Questions and Answers About Bible Doctrine and Spiritual Matters

Question asked by - Adaung
Location - Dimapur, India
Question - Although God knows everything, what will happen in the future? Why did God created the universe and being?

Our Answer - I think you are asking the question, “If God knows what will happen in the future, and He knew about all the miseries of this world; disease, crime, wars, natural disasters, etc., why did He create this world, and us who live here?” Assuming that is your question, the Christmas 2024 issue of our newsletter will have an article in it that will go into much greater detail on this subject. The article will be called, “What Is A Christian?” However, I will give you a quick and less detailed answer for the purpose of brevity. The answer is that God, our Creator, is all powerful and wealthy, and He has a lot of good things to give to those who really love Him. So, He wanted to create children, a race of intelligent beings who would love and serve Him, not because they were programmed to, like robots or androids, but because He is worthy. He wanted to share the riches of His Creation with beings made in His own image (Genesis 1:25-27), who would love, obey, and respect Him. Therefore, it was necessary for our Creator to give us freedom of choice to obey God or to rebel against Him.

This posed a serious danger because it gave mankind the opportunity to rebel against Him. This would make humans sinful and God cannot live with anyone sinful. So we would not be able to be His children, a situation which was against His intention. God gave His Heavenly angels the same right to obey Him, or rebel against Him. One of God’s angels, named Lucifer, became jealous of God and tried to mutiny against Him, but failed (Revelation 12:7-9). Lucifer had influenced one third of God’s angels to mutiny with Him. They were not successful and were thrown out of Heaven to the Earth. God punished the angels that tried to overthrow Him. He prepared a place for them called Hell. It is located in the center of the Earth.

Then God decided to create humans who would love and respect Him and enjoy all the glory of Heaven with Him. However, God wanted to find out if we humans would do that. He remade the Earth to be beautiful, the mountains, waterfalls, trees, flowers, and friendly animals. Then God placed humans in it and enjoyed their company. Then God tested the first humans, named Adam and Eve. God wanted them to have families so He could bless them too and repopulate the Earth. He delayed Lucifer’s punishment and changed his name to Satan. He changed the names of the angels who had mutinied with Satan, and God called them demons. God burnt up the bodies of Satan and his demons. So they became disembodied spirits. God gave Adam control over the whole earth and mankind. Then He allowed Satan to test them. God gave them a beautiful garden and told the humans they could have any of the fruit except from a certain tree.

Satan needed a solid body so that he could temp Eve. So he entered the body of a serpent. Then Satan told Eve, “‘…God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it” (Genesis 3:5-6 NIV). Adam and Eve disobeyed God and obeyed Satan, the devil. They therefore, became sinners, and Jesus said, “…I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin” (John 8:34 NIV). Instead of trusting God and obeying Him, Adam and Eve obeyed Satan and trusted him instead. Everything a slave has becomes the property of his master, in this case, Satan, the devil. God had given Adam control over the Earth. So Satan got that control and that’s why the world became sinful. When a slave has children, they become the property of his master. Adam and Eve had children and repopulated the earth.

We were all born children of Adam. The seed of re-population was within his loins. So we were all born slaves to sin and controlled by the devil. When Satan and his demons end up in Hell and the Lake of Fire (Matthew 25:41) eventually, unless we are redeemed, that’s where we humans will go with them. However, God took pity on us and if a person admits they’re a sinner and repents of their sin, and asks God help, it is possible to become a cherished child of God like He originally wanted. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 NIV). God’s Son, Jesus Christ is God as well (John 1:1-14). Our Creator, God, consists of three people; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ suffered to pay God the price of our Redemption! So those who repent of their sins and accept Christ’s salvation, love and serve God. After our death we will live in Heaven with Him forever!

Question asked by - Bonnie Dilger
Location - Panajachel, Guatemala
Question - In the parable, it is written that a man would not die for a righteous person, but possibly would die for a good man. (Paraphrase) But aren’t they the same?

Our Answer - I believe you are referring to the scripture in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the persecuted, suffering Christians in Rome. It is not a parable. It says: “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8 NIV). It is one of the most poignant scriptures in the Bible.

First we need to define our words: We humans say that someone is a “good man” if he is kind and considerate of others. But God’s standards are higher than man’s. He knows what’s in a person's heart and life. The Bible says: “As Jesus started on His way, a man ran up to Him and fell on his knees before Him. ‘Good teacher,’ He asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ ‘Why do you call Me good?’ Jesus answered. ‘No one is good—except God alone’” (Mark 10:17-18 NIV). Jesus said this because He knew the man’s heart and that he did not fully believe Jesus was the Son of God. And yet Jesus had said He was. So either He was a charlatan and a liar. How then could He be good? Or He was whom He claimed to be, the Son of God.

The Bible says, that God doesn’t consider any of us good. From God’s perspective, the human “…heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked…” (Jeremiah 17:9 KJV). So Paul was probably making the statement from a human point of view, a man who is perceived good from a human viewpoint.

As for the word “righteous,” it is not a word we humans use very often among ourselves. Yet it is used often in the Bible. So it is a word God uses to describe a person whose heart is right with God. Abraham, Joseph, Daniel, Noah, and John were all considered righteous. That doesn’t mean that they were perfect. The Bible says, “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 NIV). It means that they had acknowledged that they were sinners, and they had asked God to forgive them and cleanse and change their hearts and lives. And God did.

To sum up, righteous people are often not very popular with most people because their righteousness makes other people feel guilty of their own sin. However, someone who is considered a good man is usually popular with humans, and he is more likely to be viewed favorably by society.

Question asked by - Jamil
Location - Tucker (???)
Question - What are your opinions on the vaccine and swabs for Covid, I’m unvaccinated, but I took a swab last year thinking it was nowhere as worse as the vaccine now I’m coming across these videos saying it was the mob, did I lose my salvation? I have been stressed so much, what's the point of pursuing a god that has forsaken me. Please pray for me.

Our Answer - Jamil, don't you know how much God loves you (John 3:16)? If He loved you enough to bleed and die for you, only to rise again (Matthew 28:5-7, 28:18-20), He is not going to get upset about whether or not you take a Covid shot. I have never heard anything about it having to do with the mob. But it doesn’t matter. Personally, we both had Covid shots, but I developed serious health problems after them. Regardless, we never had Covid. However, people we know had the shots and got Covid anyway. We will not have any more Covid vaccine.

Stop listening to the videos that have made you worried. God is not going to take away your salvation based on Covid shots. The devil and demons have been lying to you. God said, “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on His children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him” (Psalms 103:11-13 NIV). And, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’” (Hebrews 13:5 NIV). I have prayed for you.

