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The High School Ministry of Morrison Hill Christian Church |
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Questions & Answers What we've been talking about lately...plus a few good links.
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A quick note
about this stuff...
A couple of months ago, several students
in XP and
CONNECT
submitted a bunch of questions. Ever since (with a few "special
lessons" in between), we have been seeking and discussing God's answers to them.
In Sunday School and Youth Group, we discuss these questions and scriptures fully, with everyone adding
their opinions and ideas and spin-off questions and scriptures. The answers below (as I post them) will include
most (but not all) of the
scriptures we covered in our wide-open class discussions. However, each one is not so much a
transcript of a discussion but a brief synopsis of what the Bible does and
doesn't say about the issues themselves.
Please remember this is a work in progress! In fact, only a few answers are posted so far, but the rest are on their way soon. And I just added the latest list of new questions...
HEARING GOD'S
VOICE, SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE, and PRAYER
How
do you tell the difference between your voice and God’s?
Our "voices" change, but God's voice stays the same. That is, as
we grow and experience and learn,
our ideas and opinions and beliefs and sense of identity evolve and sometimes
even reverse.
Jesus, however, is the same "yesterday, today, and tomorrow" (see
Hebrews 13:8,
James 1:17).
If the "voice" you "hear" contradicts the Bible, it's not God.
While He
promises to work "in all things" for our good
(see Romans 3:23),
He will never lead us toward
something the Bible calls sin (see James 1:13).
If "listening" will draw you closer to God, fix broken relationships, or other
things you know God wants,
chances are that's the Holy Spirit leading you, as well (see
John 14:26; Romans
9:1, 14:17, 15:3;
1 Corinthians 6:19;
Ephesians 4:30; and
Hebrews 10:15-30,35-39).
Does God
still hear your prayers if you don't say, "Dear God..." and "Amen"?
Is it wrong to not say, "In Jesus' Name, Amen"?
Why do we even say these things?
First, YES. God hears us when we
talk to Him, with or without the words, "Dear God..."
Actually, no prayer recorded in the Bible actually begins with those words; many
simply begin with
"Hear my prayer..." or something like that (see
Psalm 39:12, 54:2, and Daniel 9:17).
The Lord's Prayer (see Matthew 6:5-15 and
Luke 11:1-4) begins with
"Father..." or "Our Father in Heaven...", and most prayers in the Bible simply
begin.
The words "in Jesus' Name" are never used in an actual prayer in the Bible, but there are several scriptures
that talk about praying in His Name
(see Matthew 18:20;
John 14:13-14 & 15:16).
Most scholars believe this means praying for things that Jesus already wants, or
at least asking God for things
by the authority that Jesus has given us (as opposed to simply saying the phrase
at the end of the prayer).
And finally, "Amen" simply means something like "So be it!" or "We agree!" or
"Make it so!"
It rarely appears in the Bible as an official ending to prayers, but often as
the official ending of a blessing,
an informal prayer ("May the Lord..."), or an acknowledgement of something
people agree to
(see Psalm 106:48,
Philippians 4:23, 1 Peter 4:11,
Revelation 1:6)
When I pray,
I never hear God answer me. I never see clear signs.
Is this common or is this something exclusive to me?
This is really, really common for many
reasons--both good and bad.
One reason is that we misunderstand what people mean when they say God spoke to
them. Even in the Bible,
there were very few people who actually heard God's voice with their ears, and
these were very memorable times
like Moses and the burning bush (see Exodus 3,
Acts 7:30-34) or Jesus' baptism (see
Matthew 3:13-17).
Often, the Bible refers to God's commands, spoken or written, as "the voice of
the LORD your God"
(see Exodus 15:26,
Deuteronomy 30:19-20, and Hebrews 3:7-19).
Other times it obviously uses the phrase
literally (see Deuteronomy 5,
Acts 9:4 & 10:13), and other times it's
unclear (see John 10:1-18)
and very well could be symbolic, literal, or both. What IS clear is that
God does want to lead us
through His written Word and through the leading of the Holy Spirit within
us--whether we actually hear
a literal voice or not. And we should also be careful to not put
roadblocks between ourselves and God.
What do you
think about this philosophy:
“There are no hard decisions, only decisions you’ve made and don’t like dealing
with”?
How do you
find out what to do with your life when you have no idea,
and you are beginning to have to make decisions about it?
How are we
supposed to know if God is guiding us to make a decision,
or guiding us
to a specific decision?
How do you
choose between 2 right things when you can only have one,
and both are good, righteous things?
HYPOCRISY and INTEGRITY
People claim to
be Christians. They come to church and act as Christians here.
How
can they really say to everyone here that they are, when they know they don't
act like one?
The Bible is clear that there will always
be fakes among the true Christians, but this should not discourage true
Christians from remaining true to their faith. Below are a few of the
scriptures that deal with this issue in one way or another.
Bottom line: Hypocrisy is not OK with God or with us.
True Christians may fail occasionally, but they really do live what they
believe.
Matthew
7:15
and 13:24-28;
2
Timothy 3
The Bible says that deceitfulness
is wrong... Is pretending to be happy when you are sad wrong?
Throughout the Bible, whether something
is a sin or not usually has more to do with why, when, where,
and with whom one does something than it does with the action itself.
"Pretending to be happy" can be either one.
The world would be a depressing place indeed if we only acted cheerful when we
felt all giddy inside.
