Posted September 15th, 2009 in Bread From Heaven
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD; O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared.
Posted September 14th, 2009 in Ask a Bible Teacher
Q. We read your column daily and are so grateful for it. Thank you for your ministry.
The bible says that we are to confess our sins one-by-one and ask for forgiveness-and God will forgive us. I also understand from the Lord’s Prayer, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” that in both cases we ask God to forgive us. If someone has done wrong to me -why should I forgive them if they don’t ask forgiveness from me-when I have to ask God to forgive me of MY sins.
Posted September 13th, 2009 in Ask a Bible Teacher
Q. I just started to read an article about homosexuals in the rapture. It stated there are sins that some people cannot stop committing. Is that Biblical?? Doesn’t this limit Jesus’ death on the cross? We are commanded to be perfect and holy, Matthew 5:48 and I Peter 1:16. Not that we will ever be perfect in this life but we must strive to live as Christ lived. How can we do this if there is a sin that we cannot stop committing? Why would God ever let us be in bondage to a sin we cannot stop committing. Wouldn’t this guarantee that I am lost forever?
Posted September 6th, 2009 in Ask a Bible Teacher
Q. I have been reading your website for several weeks now and have enjoyed it very much. You have helped my bible study tremendously. Thank you!
I must tell you though, that I was bothered by your response to the woman who wrote you about her daughter considering abortion. The first part of your response was good, but it seems to me that we should never encourage anyone to deliberately sin, even if there is forgiveness for it. If a sin is a sin is a sin, then by your standard if a Christian were to willingly commit a sin, regardless of what it is, they need only ask for forgiveness before they do it. It almost sounds as if you have condoned the false notion that many say, that we have ‘license to sin’.
Posted August 31st, 2009 in Ask a Bible Teacher
Q. I was attending a church in my small town and really enjoyed it at first. But the longer I attended I noticed that there were quite a few people (the more well to do) that felt they owned the church as well as the pastor of the church. One of the ladies even asked the pastor if she was still the one that gave the most money to the church. One elderly couple in the church are not happy unless they are running the financial end of the church and when the pastor disagreed with this man on an issue, the man decided to have his tithe designated to a certain thing in the church and convinced others also to do the same thing. That way there would not be enough money in the fund to pay the pastor his wages. This is only a small amount of what this church has done. I felt angry every time I attended so I quit!
Posted July 14th, 2009 in Ask a Bible Teacher
Q. I have a question regarding forgiveness. Is there a reference in the bible that tells us that we are not to forgive a believer that is backsliding until he/she first repents? What does the Bible say about forgiveness and a backslider? How are we to treat them?
Posted July 12th, 2009 in Ask a Bible Teacher
Q. I have a quick question. How do you know if it is the Holy Spirit convicting you or if it is Satan working on you to make you feel bad and draw you away from God? Thank you very much for your studies and website it has helped me greatly.
Posted May 28th, 2009 in Ask a Bible Teacher
A. Your website is wonderful and I believe Holy Spirit led! You have helped me tremendously with 2 other questions I had and I have another one today this is weighing on my mind. I know we must forgive others. I have worked hard and work hard daily to forgive others as I am so graciously and wonderfully forgiven by Jesus Christ my GOD.
What is bothering me though is forgiving on behalf of others. For instance one circumstance I am having difficulty with is forgiving a step-mother who is divorcing my Dad and being very selfish and greedy about it in my humble opinion. Another instance is forgiving my father-in-law who we recently found out molested at least 2 of our nieces.
Posted May 28th, 2009 in Ask a Bible Teacher
Q. I was having a conversation with a friend of mine the other night and she asked me what you have to do and what does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I tried explaining to her that you repent of your sins, ask the Lord for forgiveness, and ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I also said that once you are (filled with the Holy Spirit) you will feel conviction when you have done something wrong because the Holy spirit within you will grieve. Then she asked how do you know conviction from guilt? Can you please explain these things to me in a way that I can explain to her without confusing her more? Thank you so much.
Posted May 22nd, 2009 in Ask a Bible Teacher
Q. My mother had a 13 year affair with my husband. Needless to say my marriage was over. My Daddy would not believe she did anything wrong, because that is what she told him. He had a nervous break down and died young of heart problems.
Mother was telling me she had done nothing wrong and would not admit to the truth. I called our pastor to come to her house so she could tell him what she had been telling us. She told him “I have done nothing wrong.” He asked, “Her to explain to him how she could commit adultery and not feel bad about it.” She replied, “On my way to meet him I asked God to forgive me. Afterward I would repent for what I had done wrong, so I have not committed any sin.” The pastor, told her that if she believed she had not done anything wrong she had been turned over to a reprobate mind. She started crying and saying, “there is no hope for me.”