Question asked by - Daniel
Location - USA
Question - Why was the New Testament written whenever the Old Testament already existed? Does this mean the Bible was changed/updated? Did Jesus or God approve of the New Testament?

Our Answer - Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished” (Matthew 5:17-18 NIV). So Jesus definitely approved of the Old Testament, which was the law of the prophets. The Old Testament was basically Jewish history. The Jews were the only ones who accepted and served the one true God when all the other nations around them worshiped idols. A man named Abraham was faithful to God when he lived among pagans.

“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:8-10 NIV). Consequently, God honored Abraham, and he was the bloodline through which our Savior, Jesus Christ, came into the world. That’s because all of mankind has sinned against God and “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9 (KJV). Sin separates us from God. We needed a redeemer so that we would not burn in Hell forever (Revelation 20:13-15). God’s own Son became that Redeemer. Abraham was the ancestor of Jesus.

“But he was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to His own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:5-6 NIV). That’s what Old Testament prophets said about the expected Messiah, Jesus. Old Testament prophets prophesied a great deal more about Him. The New Testament tells us that Christ came and died for all who will repent of their sins and live through Him. The New Testament also prophesies the good things that God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Corinthians 2:8-9).

Question asked by - Stanley Nonso
Location - Nigeria
Question - 1. Is silent prayers biblical?
2. Is it wrong for a minister to ask congregation to pray silently in a corporate worship?

Our Answer - 1. No. Absolutely not. It is not unbiblical for a Christian to pray silently as long as he is praying to God the Father through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He is the only one to which you should pray. Jesus said, “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:5-6 NIV).

2. No. If a Christian minster asks people to pray silently in a corporate setting it is not wrong as long as it is to God to whom they are praying and not an idol of a false religion. However, not everyone in the group may be of the same mindset. So telling people to pray silently is like what happened in the story of Jonah. “All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god... But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went to him an said, ‘How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe He will take notice of us, and we will not perish’” (Jonah 1:5-6 NIV). They all prayed, but only Jonah’s prayer told them what to do. “The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, ‘What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?’ ‘Pick me up and throw me into the sea,’ he replied, ‘and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you’” (Jonah 1:11-12 NIV). And, when they did what Jonah told them to do it did calm down.

The point is that when things are desperate and each member of the group prays silently, in the manner in which they have been taught, the one with the righteous heart, who knows how to reach God, can make all the difference. The Bible says, “…The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5:16 NIV).

Question asked by - Maxwell Ojay
Location - Kampala, Uganda
Question - Thank you for the opportunity to ask my questions.
1. Does praying for the same thing over and over again a sign of faith or unbelief?
2. When is a man called of God to ministry: is it from the mother’s womb as the case of Jeremiah 1:5, Galatians 1:15 or before someone receives salvation as the case of the disciples of Jesus or when someone has already received Christ like the case of Stephen and Philip, etc?

Our Answer - In answer to your first question Jesus said, “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: ‘In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’’ And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will He keep putting them off?’” (Luke 18:1-7 NIV). No, it is not presumption, but faith not to give up on a request, as long as it is something of which God approves.

As to your second question, the apostle Paul wrote, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10 NIV). And the apostle Peter wrote to the churches in his day saying, “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance” (1 Peter 1:1-2 NIV). Therefore, God plans specific work that He wants us to do before we are even born as infants. However, most people do not accept His salvation and many of those who do, prefer to choose for themselves what they will or will not do for God. Many want to grow their own fruit for God, like Cain (Genesis 4:1-13) instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to grow good fruit in them (Galatians 5:22-25), through Christ (John 15:1-8), by finding the will of God and submitting to Him.

Question asked by - Noel Estanislao
Location - Saudi Arabia
Question - The name of Jesus is wonderful, what does this name denote?

Our Answer - Yours is the first question we have received from Saudi Arabia, and I am happy to get it. I’m glad you like the name of Jesus. He is the Son of God and the only way we have of getting to Heaven. The Bible says, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away” (Isaiah 64:6 NIV). So, there is no good work that we can do that will repay God for all the sins we have committed. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 NIV). That’s because the Bible tells us that we are all too evil to pay for our own sin. Only someone who is righteous and sinless could pay the debt we owe to God due to our sin. No one born of Adam’s bloodline can do that, because when Adam sinned against God (Genesis chapter 3) he contaminated himself and all his descendants. And we all came from Adam.

Adam had obeyed his wife, who obeyed Satan, the devil. So, the devil gained all that God had given to Adam for a specific time period. So, Satan runs this world in the spirit world. He influences people to do evil. And Satan will end up in Hell and the Lake of Fire (Revelation. 20:10) eventually when his time of rule over this world runs out (Revelation 12:12). So, unless God intervened, all of us would end up there with him. However, God had pity on us. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him” (John 3:16-17 NIV). So, God’s Son, Jesus Christ, paid the debt for all of us. Therefore, if we accept Him as our Savior and repent of our sins, we will be able to escape eternity in Hell and go to Heaven when we die.

The name of Jesus is the same name as Joshua in the Bible. Jesus was Jewish, but most Jews will not accept Him as their Savior due to false doctrine taught by their religious leaders. As Isaiah prophesied, “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:3 NIV). The original name of Jesus has changed due to language differences. In the Hebrew it’s Yehoshua (Yeh-HO-shoo-ah), which, over time, became contracted to the shorter Yeshua (Yeh-SHOO-ah). Yehoshua, and therefore Yeshua as well, means “the Lord is salvation.” Over time the name was changed to Greek in the language of the New Testament. Then changed again into Latin by the Roman church.

Other names have been given to Jesus as well. Isaiah prophesied, “For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6 NIV). However, Jesus didn’t come to bring peace to this earth, since Satan is still running it. Jesus said, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household. Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me’” (Matthew 10:34-37 NIV). The peace comes through God’s Holy Spirit, when we truly love Christ and put Him first in our lives. The Bible says, “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7 NIV). It’s an inner peace from the heart that doesn’t come from anything in this world. But only through Christ.

Question asked by - Bella
Location - Kenya
Question - What are the characteristics which show that Christ Jesus is fully God and fully man?

Our Answer - Jesus fulfilled all the prophecy about Himself. He was born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), through a young Jewish virgin (Isaiah 7:14). He had a man (John the Baptist) who preceded Him and revealed Him to the crowd (Isaiah 40:1-5, Malachi 3:1, John 1:29, 36). Jesus was crucified (Psalm 22:14-16), thirsty on the cross (Psalm 22:15, John 19:28), the soldiers cast lots for His garments (Psalm 22:18, Matthew 27:35). His beard was ripped from His face, back severely beaten, face spit on (Isaiah 50:6, John 19:1, Mark 14:65). And He also had a ministry of miracles and healings (Matthew 12:15, 15:28). God, the Father, spoke through a Dove and declared Christ as His beloved Son (Matthew 3:16-17). Jesus rose from the dead and His tomb is empty, and has been empty since His resurrection (John 20:10-20).

