usual.

Anonymous Asks (395)

“Does Israel have a divine right to ‘much of the Middle East’?”

The shifting borders of modern Israel generate endless public debate. Last Friday, Tucker Carlson referenced a passage from Genesis in an interview with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee. He asked the ambassador if Israel “had a right” to territory outside its current borders. Huckabee responded, “It would be fine if they took it all.”

From the standpoint of American interests, Huckabee was probably correct. But it was a bit of a foot-in-mouth moment. You can’t say that out loud these days. As usual, the media foamed at the mouth. Politico reported the exchange here.

Anonymous Asks (394)

“Hey, I’ve been trying to learn more about living in Christ. What books or resources do you personally read or follow?”

I almost posted photos of my bookshelves, but I’m not sure how useful a complete rundown of my collection or my regular online reading list would be as an example for a younger believer. I’m an older Christian and I write for online publication almost every day my life. I am at my sharpest when reacting to error, so I buy and read many books written by people I don’t agree with in whole or in part in order to get the view “from the other side”. I try to use the experience the Lord has given me to test good arguments and bad, and pick apart the ones that need it.

Then I often keep the books that contain them around for reference afterwards. I will leave most of these off my recommendation list. No pictures today!

Anonymous Asks (393)

“Is it biblical to choose the lesser of two evils?”

In the ancient Hebrew of the Old Testament, the word translated “evil” [raʿ] has two distinct meanings. One is wickedness, an ungodly moral choice made by a living being. The other is misfortune, a sad practical consequence of living in a fallen world, about which we often have little or no choice at all.

Anonymous Asks (392)

“What are the windows of heaven?”

We find the metaphor “windows of heaven” several times throughout the Old Testament. It describes how God responds to the actions of men in two very different ways.

What they have in common is abundance.

Open in Judgment

In the first book of the OT, the “windows of heaven” describes the outpouring of rain during Noah’s flood. In Genesis 7, the windows of heaven were opened. In Genesis 8, the windows of heaven were closed, and the rain ceased to fall. Forty days and forty nights of rain is what we might reasonably call an abundance, but it was an abundance of judgment. God used it to destroy a wicked world. Nobody wants that sort of abundance. You wouldn’t pray for it, and God has promised never to do it again.

Anonymous Asks (391)

“Is the ‘Name It Claim It’ philosophy biblical?”

I had to look up this phrase since I’m entirely unfamiliar with the concept. A Google Ngram search shows it began appearing in English literature just prior to 1980 and took off in popularity post-2000, peaking after 2020. Having established that, I looked for a book by that name in hope of finding a popular proponent of the teaching. The one that crops up most frequently is a 2008 publication by Dag Heward-Mills entitled Name It! Claim It!! Take It!!! (with all those crazy exclamation marks), available since 2024 as a free PDF online in what I think is its entirety.

Prosperity Gospel by Another Name

The book certainly falls within the Ngram timeframe, but late enough to suggest the phrase probably did not originate with Heward-Mills. TV evangelists like Kenneth Copeland have popularized the concept to the point that it may not be possible to figure out exactly where it came from. For our purposes, it hardly matters one way or another; the basic teaching has been around for centuries.

Anonymous Asks (390)

“Are religious icons idols?”

For readers with limited exposure to “high church” traditions, an icon is an artistic depiction of Bible persons or events in paint, mosaic or wood. Icons are common among the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholics and some Lutherans. The Lord Jesus, Mary, ‘saints’ and angels are the most frequent subjects.

Depending whom you ask, what makes an icon ‘iconic’ is that, rather than simply being decorative, it serves as an object of devotion.

Anonymous Asks (389)

“When did the Church begin?”

Two answers to this question are common among evangelicals. The Dispensational answer is “At Pentecost in the early first century AD.” The answer of Replacement Theology (“RT”) is “The people of God are one throughout the entire Bible.” Since “church” [ekklēsia] means a congregation (i.e., more than one person), the Church can then be said to have begun with the second human being ever saved, perhaps Eve or Abel. Others argue Abraham is “the father of us all”. Either position adds thousands of years to the age of the Church.

If you think the difference is a mere numeric technicality, think again.

Anonymous Asks (388)

“What is the Synoptic Problem?”

The word ‘synoptic’ refers to the gospels written by Matthew, Mark and Luke, coming from the Latin synopticus, literally “seeing all together”. Wikipedia describes the Synoptic Problem this way:

“The ‘synoptic problem’ is … the question as to the source or sources upon which each synoptic gospel depended when it was written.”

You too may have noticed passages from the three gospels that are similar to one another. I’m not quite sure why commentators describe it as a problem. I think of it more as a curiosity.

Anonymous Asks (387)

“Why does God allow deception?”

Google the phrase “Why does God allow”. Stop there. The number one answer by a long, long shot is “suffering”. Even my browser’s AI response assumes that’s what my open-ended question is really asking. Second highest is “evil”. Third is “tragedy”, which may or may not have a malevolent component. I often associate tragedy with natural events that hurt people, or things like dying young.

Way down the list is “Why does God allow me to struggle and fail?” Hey, I sympathize.

