“The doctor says a friend of mine has only a few months to live, and I don’t know how I ought to be praying. Should I pray that God will heal him, or should I pray instead that he’ll feel God’s presence and not be afraid of death?”
“Maybe I’m just old-fashioned, but from time to time our church’s music director introduces new songs into the service, and I don’t care for them. I like the old hymns, and wish he’d just stick with them. Should I complain to our pastor?”
“I’m on a fixed income, and I just don’t have any extra money to give to my church. I used to be able to help, but I don’t see how I can now. Will God be angry with me for this?”
“I know you’re always telling people to go to church, but I’m very busy during the week and I need my weekends to relax. And anyway, I can feel God’s presence hiking in the woods as much as in some church. My wife disagrees, but I can’t see any reason to change.”
“Does God punish our children for the wrong things that we’ve done? I’ve heard people say this, but it doesn’t seem very fair to me.”
“I’m very concerned because a cousin of mine just told me she thinks she’ll become a Satanist. I don’t even know what that means, but why would anyone want to get involved in such things? Is she sincere, do you think, or is she just rebelling against her upbringing?”
“A friend keeps trying to get me to go to her church (at least I guess it’s a church, although they don’t call themselves one). I can’t help but thinking it might be a cult, though, and I don’t want to go down that road. How will I know?”
“ I’ve heard that Jesus claimed He would return to earth someday, but why hasn’t He? Maybe He wanted to do so, but it wasn’t part of God’s plan for Him, so it’s never going to happen. Could this be the reason He’s never returned?”
“I know Christians believe Jesus was divine, but what exactly do you mean by that? Most of the religions I’ve studied have their holy men and women, but what makes Jesus any different from them?”
“Do you have to be a preacher before you can serve God? I hope not, because I don’t have any special talents or anything, and yet I don’t want to be useless in God’s eyes.”
“Does God ever give up on someone? My brother hasn’t had anything to do with God since he was a teenager over 50 years ago, and he just laughs when I tell him I’m still praying for him. Is he hopeless?”
“I think I’m about to lose my job. Several weeks ago, my boss told me to do something that was clearly unethical (and probably illegal), and I told him that as a Christian, I couldn’t do it. Was I wrong to refuse? He’s been very cold to me ever since.”