Question asked by - Shaz
Location - Kenya
Question - What is sin and what are the characteristics of sin in man?

Our Answer - “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21 NIV).

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them” (Romans 1:18-32 NIV).

“But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death” (Revelation 21:8 NIV).

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them” (2 Timothy 3:1-5 NIV).

Question asked by - Akivo
Location - Chophi, India
Question - Is it right to pay tax to government?

Our Answer - Most people hate paying taxes. Yet they are a necessary way of life to aid in government. In the United States alone, they pay for road construction, mail delivery, and keep police departments and fire stations running. Of course, most Christians don’t like their taxes used for programs they disagree with. However, that’s why we have elections in free countries, like America. So, tax payers can choose the politicians we feel we can trust to use the money wisely. Even in the days of Christ people paid taxes. In fact, it was due to a census, for tax purposes, that Joseph and Mary, who was pregnant with Jesus, had to travel to Bethlehem (Luke 2:1-7), where Jesus was born.

When Jesus was an adult, the subject of taxes came up again. “After Jesus and His disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, ‘Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?’ ‘Yes, He does,’ he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. ‘What do you think, Simon?’ He asked. ‘From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own sons or from others?’ ‘From others,’ Peter answered. ‘Then the sons are exempt,’ Jesus said to him. ‘But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for My tax and yours’” (Matthew 17:24-27 NIV).

If even Jesus paid taxes, we must as well. Jesus knew that the Roman government was evil and encouraged idolatry, and cruelty, like crucifixion. However, He paid the tax anyway, so as not to offend. If Christians don’t pay their taxes, not only will they have trouble with the government, but everyone else will have to pay more to make up for what we don’t pay. It would not be a very good testimony. It might encourage people to be false converts. Jesus said, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s” (Matthew 22:21 NIV).

Question asked by - Akivo
Location - Chophi, India
Question - Is Noah’s flood universe?

Our Answer - I think what you are asking is if Noah’s flood was universal. In the days of Noah, the Earth did not look like it does today. It was one big mass of land, surrounded by ocean. It wasn’t until the time of Peleg that God divided the Earth into separate countries and islands (Genesis 10:25). It was also the time of Nimrod, a builder of cities (Genesis 10:8-10). All the people were united together. They wanted to get to Heaven, but didn’t want to do it God’s way.

They felt strong, and powerful due to their unity. And “...they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.’ But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD said, ‘If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let Us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.’ So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel—because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth” (Genesis 11:4-9 NIV).

However, that all happened after the flood. So, in Noah’s time, this world was still geographically one big mass of land. Therefore, the answer to your question is yes. The flood covered the whole Earth.

Question asked by - Abby
Location - Jamaica
Question - What does it mean to believe in Christ?

Our Answer - The word “believe” does not mean just believing in the existence of Jesus Christ as the Son of God who was born to save us from our sins. That’s like saying you believe in God. “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder” (James 2:19 NIV). When Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 NIV), He meant far more. In the Bible, the word “believe” means to trust Jesus Christ and God the Father the way a baby trusts his parents. He doesn’t worry about the stock market, or where he will get the money to pay the rent. He just trusts that his parents or care givers will take care of all his needs. That’s the way we must believe in God, though Salvation in Christ. Jesus said, “...I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3-4 NIV).

Jesus also said, “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:28-34 NIV).

So to sum it all up, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil” (Proverbs 3:5-7 NIV).

Question asked by - Abby
Location - Jamaica
Question - Since Adam, how many ways of salvation has God provided?

Our Answer - There is only one way: “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me’” (John 14:6 NIV).

1. Repent of your sins directly to God the Father, through prayer (Mathew 4:17).

2. Ask His forgiveness, like the tax collector did in Luke 18:10-14, and His redemption, through Jesus Christ, His Son (1 Timothy 2:5-6).

3. Pray often that the Holy Spirit will lead and guide you (Ephesians 6:18). And read the Bible directly (2 Timothy 3:16).

4. Start fresh in your relationship with God, and “...and leave your life of sin” (John 8:11 NIV).

Question asked by - Peter Salam
Location - Belize
Question - What are the differences between the Lords’ supper and baptism?

Our Answer - They are totally different. I am assuming you are talking about adult baptism, where someone is totally dipped under the water, symbolizing the death of their former life and a new birth with God, through Christ. Although some people consider dedication of a baby to God, a “baptism,” true baptism is by the choice of the adult individual. In the case of a baby, the baby is not making the choice, his parents are.

Jesus was baptized in water at the start of His ministry (Matthew 3:13-17). He then received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Jesus needed the Holy Spirit for personal comfort, and to perform His miracles. For Jesus had left all of His own glory and power, as God the Son, in Heaven, so that He could take human form and come into this world and pay for our sins. His baptism was proceeded by a long period of fasting in order to get power from God, His Father, and to set an example for us. We are to follow the Lord’s example and get water baptized after we repent of our sins and ask God to forgive us for them and enable us to start a new relationship with Him. That’s why salvation is called being Born Again (John 3:3).

However, do not get confused about water baptism and the baptism in the Holy Spirit. John, the Baptist, baptized people who had repented of their sin and wanted to demonstrate their new birth with water baptism. But John said, “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:11-12 NIV). And Jesus said to His disciples, “...the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26 NIV).

Paul, the apostle, met some Born Again believers, who had repented of their sins and probably had been water baptized. Because Paul, “...asked them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ They answered, ‘No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.’ So Paul asked, ‘Then what baptism did you receive?’ ‘John’s baptism,’ they replied. Paul said, ‘John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.’ On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all” (Acts 19:2-7 NIV). Some people receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit when they are water baptized, as Jesus did. However, many others may receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit first, then are water baptized at a later date.

In the case of the Lord’s Supper, it was a meal. The traditional Passover meal included lamb, which was symbolic of Christ, the Lamb of God, who was to be the sacrifice for our sin (John 1:29,36). Jesus also broke unleavened bread and passed it to His disciples. The bread had no yeast, because yeast was symbolic of sin. And the body of Christ had no sin. Real wine was drunk because it was fermented, unlike grape juice. Only real wine has alcohol in it, which has been used at times to sterilize medical tools, etc. So, it has cleansing ingredients in it, as the blood of Christ cleanses us of all our sin. Jesus passed the cup of wine around to His disciples and told them symbolically it was His blood.

I hope this answers your question.

Question asked by - Emmitt Campbell
Location - Grubbs, Arkansas
Question - Are these assumptions of man?

