I have a friend who visits an astrologer or “psychic” and seems to put great stock in what this person says. I think it is a waste of time and money, but is it sinful? How about reading your horoscope?

Sincerely,
Say It Ain’t Séance

Dear Say It Ain’t Séance,

Astrology, mysticism, séances, horoscopes, palm reading, etc. are all sinful. God condemned that behavior in the Old Testament (Isa 47:13-14). King Saul was put to death by God for seeking a woman that practices divining (1 Chr 10:13). Any Jew that was found visiting a ‘medium’ or ‘spiritist’ would be cut off from His people (Lev 20:6). In the New Testament, astrology is just as roundly condemned. Paul cast out an evil spirit that was fortune-telling (Acts 16:16-18). When someone became a christian, they confessed sorcery as evil, and many of them burned their books of the magical arts (Acts 19:18-20). If we want wisdom, we should seek it from God (Jas 1:5). All astrology, horoscopes, and the like are wrong.

Lucifer was created perfect by God.  What is perfect?  If Lucifer can fall from perfection in the standard that God sets, can God also fall?  Job, another being of perfection, was consumed by the workings of Lucifer, even when he didn’t know about him.

Do good and evil exist?  No man is free from sin.  Where do I find answers in the book of tainted writers?

Sincerely,
A Lot On My Mind

Dear A Lot On My Mind,

Some questions are worded a bit like one giant tangent. We have to break this down into parts to give you a solid answer.

1. The Bible isn’t a book by tainted writers. The Bible is divinely inspired by God Himself (1 Cor 2:12-13). See this post for a detailed answer to that question.
2. Job wasn’t consumed by Satan (I’m assuming you mean Satan because ‘Lucifer’ isn’t a name used in the Bible). Job was tempted by Satan (Job 2:6-7). Job was a godly and righteous man, not sinless, but faithful and upright (Job 2:3).
3. We don’t know Satan’s origins, but it is fair to assume He was created by God because everything was created by God (Col 1:16). Since God only does good and calls christians to imitate Him (3 Jhn 1:11), Satan must have at some point stopped being the good creation that God had intended for him to be. This isn’t too far of a stretch because the Bible talks about how some angels that were created for good, fell away from God (2 Pet 2:4). Apparently the angels have, or had, at some point the ability to choose between being evil and good.
4. “What is perfect?” Perfect means complete or whole. When something is perfect, that means it is as it was intended to be. When God made man, He made us perfect (Gen 1:31), and part of that perfection was the ability to choose between right and wrong. The fact that we often choose to do the wrong thing doesn’t mean we weren’t created the way God intended.
5. God cannot fall or fail. He promises that He will never change from being good (Jas 1:17).
6. Yes, good and evil exist. As we learn from the Scriptures, we get better and better at discerning between good and evil (Heb 5:14).

I have been separated for almost nine years. My husband left me and is in another relationship. Recently, he attacked me in front of our eight year old and fractured my nose. I am filing for divorce now. I met a man in a Christian chat who is also separated, and his wife is seeing another man. He teaches youth in New Zealand as well lecturing in a Christian College there. He visited me once in March while in the USA. He now wants to come back in November to visit again. He plans on divorcing his wife in a little over a year, as their laws require a two year separation prior to divorce. Our relationship seems so godly since we haven’t “sinned” – but I know I need counseling. I am seeking advice through you because I haven’t told my pastor due to fear of being rejected by the church. Please help.

Sincerely,
Seeking To Be Faithful

Dear Seeking To Be Faithful,

Your situation is a unique twist on an old problem, but the answer still remains the same – wait until you are both not married. It sounds like you both have legitimate reasons for seeking divorce from your current spouses. The only reason God ever allows for divorce is when adultery has occurred (Matt 5:32); sadly both of your spouses have done that. However, you are not officially divorced yet. Though it is unlikely that you will reconcile with your current spouses, you are still married. If you begin dating, you will be dating a married man, and he will be dating a married woman. That looks bad to everyone else, thus tainting your relationship in the eyes of others (Rom 12:17). Furthermore, it doesn’t just look bad – it is bad.

Since you have an eight-year-old, as a parent, you understand how quickly time goes by. In a year and a half, both of your lives will have changed dramatically, and you will be in an appropriate situation to decide whether to date each other. Even you admit that you need counseling as you go through a very difficult divorce. Your life and mind are not in a good position to be entering the dating world even if it were appropriate. There is a time for everything under the sun; now is a time to focus on picking up the pieces… not building new relationships (Eccl 3:1-8).