Choosing to smile, to be cordial, to look on the bright side, to encourage
others, etc. (even when this is hard) is actually something we're supposed to do
(see Philippians 4:4-9 and
James 1:2-18)!
On the other hand, when your smile is a mask--when you act joyful so no one will
ask you what's wrong and you won't have to share your struggles or secret
sins--pretending to be happy can absolutely be a sin.
It's crucial that we as Christians share our hearts with each other and help
each other along.
(See 1 Thessalonians 5:11,
Hebrews 3:13 & 10:25, and James 5:13-16).
RELATIONSHIPS
What does the Bible/God say about trusting your friends and family?
Is it wrong to not trust people for your own protection?
Is not trusting harmful? Can it actually hurt you to not trust your
friends?
If you tell
people things about your life, like stories, and these people say they believe
you but don't,
(but you thought they did and found out later that they didn't), how
can you make them believe you again?
And why did they stop believing
you in the first place if you always tell the truth?
What does
God/the Bible say you should do when a friend gives up or acts like it,
but says
they still want to try? What about when everything/anything you do is
wrong?
How do you
forgive someone when they don't know that they hurt you
(and it would be super awkward to tell them)?
If someone has
a grudge against you and you tried to talk to them,
but they told you not to talk to them, is it wrong not to talk to them?
What do you
do if you are trying your hardest to be the best person you can be,
and that isn’t enough for your parents?
(With other people, you can separate yourself from them, but you are stuck with
your parents.)
Do you think
it’s possible to find/know the person you are meant to marry?
Is it stupid to think that you have--to feel like you could have a serious,
permanent relationship with them? Do you think that you can fall in love as a
teenager?
How should you handle loving people who don't love you back?
How does God
feel about parents showing favor to one kid?
How should other family members deal with it?
How do you handle life at home when you don't get along with either of your parents?
RIGHT and
WRONG, RULES and REGULATIONS
Are the New Testament laws
about working on the Sabbath the same as the Old Testament laws?
And why do Christians do the Sabbath on the 1st day of the week instead of on
the 7th?
What's up with
dressing up for church? Is it right or wrong or either?
Is it wrong to not believe it's good to dress up for God?
Are tattoos, body piercing, etc. wrong? If so (or if not), why?
Is aborting
a baby wrong evening if the mother is raped—or if it’s a high-risk pregnancy
or a hazardous environment? Why is abortion bad, why is it good?
To what extent is gluttony wrong?
To what extent is lust wrong?
Is not using the gifts God gives you to their fullest extent a sin?
Is it wrong to be mad at God?
At what point does materialism become a sin?
Is jealousy ever OK or acceptable?
REALLY BIG
QUESTIONS
Why does God
let people be unhappy?
Did God really give us free will? "Me or Hell" is not a real choice.
If God already
knows what we are going to do before we do it, but He gives us choices,
then does
He know, before we die, if we're going to heaven or hell?
What's up with Darfur?
If God created the beginning, then what was it before then? Just God?
Did Jesus
really have to die on the cross to save us from our sins,
or could there have been another way?
What's my point in life?
Does God really have a sense of humor?
REVELATION and
the END OF TIME
In the Bible,
it repeats over and over again that the day that Jesus is coming back is soon.
If nobody is supposed to know when that day will be, then how soon is soon?
Or is that just something we won’t know until it happens?
What are the signs? How will we identify all the stuff that happens in Revelation?
What do all the
signs in Revelation mean?
Are they all describing the same thing in different ways, or are they literal?
SALVATION
ISSUES
If you do
something wrong and don't feel bad about it, does that mean you aren't a
Christian?
Can you loose your salvation?
What happens to people who never hear about God?
How do you
witness to someone who's agnostic because he was brought up to be really open to
all ideas
and to not feel right about thinking one religion is right and all others
aren't?
What is the
Christian Church's view on baptism? Is it OK to be baptized as an infant?
Because I was, so is that, like, bad?
How do you know
for sure you are going to heaven?
DATING and ROMANCE
Is dating
wrong? There's this book called, "I Kissed Dating Goodbye"...
If not, how should Christian teens handle the whole dating thing?
How do you talk
to someone who's sinning sexually?
Does God instill romantic love in people, or is that only human doing?
The Bible says
that love is patient;
to what extent should you be patient when you're waiting on someone you love?
DEALING WITH
SIN—AND WHEN GOD SEEMS TO SIN
I know that jealousy is a sin, but other than through
prayer, how do you stop yourself
from being jealous? Why is envying wrong, yet we have "a jealous God"?
Why is murder a sin, but God sent people to war?
What does the Bible have to say about swearing? And doesn't it say God swore?
What do you
do if a friend is going downhill just because she doesn't want to follow her
parents' rules
and she wants to have her own experiences--even if it's hurting her or others?
She's also...a Unitarian/atheist. How do I help her?
How do I tell her what's wrong and how it's affecting people around her?
CHRISTIANITY
and OTHER RELIGIONS
Okay, Jesus was a Jew and a leader of a new religions?
And what is the difference between Judaism and Christianity?
What are the main differences between Judaism and Christianity?
HEAVEN,
HELL, and the SUPERNATURAL
When did Lucifer come into
existence?
If God made Adam and Eve first, but Lucifer was there to tempt them, how did
that work?
Could we study
angels, demons, spiritual warfare, etc.?
Can you get married in
heaven?
Do we (the people in heaven) get to watch when God kills the devil?
Are there truly
actual houses for us in heaven,
and will the size of our house depend on our deeds?