I have a friend who is a total skeptic but was recently in a very serious accident. The doctors marvel that he is even alive. I have attributed his survival to God’s plans for his future, but he’s not convinced. What can I say to someone who still shows no interest in the Lord even after something like this?

At a group discussion on goals of a church I mentioned helping others to develop a relationship with God. Our pastor stated that the Bible never mentions individuals establishing a relationship with God. He continued by saying relationships with God are established at a corporate (church) level. I told him the Spirit of God lives within me. He is my counselor and guide. I communicate with Him and He responds. That’s personal to me. What verses could I use to defend my position?

When I was 4 years old, my mom had a miscarriage and my baby brother died. I know he is in heaven with Jesus, but are he and my mentally disabled sister (who belongs to Jesus too, I know) the members of the church? Or are they a different category as old testament and tribulation saint are different? My hope is that I can live with my siblings in the New Jerusalem. I want to “get back” my ‘lost” brother, as I know the New Jerusalem is “church members only” (please correct me if it isn’t), that’s why it’s important to me.

Please explain exactly what Jesus meant when he told us to love our enemies. Thank you so much and God Bless you richly

I always have a problem when it comes to explain holiness. I want to think it means not drinking, not smoking, etc. But deep down inside me there is something that tells me that the meaning of this word goes deeper than that. When I read 1 Peter 1:13-16 I thought I was going to get a detailed breakdown of what holiness means but didn’t. Can you please explain what Pater was saying?

When a person who has been leading a dissolute drug filled life absolutely can’t remember their young life when they attended church and had a possible salvation and baptism experience; what type of commitment would you advise them to follow to be certain of their salvation?

First of all, I just want to say that I enjoy your web site like no other…it rocks and you all rock also! My question is: why is it that some days I feel that I am just loaded with the presence of the Lord and am happy and then suddenly I can feel as empty as my wallet?

In John 3 Jesus was baptizing people and John’s followers got into an argument with a Jewish man about purification. Could water baptism have been born out of this Jewish rite of purification? Does it mean that our spirits are now clean like purification meant that their bodies were clean for ceremonies? I was just curious trying to understand how the argument came up during the time of water baptism.

Your explanations on the difference between Union and Fellowship have been very helpful to me in quelling the fears about a salvation that can seem so tenuous when it is not properly understood. I was just about to breath a big sigh of OSAS relief until I re-read the “cutting off the hand that causes you to sin” teaching in Matt. 5:29-30. Jesus seems to be saying that we must excise sin in our lives with drastic measures or there is a danger that we could go to hell. Do we just content ourselves with all the clear passages of OSAS and write this off as an unclear teaching? Do we assume that Jesus is saying something other than that sin will cause us to go to hell if we don’t take measures to quash it?

Do You think Judas was a believer when He was chosen to be one of the 12? And if he wasn’t why did the Lord choose him? I don’t believe in predestination so I don’t believe Judas was predestined to betray the Lord. What do you think?