“Our son came home at Christmas from his first semester at college, and when we got ready to go to church he announced that he wasn't going because he no longer believed in God. Where did we go wrong? We feel like such failures as parents.”
“I'm on a committee to nominate new officers for our church, and I'm concerned because we're considering a couple of people whose only qualification seems to be that they have a lot of money to give. I know we need the money, but shouldn't we be looking for more than this?
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“Almost every day it seems like we read about another huge financial or political scandal – far worse than anything I can ever remember. What's happening to our society? Are these crises signs that we're in the last days before Christ returns? It gets very discouraging.”
“I have a good friend who, I think, truly believes in Jesus, as do I. But she says she's afraid I won't be in heaven with her, because she believes her church is the only true church, and you have to belong to it in order to be saved. What can I say to her?”
“This Christmas will be hard for me. Most of my relatives are gone now (including my husband), and the few I do have are either too old or live too far away. I am completely alone. Please tell people to reach out to lonely people during holidays, because it’s hard for them.”
“Recently, I thought I was telling my neighbor the truth about something, but later I found out it wasn't true after all. Does this make me a liar in God's eyes? I've always tried to be as truthful as possible.”
“Several people keep forwarding long e-mails to me (a dozen or more a day), mostly about things I don't care anything about, or even find offensive. I end up wasting hours on them. Should I block them, or demand people stop sending them? I don't want to be rude, however.”
“Toward the end of last year we got dozens of letters from charities and religious organizations asking us for money. But with the economy so bad we decided not to give very much this year, because we might need the money if one of us loses our job. Were we wrong?”
“We were discussing in our class at church who the worst person in the Bible was. Who would you nominate? Maybe it doesn't matter very much, but we've been surprised at how many bad people the Bible mentions.”
“I've never read the Bible very much, but I made a New Year's resolution to begin reading it every day, which I've done so far. But to be honest I'm already getting bogged down and don't think I can keep it up. Am I doing something wrong?”
“My uncle never had anything to do with God, but on his deathbed his wife's pastor supposedly led him to Christ. Do you think God actually forgave him and allowed him into heaven, although he'd lived like the devil?”
“I don't think it makes any difference what religion you follow, as long as you sincerely believe in some spiritual power higher than yourself. In my opinion, all religions end up in the same place; they just take different paths to get there.”