Worship Services: The words are not found in context in the New Testament.
Sunday is “the day of worship” is not found written in the New Testament.
The assembly on Sunday is never said to be a worship service.
The communion, singing, listening to a sermon, being led in a prayer in an assembly is never put together or called a worship service.
Matthew 2:11, Matthew 4:9, 1 Corinthians 14:25, Acts 10:25, Revelation 19:10 (and many more) will define worship unto God.

Our Answer - If you are asking about worship, the more often we worship God the better, no matter what day of the week it is. “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV). In the Old Testament, the Sabbath was considered the Lord’s day, a day of rest. However, the pastor of a church does not get much rest if he has to give a sermon on the Sabbath. The religious leaders in the Lord’s day accused Jesus and His disciples of working on the Sabbath day. “Then He said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath’” (Mark 2:27-28 NIV). Therefore, although we should respect the Sabbath, and spend some quiet time with the Lord, I see nothing wrong with church service on Sunday, or any week day where people want to get together to worship God and fellowship their faith.

Question asked by - Prayojan Parichha
Location - India
Question - What is theology?

Our Answer - To put it in simple terms, the word “theology” means the nature of God, and religious beliefs. In Christianity it refers to the difference of beliefs between one religious group, or denomination, and another.

However, “theology” is not necessarily restricted to specific religious groups. Private individuals can have their own difference of opinion too. That is their “theology.”

Question asked by - Odera
Location - Bangladesh
Question - If one asks me what is my doctrine? What should I give as my answer to the question?

Our Answer - It depends on what your beliefs are in regard to religion. As for us, we believe the Bible, both Old Testament and New, are the inspired Word of God. We serve Almighty God, the creator of all things. We believe He is one God, and that He manifests Himself as three distinct and separate individuals -

(1) God the Father, the head of the deity and the most powerful. He was the Architect of our salvation (John 3:16) our planet, and universe.

(2) God the Son, a separate but distinct part of God (John 1:1-14, 17:5). He came into this world as Jesus Christ. It was God the Son who built this world for us according to the plans He and the Father worked out together (Proverbs 8:23-30). It was He who died for our sins so that, if we repent of our sins and ask Him to come to our heart and give Him complete control, and live daily for Him, we can be reconciled to God the Father (John 15:1-6). That way we will have His peace and joy within us. It doesn’t come from anything in this world, but a supernatural peace and joy from God (Philippians 4:7). And if we live for Christ daily and cling to Him, we will spend an eternity in Heaven, God’s home, and serve Him in love and peace forever. Without accepting Christ as our Savior and Lord, we are doomed to end up in Hell forever when we die and pay in torture and misery for our own sins.

And (3) the Holy Spirit, who unlike the Father and God the Son, does not have a solid body (John 14:16, 26, 15:26, 16:7). Therefore, the Holy Spirit can be anywhere and everywhere where He feels welcome. He helps us live for Christ.

I hope this answers your question.

Question asked by - Mbabazi Aggie Shalom
Location - Uganda
Question - Explain with scriptures how did the Jews miss their visitation as the Messiah.

Our Answer - I assume you are asking why the Jews never accepted Christ as their Messiah. The name Jesus Christ is the Latin version of His name. His name in Hebrew is “Yeshua Hamashiach,” it means, “Jesus the Messiah.” The Bible says, “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4 NIV). That’s from the New International Version of the Bible. And the scripture means that the “god” of this current world has deceived the Jews and other nonbelievers so that they will not believe. Like other religions, they depend on their religious leaders to tell them what to believe. The religious leaders have been deceived by their teachers. So, as Jesus said, “Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit” (Matthew 15:14 NIV).

The “god” of this world is not the Creator. It is Satan, the devil. He hates God, and he knows that God loves us (John 3:16). So Satan can’t attack God directly. He already tried that and failed. Therefore, in order to hurt God, he attacks us. God loved us enough to send Jesus, His Son, to die in our place to pay for our sins so that we can get to Heaven someday. But Satan wants to use us as a proxy to hurt God, the same way a parent feels hurt when their child gets killed. Satan’s hatred for God is caused by jealousy.

If the Jewish people would read their own Bible, the Tanakh, they could find the truth within scripture such as, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth” (Isaiah 53:3-7 Tanakh).

Or, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? why art Thou so far from helping Me, and from the words of My roaring? O My God, I cry in the day time, but Thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. But Thou art holy, O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in Thee: they trusted, and Thou didst deliver them. They cried unto Thee, and were delivered: they trusted in Thee, and were not confounded. But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see Me laugh Me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that He would deliver Him: let Him deliver Him, seeing He delighted in Him. But Thou art He that took Me out of the womb: Thou didst make Me hope when I was upon My mother’s breasts. I was cast upon Thee from the womb: Thou art My God from My mother’s belly. Be not far from Me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. Many bulls have compassed Me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset Me round. They gaped upon Me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint: My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of My bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and My tongue cleaveth to My jaws; and Thou hast brought Me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed Me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed Me: they pierced My hands and My feet. I may tell all My bones: they look and stare upon Me. They part My garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture. But be not Thou far from Me, O LORD: O My strength, haste Thee to help Me” (Psalms 22:1-19 Tanakh). This scripture describes crucifixion, a means of execution that did not exist during the time the scripture was written.

I have a leather covered Tanakh I purchased years ago from a Jewish book store, and there’s not much difference from the Christian versions. Many other scriptures point to Jesus Christ as the Messiah too. He was born in Bethlehem at just the right time (Micah 5:2), through a virgin (Isaiah 7:14). There are slight differences in the Christian versions. They say, “...a virgin will be with child...” and my Tanakh uses the term “young woman” instead. But in the original Hebrew the word translated plainly means, “virgin.”

There are lots of other indications in the Tanakh too. Such as the fact the Abraham was told to sacrifice his only legitimate son. The son was willing to be the sacrifice. He was about 17 years old and healthy. Abraham was a very old man, and probably feeble. So Isaac could have easily resisted. Isaac even carried the fire wood on his back, as Christ carried the cross on His. Abraham was willing to sacrifice the son that he loved for God. But God stopped him just in time. It wasn’t going to be Abraham’s son that would die for God. It would be God’s Son who would be sacrificed for mankind.

I hope this answers your question.

Question asked by - John Peter
Location - Nigeria
Question - Identify a delegated authority in your life in any sphere (maybe school, work, or family), the one whom we have difficulties in the relationship and how to practice principles submissions to authority.

Our Answer - Jesus Christ is our primary authority, Lord and Savior. No one comes before Him. He is our master and our best example! You will find that if you put Him first, although you may go through trials and tests of faith, He is the primary source of joy and serenity, inner strength, wisdom, and power!

