In Rev. 3:5 it says that if people overcome God will not blot them out of the book of life. Can you comment on this verse and who are the overcomers this passage is talking about?

If I understand correctly, lust is a desire for something, whether it is a person, etc…so, with that, a so-called “crush” on someone would be lust. How do I differentiate between lust and “casually” noticing someone’s attractiveness? I’m not trying to justify any sinful behavior, but I would like to have that point cleared up. What scriptures address this issue?

I just read your weekly article,” What kind of life can we expect “. I agree with what you said, but I worry that I am being one of the greedy ones. When we give, in the back of my mind I am excited to see how God is going to bless me. Also it just makes me happy to give to others. I have never given without wishing it could be more. We own our farm and do not have any debt, so I am not looking for anything. I am just excited to see how God is going to work. Can you make sense of what I am asking?

I have a question about Matthew 8:5-13…verses 11-12 specifically. Before Jesus heals the servant, why does He say “I tell you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth”? Why will the sons of the kingdom be thrown out?

I once heard you must be baptized by immersion in water. As an infant, I was baptized Catholic. And I’ve also heard you cannot be baptized twice. Can you be born again without a baptism at the time you asked God for forgiveness through Jesus Christ, and through faith accept Jesus Christ as your Savior?

Have you heard of people using some letter supposedly written by Corrie Ten Boom to try and prove that the church will go through the tribulation? Why would people use Corrie Ten Boom as evidence that the church is supposed to go through the trib? Why wouldn’t they use just scripture? The letter claims that Christians in China were told they’d be raptured but were then persecuted by Mao; therefore the American church needs to be ready for persecution in the tribulation.

Concerning the fate of the lost: Punishment does not mean the same as punishing. If one is burned up and ceases to be, the punishment is eternal. If the burning was to go on for that individual forever, would it not be called “eternal punishing? The death penalty is different from life imprisonment with no parole. It has been said that Adam was created with eternal life but lost it for all of us. Since then, all humans are born with a body and soul but have to believe (born again) in order to receive eternal life. How then can the unsaved then live forever?

The Bible tells us that Jesus appeared to many people after his resurrection. Thomas touched his body and Jesus ate fish with his followers. Obviously, it was a physical body. In what state did the Lord Jesus ascend to Heaven to be seated at the right hand of God the Father, physical or spiritual, and in what state is he in now as far as his body is concerned?

I was recently talking to someone I know about Christianity and my friend said to me that he can’t keep up with all these made up things from Santa Claus to the Easter bunny and even the tooth fairy. How do I respond to this? How can I show Jesus to be the one true thing in all this?

I was wondering if you believe that God enters into our suffering as well as having already suffered for our sins? If so, do you know how He does this? Does He feel our current pain and/or anguish right along with us, or is it a type of suffering that I might have with a friend, more like compassion?