Anonymous Asks (386)

“Why did Job’s wife tell him to curse God and die?”

The day the Sabeans killed Job’s servants and took all his oxen and donkeys was the same day fire fell from the sky and killed all his sheep and shepherds. It was also the same day the Chaldeans stole his camels and the same day the house fell on his ten children during a party and killed them all. Job lost every outward sign of God’s blessing in a matter of minutes. Shortly thereafter, his entire body broke out in pustules.

The pustules apart, it should be obvious that everything that happened to Job also happened to his wife. We don’t think about that aspect of the story quite so much.

Anonymous Asks (385)

“What does the Bible say about the three wise men?”

The Christmas story as we know it is a composite of information passed on by the writers of two of our four gospels. (Mark and John begin the story of Jesus Christ roughly thirty years in, with John the Baptist.) Matthew’s gospel is where we find the only references in scripture to the wise men.

First things first: the popular formulation in the Christmas carol about them (“three kings of orient”) turns out to be incorrect in as many as three respects. It is certainly wrong in one.

Anonymous Asks (384)

“What does it mean that a friend’s wounds are ‘faithful’?”

The line comes from one of Solomon’s later proverbs. In full it reads, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.”

The wounds of a friend are not injuries he incurs on your behalf or in the process of defending you from others, though that might be your first thought, as it was mine. Taking a major hit for a pal is definitely a confirmation of friendship, but I don’t think that’s what Solomon was talking about.

Anonymous Asks (383)

“My (saved) parents seem uninterested in their grandchildren. Is there anything I can do?”

Anonymous, you have the opposite problem many of us encounter, and that is that our children (saved or unsaved) may not have the level of interest in their grandparents that we would like them to have. Alternatively, many grandparents are overly invested in pursuing relationships with their grandchildren and complicate the lives of their parents by meddling.

In short, this is a new one for me among Christians.

Anonymous Asks (382)

“Is there an NT equivalent for sackcloth and ashes? If so, how should we practice it?”

The expression “sackcloth and ashes” occurs in only three Old Testament passages in precisely that form. In another two places both words appear in the same context separately. Both words are common in the OT, and both were well-known signs of public mourning. The mourner would wear the sackcloth and sit (or sometimes roll) in the ashes, and/or sprinkle them on his head.

Fun? Not really. But in ancient times, if you were in distress and wanted your neighbors to know it, that’s the way you told them. Sackcloth and ashes.

Anonymous Asks (381)

“Is it unloving to confront somebody about his sin?”

As in so many situations Christians encounter in this life, motive is more important to the Lord than the actions it produces. Some people just can’t get their heads around that. We generally call these people legalists. They value actions and outcomes more than the heart and mindset that produces them.

The Lord just … doesn’t.

Anonymous Asks (380)

“Does a Christian marriage have to be romantic?”

Men and women born much prior to the ‘Summer of Love’ — like, say, those who managed to live through a World War, the Great Depression or any of the plagues and famines of prior centuries — would probably find this question hilarious. Even today, in cultures where the social or financial advantages of being married outweigh any potential negatives, a deficiency of romance in a marriage rarely amounts to a stopper.

However, we live in an era in which a young person’s view of marriage is often wildly unrealistic. Feminist media propaganda shapes the expectations of most young women — and many men.

Anonymous Asks (379)

“What does it mean that everything is meaningless?”

Today’s question comes from the NIV’s rendering of the second verse of Ecclesiastes. The NIV is one of only two English translations out of the most common 35 that has elected to go with the word “meaningless” in this context. People are far more familiar with the King James: “Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.”

The vast majority of English translations (21 of 35) follow the KJV.

Anonymous Asks (378)

“Should Christians spank their children?”

I have experienced spanking from both ends. (Sorry.)

I have regularly spanked three children throughout their formative years, and maintain loving and mutually-beneficial relationships with each one to this day. I have also received the occasional judicious and quite necessary whack from a loving and reluctant parent during the lengthy period it took me to grow to maturity.

Both ways, spanking worked. I regret nothing.

Anonymous Asks (377)

“What does the command to ‘fill the earth and subdue it’ entail?”

Today’s question is a reference to Genesis 1:28, in which God told our distant ancestors, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” He gave Noah and his sons a similar mandate after the flood: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered.”

Anonymous Asks (376)

“Is thrill-seeking wrong?”

An old acquaintance is in hospital right now going on two months with little prospect of an easy recovery, the victim of a motorcycle accident. He’s got a long road ahead of him with many potential pitfalls and pains as he tries to regain his strength and mobility and get back on his feet without inadvertently undoing the beneficial effects of a complex surgery in the process.

His drastic reversal of fortune brings up the question Did this have to happen? Not knowing all his circumstances, I have no good answer for that.

Anonymous Asks (375)

“Why do people struggle with lack of faith?”

On its own, the word “faith” is content-free. There is no such thing as generic faith. To talk about believing without asking what you are supposed to believe is like trying to order dinner at a restaurant when you’ve never been given a menu and the waiter refuses to tell you what the options are. A question so unspecific is quite impossible to answer meaningfully.

