I always thought that I was saved as a child but now I’m not sure. You see, I went to Sunday school as a kid and knew the Bible stories and some songs. Somewhere around the age of 10 I started having nightmares. I would wake up terrified and go into my parents room and crawl into their bed. Finally my mom put her foot down and told me I couldn’t do that anymore. The next night I woke up terrified, went to their room and stood in the doorway wondering what I was going to do. I heard a voice say, “Why don’t you ask Jesus?” so I quietly sang a song I knew that went, “Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. Come in to stay, come in I pray. Come into my heart Lord Jesus.” I was immediately filled with peace and I experienced something like a white light inside me.

Then, as a teenager and much to my regret, I went my own way and lived my own life only turning back to His Lordship many years later. True, many times I saw His hand in my life during that time and I never stopped believing in Him.

So was I saved then? I didn’t ask Him to be my Savior. I didn’t ask for forgiveness of my sins or even acknowledge them. My experience was amazing and something I remember clear as day but I don’t want to rely on my experience as evidence of anything. I am saved now for sure so I’m not worried. But I guess I’m not sure exactly when I was saved.

You said at the Second Coming of Jesus, He will gather all the people together and send the believers to repopulate the earth in the Millennium and the unbelievers to eternal judgement. But, they aren’t dead yet. Do you mean they continue to live out their lives knowing that is their destiny or are they killed by the brightness of His coming? What am I missing? And what happens at the end of the Millennium, does Jesus go through the same process all over again?

There is a ministry on internet that really caught my eye a couple of months ago. The person spoke a lot about Paul’s epistles and I was very blessed by his articles. However, in one of them he said plainly that there is no rapture and quoted Scripture to backup his claim. This has made me feel depressed and taken my hope away. Please, can you give me the concrete scriptures that say there is a rapture, as I have believed for 40 years.

In 1 Thess 5:4-11 It talks about being awake and alert, and not being like others who are asleep, because we are of the day, and those who sleep are of the night. But later in the passage it says that Jesus died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live together with Him, therefore we are to encourage one another and build each other up. In this latter passage who are the sleepers? Would it be those in the immediate context, which would seem to suggest that some believers could be caught “sleeping” when He comes? Or could it be referring to those who died in Christ, which would be according to the general context of Thessalonians?

Re: Luke 21:25. What is meant by Perplexity at the waves and sea roaring? Is there some unusual event being foretold here like Tsunamis or is this something else? If so has anything like ever happened ? A storm at sea can be frightful but is a natural phenomena. Does this mean something we have never before seen?

My friend is going through a hard time of not knowing whether to listen to God’s will or listen to her parents. She believes God is telling her what He has planned for her life. But if she listens to Him, she will need to take major loans for college and her parents don’t want her to go into debt. Her mom is still paying off college loans and has a family to take care of as well. She doesn’t want her daughter to go through the same thing. I’m really concerned for my friend and care about her a lot. She and I both pray about it constantly. Is there any scripture or any advice that could help her situation? She really wants to follow God’s will but finds hurt in disobeying her parents.

I do not believe in Dual Covenant Theology. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” John 14:6. Messianic Jews are part of the church, so they are saved. The scriptures also say that God has a covenant with the Jews and Israel. Although the church age Jews have not acknowledged Jesus as their Savior and therefore are not saved, God has brought them back to the land of Israel. Is it because, although they have not accepted Jesus, God will always keep his covenant with them as His people, whether they believe in Jesus or not?

For some reason, Amos 8-9 keeps presenting itself to me. When I read these chapters, I’m not sure if they are history or prophecy. Some of it sounds like history. And yet in a few places Amos uses the term “in that day”, a reference to the end times. Is that the case here? Amos 8:9 speaks about the sun going down at noon and the earth being dark. Was this the crucifixion event or is it speaking of a time yet future? And the “time of mourning for an only son”. Is that future? The famine of the hearing of the words of the Lord – is that future or past? Then in the latter part of Amos 9, it speaks of “raising up the fallen booth of David”. I see some partial fulfillment of Verses 11 – 15 today, but there are some things in these verses that seem to point to conditions present in the millennial period. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

I understand that in Bible prophecy, the 3rd temple has to be built before anti-Christ appears. Will the rapture takes place before the completion of the temple or after the completion? I saw in a website that the Temple Institute, an organization in charge of the rebuilding of the temple project in Israel, has already started building the 3rd temple. Does it imply that the 3 1/2 years of peace for Israel is coming very soon, say perhaps between the year 2012 to 2015?

I’ve heard a few preachers say that as Christians, we must observe or maintain certain OT rituals, laws, feasts, etc. I thought that with Christ’s death and sacrifice those were no longer necessary. As born-again believers and Christians, are we to still observe Old Covenant and/or Old Testament laws & rituals?