Q & A

This section provides Bible-based answers to a wide variety of issues. Please click on the topic of interest to open up a list of associated questions. If you have any follow up queries pertaining to what you read here, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

If you were not a Christian, what would it take to convince you that Jesus is who he claimed to be? What evidence would you expect from one making such a claim?

"The Bible can mean anything you want it to mean" is a common enough claim and there is a sense in which that is true. The Bible can be made to say anything you want it to say if you approach it with a certain frame of mind that fails to observe some basic rules of interpretation. The existence of cults confirms how a bad interpretation of Scripture produces bad results. And even "mainstream" Christians sometimes have beliefs and practices that owe their existence to a wrong interpretation of Scripture.

How should we who are Christians live our daily lives? "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship" (Romans 12:1).

When you read of the spiritual vibrancy in the life of the early church do you wonder, "Why is my life not like that? How can I live under the Spirit's influence?"

Do you worry? Has anxiety become your companion? Do you find yourself fretting over things that have not yet occurred? Worrying is nothing new. It's been around a long time and there is no sign of it going away.

Christians sometimes complain about worship being boring and some experience such a level of boredom that they actually fall asleep. Others feel too uncomfortable to invite their unsaved friends on Sunday lest the worship service extinguish, for all time, their interest in the Christian faith. How do we address a problem like this?

Churches have different teachings about baptism. Some churches sprinkle, others pour water on the forehead of the candidate's head and others practise immersion. Some understand baptism as freeing the candidate from original sin, others believe that baptism regenerates the candidate, some require baptism before becoming part of that denomination and others see baptism as the believer responding in faith to the sacrifice Jesus offered for the forgiveness of sins.

The temptation to sin knows no social, racial or spiritual barriers. No group or individual has been immunised against it; sinners and saints alike experience the temptation to sin.

There is a cruel reality about life: we all get hurt. Perhaps a relationship is betrayed by a husband, a wife, a parent, a friend and introduces a level of pain previously unknown. The pain can be ever-present. Jesus instructs us to forgive those who sin against us. Yet it's not in our nature to forgive; we prefer to get even, remain indifferent, ignore the offender and in this way administer our own form of "justice". We will do anything to keep forgiveness off the agenda. And yet God can enable us to rise above our situation, empowering us by his grace to do the seemingly impossible.

A survey of the New Testament gives us a picture of the church that can still be produced today - a church that preaches the same gospel and commits to the apostles' teaching. The church is presented as all those who believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and who have been baptised in his name.

Should we pay Income Tax, Council Tax, Valued Added Tax, etc.? Avoiding paying 'the tax man' is an all too common practice today. The Bible speaks with clarity on what our duty is in this regard.

On occasions we have all wondered why so few people respond to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The glorious message of divine love and mercy so often falls on deaf ears. Invitations to come learn about God, who loves us all and wants to bring us to heaven when we die, are stoutly rejected. One would think that people would be zealous in their desire to know such a loving God, but the opposite is the case. This is because of the nature of man.

As the initial numbness of shock and disbelief subsides following the terroristic attacks in our nation's Northeast, our minds and hearts struggle with a larger question. "Where is God?" we ask, "and how does a God of love and power allow such horrors to happen?" Part of the answer lies in three truths about our world, all found in Genesis chapter 3.

Counterfeit products are a major problem for manufacturers such as Nike, Puma, Samsonite, etc. The counterfeit product is so well made that most buyers accept it as the genuine article. Only a trained eye can detect the difference between the counterfeit and the genuine. In the movie 'Catch Me If You Can' (based on a true story), Leonardo DeCaprio plays the part of a sophisticated criminal whose skill in producing counterfeit cheques results in him accumulating millions of dollars before he is finally caught.

The struggle to live a pure life is as old as mankind itself. And the type of society in which we live does not make the struggle any easier. Ours has become a sex-saturated culture. Sex is used to sell anything from cars to ice cream. And some of the most popular shows on television have a strong emphasis on immoral living, without any hint that it is sinful. It is portrayed as the norm. As a result people have become like that time in ancient Israel when 'each man did that which was right in his own eyes.' Furthermore, the availability of pornography on the Internet has reached a frightening level. A recent survey showed that pornographic sites are getting 250 million hits per month! This is the world in which we struggle to live a pure life.

Are all religious people right with God? If they are 'doing their duty,' being sincere and not doing anyone any harm, surely they are right with God? The book of Acts opens a window through which we see the evangelistic work of the early church. They evangelised among all people, some who in their own mind believed that they were already saved and that they didn't need to be converted.

"Dear friends," Jude says, "I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints." (Jude vs 3) A challenge to the faith had arisen, so Jude writes to "urge" them – that is, to motivate and plead with them – "to contend for the faith". Not only is the faith to be proclaimed, it is to be defended from corruption.

The votes have been cast, the people have spoken. We have elected a new government. The Bible makes it very clear what our response to government should be.

The words 'Original Sin' are familiar ones, but they are not found in the Bible. The expression refers to the first sin ever committed – 'the' original sin. It was introduced by Adam and Eve through a wilful act of disobedience against the revealed will of God. Their sin had a global effect contaminating everything created by God. (The full account can be read in Genesis 3.)

Today when people speak about a saint, invariably their concept of a saint is not the same as that found in the Bible.