I have a friend who thinks it doesn’t matter who gets elected as President because God has already predetermined it so it won’t make any difference. BTW, this person is a Christian and also a very intelligent and educated person who thinks this is a correct analysis. I personally do not go along with this philosophy but don’t know how to counter it adequately. I know in my heart what I think, but find it hard to put it all into words that make sense. Can you add some reality to this thinking?

You’ve written that you don’t believe the Bible supports corporal punishment. What form of discipline do you think the Bible does support and what means of punishment are acceptable? And if you and, as you claim, the Bible, do not support corporal punishment then what do you do with a child who refuses a timeout? If you tell a child to sit in a chair or go to their room, and they tell you to drop dead, what is your response? Also would it not be safe to say that Jesus Himself used corporal punishment when he cleansed the Temple?

God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so we would not perish but have everlasting life? While Jesus was on the cross he asked God while he had forsaken him? He prayed to his father in heaven? No one comes to the father except through him. I understand the concept that Jesus and his father are as the same. I’m not understanding why he is called the son of God but yet you say he is God.

I wonder if the reason God allowed sin into the world isn’t because we only grow through adversity and struggle. Without sin, would we not be spoiled brats, always getting everything we wanted? Character is built through struggle. We are probably much more interesting as individuals because we haven’t had it too easy in this life. Then, too, God is always there for us, helping us if we will only ask for His help. We are made in His image, and don’t we experience joy when we can help another? God must feel joy when He can help His children.

I was wondering why we don’t experience the power of the Holy Spirit in the same way the early Christians did (found in the book of Acts)?

At a recent church meeting, two ladies were prayed with to receive full baptism of the Spirit. Both sincerely asked to be filled with the presence of God; nothing happened. The concerns here are that the ladies referred to will begin to doubt the love of God, their question being ‘Why has He filled others but not me?’

I know that it is possible to seek the manifestations of God rather than God himself, but I don’t believe this was the case here. Jesus tells us to ‘..ask and we will receive…’, and that ‘mustard seed ‘ faith is all that is required. So what is wrong here? Why does something that appears so easy become so difficult?

Just as I believe it is wrong to tell a sick person that they weren’t healed because of a lack of faith or because of sin in their lives, I also believe it would be inappropriate to apply the same reasoning in this instance.

Although in some cases this is a possibility, is this not suggesting that the responsibility lies with the individual; thus resulting in feelings of inadequacy or condemnation?

If I remember rightly, the accounts in the book of Acts reveal an abundance of God’s Spirit and in the case of Pentecost, faith was never an issue because nobody asked in the first place!

Thank you for your time and for fulfilling the call of God on your life.

Today I read this letter “OSAS & Unanswered Prayer” on your site. It’s my shame but I often become very discouraged if I read such a “testimony”. What is troubling me is this: “Having thrown herself on God’s mercy and spent many hours in prayer, she has received no solution to her problems.” Can this happen that a believer trusts her/his problems or troubles to the Lord and she/he does not receive a solution/deliverance?

What is the difference between submitting to the direction God/Jesus has for our lives and doing things because we are Christian? Example. All my life I have worked with the kids at church doing Christmas plays, puppets, etc. I struggle with “Is this the direction God had for my life?” vs. “I do these things because that is what we are to do as Christian people.” I go on mission trips because I feel it’s my responsibility to help others. I haven’t ever had this great sense of being called to do something. I do the things I do because that is what is expected. Am I wrong? Will these be burned as wood, hay and stumble at the bema seat?

You stated that Jesus brought with him out of ‘paradise’ the old testament saints after he had been there for the three days. If I’m correct, Jesus did not ascend into heaven to be with the father right away because he was still here revealing himself to others for a number of days. If the old testament saints were brought out of paradise but hadn’t yet ascended to heaven with Jesus, where were they during this time?

I think you wrote somewhere that when the rapture occurs, our mortal bodies will transformed to new immortal bodies and will be perfected, free from imperfection. I also was under the impression that the risen Christ, visible to the Apostles and others in Jerusalem, is a model of what our new risen bodies will be like. I wonder then, if we have perfected bodies, why the scars of the crucifixion were still evident in Christ’s body, the nail holes and his side wound? Was this specific to Christ, or are there certain “scars” that we will also maintain for eternity?

I heard someone say that Adam and Eve could not have known they couldn’t trust the Serpent (Lucifer) in the Garden since they didn’t know good from evil. How was it fair to them to put such temptation in the garden with them. God had to have known what would happen. Adam and Eve would have been extremely naive and trusting. How could they know to only trust God and not a cherubim like Lucifer? I didn’t know how to answer this, perhaps you can help.