The leftover questions are below . . .
Monday, April 20, 2009 at 4:33PM Here are all of the questions that we received on Sunday but didn't have a chance to address during service. i will address some of them along the way as I have time. This week our pastors are in Orlando at a church planting conference hoping to sharpen our swords to be more effective . . . if I find interesting nuggets I will pass them along.
Questions (WITH SOME ANSWERS IN ALL BOLD):
1. When Jesus talks about the 12 thrones, does that pertain to the 12 disciples? Would Judas be one of those 12? YES, I THINK IT DOES PERTAIN TO THE 12 DISCIPLES AND NO, JUDAS WAS REPLACED IN CHAPTER 1 OF THE BOOK OF ACTS
2. Why is there more than 1 resurrection? If you have not been baptized at your death, do you have a chance of a life with God? MORE THAN ONE RESURRECTION?? I THINK THERE IS JUST ONE RESURRECTION FOR EACH INDIVIDUALS, ALTHOUGH THEY HAPPEN AT DIFFERENT TIMES. AS FOR BAPTISM, I SUPPOSE IT IS POSSIBLE, BUT IF YOU ARE WANTING TO FOLLOW JESUS AND YET REFUSING TO BE BAPTIZED, THEN I WOULD BE A LITTLE CONFUSED ABOUT YOUR COMMITMENT, SINCE IT IS A COMMAND AND NOT A SUGGESTION???
3. Will there be animals in heaven? HEAVEN, AS WE SPEAK OF IT, IS REALLY A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH, AS DESCRIBED IN REVELATION 20-21, SO YES, I EXPECT TO SEE ANIMALS THERE, THOUGH NONE OF THEM WILL BE CARNIVOROUS (MEAT-EATING) BECAUSE THERE WILL BE NO DEATH, SO WE CAN FINALLY WRESTLE WITH PANDA BEARS AND SWIM WITH SHARKS WITHOUT ANY FEAR OF BEING HURT BY THEM.
4. Why does God let bad things happen to children who are innocent? THIS WILL BE A FUTURE SERMON
5. Was circumcision done after the New Testament? IT WAS DONE BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS AND NOT JUST BY THE JEWS. CIRCUMCISION FOR PEOPLE TODAY IS NOT A RELIGIOUS DECISION BUT RATHER A HYGIENIC ONE AND THEREFORE CAN GO EITHER WAY
6. Why would a loving God, knowing that so many people would suffer in Hell, create us in the first place? FUTURE SERMON
7. Since Jews had to make a perfect animal sacrifice, why do they not continue that in present times? GREAT QUESTION. PART OF IT IS THAT THESE SACRIFICES HAD TO BE MADE AT THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM, AND THEY NO LONGER HAVE A TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM, SO THEY CAN'T FULFILL THE REQUIREMENTS ANYWAY AS LONG AS THERE IS A MOSQUE ON THE CURRENT TEMPLE SITE. BUT THEY CURRENTLY PICK AND CHOOSE THE LAWS THEY OBEY TO SEEK FORGIVENESS, WHICH I DON'T THINK IS AN OPTION
8. What could be God's purpose in someone's life when all they ever know in life is suffering? (eg. sex slavery, extreme poverty). GOD'S PURPOSE IN EVERY LIFE IS FOR HIM TO RECEIVE GLORY, AS THE APOSTLE PAUL SAID, "NOW, MAY CHRIST BE GLORIFIED IN MY BODY, WHETHER BY LIFE OR BY DEATH". THAT IS HARD TO GRASP, BUT GOD'S PLAN IS SO MUCH BIGGER THAN ANY ONE LIFE, IT IS THE PLAN FOR BILLIONS OF LIVES AND HE USES EVEN THE EVIL IN SOME FORM OR FASHION TO WORK OUT A GOOD AND PLEASING PLAN FOR HIS KINGDOM AND HIS FOLLOWERS.
9. What's your sign? Apart from future-telling, is this type of order created by God and distorted by man? I AM NOT REALLY IN THE KNOW ON THIS. AS FOR THE ASTRONOMICAL ORDER WE SEE, IT IS JUST ANOTHER SIGN POINTING TO AN INTELLIGENT, ORDERLY CREATOR, NAMELY, GOD. THAT WAS COPERNICUS'S THEORY AS WELL AS GALILEO, AS THEY SEARCHED FOR ORDER IN THE STARS SINCE THEY BELIEVED THE CREATOR TO BE A GOD OF ORDER. AS FOR HOROSCOPES, I THINK THEY ARE ABOUT AS USEFUL AS FORTUNE COOKIES, AND I THINK THEY CAN BE VERY HARMFUL IF TAKEN SERIOUSLY, AS AT A DEEPER LEVEL THEY CAN PERHAPS GET DEMONIC. I PERSONALLY STAY AWAY FROM THEM AS THEY FEEL A LOT LIKE IDOL WORSHIP TO ME.