Question asked by - B yongya chingmak chang
Location - India
Question - Did the deity of God separated on the Cross?

Our Answer - No. God the Son paid the price for our sin. He came into this world as a human man, leaving His own power and authority in Heaven. But He was without sin, and perfect in every way. If He had not been sinless, He would have not been able to pay the price for our sin. All the miracles He performed were done through the Holy Spirit. That’s why, when the teachers of the law said He was doing His miracles through a demon named Beelzebub, Jesus said they were blaspheming the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:20-29). God the Father, remained in Heaven. Jesus Christ never lost His His Deity at any time!

Question asked by - Eleanor
Location - Accra, Ghana
Question - What is your doctrine pertaining to women leaders?

Our Answer - Since you used the word “doctrine” I assume that you are referring to those in the Christian church. This subject has been disputed over the years as even the Apostles Peter and Paul tended to have a difference of opinion about it.

Basically, in ceremonial roles, the Bible makes it clear that God’s preference is for men to occupy these positions (1 Timothy 3:2). Old Testament priests were always of the male gender. However, the Apostle Paul wrote, “Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church” (1 Corinthians 14:34-35 NIV). Frankly, Paul was not my favorite apostle. He didn’t even believe that Christians should get married (1 Corinthians 7:9). In fact, Paul never married, but Peter was a married man. And the Apostle Peter said, “In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on My servants, both men and women, I will pour out My Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy” (Acts 2:17-18 NIV).

Perhaps the key phrase here is “in the last days” as traditionally men have held the majority of ordained positions in the church. Peter’s scripture in Acts, seems to be changing that. And I have read commentaries stating that Paul’s letter to the Corinthian church was meant for situations that occurred at that time, in that church. Perhaps so. However, even in Old Testament times, women were prophets of God, in the houses of worship. Deborah was the most famous. The Bible says, “Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came to her to have their disputes decided” (Judges 4:4-5 NIV). But Deborah was not the only one. Miriam was a prophetess too (Exodus 15:20). Huldah was also a prophetess (2 Kings 22:14). And in the New Testament there was Anna (Luke 2:36-37) who thanked God after seeing the baby Jesus.

Over the centuries there have been many missionaries who were women, some of them died in the service of their Lord. Both Gladys Aylward and Isobel Huhn, were great missionaries in China. Amy Carmichael was a missionary to India, and Mary Slessor to Africa. And Corrie ten Boom was used by God in a mighty way. She and her sister saved the lives of many Jewish people from the Nazis during World War 2. And they set an example for others of what they were willing to suffer due to their love for Christ. Joni Eareckson was another example of a woman of God. She has given her testimony before thousands of people, stating how Christ gave her the grace to cope with a horrible handicap.

My favorite is Florence Nightingale, a woman born to great wealth and privilege. But her love for Christ was so strong that she followed His calling to give medical help and comfort to the soldiers in the Crimean War. She, like many who answered the call of God, faced fierce opposition from her family, who claimed she was throwing her life away to enter such “lower class” work. Upon arriving at the war site she and the nurses she took with her, noticed the filthy floor of the medical building and got down on their hands and knees to scrub it clean. Florence Nightingale never married, and I have heard how she would walk through the hospital ward at nighttime carrying a little candle (they didn’t have electricity in those days). And she would read from the Bible to comfort sick, wounded, and dying soldiers. She made nursing into a respectable and honored profession.

And then there’s Kathyrn Kuhlman, who was ordained in 1968 by the Evangelical Church Alliance. She had a nationally broadcasted television show in the 1960’s and 1970’s called “I Believe In Miracles” which aired weekly, as well as a radio show. She was well-known for her healing ministry. For over two million people claimed they were healed during her meetings. She preached sermons from the pulpit with a spiritual authority.

Personally, I don’t feel comfortable with women taking ceremonial roles in the church, especially those who dress in clerical clothes (unless they are in the choir). That said, I do believe that God uses women in many wonderful ways. Many ministers of God came to accept Christ through the ministry of women. My husband says that I was the inspiration that led him to accept Christ as his Savior and Lord in the early nineteen eighties, a few years after our marriage. And he is the President and Chief Executive Officer of this organization. I hope this has been of help to you.

Question asked by - Emmanuel
Location - Lagos, Nigeria
Question - Please kindly explain to me Ezekiel 1. What were the 4 wheels Ezekiel saw in a vision about?

Our Answer - Let’s start by comparing this scripture with Revelation chapter four. This paints a slightly less confusing picture. Yet this time it is the Apostle John who has the vision, not Ezekiel. The setting is clearly in Heaven and it is the same as that which Ezekiel saw. Obviously, it cannot be compared to anything on earth, therefore, it is hard for us to relate to it. Jesus was once asked about heavenly things by Nicodemus, and He replied, “I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?” (John 3:12 NIV).

In both accounts, that of Ezekiel and that of John, the prophet must have been “...in the Spirit...” (Revelation 4:2 NIV) or he would not have been able to survive the experience. For, “...flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable” (1 Corinthians 15:50 NIV). And the Lord’s own disciples were terrified when Jesus briefly returned to His more natural state during the transfiguration (Mark 9:6).

The four living creatures are cherubims (Ezekiel 10:6), which are angels. As far as the wheels in your question are concerned, “...each was like a wheel intersecting a wheel. As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the cherubim faced; the wheels did not turn about as the cherubim went. The cherubim went in whatever direction the head faced, without turning as they went” (Ezekiel 10:10-11 NIV). We are also told that “...the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels” (Ezekiel 1:20 NIV).

Each of the cherubims had four faces, “...the face of a man, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle” (Ezekiel 1:10 NIV). We know that God uses the imagery of animals to convey the attributes of the being. An example of this is found in (Daniel 7:3-7). In this case the face of the man may represent God’s ordained ruler of creation (Genesis 1:26-28). The face of the lion may symbolize the strongest of the wild beasts. The ox could represent the most powerful of domestic animals. And the eagle could symbolize tremendous swiftness and eyesight, the way it goes after its prey.

There are many different opinions on this. However, my feeling is that the four faces may be for the purpose of watching the four corners of the earth. In Daniel, certain angels called watchers are mentioned, and have the power to make decisions in agreement with God’s will for mankind. It says, “This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will, and setteth up over it the basest of men” (Daniel 4:17 KJV).

Obviously, we humans are of paramount importance to the Lord or He wouldn’t have been willing to sacrifice His own Son for us (John 3:16). We are temporal, and exist from one generation to another within the limited time frame that God originally gave to Adam. However, since Adam sinned against God, and obeyed the devil [who had entered into the body of a snake (Revelation 12:9)], the Devil, Satan, gained control of everything that belonged to Adam, including authority over the earth. For, “...everyone who sins is a slave to sin” (John 8:34 NIV). Satan is “...the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2 KJV). And his demons (fallen angels - see Revelation 12:9) help him tempt people to do evil.

