Hello again, and may God continue to bless you all.  My question is concerning a trend in the Lord’s church and its consequences.  I am having trouble concerning fellowshipping with the denominational world.  I don’t believe it is a good idea for the Lord’s church’s members to be thrown up together with speakers that are not Christians… i.e. at Christian youth rallies, inviting them in during Bible study, or holding breakfast with them to show our support for each other.  We are to be in the world, NOT of the world.  I think it shows an acceptance of their false doctrine, and waters us down… not to mention confusing our own on where we stand and why.

I don’t hate the sinner, just the sin, but we need to draw the line and say, “That’s it.”  Thanks a lot.

Sincerely,
Influenced

Dear Influenced,

There is nothing wrong with studying with people from the denominational world in hopes of converting them to the one true church of Jesus Christ (Eph 4:4-6), but it is dead wrong to support false teachers.

2 Jhn 1:10 says that we shouldn’t even give a greeting to those that are false teachers.  We cannot in any way confuse people by supporting the denominational world.  The denominations have left the basic teachings of Christ, and these religious leaders are destroying people’s souls.  They nullify God’s laws in order to keep their traditions (Mk 7:9).  Jude warned that false teachers are like hidden rocks that sink ships and shepherds that fail to protect the flock (Jude 1:12).  God’s church should have no communion with the doctrines of demons (1 Tim 4:1).

     I just wanted to say that I’m not an atheist, and I don’t want to challenge religious views or anything.  I am curious about Christianity and have a puzzling question.  Since I currently don’t believe in any sort of religion and am unsure whether or not there is a god, if I died right now, would I automatically go to hell just because I haven’t accepted the Lord as my savior?  I have morals and am generally a good person, so how could God send me to hell to burn forever? Is He really that cruel?  Thank you in advance to whoever reads this; I appreciate your time.
Sincerely,
Agnostic

Dear Agnostic,

Jesus is a very exclusive Savior.  He very boldly claims, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no comes to the Father, but by Me.” (Jhn 14:6).  If you don’t have a life of faith built upon following Christ, you won’t be saved.  We aren’t saved by being good people (everybody thinks they are a good person); we are saved by being in Christ (Jhn 10:9).  That may sound harsh, but let’s talk about the evidence that God provides to make it possible for a deist to turn into a christian.

First of all, all faith is built upon some sort of evidence.  That evidence may be historical data (like when you trust traffic lights to work properly because they have statistically done so in the past), it may be personal experience (i.e. when you trust a friend because they have shown good judgment and loyalty in the past), or circumstantial evidence (like when a jury convicts a murderer based upon the evidence presented to them – even when there weren’t eyewitnesses at the scene of the crime).

Your belief that there is some sort of Supreme Being is probably based upon some sort of basic evidence from the world that you see around you.  Rom 1:20 says that God has provided evidence of His existence in the creation around us.  From galaxies to atoms, this world shows the signs of design.  A design requires a Designer.  God’s handiwork is seen in the finely-tuned craftsmanship of the human eye, just like Nikon’s handiwork is shown in the craftsmanship of their cameras.  You’ve done well to acknowledge His existence in a general way… but we would beg you to keep digging deeper.

After looking at the general evidence of God’s existence, it is time to look at the specific evidence of the Bible’s supernatural origins.  The Bible is a unique book; it is a book that no human could ever write.  We would encourage you to read “Who Wrote The Bible?” for a comprehensive list of reasons why the Bible is a book that only God could have written.  Once we begin to see the evidence for the Bible’s divine origins, we have no choice but to ask ourselves, “Will I follow God’s Word?”.

God expects us to follow Jesus, and we stand condemned if we don’t, because He has given us plenty of evidence that Jesus is the one and only true Son of God.  We would encourage you to follow the evidence – it will lead you straight to Jesus the Christ.

