Q: What is the significance of Sunday School and Fellowship? Is possible to be a Christian by just going to service?

A: To be a Christian means to believe Jesus Christ is your personal Saviour and Lord. So fundamentally, you can be a Christian without having to go to any of the things that you mentioned. However, I don't someone could be taking their faith seriously and growing as a Christian without having the support of the church family.

If someone is to say "I can be a Christian without going to church," I think they are lacking the maturity and commitment to continue as a disciple of Christ. It's hard to be a Christ follower and disciple of Christ. God doesn't call us just to believe and then be stagnant in our growth, but He calls us to believe and make disciples of others (Matthew 28:18-20).

Our church offers Sunday School to teach the Word and Fellowship to build community. Sunday Service is to have corporate worship. All of these are integral aspects of church life and help facilitate the growth of a Christian. I believe that if you are serious about your faith, then you need to be apart of a community to learn and grow.

[answered by Pastor KJT]

Q: We're supposed to read the Bible every day...how are you supposed to do that?

...Open the Bible to a random page? Use a devotion book? If so, what are some good devotion books?


A: I just have to say that your question is full of intensity and I praise God that there seems to a deep passion to read the Word and build a relationship with Him. That's very refreshing, thank you!

I wouldn't recommend to open to a random page and read from there. If you haven't read the Bible at all and you're just starting out, I'd recommend to read the Gospels first, particularly the Gospel of John. If you have done that already, go through the rest of the New Testament, perhaps starting with Acts and then reading the Epistles of Paul.

Also, try and find a Study Bible, one that doesn't just contain the Bible, but also has footnotes that explain the passages. I would recommend this one from Zondervan that's in the NIV translation or this one by Crossway Books in the ESV translation. Both provide good introductions to each book and gives historical and cultural background when necessary.

As for a good devotion, may I suggest "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers? This is a real classic. Other good authors that I like to read are Max Lucado and C.S. Lewis.

Hope this has helped your personal walk with Christ, feel free to ask your counselors or Pastors for some more suggestions or see what they're reading!


[answered by Pastor KJT]

Q: God kills?

One of my Facebook friends put this up regarding Christianity:

God kills 70,000 innocent people because David ordered a census of the people (1 Chronicles 21). God also orders the destruction of 60 cities so that the Israelites can live there. He orders the killing of all the men, women, and children of each city, and the looting of all of value (Deuteronomy 3). He orders another attack and the killing of “all the living creatures of the city: men and women, young, and old, as well as oxen sheep, and asses” (Joshua 6). In Judges 21, He orders the murder of all the people of Jabesh-gilead, except for the virgin girls who were taken to be forcibly raped and married. When they wanted more virgins, God told them to hide alongside the road and when they saw a girl they liked, kidnap her and forcibly rape her and make her your wife! Just about every other page in the Old Testament has God killing somebody! In 2 Kings 10:18-27, God orders the murder of all the worshipers of a different god in their very own church! In total God kills 371,186 people directly and orders another 1,862,265 people murdered.

So my question is: Is this true? This is scientific research. But I'm a believer and I don't think that's true. What's your opinion?

Thanks for this question. When we are faced with such bold claims, we often find ourselves doubting our Christian faith. However, if we carefully examine these claims, we'll find that they are not as rock-solid as they appear to be. Your friend's quote comes from a website - www.evilbible.com, so it's not his/her own writing. This is a clear example of propagating something that sounds true, but is untrue if you carefully examine the facts. The good news is there are plenty of sites that have already refuted the claims presented on this website. For instance, take a look at this website.

Since this particular quote talks about the God of the Bible and the killing of "innocent people," let's focus upon this issue. The first thing you'll notice is that you can really make the Bible say whatever you want it to say if you don't read things in CONTEXT.

For instance, the quote mentions 1 Chronicles 21 - God kills 70, 000 innocent people. If you actually read this passage, it tells us that though God did allow for sickness to come upon 70,000 men, he spared the rest of the city ("...but as he was about to destroy [Jerusalem], he relented" - v. 14).

Another example: Isaiah 13:16; Psalm 137:9 and Hosea 13:16 all talk about babies being thrown against rocks. What the authors fail to understand is that these verses were spoken by prophets. Prophets were charged with telling the hard truth to people and to call them to change their evil ways. If people did, judgment would be averted. A similar story is found in Jonah. Jonah is told to go and tell Ninevah they are doomed. The people repent and are spared. Jonah is even upset because of God's mercy (for more on this particular topic, read this thoughtful post).

Evilbible.com also talks about Exodus 21:1-11. But again, the authors take everything out of context and leave out the passage in the Bible that talk about the proper treatment of slaves (you can read more about slavery in the Old Testament here). The law explicitly condemned all of the following:

• Rape (Dt 22:25-27)
• Prostitution (23:17-18)
• Sex outside of marriage, whether consensual or not (Ex 22:16-17, Dt 22:28-29)
• Sex with a slave who was betrothed or married to someone else (Lev 19:20-22)

Therefore any forced intercourse would have been against both the letter and the spirit of the law.