Now let’s get back to the wheels within a wheel. When I think of this I sense the imagery of a bicycle wheel with each of the spokes intersecting throughout the wheel as one generation intersects with another. The inner wheel could move to the exact intersection where it meets up with the outer wheel, where the spokes meet. This could make flight to the exact point of time and place on earth easier to reach.

We must remember that only our time on earth in temporal, the time period that Satan controls. Heaven is not limited by time, for it is eternal. That’s how God knows our past, present, and future. He is “...the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (Revelation 22:13 NIV). Satan’s time is swiftly coming to an end. That’s why “he is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short” (Revelation 12:12 NIV).

Of course, the imagery of a bicycle wheel, no matter how new and clean it may be, seems incongruous compared to the sacredness of an angelic wheel that, “...sparkled like chrysolite” (Ezekiel 1:16 NIV) and contains the spirit of the angel (Ezekiel 1:21). However, we can only compare it to that which coincides with human understanding. I hope that this help your understanding of this passage.

Question asked by - M. Moses
Location - Hyderabad, India
Question - To overcome satanic temptations what we do?

Our Answer - Don’t put yourself into a position of inviting it. Whatever the temptation is, do not be around anyone or anything that could lead you in the wrong direction. For example, if it’s pornography, stay away from magazines and movies that promote it. If it’s temper, draw closer to the Lord so that the Holy Spirit will control your life (Galatians 5:22-25). If it’s adultery, refuse to see the person who encourages you to sin. If it’s hatred, and a desire for revenge, pray about it and let the matter rest with God (Proverbs 3:5-7). He’s better at defending His people who have been treated badly then we humans are (see Deuteronomy 32:35-36, Psalms chapter 37, and Romans 12:19-21).

So keep your heart on Christ and you mind in the Word of God, daily if possible. And stay in an attitude of faith and prayer.

Question asked by - Koilraj G
Location - Tamil Nadu, India
Question - Who is god?

Our Answer - God is the Creator of everything, not only in this world, but in the entire universe, in every dimension. He is the only real God there is! Demon spirits want people to think that they are gods. But they are not deity (Deuteronomy 32:17). They are rebellious angels that were once created by God to serve Him. However they chose to rebel against God and were thrown out of Heaven (Revelation 12:7-9) and their solid bodies were burned to a crisp (Ezekiel 28:18) as part of their punishment for attempting to mutiny against God.

Since Adam, the first human, disobeyed God and allowed sin to come into this world (Genesis Chapter Three), every human being born through the bloodline of Adam is contaminated with a disease called sin. As a result we are born in a state of separation from our Creator and doomed to a life without His protection and without fulfilling His purpose for us. And after we die those of us who never accepted God’s only salvation (Hebrews 2:3) will end up in the same place that God created for the devil (the head demon) and his fallen angels (demons). It’s a place that is worst than your worst nightmare, a place that the Bible refers to as Hell (a jail in the center of the earth) and the Lake of Fire (like a federal prison next to Hell). Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten son (John 3:16) is our only hope of escape from the sentence of Hell (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). Jesus said that those who do not accept Him as their Lord and Savior will end of up in the fires of Hell. He said, “This is how it will be at the end of the age. The [good] angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:49-50 NIV). And it will never, never end! The suffering of those sent there will go on forever!

Jesus Christ came into this world for one purpose only, to die in our place, paying the price for our redemption and rectification with God. He did not come through the bloodline of Adam. But was sired directly through the Holy Spirit and born through a young Jewish virgin name Mary. Christ existed in Heaven as the second part of the Holy Trinity long before He came into this world as a baby to save us from the control of the devil and demons. For Adam’s sin gave the devil and his demons control over us. But they are nowhere near as powerful as God. No one is! God, our Creator, exists as three persons, God the Father (the most powerful of the Trinity), God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. God is not one person but a family of three separate individuals “For there are three that bear record in Heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one” (1 John 5:7 KJV). The Holy Ghost and Holy Spirit are the same Person. He is the third part of God’s Trinity. Unlike God the Father, who is also know as the Ancient of Days (Daniel 7:9-13) and God the Son (Revelation 1:9-18), the Holy Spirit does not have a solid body. But His Presence and power can be felt throughout an entire church or any location He chooses to appear. He is invisible, but people become aware of His Holy Presence. God the Father and God the Son are only in one place at a time. However, the Holy Spirit knows everything that happens in the universe and keeps Father and Son aware of it (Proverbs 15:3). So do God’s holy angels, who are always watching us and recording all that we do (Revelation 20:12).

If you want to know more about this subject, I suggest you read the Bible for yourself. I suggest the following versions, The New King James Version, The International Version, Today’s English Version (Good News Bible), The American Standard Bible, The New American Standard Bible, and the Contemporary English Version. Also, read the newsletter articles I have written on our website.

Question asked by - Emmanuel Idowu
Location - Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria
Question - Name 5 ministers in the Bible that education contributed to the success of their ministry.

Our Answer - The answer is none of them. The Bible implies that Moses (Deuteronomy 31:22), Daniel (Daniel 1:3-7), and Paul (Philippians 3:5) were the most educated. However, none of them gained such tremendous ministries as a result of their man-taught education. As Paul said, “For it is we who... worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3 NIV). With all his vast education, Paul said it added nothing to his ministry. He said, “...I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Philippians 3:8 KJV). In the New International Version the word “dung” is translated “rubbish.” Of course dung may be helpful in the compost pile, but little else.

God wants the glory in everything we do! And He gets no glory when some highly educated individual reaches a place of authority and influence. That’s why Paul told the Corinthian church “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: ’He catches the wise in their craftiness’; and again, ’The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.’ So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours” (1 Corinthians 3:19-21 NIV). The Corinthian church had been greatly influenced by Athens, which was a nearby city. The Athenians held human education in high esteem. So Paul was trying to get the Corinthians to understand that human education can be corrupted by the devil (Acts 20:29-30). “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12 NIV).

That’s why Paul told the Corinthians, “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him” (1 Corinthians 1:25-29 NIV).

God wants the glory! He does not want to give it to mankind. That’s why He picked shepherd boys like Joseph (Genesis 37:2) and David (1 Samuel 17:34) to be used in mighty ways through His Spirit. And Jesus chose uneducated fishermen like John and Peter, and a tax collector like Matthew (also known as Levy) to take the Gospel to the Jews. And Jesus Himself was a carpenter (Mark 6:3). That’s why, “When Jesus had finished these parables, He moved on from there. Coming to His hometown, He began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. ’Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?’ they asked” (Matthew 13:53-54 NIV).