10. Do you think people today are truly healing with God's power? NO, PEOPLE DON'T HEAL WITH GOD'S POWER . . . GOD HEALS PEOPLE WITH HIS POWER AND USES PEOPLE, AND YES IT GOES ON TODAY. I HAVE NEVER SEEN ONE OF THESE HEALINGS AND THEY ARE VERY RARE. ONLY A FEW TIMES IN HISTORY HAVE THEY BEEN REALLY COMMON, LIKE AT THE TIME OF ELIJAH AND THE TIME OF JESUS AND MOSES. FOR THE MOST PART THEY ARE RARE, SUPERNATURAL OCCURRANCES WHERE THE POWER OF GOD BREAKS THROUGH AND DISPLAYS GREAT POWER AS A SIGN TO ALL THAT HE IS GOD. I WANT TO SEE IT AND HAVE PRAYED FOR IT BEFORE, BUT I WANT TO SEE A PARALYZED MAN RUN, A BLIND MAN SEE PERFECTLY, A DEAD MAN RISE. THOSE WERE THE MIRACLES OF JESUS, NOT A GUY WHOSE LIVER HURTS AND IT DOESN'T HURT ANYMORE OR NOT A PERSON WHO HAS LEUKEMIA AND HAS A BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT THAT WORKS AND HE IS CANCER FREE AND SAYS IT WAS A MIRACLE. BIBLICAL MIRACLES WERE PROFOUND, PERFECT, WITHOUT HUMAN AID AND THUS A SIGN TO ALL THAT THEY WERE SUPERNATURALLY FROM GOD.
11. With so many belief systems in the world, how do we know Christianity / Jesus is the only way to God? THIS IS A SERMON
12. Once saved, what are the eternal rewards that the Bible talks about? THERE ARE MANY BUT MOST OF ALL THERE ARE LEVELS OF AUTHORITY AND RESPONSIBILITY IN HEAVEN JUST LIKE ON EARTH. THERE WILL BE THOSE WHO STEWARD A SMALL PIECE OF TEH NEW EARTH AND THOSE WHO STEWARD A WHOLE CONTINENT OF THE NEW EARTH. OVER AND OVER IT SAYS, YOU HAVE BEEN FAITHFUL WITH A FEW THINGS, COME AND I WILL MAKE YOU MASTER OVER MANY THINGS. AS I NOTED ABOVE, THE ORIGINAL 12 WERE TOLD THEY WOULD SIT ON 12 THRONES. THERE ARE TONS OF REWARDS SPOKEN OF AND PROMISED.
13. What does the Bible say about the possibility of life outside of the earth (eg. aliens, etc.) ABSOLUTELY NOTHING
14. What does the Bible say about a demon taking over a person and why do we associate Catholic priests with being the authority on removing evil spirits? PEOPLE ARE 'DEMONIZED' WHEN DEMONS INHABIT THEIR BODIES AND THESE DEMONS NEED TO BE CAST OUT BY THE AUTHORITY OF CHRIST IN BELIEVERS.
15. How does God feel about Jewish people today? HE LOVES THEM JUST AS HE ALWAYS HAS AND WANTS THEM TO BE SAVED BY BELIEVING IN JESUS, THEIR MESSIAH.
16. Are all men capable of Godly leadership? NO, SOME ARE GIVEN FOR LEADERSHIP, OTHERS ARE GIVEN FOR OTHER PURPOSES, THOUGH ALL MEN ARE CAPABLE LEADERS OF THEIR FAMILIES, BUT NOT ALL ARE CAPABLE LEADERS IN THE CHURCH. THERE ARE VARIOUS GIFTS GIVE TO VARIOUS PEOPLE.
17. Is Hell eternal or do you perish and it is over? THE BIBLE SAYS THAT THE LAKE OF FIRE BURNS DAY AND NIGHT FOREVER AND FOREVER
18. What does the Bible say about ghosts? IT TALKS OF SPIRITS OF THE DECEASED ACTUALLY BEING VISIBLE AT TIMES (KING SAUL CONSULTING THE SPIRIT OF SAMUEL), THAT IS ALL I KNOW OF.
