Who is the one who saw Lot’s wife turn into a pillar of salt?  If they looked back, would they too not of turned to salt?

Sincerely,
Pepper Person

Dear Pepper Person,

The story of Lot’s wife turning into a pillar of salt is recorded in Gen 19:26.  The Bible never tells us who saw her turn into a pillar of salt, but it may have been Lot’s daughters who were also fleeing the city (Gen 19:16).  Lot’s daughters could have been standing behind their mother when she turned back and looked at the city – something she was expressly commanded not to do (Gen 19:17).  Either that or they may have returned later to see her frozen as a pillar of salt.  The Bible isn’t specific about who saw the event, but there are numerous plausible answers.

What day is truly the Sabbath day?

Sincerely,
Sabbatarian

Dear Sabbatarian,

Saturday is the Sabbath day… but christians don’t have to worry about keeping the Sabbath.  The word ‘sabbath’ means ‘rest’.  The Sabbath day was a day that the nation of Israel was told to rest, stop working, and make holy to the Lord (Ex 31:15).  The Sabbath was part of the Old Testament law – a law that christians are no longer under (Gal 3:23-25).  We are specifically told not to let anyone bind the Sabbath on us (Col 2:16).  Christians worship Christ on the first day of the week – Sunday (Acts 20:7, 1 Cor 16:1-2).  We are not bound by the strict rules of avoiding all work like the Jews were, but we are told to treat Sunday as “the Lord’s day” (Rev 1:10).

My wife and I attend a church that is some twenty-plus miles from our neighboring community.  We have been there almost twenty years.  We both serve faithfully every Sunday.  Our church is very active in its own community, and there are plenty of churches in our neighborhood that we may be useful in serving at, but, quite frankly, I feel stuck (to be honest).  Here is my question: I’ve heard people in the body of Christ say “You can’t leave this or that church IF God has not released you yet”.  Other than what Hebrews 10:25 says, is a comment like that supported biblically?

Sincerely,
Stuck

Dear Stuck,

Heb 10:25 says that you need to regularly attend a faithful congregation, but it doesn’t say anything about where that congregation needs to be.  Rom 16:1-2 gives the example of Phoebe, who used to worship in Cenchrae and then moved to Rome.  It is necessary for any congregation you attend to be well-grounded in the truth (1 Tim 3:15), but the location is simply not important.  You might read our posts “Finding A Church” and “Down With Denominationalism” to help you in your search for a congregation near you.  There is no reason you need to attend a specific congregation when another faithful one is closer.

I dream about things before they happen.  And I have seen people after they have passed on since I was a little girl.

Is this looked at as bad, unnatural, or evil?

Sincerely,
Speaker For The Dead

Dear Speaker For The Dead,

It is looked at as lying.  God specifically condemns all forms of the dark arts (Lev 20:6) because such practices are idolatry and rebellion against Him (1 Sam 15:23).  Throughout the ages, there have always been people that have claimed to be able to perform supernatural feats, such as telling the future… and they all have been proven to be frauds.  If you could really tell the future, you wouldn’t be sending the question into this website – you would be on the five o’clock news.  Follow the example of the converts in Acts 19:19 that burned up all their books of the magical arts and wholly and completely turned to serve the Lord with honest hearts.

To All Our Loyal Readers,

It has been almost nine months since we flipped the switch and went live with AskYourPreacher.  In that time, we have answered hundreds of e-mails privately and publicly, braved the storms of technical issues, enjoyed the blessings of your kind words, been able to connect people to faithful churches around the globe, heard reports of multiple baptisms, and made some truly lasting friendships.  For all of this, we thank you and praise God.

Today, we celebrate a thrilling milestone of having posted our 500^th answer.  Thank you for the journey.  We are humbled and thankful for the ride this far and excited for all the great days ahead.  If any good has been done, the credit goes to God (1 Cor 3:7).

If we could ask one thing, it would be that you keep reading and sending in your questions.  You never know what life may be touched because you had the courage to ask for a Bible answer and allow us to post it for all to see.  After receiving all of your wonderful questions, more than ever, we are convinced that there is a Bible answer for every question.

With Deepest Thanks,

The AYP Team

If God loves everyone, why does He send people to hell?

Sincerely,
Concerned For Souls

Dear Concerned For Souls,

God doesn’t want anyone to go to hell (Eze 33:11), but He gave us free will, and He respects our choices. Heaven and hell are the two eternal destinations of the human soul. Every human being gets to choose which path they wish to take (Matt 7:13-14). God gives you an entire lifetime to decide which place to live. During this life we choose to submit to Him (Jas 4:10) and wait for Him to exalt us, or we live for ourselves and must depend on ourselves on the day of judgment (Lk 13:25-27).

Heaven and hell are about choices. By the way we live, we choose to be with God forever or to live for ourselves. God desperately wants all to choose Him, but when people don’t, He respects their wishes. Even if it means by respecting them, they become separated from Him eternally. God respects your freedom to choose… so choose wisely (Heb 9:27).