My boyfriend of two years is having a very hard time, and I am worried about him slipping into depression.  He is upset because he lives at home with his verbally and emotionally abusive father whom has been handicapped for the majority of his life and strung out on pain pills.  No matter how hard he tries, he cannot escape his father’s anger.  He is an amazing man but has begun to believe that because he was brought up by his father, he cannot succeed in life.

To make it worse, we are both newly saved, and this conflict with his dad is taking him away from this amazing blessing and making him forget how important forgiveness is.  He doesn’t see how he can forgive his father when he is constantly hurting him.  I was wondering if you could please help me find some words of inspiration from the Bible because although he has lost it in himself, he still has faith in the Bible.  Please help me show him that he is his own person and deserves to live a happy, healthy life.  He is an amazing person with an amazing heart, and he has been smothered by the hate of his father.

Sincerely,
Souly Concerned

Dear Souly Concerned,

Many times the burdens that we face when we first begin to obey God are the very hardest.  Jesus compared it to seed falling upon different types of soil.  The seed is the Word of God, and we are the soil.  Sometimes people are rocky soil, and the Word can’t take root because we can’t handle the trials of temptation.  Sometimes the soil is full of thorns, and the Word gets choked out by the cares and riches of this life.  Sometimes the seed falls beside the road, and the devil snatches the Word from our hearts before we even have a chance to grow.  And sometimes, the soil is rich and fertile, and the Word takes root and grows into a mighty plant (Lk 8:11-15).  You and your boyfriend are in the earliest stages of development.  Now is the time when you are most likely to be crushed and the Word snatched from your hearts and minds.  The devil is a roaring lion, just waiting to devour souls (1 Pet 5:8).

You don’t have to have great parents to be godly people.  The gospel routinely sets children against their parents… Christ said it would (Matt 10:34-36).  If Christ said that being a christian would make people fight against their upbringing, He also knows that it is possible to be victorious in that fight.  No temptation has overtaken you that others haven’t been through before (1 Cor 10:13).  You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you (Php 4:13).  You and your boyfriend need to be studying God’s Word and growing like babies longing for milk (1 Pet 2:2).  We recommend you continue to ask questions, continue to compare what people say to the Scriptures, and never accept anything less than Bible proof for everything you do.  You may find interest in listening to classes from our congregation at sermons.mvchurchofchrist.org.  God can do anything if we trust in His Word.

I have read where there will be a cross in the sky.  Some people say you are to go into your house and light a bless candle.  I could not find that in the Bible.  I found where it says in Matt 24:29 the three days of darkness.  I also found in Acts 2:21 that everyone that calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  Please shed some holy light.  God Bless.

Sincerely,
Verse Vexed

Dear Verse Vexed,

To be fair, we aren’t exactly sure what you are asking, so we will handle your three concerns (cross in the sky, days of darkness, and calling on the name of the Lord) separately.

There is nothing in the Bible that talks about seeing a cross in the sky.  There is also nothing in the Bible that says you should light a candle for spiritual purposes.  Anything that you have heard along those lines should be totally disregarded as silliness and superstition.

Matt 24:29 mentions the “sun being turned into darkness”, which is a figurative phrase used throughout the Bible to describe “a dark time” or a time of great trial for a nation.  The same language is used to describe the destruction of Babylon (Isa 13:1, Isa 13:10).  In the case of Matthew chapter twenty-four, the tribulation that is being discussed is the fall of Jerusalem.  Jesus was discussing with his disciples how Jerusalem was soon to be destroyed, and not one stone of the temple would be left unturned (Matt 24:1-3).  All of the events that Jesus discussed with them in chapter twenty-four took place in 70 ad.  Titus, a Roman general, encircled Jerusalem and destroyed it.  Well over one million people died in the destruction of Jerusalem.  It truly was a dark time.

Last but not least, Acts 2:19-21 is talking about the change from a Jewish reign to the Christian era.  The same type of figurative language is used.  That type of language describes a tumultuous time when a nation will be destroyed… and another nation shall take its place.  In this case, it is describing how Christianity would take the place of Judaism.  This is not describing some future event because Peter very clearly states that these prophecies were being fulfilled as he spoke (Acts 2:15-17).

None of these verses are dealing with an end-of-days prophecy.  They each spoke of events that have already come to pass.

I was baptized in a Baptist Christian church; currently I am converting to Catholicism.  I was wondering, the nun that runs the program said my baptism in the Baptist church should be fine as long as it was with water and the spirit.  I was wondering if you could tell me if that is the way I was baptized, or am I going to have to be re-baptized into the Catholic church?  Thank you.