19. When is the Age of Reason? AGE OF REASON??????? DO YOU MEAN AGE OF ACCOUNTABILITY? DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER TO THIS ONE.
20. Why isn't the Gospel of Mary or the Gospel of Thomas included in the NT? THEY WERE WRITTEN HUNDREDS OF YEARS AFTER THE DEATH OF CHRIST AND WRITTEN BY FOLKS OTHER THAN MARY AND THOMAS, WHERAS THE ACTUAL GOSPELS WERE WRITTEN BY 1ST CENTURY APOSTLES.
21. If God created a man and a woman to procreate, is it possible that they can experience a true friendship without ever having the desire to be together? YES, IT IS POSSIBLE, THOUGH IT IS RARE, AS RELATIONAL OR COMMUNICATIVE INTIMACY ALWAYS BLAZE A PATH TOWARDS PHYSICAL/SEXUAL INTIMACY.
22. Will Radius remain a portable church? ONLY GOD KNOWS
23. What do we (Radius) do with Hebrews 6:4-6? AVOID IT! NO REALLY, IT IS A HARD PASSAGE BUT I THINK IT SPEAKS OF THOSE WHO WERE ATTENDING THE CHURCH AND HAD SEEN GOD WORK BUT WERE NEVER REALLY BORN AGAIN INTO THE FAMILY OF GOD
24. Would God rather us lie to save other lives (Rahab) or tell the truth and they die? IT DEPENDS ON THE SITUATION. IT IS FINE TO RUN THROUGH A NO TRESPASSING AND NO SWIMMING SIGN TO JUMP IN A POND AND SAVE A LIFE, AS IT IS FINE TO LIE TO AN ARMED RAPIST WHO IS ASKING FOR YOUR DAUGHTER'S ADDRESS.
25. How old is the earth and did dinosaurs exist? DINASAURS EXISTED AND THE EARTH IS A LOT YOUNGER THAN MOST THINK, IN MY OPINION, BUT BELIEVERS DISAGREE ON THIS AND IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER ABOUT THE AGE OF THE EARTH.
26. Why did God create man in the first place if He knew most of them are going to Hell? HE WANTED TO SAVE SOME AND PAID A GREAT PRICE TO SAVE SOME.
27. How can one explain how God always was? How could He create Himself? HE DIDN'T CREATE HIMSELF, HE WAS NEVER CREATED, HE JUST ALWAYS WAS. HE IS ETERNAL BY NATURE, THE UNCAUSED CAUSE OF EVERYTHING, THE STARTING POINT OF EVERYTHING. LOGICALLY HE IS A NECESSARY BEING FOR THE UNIVERSE TO EXIST AS THERE CAN'T BE AN INFINITE REGRESSION OF CAUSES. EVENTUALLY THERE HAS TO BE AN UNCAUSED CAUSE AND WE CALL HIM GOD.
28. Does God make people gay or can you be born gay? PREACHED ON THAT TODAY. I THINK PEOPLE ARE BORN WITH A PROPENSITY TOWARDS SAME SEX ATTRACTION, JUST AS PEOPLE ARE BORN WITH A PROPENSITY TOWARDS RAGE, TOWARDS PROMISCUITY, TOWARDS ADDICTION, TOWARDS ANXIETY, TOWARDS OBESITY, TOWARDS SICKNESS, TOWARDS EARLY DEATH, ETC., ETC. BUT OUR INBORN PROPENSITIES CAN BE OVERCOME THROUGH THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL
29. Did Judas have free will and what about Pharaoh? ONLY LIMITED FREE WILL
30. What is God's view on dealing with narcisissm? How can one's obsession for self-love be countered by others need to love / care for each other?
31 Why does God allow horrible parents to have kids when they don't care about anyone but themselves and
32 Why would He allow abuse and neglect towards defenseless children
33 What makes Christianity different from other religions in this country and around the world? How do we know this one is the right one. I know "I am the Way---" verse, but still if others sincerely believe in a God and strive to please him because that is what is taught of God in their culture, how can they really go to hell for that? THIS IS A FUTURE SERMON
34 Why aren't the most important matters made clear rather than obtuse?
35 Why isn't it clear that everyone should be free to marry anyone, for eg. my gay son?
36 Is it safe to assume that more works and more sons of God will come forward over time?
37 What is God's payoff in all this?
38 A question: Who is most responsible for inculcating in a child that they must quit being a child and become an adult, a societal "producer" and advocate fot the Kingdom instead of a net consumer or inanimate character in Gods universe?