Of course there have been some educated missionaries like Albert Schweitzer. But his education was used primarily for medical purposes. It was in addition to his missionary work. Even children can say amazing things when they speak through the Holy Spirit! For Jesus told His disciples what Power they would have. He never mentioned human education. He said, “...the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26 NIV). It’s not what we can do for God. It’s what God can do through us! Even an uneducated English house cleaner named Gladys Aylward had a tremendous ministry in China, through the Holy Spirit!

Question asked by - Juan Diaz
Location - El Monte, California
Question - What is the meaning of 1 Timothy 2:15 regarding the phrase “saved in childbearing” (KJV)? According to Ephesians 2:8 we are saved by grace.

Our Answer - The scripture you are asking about and the one right before it reads, “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety” (1 Timothy 2:14-15 KJV).

This in no way implies that a woman has to have a baby in order to be saved! It is referring to what happened in the Garden of Eden when Eve disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit. Eve was deceived but Adam was aware of what would happen. He knew that Eve’s sin would separate her from the Lord. And, it would seem, he did not want to be separated from Eve. You see, he loved her more than he loved God. Unfortunately, in our natural sinful state, we human beings tend to love the gifts of God more than the Giver. So the devil used Eve in order to get to Adam. For God put the seed of human life (semen) in the body of the man. The woman’s body didn’t contain any seed. It was the human incubator that would bring future generations of children into this world.

Our bodies were made from garden soil, the dust of the earth (see Genesis 2:7, 3:19). So childbirth could be compared to planting a seed in the garden. In order for it to grow into a healthy plant, the seed must be good, but the soil also has to be fertile. Therefore, due to Adam’s sin, his entire body, including the seed for all human generations, was contaminated with sin, dooming all of us to eternal separation from God. However, not all of Adam and Eve’s children were male. Baby girls would be born to them as well. They would grow up to be women capable of childbirth. And eventually, a young virgin named Mary would come into this world. So even though Adam’s sin came about due to Eve’s urging, it was also through the female gender that our salvation would come. If it had not been for the female sex we would have no hope of escaping our sin. For it was through the birth of the baby Jesus, born through the body of a woman, that our salvation would come from! For God put the seed of new, uncontaminated life into her body, through the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35). Her Son, Jesus Christ, is our one and only mediator between God and man (see 1 Timothy 2:5). Only He, can reconcile us to our Creator. Jesus said, “...I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6 NIV).

That’s what the Apostle Paul was talking about.

Question asked by - Abides
Location - Queensland, Australia
Question - I know we will be judged by Jesus on judgement day but I have read in Matthew Jesus said that the 12 disciples will also judge us is that correct?

Our Answer - I assume you are talking about the following scripture. “Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel’” (Matthew 19:28 NIV). If you are a Gentile, this does not apply to you at all. The twelve tribes of Israel were all Jewish, descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The twelve disciples were also Jewish.

The Jews were blessed by God more than any ancient people. They were the only ones in ancient times to love and serve the one and only true God. The Lord was always fighting for them against their pagan enemies. And the Jews would worship Him for a little while, then drift away from Him, into horrible sin, leaving their first love and following the ways of the pagans. The whole Old Testament is about God’s help and encouragement of the Jews, and their frequent drifting away from Him. Most of us have heard about how God freed the Jews from Egyptian bondage (see Exodus 3:1 thru 12:51), and even opened up the Red Sea for them to walk across on dry land (Exodus 15:1-13). Or how God used a little Jewish shepherd boy named David to slay a huge giant in the name of the Lord (1 Samuel 17:1-54).

There are too many examples in the Bible of God fighting for the Jewish people for me to list. However they also broke the Lord’s heart with their constant straying away from Him. The Lord warned them not to do this in scripture such as Isaiah 1:18-24 and Isaiah 5:1-13, where God uses metaphoric language to describe how disappointed and angry He was when, after His many blessings, the Jews constantly strayed away from Him. More examples of God’s blessings and the Jews straying can be found in Nehemiah chapter nine, Psalm 78:1-72, and Deuteronomy 32:15-22.

The point is, they of all people should have recognized their own Messiah when Christ came into this world. But instead, they rejected Him. This was prophesied by Isaiah, who wrote, “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted” (Isaiah 53:3-4 NIV). Can you imagine the pain God felt when the people He had loved and blessed the most would not even accept their own prophesied Redeemer! And Christ suffered so much for us! That’s why, after giving up hope of reaching the Jewish nation as a whole, God instructed Paul to take the message of the Gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46). For they would accept Him!

That’s why the Apostle John wrote of how God the Son existed in Heaven long before He came into this world as our Savior. John called Him the Word of God. He wrote how God’s Son was there at the time of creation, and says, “He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him” (John 1:11 NIV). In other words, Jesus came into this world as a Jew. But the Jewish people, as a nation, would not accept Him. However, twelve Jewish men did accept Him. They loved Him and served Him. They became His primary disciples. And most of them died for Him, often in agonizing ways. They remained true to Him even unto the end of their lives. So that’s what the scripture in Matthew 19:28 is all about! On judgment day, they will sit in judgment over all the Jewish leaders and their followers who rejected Him. For they remained faithful to Him, while the others didn’t.

Nevertheless, Jews that accept Christ as their Savior and Lord, will get to Heaven if they remain faithful till the end (Matthew 10:22, 24:13, 1 Corinthians 1:8, and Revelation 2:26). For they may not be among the twelve great Apostles, but they have remained faithful to the Lord. And there are a lot of Jews today who do accept Christ as their Messiah. They are a minority compared to the Jewish people as a whole, but they will still get into the Kingdom of God.

Question asked by - Prasoona
Location - Mangalagiri (Guntur District), India
Question - What is the difference between Satan and the devil?

Our Answer - They are the same person! Satan is his name. And the devil is his title.

The devil, whose name is Satan, was originally created by God as a powerful Heavenly angel. He was perfect in every way from the time he was created up until sin took root in his heart. His original name was “Lucifer.” That name only appears in the King James Version of the English Bible (Isaiah 14:12). In other translations the meaning of the word is translated. “Lucifer” means “morning star” and so that is how it is stated in the New International Version. The New American Version uses the term “day-star.” Another translation of the word “Lucifer” is “light bearer.” It is sort of a title. And probably refers to a specific position of authority. Angels, are also referred to as “stars” in the Bible (Job 38:7).

