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First I wanted to thank you for your awesome website. It is very clear that you thoroughly study God’s work and have a good understanding of it. And you have been a tremendous help in motivating me in my walk with the Lord.

Having said that I would like to ask for clarification on your view of suicide. You had stated in answering a previous question that you believed that if a person committed suicide and had previously received the gift of salvation, that person would spend eternity with God. Having been raised Pentecostal, the Once Saved Always Saved belief has not been something I would say I have believed in, but the way you describe it and back it up with scripture, I am tending to believe you have valid points.

Until we get to the issue of suicide. I am having a hard time believing that this is not a sin that will keep you out of heaven. If you are right, then, we Christians could always take the easy way out when things got tough. We could say “I’m ready to be with Jesus, and tired of this world” and take our life, and instantly be with him. That is the one area I have come across that is preventing me from getting completely ‘onboard’ your belief, of OSAS.

I’m confused as to exactly how Judas died since there are two vastly differing descriptions concerning the event. Matthew 27:5 says, “And he (Judas) threw the pieces of silver into the sanctuary and departed; and he went away and Hanged himself”.

Acts 1:18 says “Now this man (Judas) secured a field with the price of his wickedness; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out.”

Can you help sort this out?

Our daughter died from a brain tumor 14 years ago at the age of seven. We know she is with Jesus now. She woke up three days before she died, lifted up her hands, and said, “King, come and get me!” She was paralyzed from the waist down and it bothered her a great deal that she could not move her legs. I have been struggling with this this week. If we were to get a glimpse of her in Heaven now (before she receives her new body at the Rapture) what would we see? Would she look like herself (or maybe an older version of herself?) Would we recognize her and would we see that she has the use of her legs back?

Soon after she died, I kept asking our pastor, is she really gone? Is she OK? Is she scared to go on to Heaven without us? He said, she would never be afraid of Jesus and His angels, and that she was already running the streets of gold. Would we see her as herself?

I read your advice every day. It helps me when I doubt myself.

I have written you about my rural church, and the power struggles that were going on there. We had long-term members, who I would say are “traditionals”, and a new pastor that wanted to “update” our church with a contemporary service. The pastor systematically purged the church board of anybody that didn’t agree with him, even expelling some families from the congregation. Then, he sought out contemporary artists who played “modern Christian” music.

I asked him if he was transitioning the church to purpose-driven/emergent teachings, and he assured me he wasn’t. But when he “invited” new members to become board members, I grew concerned. These strangers started dictating how things were going to be run, even shouting at people, I felt compelled to leave that church.

Now, we are looking for a Bible-based church that preaches sound doctrine, but it’s alarming to me that so many evangelical churches are conforming to the world. I’ve prayed about it, but no prospects yet. What would you advise?

I sincerely thank you, Jack, and your ongoing work for the Lord’s Kingdom.

The following passage has always made me think and wonder :

“Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. A person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. A person out in the field must not return even to get a coat. How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for nursing mothers in those days. And pray that your flight will not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again. In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened for the sake of God’s chosen ones.” Matthew 24:16-22 (NLT).

I am particularly intrigued by this part of the passage: “And pray that your flight will not be in winter or on the Sabbath.” Would you please explain this particular passage, especially the sentence quoted?

I really pray you can give me a God given answer to the question I’m about to ask. Would God hold someone to a vow they make while being driven by Obsessive-compulsive disorder to make the vow? Like a vow not to ever marry someone?

How many days and weeks are there in the Jewish/Biblical year? Also, is there a current Jewish calendar that is different from the biblical one, and if so, how many days and weeks are there in that calendar?

Is the following from the Geneva Study Bible a proper understanding of predestination from Romans 8:29? For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestine.

“To foreknow and to predestine are not the same thing. One is an act of foreknowledge, or knowing something before it occurs; the other is to decree something. We only have knowledge of the past, but God foresees the future even as he sees the past; foresees it, not because he has decreed it, but because there are no limitations on his knowledge. Augustine says:

‘There can be no predestination without foreknowledge; but there can be foreknowledge without predestination.’

Whom does God foreknow ? Those who shall love God. As he looked into the future these were present to his mind; foreknown. What did he predestine of them? Not that they should love God. Not that they should believe; nor that some should be saved and others damned; but that those who he saw beforehand would love God, should be conformed to the image of his Son. The only thing predestined, or foreordained, is that those who love God as revealed in Christ shall become Christlike in life, and like Christ in eternity. This is the only decree in the passage.”

What do you think?

I’m very distraught over the fact that a friend of mine is not saved, when I thought she was. She says she doesn’t think the Bible is reliable and there is no way to know what is to be taken literal and what is not. Because of this, she is unsure whether Christ is the son of God. She says she doesn’t believe in hell or Satan. She thinks a loving God would forgive all sinners. I tried to talk to her, but without a belief in the Bible, it wasn’t working. I really want to know how to get through to her.

I wanted to follow up with a question in response to your answer of this question. I do agree with you that we should not “store up treasures here”, I also see that God provides us with wisdom to discern our times and to make preparation. I also see the example of Joseph in Egypt, discerning the king’s dream and knowing that 7 years of drought were coming. So he instructs the king to “store up” enough provision in the good years to provide for the people of Egypt, and more importantly God’s real intention was to save Israel by bringing them into the land to sustain and bless them. I guess the real issue is the “storing up”. Are we doing this to hoard for ourselves and form some false protection, or are we being wise in order to sustain our families in rough times?