I am currently engaged to the woman I know I will spend the rest of my life with, but her and I are unaware of the limits we have sexually.  Since we are going to be married and truly have no desire to be with anyone else, is there anything in the Bible that says we shouldn’t be able to have sex?

Sincerely,
Can’t Wait To Be Married

Dear Can’t Wait To Be Married,

There is a lot in the Bible that says you shouldn’t have sex until you are married. Gen 2:24 shows that marriage is the point where you are allowed to become one flesh. 1 Cor 7:2 points out that it is considered fornication unless you are married. If you sleep together before marriage, it is wrong.

Since you are truly committed to each other, then commit to waiting until you are married. Otherwise, find yourself a Justice of the Peace and get married now. If you have to choose between waiting to marry while being consumed by lust and getting married a little earlier but being legitimate in the eyes of God – get married (1 Cor 7:9).

How should Christians view the recent unrest in Iran? I know the Bible says we are supposed to honor those in authority, but does this apply even to rulers who are over another nation? Is it okay to root for the rebels?

Going further, is it okay to take action to aid the protesters in Iran? I’ve seen some people encouraging others to use the Internet to provide alternate ways for the Iranians to communicate despite the government’s censorship efforts. Is this something a Christian can participate in?

Sincerely,
Rebel Alliance

Dear Rebel Alliance,

The issue you bring up is one without a clear and easy answer, but in general, yes, it would be okay to root for the rebels and even to aid them. The Bible makes it clear that we must show respect for the government authorities that we are under (1 Pet 2:13-15). 1 Pet 2:17 says that we should “honor the king”, which would imply the king that you are under the authority of, not necessarily every king or ruler. You still need to speak well of rulers and treat them with respect because they are placed in authority by God (Rom 13:1).

The fact is, it would be impossible to be in subjection to every ruler and government because those governments often contradict each other. Soldiers are a perfect example of this. When a soldier fights in a war against another country, he is directly opposing the other government’s authority while upholding his own ruler’s wishes. Therefore, if you are an American on American soil, you aren’t subject to Iran’s ruling powers. The only exception would be if you were to visit Iran (or any country for that matter), you would be subject to its rules and regulations as a visitor of that nation. Until then, feel free to oppose the politics of another country as long as your own nation allows it.

Over the years, I have downloaded music off of the internet for my family and myself.  I know that within the past few years that the laws have gotten stricter on that subject.  I am not sure how many songs I have that would be consider “not legal” due to all of the rules.  Also, I know that years ago almost everyone would use tape recorders to record music off of the radio, and no one really ever said anything about that.  I was thinking of deleting everything that I have. I do not want to break God’s law, but the more I think about it, I know that it would be near impossible to figure out what would be “legal” and what would not be.  I hate to lose my songs that I grew up on.  I was thinking that I would just not download any more unless I was sure that it was legal and just keep what I have now.  Is that okay?  I am so confused because I also have a bad case of “OCD” that makes me think about things too much.  I want to do what God wants. Would God really want me to delete everything or just be careful from now on and keep what I have because I would not be able to separate the legal from the non-legal?  Also, with the way laws are, what is legal today will not be legal tomorrow, so it is like a never-ending battle keeping up with it.  I don’t care about the law of this world; I only care about God’s law.

Sincerely,
Soundly Confused

Dear Soundly Confused,

Pirated music is definitely illegal, and you are right in being concerned about the morality of it. If you were stealing the CDs from a retail store, you would return them no matter how much work it took. We must keep in mind that just because it is more socially acceptable to steal music through online sites, that doesn’t make it any less of a moral issue.

The first and most important thing is that you steal no more (Eph 4:28). You have already committed to this, and it is commendable. After that, you must deal with the rest of your music collection in a way that allows you to feel comfortable legally and have a clear conscience. If you have any songs that you know are illegal – delete them. This also means that if someone makes you aware at a later date that some of your music is pirated, you should be ready to delete it then. Take the attitude of Zacchaeus who was ready to make restitution for his past wrongs whenever possible (Lk 19:8). It is true that government regulations are always changing, but we are still bound by them (Rom 13:1-2).

You also mentioned that you are “OCD” on this subject. That is probably a sign that your conscience is bothered by you having this music. If you can’t do something in faith, it is sin (Rom 14:23). It is very important that we keep a clear conscience in all that we do (Acts 23:1). If you are bothered by the music collection, it is better to delete it all and suffer a loss than to keep it (Matt 18:8-9). It may feel like a drastic choice, but it would be well worth the loss of both your legal and illegal music if it purified your conscience (1 Pet 2:19).