“My uncle doesn't have anything to do with the church he grew up in (or any other church), because he says Christians are just a bunch of hypocrites and aren't any better than anyone else. How can I answer him? My faith is very important to me, and his attitude really hurts me.”
“We don't know what to do, because the doctor says our mother has terminal cancer, and yet she refuses to admit it or do anything she ought to be doing (like making a will). How can we help her? She gets angry if we even mention it.”
“Please pray for me. My doctor said I'm bipolar, which means that one day I'm really up emotionally and the next day I'm down so far I don't even want to live. If enough people pray for me maybe I'll be healed, although it doesn't look very hopeful.”
“My father (who's gone now) was very abusive, never showing any love but always using violence to make us obey him. I can't even imagine loving God, because my idea of Him is that He's just like my father, just waiting for us to get out of line so He can punish us.”
“I think I'd probably believe in Jesus if He were living today, but how can you believe in someone who lived a couple of thousand years ago? Maybe He didn't even exist and someone just made Him up.”
“Is God telling us something? Whether it's the recent string of natural disasters in the U.S. – or storms in our family lives, jobs, health, or finances – unforeseen crises often cause us to ask “Why?””
“Do you think we’ll ever have lasting peace? I’m not sure all those wars we’ve fought in the past have done much good, because the world seems just as bad off today as it was 100 years ago. I guess I’m not a very optimistic person.”
“I know you believe the devil exists, but how do you know? I think people just dreamed up the idea of the devil to try to explain all the bad things that go on in the world. Or maybe it doesn't make any difference what we believe about him.”
“I lived a very immoral life until two years ago. I can't believe how rebellious I was. But then I turned my life over to Jesus and God changed me. I still worry, though, that God might not have forgiven me because I was so bad. Is there any hope for me?”
“I always promised my mother I'd never put her in a nursing home but would keep her with us if she couldn't take care of herself. But now she has serious dementia, and it's almost impossible for us to give her the care she needs. Will God be angry at me if I break my promise?”
“We've just come through the Easter season in our church, and it struck me again how Christ's disciples didn't really expect Him to be killed or to come back to life. Why didn't they? After all, He'd told them it was going to happen, hadn't He?”
“I have a friend who wears a gold cross around her neck but she doesn't pretend to be a Christian. Should I say something to her and maybe tell her she shouldn't be wearing it? I'm not sure why she does.”