Sincerely,
Between Faiths

Dear Between Faiths,

If we understand you correctly, you want to know if your baptism in a false religion will qualify you for conversion to another false religion.  We really couldn’t say; we try and provide Bible answers here.  Neither Catholic nor Baptist doctrine is our specialty.  You’ll notice the Bible never refers to God’s people as Baptists or Catholics – God’s people are known as christians (Acts 11:26).  God doesn’t teach that all denominations are acceptable.  In fact, God hates denominationalism.  There is only one church pattern (Eph 4:4)… one church pattern that follows the New Testament’s teachings.  Many say that they serve God, but saying that you serve God is not the same as being a christian (Matt 7:21-23).  Christianity rejects the traditions of men (Mk 7:8).  If you want to serve God and go to heaven, you have to reject Baptist creeds and Catholic catechisms – no more listening to those who forbid marriage and tell you to abstain from certain foods (1 Tim 4:2-3).  Seek God through the purity of His Word and His Word only (Jhn 14:15).  Read “What Must I Do To Be Saved” to see what the Bible requires of us for salvation.  Don’t accept groups that pick and choose what verses they want to hear and avoid the rest – they pervert the gospel (Gal 1:6-7).  The sum of God’s Word is truth (Ps 119:160).  Accept no substitute.

My question is in regard to taking fertility medicine to conceive a child.  I have a hormonal imbalance that makes me have difficulty conceiving.  I took medicine after trying to conceive for over a year.  It worked for me, and I had a beautiful son.  I feel like God sent him to me, and he is a blessing, but in the back of my mind, I wonder if God thinks it was okay for me to take the medicine to have him.  I just want to know… is it okay to take fertility drugs to conceive a child in the eyes of the Lord?

Sincerely,
Baby Boom

Dear Baby Boom,

God condones taking medication for our health problems.  Paul told Timothy to take some wine for his stomach (1 Tim 5:23).  The sick were told to have the elders pray over them and anoint them with oil – oil was used as a medicine (Jas 5:14).

We know that medicine is perfectly appropriate when you are sick.  Though some feel uncomfortable using fertility drugs (and you should never do anything that goes against your conscience – 1 Tim 1:5), the argument can be made that fertility medication is just like using aspirin or any other medical technique to improve human health and body function.  Enjoy the blessing of your baby boy, and thank God for him (Col 4:2).

My mom died two weeks ago today due to an illness she had… alcohol and prescription pill abuse; she was sick with this illness for eight years.  The doctor said she took a lot of acetaminophen which caused her liver to fail and caused her to go into a coma.  On her death certificate, it says it was suicide.  My question is: did my mom go to hell for an illness?

Sincerely,
Ill At Heart

Dear Ill At Heart,

We here at AYP cannot and will not make a judgment on whether someone did or did not go to hell.  All we can do is tell you that sin brings spiritual death (Rom 6:23).  In order to go to heaven, we must have our sins washed away in the blood of Christ (1 Pet 1:18-19).  It is only through faith in Christ that we can have salvation (Jhn 14:6).  Read “What Must I Do To Be Saved” for exactly what it takes to become a christian and have your sins washed away.

We wish to express our deepest and most heartfelt condolences to you in this time of sorrow.  Words cannot express the heartache and turmoil that a child has when their mother dies – especially under such tumultuous circumstances.  Find comfort in the fact that God does not make mistakes; wherever your mother ends up – it will be decided by a righteous and loving God (Ps 116:5).  The best thing that you can do is to turn to that loving God in your time of sorrow, so you can be sure that when you die, there will be no doubts about where you end up.

I read Richard Dawkins book The God Delusion, and having doubts, on my own made the switch from christian to agnostic.  I had been accepted into Christ during my youth and later in my life came closer to Christ, enforcing my beliefs.

After reading this book, as I said, I had made the switch and confessed to both my parents and a few friends that I didn’t believe in the Bible.

My parents, as I would have guessed, cannot stand the fact that I denied Christ.

Now, I am having doubts, feeling that I just lost my soul and that I am going to hell for the mistake I made.  (I made this choice before, once or twice, but felt God forgave me and that He was still drawing me closer.)

Now I am unsure what to believe – people or the Bible – and what my faith is.  I want to come back to being a christian, but I am afraid there is no use as Jesus said, “Whoever denies Me, I will deny to My Father.”

Is there really no hope?  Am I lost for good?

Sincerely,
Soul In Despair

Dear Soul In Despair,

Yes, there is hope, and no, you aren’t lost for good.  Your question has two parts to it.

1. Can I be forgiven of denying God?
2. Does God really exist, or is Richard Dawkins right?

You can be forgiven of denying God.  Paul was forgiven of denying Jesus (1 Cor 15:9-10).  Peter denied Jesus (Matt 26:75), and he was forgiven.  Now is the time to repent and begin anew.  We recommend you read “What Must I Do To Be Saved” to learn about what it takes to obey God.

The second part of your question has a little more depth to it.  The short answer is, yes, God does exist.  We have several articles that you might want to read.  Read through our articles in the EVIDENCES category of the archive; almost all of them pertain to your situation and will reinforce your belief in God.  We also recommend that you rent or buy “Expelled” by Ben Stein.  That movie has an interview with Richard Dawkins where Dawkins admits that he has no idea where life came from.  He even guesses it might be aliens that put life on this planet!  That film does a good job of exposing the bias and prejudices that men like Richard Dawkins have.  And last, but not certainly not least, we highly recommend that you go to our congregation’s main website (www.mvchurchofchrist.org) and listen to a series of lessons preached by a geologist, Dr. Don Patton, on Science and Creation.  Every one of those sources should help to reinforce that evolutionists don’t have the answers; God’s Word does.