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Is Not Going To Church A Sin?

Question:

I was reading an answer to someone’s question and at one point you said that not going to church was a sin. I beg to differ. There are many reasons why a person would not attend a church but it does not make it a sin. Now days, most churches are either fake or just a house of good intentions. In my personal opinion, I have been through a lot in my life and I I rarely even go out anymore. The reason, well I just don’t trust people anymore. But I trust God. If a person stays close to Him and stays on the right path, would it matter if that person went to church? I would also like to point out that a church isn’t just some public building up on the square. Put two people in a living room on a Sunday talking about God and that’s church.Continue reading

Should women preach?

Question:

The question of women pastors/preachers have been a hot debate among Christians especially the evangelicals.  I do believe that everyone whether man or woman has the freedom to do the work of God, if that work is done with the sincerity of heart.  The gift of the Holy Spirit is given to both men and women in the New Testament. This is what makes the New Testament a New Testament rather than the Old Testament in which women did not have such privileges. As a Christian I personally believe that God can  call anyone to be an instrument in His vineyard whether male or female to bring souls to His kingdom.   God gave women  the same privileges and opportunities as men, given in   the New Testament. Relegating women to second-class citizenship was abolished when Jesus Christ died on the cross.  As it says in Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” In Matthews 28:19, Jesus Christ gave commissions to His followers (i.e. both men and women) “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things, that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.Amen.” Are we counting women out of this Great commission?  Do your ministry believe in sending single women out as missionaries or church planters? If they are missionaries in foreign lands and they won souls for the kingdom, will they have to wait for a man comes before they start a church and become the pastor of such a church?   As far as women in the pulpit, in the Book of Acts, you will find that Philip and four of his  daughters were preachers (Acts 21:8-9).   I think we should focus our attention on what is building a strong church rather than what wants to tear the church down by petty arguments.  I am a Christian (born-again), strong Bible believer and my focus is on winning  souls for the kingdom not on whether women are pastors or not.  If God wants to use women to preach His Good News as to bring souls to His kingdom, whom am I to say No.Continue reading

How do you deal with an agnostic?

Question:

I have a non-believing friend who grew up in a Baptist, not necessarily Christian, home. He claims to be agnostic, believes in evolution, says he is moral and has no need of forgiveness. Recently, he proudly informed me that he purchased a King James Bible to read for himself. A mutual friend told me yesterday, that our agnostic friend had given him several New Testament verses that were contradictory and asked that he explain that. I looked up one of the verses in Matthew and it said something about criminals on the cross not believing, while the other scripture mentioned that one believed. We are thinking that our friend has not had time to read the Old Testament yet, let alone discover seemingly contradictory scripture on his own. We are thinking that some agnostic society, Jehovah Witness, or Mormon has brought this to his attention. Even so, we are not sure how to respond. Any ideas?Continue reading

Could you list the Ten Commandments?

Question:

Could you list the ten commandments?

Answer:

The Ten Commandments are found in Exodus 20:1-17.

“And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.”

Exodus 34:28 says, “And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.”

Is fighting in a war breaking one of the Ten Commandments?

Question:

It Says in the Ten Commandments do not kill yet God helped the Israelites to win wars. Does this not contradict His own laws? God Ordered David to brutally kill an enemy king and when Jael hammered a tent peg through Sisera’s head and when Gideon fought. When David killed Goliath was that not breaking God’s law yet God made him king of Israel with all the battles that went on, all the times God told the Israelites to fight was not God ordering them to break one of the rules set by Himself?Continue reading