I have a friend who lived with his girlfriend for several years, had a baby and then they broke up. They are not Christians, although He believes in God and has recently shown interest in the Lord.

His girlfriend, who he was engaged to for several months but did not marry, called the police and had him arrested with a restraining order saying he held her down and forced her to take drugs. She is now seeking to get custody of their baby and prove he is an unfit father. He is torn up as he loves his baby so much.

As a Christian, I am struggling to know how to encourage him since he is my friend and he knows I am a Christian. He spent 6 days in jail and did some soul searching at that time. He is wanting to find some answers from me but isn’t really asking me the questions directly. I am finding it difficult because I don’t know the truth in his situation and I don’t feel the need to know but I am also struggling because in a way it seems much of it is reaping from a certain lifestyle. Any suggestions for how I can best encourage him without being condemning? I can’t find scriptures to give him for peace because those are generally directed to believers. I want to present him with hope…scripture please?!

I have a question about Genesis but first off I want to say thank you Jack for all of your help!

I am a college student and there is so much misinformation about Jesus and Christianity! I am taking a theology course on the Bible and the book that we read along with the Bible states that Moses did not write any books of the Torah and that in Genesis chapter 1 and 2 there is a conflict of how the order of things are created. The book says that in chapter 1 man and woman were created at the same time but that in Genesis chapter 2 man was created and then woman.

I was wondering if you could clarify this. This book also said that Isaac proclaiming Rebekah to be his sister is simply a copy cat story (that it never happened) of Abraham and Sarah can you help with this too? Thank you so much for your time and effort! God Bless!

God bless you and your continuing work. I have a marriage question for you from a pastor’s perspective.

When and how does an illegitimate marriage move from being cursed to being blessed by God? For example, a believing wife divorces her believing husband without biblical grounds, and then shortly remarries an unbelieving husband. Now the woman is dealing with all manner of abuse issues including physical. This woman has recently been attending our church, with all these initial events in her past, and her remarriage is about a year old. She is a sincere but immature believer, dealing with the consequences of her sin the best she knows how, while living in pain and anguish.

I am unsure of the right pastoral counsel to give her concerning her marriage situation. She is hoping that her current husband will give his heart to Christ, but is that all that is needed? What is her responsibility to God and to her previous husband with regard to repentance? Is it simply a matter of her confessing and all will be made well? I understand that through confession she can receive individual forgiveness and purification, but does that mean that God will then move to heal her marriage as well, or will her marriage remain under a curse no matter what?

In Genesis 15 – why did Abraham do the following:

15:10 but the birds divided he not. 15:11 And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away. 15:12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. 15:13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years.

Why did all these happen?

Does God know the intentions of my thoughts, meaning does he know where they originated from? I guess a better question is can I know? I get some very very terrible thoughts that come into my mind often, and sometimes think that I must want them to come in. I love the Lord and I really want these thoughts to stop.

My question is on 1 Samuel 3:10, in the verse it states that the LORD came and stood and called Samuel as the other times. The Hebrew word for “came” is bow’ which could mean (to enter, come in)… and the word “stood” in Hebrew is yatsab which means (station oneself or present oneself). Then in verse 21 in chapter 3 it states that the LORD appeared again to Samuel. The word for appeared in Hebrew is ra’ah which could mean (to be visible).

So I guess my real question is, was this a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ, as in other times in the OT?

Are Matthew 22:34-40 and Luke 10:25-37 the same story told from different perspectives or two separate stories? Jesus goes on with the Good Samaritan parable in Luke but, the story ends with the greatest commandment in Matthew. It appears the characters are the same.

I understand how we count years since our Lord’s death- EG, 1248ad, 1249ad, 1250ad, etc. How did we get the the “count-down” years before Christ was born? EG, 1250bc, 1249bc, 1248bc, etc? How was it that the ancients “knew” to count time downward to the promised, prophesied event of the coming Messiah?

I guess my question is, what was the starting point and how is it man knew to count downward? Very perplexing!

I have a question that’s been on my mind lately concerning Heaven and our mansion that’s mentioned in John 14:2. I was taught that this verse means each of us will have our own personal mansion. What does that say about our earthly family, particularly my wife. Will she have her own mansion? I know that the Bible tells us that there is no marriage or giving in marriage in heaven but can you explain to me how our lives will be in heaven if we’re all in separate mansions? What, if any, kind of social atmosphere will exist? Praising our Lord will be one activity, but will there be others as well?

We have Christian friends who allow their children to watch and read the Harry Potter series. How can we explain to them that this isn’t innocent children’s stories? God Bless you!