The lesson here is to always make sure you read the passage in historical context, instead of picking verses of your choosing to support your idea. This is exactly what the authors of www.evilbible.com have done!

---

That being said, we must acknowledge that there was killing in the Old Testament and it was allowed, condoned and commanded by God. There are several important things to understand:

1. As the universal Creator God is also the universal judge, to whom all people are accountable. This means that god has the right to bring whatever judgement he wants on people.

2. Since all people are sinners, we are all subject to the God's perfect judgment/justice. The folks at RationalChristianity.com offer this explanation:

The primary reason was punishment for wrongdoing. The populations of the destroyed cities had long histories of grievous sins (Gen 15:16, Dt 25:17-19), which often included sacrificing their children to false gods (Dt 12:29-31). Their consciences should have told these people they were doing wrong. Had they listened and changed their ways, they would not have been destroyed. God has said that if any nation is about to be destroyed as punishment but repents, he will forgive them and not destroy them (Jer 18:7-8). In fact, this occurred in the city of Ninevah (Jonah 3:4-10).

In the cities that were given to the Israelites as their inheritance, there was a secondary reason: totally depraved cultures were destroyed so that they would not corrupt the Israelites into committing the same evil acts (Dt 7:1-4,20:16-18). This did in fact occur: when the Israelites didn't obey God and destroy cities, they too began practicing child sacrifice (Ps 106:34-40).

Additionally, the destruction of wicked nations served as an instructive warning to contemporaries (Josh 2:1-11) and future generations (1 Cor 10:1-11).

3. There is a tension between God's sovereign will and human freedom. Just because God allows for things to happen does not mean he approves of these actions. Matt Slick (from CARM.ORG) writes:

It is worth noting that the Old Testament records many atrocities. The fact is that God allowed people their sinful desires and he worked within their culture, even as he does now, as he permits all kinds of bad things to happen. Nevertheless, God introduced what is called the Apoditic Law (Exodus 21:24): an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. The Apoditic Law was instituted to prevent the increase of blood revenge, a practice where revenge would escalate out of control between two parties. Since the hearts of the fallen are so wicked and the harsh environment and culture produced difficulties for survival, God has a few options to counter their proclivity towards evil. He can run roughshod over their free will and force everyone to obey him, or he could wipe them all out (he had already done this with Noah's flood), or he could work within the situation at hand. In the case of this psalm, and it's Babylonian captivity context, God chose to work with people and through them instead of violating the freedom he had given them and forcing them to act in a manner that he instructs.

---

Hope this helps. Friend, don't buy into these false claims. Again, they may seem credible, but if you really do some research, you'll be able to refute them as many have done in the past. So I encourage you to do your research, and articulate your points well if you do encounter someone who has been influenced by these claims.

Lastly, remember to look at the person and work of Jesus. Jesus came to pay the penalty of sin FOR US. On the cross, Jesus absorbed the rightful judgment of God. And he did it because he loves us. That is a God worthy of our worship!

Pastor HM

For more information, please do read the following articles carefully. They have much more detailed explanations than I can provide and are worth your time!

1. Genocide in the Old Testament

2. Why would God order the destruction of men, women and children in the Old Testament?

3. Murder in the Old Testament

4. EvilBible is Dead

Q: Can christians read/watch sorcery stuff? (e.g. Harry Potter series)

A: Absolutely! I've seen all of the Harry Potters series and enjoyed them thoroughly! They're great fun and entertaining.

I know the argument about not watching something such as Harry Potter. Many Christians will hold the view that it encourages sorcery or teaches things that contradict the Bible. And while I can see this argument flying for young children, I think that as adults and teenagers, we are far from being under that influence. When I watch Harry battle it out with his magic wand...I don't actually believe that magic comes from a wand and that we can fly on a broom. I just take it as great entertainment

Keeping your mind pure doesnt mean that you just ignore everything that's going on in the world! It just means that you only let the good things infiltrate your heart. Dont actually believe in the fictional characters of Harry, Ron and Hermione. But just watch it because it's a fun movie!


[answered by Pastor KJT, who loves Harry Potter movies!]

V-DAY, Live Ask Us Session on February 19.

Keep sending those questions in. We're sorting them through now!

During the night, we'll also have an opportunity for you to ask some question via text message, etc.

Q: If God only chose some to be saved, do those that are not called upon have the chance to turn to God?

"I've read some of the previous questions asked on predestination, but it still doesn't really clear up my mind on some of the issue regarding this topic..."

Admittedly, this is one of those topics that nobody on the planet will completely understand. That being said, it is addressed in Scripture and so Christians cannot ignore it. As you've read some of the previous posts, I won't summarize their content here (for those who haven't read them, read them HERE).

