I have been a member of my Southern Baptist Church for 18 years since moving away from my hometown. Over the years, we have grown from 700 to now averaging around 3500. We have two worship services , one traditional with some mix of traditional and praise hymns. The second service is contemporary complete with band which includes electric guitars, drums, bass etc. I grew up loving Clapton, Alman Bros, etc. So its not that I do not like rock music. My question is concerning Contemporary Worship.

Yesterday I went to the contemporary service because my daughter is a Senior in highschool and was being recognized during the service. When the service started, I felt repulsed. It was so loud and the words seemed repetitive and grew louder. The music vibrated thru my bones. I felt like I was at a rock concert only I was in church. I know that some large churches are moving toward a more contemporary style to invite more people to come. I get it, but I am not sure it’s hitting the mark I have set as a standard most of my life. Can you offer any study for me, or help me know what God says. I have read much about worship, but this loud rock music style in church concerns me.

Hi! I’m addicted to your website…it’s fantastic! A couple of questions…

I was just reading about the origin of Satan and his fall…it says that he will be expelled from Heaven at the end of the Tribulation and bound in the Abyss until the 1000 years is up – does that mean that he is in Heaven (or some part of it) now? I thought he was expelled from the moment he rebelled against God and had to dwell on earth until he gets thrown into the lake of fire at the end.

Which brings me to my next question: Didn’t Jesus actually go into Hell when he died at the cross to get back the keys from Satan, leaving him with a fatal blow to the head? In which case, doesn’t that mean Satan would have to be in Hell now?

Thank you for the continuation of your site! I have a problem. My wife has recently gotten mad at me for reading about end times prophecy. She feels that she doesn’t want the rapture to happen because it would take away the life that we have just started together. She also does not seek out information on Jesus or what it means to be a Christian. What should I/can I do? I don’t know what I can do to console her. Is it right to assume that the rapture will happen in the next five years?

An article I read recently claims that the unsaved dead don’t suffer eternal punishment, but will have a chance to accept salvation at the Great White Throne judgment if they’ve never heard the Gospel before. If they accept they’ll be saved then, and if not they’ll be destroyed along with all the others who rejected Jesus. Overall I don’t agree with a lot of the things they say here, because the references, or lack of, don’t directly support what they say, even though they write it as if they do. Overall, what is your view on the existence of Hell, and what they say in the article about certain people getting a ‘second chance’ at the White Throne Judgment?

If God knows exactly what the outcome is of every decision we make before we do, what is the point of our life? I know He gave us free will, but if He already knows what we are going to do before we do it, and already knows who will be saved and who won’t be, why are we even here ? Why didn’t God just skip this “earthly life” and go straight to “happily ever after”?

I was reading the last few chapters of Ezekiel and noticed that in the reign with Christ, they will keep temple sacrifice. I thought that Jesus was the final sacrifice? My husband said that some people think it is in remembrance of what Christ did, but that doesn’t make sense to me. Why wouldn’t we do that now? I am confused, can you please help me out?

We read about God the Father and Jesus in Revelation but where do you think the Holy Spirit is? Will He still be in us?

My wife and I disagree over the topic of how many times on Sunday we must attend church. We both come from Baptist backgrounds but I was always a Sunday morning person and she was raised in the belief that you should attend twice on Sunday. I work a lot through the week and weekends are the only time I have to get all the chores around the house completed. Does it state anywhere in the Bible that it is “required” to attend church twice on Sunday, or is this just an individual choice?

I’m doing a study in the Gospel of John, and I’m in Chapter 5.

Vs. 25 & 28 refer to “an hour” – is that referring to the giving of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost? Or is it referring to His resurrection? Vs. 28 seems to be pointing to the final resurrection.

This “hour” seems to correspond with the giving of eternal life, an event in the future. Was eternal life imparted to OT saints only after Jesus’ resurrection? I’m thinking of the verse in Matthew 27 where the tombs were opened and “many” were resurrected.

I find it interesting that in vs. 37, Jesus says that “you have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form”. But in vs. 25 & 28, Jesus is talking about “hearing the voice”. Is there any correlation there?

I have recently had some problems with two brothers who think we should confess our sins to each other according to James 5:16 whereas I believe we confess only to God because only God can forgive sins! The KJV states faults whereas the majority if not all other versions of the bible state sins in the verse in James. What is the answer? Does it matter?