The Bible seems to hint that specific angels have jurisdiction over certain nations. Examples of this are found in Daniel 10:13 and 10:20, where they are referred to as “princes.” By the way, some people are confused about angels. They see pictures or paintings of baby angels, or angels portrayed as women. However, there are only two forms of intelligent life that God ever created, the angels and mankind. The angels are all in the male gender. And they were created individually, not through procreation, as humans were. Mark 12:25 tells us that they do no marry or have children. They remain as they have always been, as adult males.

The angels were created long before mankind came into existence (Job 38:4-7). And, just as we humans were given freedom to choose whether to serve God or not, so were the angels. God didn’t want a race of robots to be programmed. He wanted beings capable of independent thinking that He could associate with on an intelligent basis. All the angels were given certain talents, just as we humans have. Some were great artists, some good orators, etc. And they were given various degrees of power and prestige. The Bible implies that Lucifer was the most powerful and honored angel of all. I believe that mostly likely he was ruler in the spirit world, over planet earth. And that a population of angels lived on our planet prior to the creation of mankind. That would explain the fact that scientists believe that the earth is very old, and that there was more than one ice age. It also explains why the bones of dinosaurs and fossils have been found in the earth.

There seems to be a great gap in time between verse one and verse two which says, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:1-2 KJV). Now we know that God is Light (see 1 John 1:5) and that all He creates is perfect and full of some kind of light. Even the stars give us light at night! The earth is full of water. And verse two tells us that the Holy Spirit moved over the water. Why did He do that? I believe it was because Lucifer had once ruled over the earth. After revealing that he thought himself equal or greater than God, I think the Lord cursed him with huge animals such as dinosaurs and made the earth unpleasant to live in, finally flooding it with water. Without the Presence of God there was no light on the earth, and without light, there was no heat either. And somehow, it seems that the Lord created such a disruption of normal functions that the earth became squishy and shapeless. Consequently the water that existed froze.

However, when God remade the earth for mankind, it was made up of recycled material. And, since “...the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters... God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Genesis 1:2-3 NIV). The light defrosted the earth and the Lord spent the remaining five days enthusiastically putting His love into making the earth a perfect and joyous habitation in which mankind could live. Now, since the original inhabitants were angels, many of which became fallen angels (also called demons), the earth needed to be repopulated. So, the Lord told Adam and Eve, “...Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth...” (Genesis 1:28 KJV). The word “replenish” implies that some kind of life was there previously.

Now what led up to all of this. Here we go back to Lucifer again. He had been perfect in every way from the time God created him until pride began to form in his heart (Isaiah 14:12-15) and he became jealous of the power and authority of God. The Lord was the only One in the universe more powerful than Lucifer. Therefore, as a result of Lucifer’s influence over one third of God’s heavenly angels, “...there was war in Heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in Heaven” (Revelation 12:7-8 NIV). So, what happened, and who was the dragon? “The great dragon was hurled down--that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him” (Revelation 12:9 NIV).

As a result of the war in Heaven, God changed Lucifer’s name to “Satan.” And Lucifer’s position was no longer that of a powerful Heavenly angel, but now as God’s chief enemy, known as “the devil.” He was the one who entered into the body of a snake in the Garden of Eden and was able to tempt Eve (Genesis 3:1-7). God also changed the position of all the angels who had mutinied with Satan. That’s when they became known as “demons.” In case you are wondering how these beings, who had flesh and bone bodies as angels, were able to enter into the bodies of humans and animals (see Mark 5:2-13), part of the punishment they received from the Lord was the loss of their solid bodies. God said to Satan, “Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings. By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries [bodies]. So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching” (Ezekiel 28:17-18 NIV). There was a great trial in Heaven and the fallen angels (demons), who mutinied with Satan also received the same fate. Their bodies were totally incinerated by God while they stood there before Him!

That’s who Satan, the devil, is. Sadly, Adam and Eve, God’s first human creations, chose to believe the devil, and disobey God. That’s how sin came into the human race. And it is why we must repent of our sins to God alone (Matt. 6:9), not the priest or any other human being. Only Jesus, God’s Son, paid the price to redeem our souls from the clutches of Satan (1 Tim. 2:5-6). For Satan still controls the lives of all who have not repented (Ephesians 2:1-3) and accepted Christ as their Savior (John 1:11-13). As believers in Christ, He Is our only Savior, our only protector, and our only hope of ever getting to Heaven when we die (John 14:6). “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12 NIV).

Question asked by - Moni
Location - Chennai (capital city in the Indian state of Tamil, Nadu.)
Question - What is the name of existing oldest city right from Abraham’s period till now with same name?

Our Answer - While some archeologists state that Jericho is the oldest city in the world, I see no evidence in the Bible that the city existed at the time of Abraham. However, Hebron, located in Israel, did (Genesis 13:18). And it is still a very active city today.

Question - I have noticed that you use the Jewish star on your newsletters with a cross inside of it. Are you Jewish? Please tell me what the star with the cross means?

Our Answer - No, we are not Jewish, but, as Christians, we owe a tremendous debt to the Jewish people. This is because it was through them that our Savior, Jesus Christ, came into this world. The Bible, both Old Testament and New Testament, were written by Hebrews (Jews). Moreover, it was a Jew named Paul, formerly Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9:4), who brought Christianity to the Gentiles when the Jews, his own people, rejected Christ (see Isaiah 53:3, John 1:11, and Acts 13:46).

The greatest examples of godliness we see in scripture are Jewish prophets of Old, like Daniel, Joseph, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Hezekiah, Matthew, Bartholomew, and many others. Also, women of faith like Sarah (Genesis 17:15), Deborah (Judges 4:4), Huldah (2 Kings 22:14), Ruth (book of Ruth), Esther (book of Esther), Anna (Luke 2:36), and others. Without the faith and dedication of Jewish people like them, we may never have been given the opportunity for so great a salvation.

For the name “Christ” means Messiah. In Old Testament times God’s people didn’t know God the Son by His earthly name Jesus, but they worshipped Him as the great “I Am” who spoke to Moses by the burning bush (Genesis 15:1, Exodus 3:13-14, and John 8:58).

The Cross within the “Star of David” on our newsletters is meant to signify the union of the Old Testament prophesy of the Messiah and promised Redeemer (Job 19:25 and Isaiah 54:5) with the New Testament reality of His coming, ministry, death, and resurrection. The Old Testament prophesies the events of the New Testament, and the New Testament fulfills the Old Testament (Matthew 5:17).

Our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, was a direct descendent from the royal line of King David. The “Star of David” was the emblem of David’s kingdom. Therefore, the Cross of Jesus is placed inside the “Star of David” in order to convey the message that He who died for us on Calvary came from royal blood (see Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-38). Moreover, since Christ was and is the Son of the Living God, His royalty was not just earthly, but Heavenly as well.

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