To answer your question directly: No. If God doesn't choose, then you don't have the ability to turn to Him. Salvation only comes when God chooses us and works in our heart so that we have the ability to respond to Him. Listen to what theologian Donald Bloesch (Essentials of Evangelical Theology, Volume I: God, Authority and Salvation. Peabody, MA: Prince Press, 1978) says:

"To give all the glory to God in the accomplishing of our salvation is not to reduce man to nothing. Yet we must also not say that man gets some of the credit for his salvation, that man can help in the procuring of his salvation... Our position is that we must affirm both the sovereignty of grace and the responsibility of believers. The two errors to be avoided are the following: that one is saved exclusively by the work of grace upon him thereby not including or allow for personal faith and decision in the salvific process...the second error gives man a determinative role in his justification so that he virtually becomes a co-redeemer with Christ...Only the person who is transformed by divine grace can make a positive response to God's gracious invitation, but only the one who does make such a response is indeed transformed by grace."

God wants all people to be saved and become his children, but what he ordains is actually that only some will be saved; the rest will never know him. However, in my experience we also need to be careful in our understanding, even if we have what we think to be the “right” view on this big topic of God’s election. A simple indoctrination on the topic can do us more harm than good in our view of God. First off, we have to agree that we don’t know all the answers. I really want you to read Romans 9:1-26, and see if you can connect with Paul’s argument on the topic of God’s election (which really answers your question). I’ll summarize/paraphrase what Paul’s logic is (though you should just read it yourself):

-In the OT Bible stories, God clearly elected some, like Jacob; he also didn’t elect others, like Esau

-God chose Jacob before he was born; to emphasize that he wasn’t chosen because of anything he did (his own righteousness, or how smart/good-looking/nice he was)

-What shall we say? Is God unjust for choosing like this? Not at all! God can be merciful or unmerciful to whomever he chooses.

-I hear you asking, “Then why does God blame us? For who can resist his will?”

-But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?” God can do what he wants. Maybe God chose this way of doing things so that he could make his power and wrath better known, and so that we who are elected as Christians could truly appreciate what’s been given.

This probably isn’t a comforting passage if you were looking for clear understanding on God’s election, yet this is one of the clearest passages in the Bible about election. We might be screaming “that’s not the answer I want.” But God has given us that answer, and he can use even our lack of knowledge and control to teach us a lesson on humility and realizing our place under God. We’re not God, and there are some things we need to accept that we’ll never know in this lifetime. We can instead take the attitude of David, who writes: “My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, put your hope in the LORD both now and forevermore.” (Psalm 131) This is a mysterious topic, and we need to accept to a certain extent that free will and predestination are two parallel lines that only meet in eternity, and that some questions just won’t ever receive the clear logical answers we want in this lifetime.

Regardless of whether we have all the answers or not, and regardless of which view you take on the debate of election/predestination, these principles are important for us all:

1) We need to live in the present as only God knows who has been chosen and who hasn’t. The Biblical idea of God’s election should be freeing, and give us greater motivation in evangelism. Oftentimes on this topic, people say, “Well then, what’s the point of telling my friends about Christ? God’s gonna save them or not, and I can’t change that.” But the point is that we’ll never know, and God has commanded us regardless to go share the Gospel (Matt 28:19-20). And knowing that the conversion process is not up to us and “how good we are at presenting the Gospel” is a very liberating understanding that should compel us to tell more people about this glorious God. In history, many of the greatest missionaries have strongly believed in God’s predestined election. For ourselves, we’re also sure in times of hardship and doubt that God has chosen us, and nothing in this world can steal us away.

2) God is love. It’s easy to see God as being heartless and unfair. But we need to understand he is God, and we are men. And the fact that he even chooses to save some (when he could have saved none) is a testament to his love. And the way he did it, namely through giving his only begotten son into the hands of fallen men that he sovereignty knew would slaughter him, is a testament to that love he has for the whole world.

[Answered by Pastor HM and Mark Cheng]

Are only Protestant Christians going to heaven?

What about the other religions that use the Bible? For example, would Catholics or Presbyterians go to Heaven, or do they have to be Protestant?

Hi! Good question. I've written a previous post concerning this issue. Read it HERE. To answer this question, let's get some terminology cleared up. Protestants and Roman Catholics both fall under the banner of "Christianity." You can read up on their differences HERE. Presbyterians are NOT a third category, but rather fall under the umbrella of Protestantism.

Among the chief differences between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism is this very issue of salvation. According to Roman Catholicism, man cannot be saved by faith alone in Christ alone. They teach that a person must rely on faith plus “good works” in order to be saved. Protestant teaching affirms Scripture, which says salvation comes from God alone through the death and resurrection of His incarnate Son, Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:8).*

So my answer is quite straight-forward: Anyone who receives and trusts in Jesus ALONE (& not their own merits/deeds/works) for the forgiveness of their sins gains salvation. If you genuinely hold to Roman Catholic doctrine and believe you can enter God's kingdom on his own merit, then please look at Scripture and instead put their faith solely in the fact that we are “justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God displayed as a propitiation in His blood through faith.” (Romans 3:24-25). Good works arise from faith in Christ and thus are an indication that one is truly born again. But in and of themselves, they do not justify or save us.

[Answered by Pastor HM]

*This, in fact, is where Protestants received their name; they "protested" against Roman Catholic teaching.