Is it the child, based on a logic along the lines of "When I was a child I thought as a child, etc" or is it the parents based on instructions such as "raise up a child in the way he should go and when he is old..."
The reason for the question is that I see man young people without a life skill that will feed & clothe them, hence they sink into dysfunctional patterns, despair, the failure cycle, etc and often lose their reason for earthly hope and then their reason for heavenly values, feeling forgotten by God.... Read More
So in breaking this cycle, who has the greatest guilt, who do you go to stop the pattern?
If this is not perfectly coherent, well, neither is the issue.
Reader Comments (2)
Also, since Radius has so many young believers, I am wondering if the questions shouldn't be sorted to answer the "big picture" first so people don't major on minor points. Division and confusion can be caused if people decide to debate some of these very minor issues over lunch/small groups, etc. and opportunities can be lost to reach someone for Christ because the others were bickering over speaking in tongues, or something similiar. Many of the questions that were answered were more "minor issues" and the big questions were left for future sermons.
*One of the 10 Commandments is that we should observe the Sabbath. During the time in the desert God provided manna and on the day before the Sabbath the people were to gather enough for two days so that they could prepare their Sabbath meal the day before so that no work would be done. God states that who ever does work on the Sabbath is to be put to death.
In the Old Testament, while the Israelites were in the desert, a man went to collect wood on the Sabbath. He was stoned to death for violating the laws of the Sabbath.
In the New Testament Jesus states that man was not created for the Sabbath but the Sabbath for man. To me, Jesus tells us to use our common sense in the application of God's laws. For instance when he asks whether one would leave a prized animal that has fallen into a pit on the Sabbath to obey the "law" knowing if one does not rescue the animal it will be too late by the time the Sabbath is over. It would be work to rescue the animal. However, by comparison to the incident in the desert and the one Jesus describes, the problem with the animal was not foreseable as the need to stock up wood for two days was.
After services on Sunday, I head to one of the local restaurants for lunch. Every time I do this I can't help thinking what a hypocrite I am. Yes, I may not be "working" on the Sabbath, but, the people working at the restaurant are "working" and I am one of the reasons they are.
Given this, do you think we honor the Sabbath as God would wish us to?
**I understand that God is "all good" and that as sinners we cannot come near God without Jesus sanctifying us for which I am greatly thankful for. I believe that God is pure love, pure good. No evil abounds within or near him. I pray that God will make my heart like his.
I cannot understand the many references in the bible where punishment is exacted by God. I understand the need...I just can't wrap my head around it coming from God. In God's defense, he is very loving and patient, warning the Israelites over and over, waiting years, sending many prophets to warn the people. I just can't understand death and punishment being decreed by God because He is all good.
***I have a problem with the concept of women in the church in the past and today. Going all the way back to Genesis when God created woman, not even Adam perceived woman the way she was and is perceived or defined.
Adam said "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman, for she was taken out of man."
Does this not sound like Adam had ultimate respect and regard for woman since she was created from his own flesh and bones?
Somehow things went down hill for woman after Adam and Eve with respect to woman. Woman became property and not the "helper" God created for man. No longer is woman "...bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh...". Why?
I read a portion of the Gospel of Thomas online once and in it he tells about a conversation between Peter and Jesus. Basically, Peter tells Jesus that woman is not worthy of the Kingdom of God. Jesus tells him that in God's Kingdom, in our new bodies, there is neither man nor woman.
During Jesus' time on earth as a human he demonstrated many times God's importance of woman.
Believing that the Word of God is divine, I do not think the compassion Jesus demonstrated to woman was "just part of the story".
He healed a woman of illness she had had for 12 years; he had compassion for the widow whose son had died, and awakened him; Mary anointed him and he commended her; Mary washed his feet with her tears and hair. When Jesus was crucified the disciples scattered while the women went to the tomb to tend to the Lord's body. Jesus first appeared after his resurrection to Mary, however, Paul states that he first appeared to Peter.
I am not making an argument for genders sake. I believe we have misunderstood God's intent for woman in relation to man. Human kind has perverted so much and I believe that woman was not omitted.
God said "It is not good for man to be alone", and because a suitable helper could not be found amongst all the living creatures, God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man. The scriptures say "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh."
What happened?