Faith always has to be in something or someone. It cannot exist in a vacuum.

Anonymous Asks (374)

“Why did Jesus weep at the grave of Lazarus?”

This week has been hard. An unsaved friend of over 30 years is on his way out of this world. He can’t communicate directly anymore, and his younger sister, the “baby” of the family, has been passing messages back and forth to me. I have every confidence the Judge of all the earth will do justice with respect to my friend, but his poor sister has no clue. Her desolation when she talks about losing her brother would break your heart.

Am I grieving for my friend? Absolutely. But I’m grieving even more for his family, who do not have the resources I do.

Anonymous Asks (373)

“Why did Pharaoh give Joseph so much authority in Egypt?”

The question is a reference to the events of the latter portion of Genesis 41, in which the king of Egypt takes a thirty-year old foreign prisoner fresh out of the local hoosegow and promotes him to the second-highest position in the kingdom, allowing him unprecedented discretion and political influence. “All my people shall order themselves as you command.”

It’s fair to say nobody saw that coming, and the first-time reader can be forgiven for saying, “Huh. That’s unlikely.” Because it was.

Anonymous Asks (372)

“Why do so many preacher’s kids apostatize?”

I feel as if this is one of those “When did you stop beating your wife?” questions. It assumes the veracity of its premise without any actual investigation. Do “so many” preacher’s kids really abandon their faith when they leave home? What does “many” mean relative to the total number of children born to full-time servants of Christ? If large numbers really did apostatize, how would we know? How many of them come back to the faith later?

Also, who’s keeping the stats: George Barna?

Anonymous Asks (371)

“Should we take miracles literally?”

If we are talking about the miracles of scripture, absolutely. Once we have conceded the existence of God, there’s no logical reason not to. Any being sufficiently powerful to create and sustain the laws of nature, as the Bible claims God did, is also sufficiently powerful to suspend those laws at his pleasure.

Anonymous Asks (370)

“What’s the key to making marriage last?”

Almost anybody with a properly functioning arm and a working pair of eyeballs can hit a dartboard. It’s a lot harder to hit the bullseye. If you asked me “What’s a key to making marriage last?” or “What are some important ways to make a marriage last?”, well, that’s easy. When you ask, “What’s the key?”, that’s much tougher.

Do I really have to pick just one?

Anonymous Asks (369)

“Is it possible for fallen angels to repent?”

In C.S. Lewis’s Narnia stories, Aslan never tells anyone any story but their own. When he walks with Edmund after his restoration, Lewis comments, “There is no need to tell you (and no one ever heard) what Aslan was saying.”

I’ve always thought those lines insightful. Scripture is silent about many things that inspire our curiosity, the status of spirit beings who “left their proper dwelling” among them.

Anonymous Asks (368)

“What is a bruised reed?”

Today’s question comes out of something I heard in a meeting recently. A well-meaning, sincere brother in Christ expressed the opinion that the “bruised reed” mentioned in Isaiah 42:3 was a musical instrument of some sort.

Yeah, it was a first for me too. But it’s always interesting to find that even very smart people make associations that would never occur to you in a month of Sundays.

Anonymous Asks (367)

“Am I my brother’s keeper?”

The question was glib and rhetorical when Cain asked it of God. He meant something like “Why would you ask me where my brother is? Ask him.” Of course, God knew where Abel was and why he couldn’t answer: Cain had just killed him in an envious rage.

So why are we asking ourselves a question that was first mouthed by a murderous liar trying to deflect?

Anonymous Asks (366)

“What does it mean that Saul is also among the prophets?”

The phrase in question comes up a couple of times in scripture, in 1 Samuel 10 and 19. The writer of 1 Samuel tells us that the (rhetorical) question “Is Saul also among the prophets?” became a proverb in Israel. It definitely meant something to the people of God, though not necessarily anything particularly complimentary to Saul.

Can you imagine becoming the subject of a proverb? It might not be as much fun as we think.

Anonymous Asks (365)

“Does God punish us when we sin?”

Bad stuff happens when people sin. That’s no surprise to any of us. It started in the Garden of Eden and it continues today. So today’s question is not about whether sin has consequences. Of course it does. What we’re really trying to answer is whether God is always personally responsible for meting out those consequences to sinners, and if so, what he is seeking to accomplish.

Anonymous Asks (364)

“Did Jesus go to hell?”

If the relative likelihood of any interpretation of scripture being true has any correlation with its popularity within Christendom, the answer to this one might be yes. However, as you may have discovered for yourself over the years, many quite popular teachings are mistaken, or at very least questionable. Personally, I think the teaching that Jesus went to hell is one of them.

The writers of the Apostles’ Creed thought otherwise.

Anonymous Asks (363)

“I have committed _____. Will God ever forgive me?”

I think I can safely say yes. As individual acts go, there is absolutely nothing you have ever done that our Lord will not forgive, assuming your repentance and desire for his forgiveness is genuine. We could fill in that blank space above with any sin, crime or misdemeanor, however heinous or grossly offensive to the Almighty. That is my personal belief on the authority of the word of God.

Let me argue that point for any among our readers who may disagree.