     The first lady (the title for our pastor’s wife) sent out an e-mail to the leaders of the church containing a grocery, toiletry, and cleaning supply list which details the first family’s needs for the month of November.  The leaders passed out the list to the entire congregation last Sunday.  They want everyone in the congregation to contribute to all fifteen items each week.  There are fifteen items on the list for week one, fifteen items for week two, and fifteen items for week three.  On week four, they are asking for a monetary donation of at least ten dollars from each member.  We have one hundred members.  Should we comply with this list?  The pastor and his wife are well-off.  They have three luxury cars and a four-bedroom house with a two-car garage… while most of the people in the congregation, including myself, can’t afford food and have to go to the food bank each month.  They told us that 100% of the items will go to the first family and that God will bless us for doing so. Please advise.

Sincerely,
Church Mouse

Dear Church Mouse,

We get buckets of questions from people asking for help because every church they find seems to only care about money… it’s horrid what people have done in the name of religion.  Unfortunately, there is nothing new under the sun (Eccl 1:9).  Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for the same greedy behavior (Lk 20:46-47).

In the end, you want to be a Christian – not a Baptist, Methodist, Calvinist, Lutheran, etc.  Baptist churches only make Baptists, Methodist churches only make Methodists, and so on.  You need to find a church that belongs to Christ, not men.  This “first family” has warped and twisted the Scriptures to make religion all about them… and not about God.  Such people have a very strict judgment awaiting them (Jas 3:1).  We would be happy to help you find a faithful church that will teach the Bible and leave all the manmade garbage out.  E-mail us at askyourpreacher@mvchurchofchrist.org if you would like help finding a peaceful, faithful, and godly church to attend in your area.

    If you practiced witchcraft just for fun, and you’re a teenager, are you automatically going to hell, and if so, can you change it?

Sincerely,
Bewitched

Dear Bewitched,

As long as we are living, there is time to change our lives.  Astrology, mysticism, séances, horoscopes, palm reading, witchcraft, 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 practiced 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).  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).

You mentioned that you did it just for fun and that you didn’t realize the implications.  Many sins are that way, but that doesn’t excuse the sin.  If you are driving down the highway and fail to note the speed limit… ignorance won’t stop the police officer from giving you a ticket.  When mankind makes choices in ignorance, those choices still affect us (1 Pet 1:14).  The way to receive forgiveness is to turn to the Lord, and He will give you forgiveness.  Read “Five Steps To Salvation” for exactly what it takes to be forgiven.

     My friend invited me to go a Jewish church, and I feel kind of funny about going since I am a Christian, and I don’t know anything about their type of services and what they believe.  Should I go?  Don’t they follow the first five books of the Bible and don’t believe in Jesus?  I thought we weren’t under the Laws of Moses in the Old Testament since Christ came.

Sincerely,
Not A Jew

Dear Not A Jew,

There isn’t anything wrong with visiting a Jewish church as long as you understand that they are lost and need our help.  Paul used to visit the synagogues to preach Jesus to them (Acts 18:4).  The Jews are not Jesus’ chosen people; the church is.  Jesus says that Christians are His royal priesthood and chosen race (1 Pet 2:9).  Under the Old Testament, the Jewish people were God’s nation (Deut 7:6).  The Jewish nation was warned that if they rejected God’s Son, they would be rejecting God, and God would make a new nation out of those who believed in Christ (Jesus explained this to the Jews in the parable of the vineyard – Lk 20:9-19).  The vast majority of Jews didn’t believe in Jesus, and therefore, they never became a part of Jesus’ kingdom.  Jesus’ chosen people are those that love Him and keep His commandments (Jhn 14:15).  The Jewish people rejected God because they decided to keep their traditions instead of accepting God’s Son (Mk 7:9).

What is British Israelism?

Sincerely,
Yankee

Dear Yankee,

British Israelism is a small, fringe, religious movement based around the idea that Europeans are the direct descendants of the ten destroyed tribes of Israel.  This has no basis in Bible fact and has no bearing on actual Christianity.  After all, we are told that today those who turn to Christ, whatever their lineage and background, are God’s people (Col 3:11, Gal 3:27-28).