“Do you believe God has a plan for each person, and when we ask Him, He'll tell us which way we ought to go? I'm facing a major decision in my career right now, but to be honest I'm not sure if God cares which choice I make. Am I wrong about this?”
“I know this isn't a spiritual question, but my biggest problem is that I'm just a very disorganized person. What have you found useful to help you get organized? I don't think you could have accomplished all the things you have unless you were very organized.”
“Over Christmas, my nephew told me he wasn't sure he'd like to go to heaven because it sounded so boring, and secretly I'd have to agree with him. He's like I am—we both enjoy traveling and doing new things, and heaven doesn't sound very exciting compared with this life. Am I wrong?”
“Does God care how we spend our free time (as long as we aren't doing anything wrong)? I enjoy relaxing and getting away after a hard day at work, but sometimes I wonder if God doesn't approve.”
“We're afraid our son is about to make a bad mistake. He vowed he'd never remarry after his first wife left him, but last month he met someone, and now they're going to get married. He doesn't like us to give advice, but should we say anything?”
“My husband and I are upset because a man who is active in our church has broken his marriage vows and is committing immorality. Everyone in our town knows what's going on, and yet our church leadership has turned a blind eye to it. Don't you think this makes outsiders think that Christians don't really believe what they preach?”
“Which church would you recommend I join? I didn't grow up in a churchgoing family, but now that I'm married and have children I think I need to get into a church. My problem is, I don't know very much about them, so I'd appreciate your recommendation.”
“Our mother died about a year ago, and frankly my brother and I never thought our father would remarry. But last week, he suddenly announced he was getting very serious about a widow he met at church. To be honest, we're having a hard time with this. It's almost as if he's forgotten our mother. How can we get him to respect our feelings?”
“A friend of mine got very interested in church a few months ago, and he even made a public profession of faith one night when the invitation was given to receive Christ. But now he says he wasn't serious and doesn't want anything to do with God or religion. How do you explain this?”
“Do you think that we ever really get over the death of a loved one? I lost my wife of 49 years to cancer over three years ago, and I miss her just as much today as I did then. Will I ever get over this? I know she's in heaven, but sometimes I can hardly stand it I miss her so much.”
“I'm scheduled to retire in a couple of years, and all of a sudden I've realized I haven't saved enough money. I guess we were foolish and spent most everything we earned, and I didn't really plan ahead. I don't have a question, but maybe you could say something in your column about the virtues of saving money while you can.”
“Which is more important in religion, learning how to live in this life or preparing for the next life? I have a friend who is certainly a devout person, but all she seems to think about is Heaven. Frankly, I'm more interested in how faith can help me deal with my problems right now.”