“I was talking with someone the other day who is getting married in a few months, and I was shocked when she said she didn’t expect it to last. After all, she said, most couples get bored with each other after a few years, and it’s okay to move on. Is this a common attitude today? ”
“I have a friend who worries all the time about her health. If even the smallest thing goes wrong, she’s convinced it must be something serious and she runs to her doctor. I’ve urged her not to worry so much, but it doesn’t do any good. How can I help her?”
“Do you ever try to imagine what Heaven must be like? I do. Do you think it will have buildings and trees and things like that, or will it be completely different from anything we know? I wonder about this.”
“My boss makes me very uncomfortable, because he keeps trying to get close to me. Now he’s saying he’s unhappy in his marriage and thinks we’re meant for each other. I don’t like where this is headed. I need the job, but what should I do?”
“My aunt died recently, and I guess you’d say she was a woman of strong faith, because she really believed she was going to Heaven when she died. But how could she be so sure? Maybe she was just deceiving herself.”
“I don’t believe in forgiving people who have hurt us. If anything, we ought to pray that God will punish them for what they’ve done. Forgiving someone who’s hurt you doesn’t do any good, in my opinion.”
“We told our daughter we didn’t approve of her fiancé, but she wouldn’t listen to us. So far they seem to be getting along OK, but we still think she could have done better. How should we handle this?”
“My grandmother gave me a Bible for Christmas, but I don’t know what to do with it. She’s coming to visit us in a few weeks and I know she’ll ask me if I’ve read it. I tried, but I didn’t understand it. Please help me.”
“Does God know everything that goes on in our lives, even including our thoughts? That kind of scares me, because I’d be very embarrassed if anyone knew what was going through my mind sometimes. ”
“I know we’re supposed to pray, and I try to, but often my mind drifts to other things when I’m praying, or I’ll get sleepy. I know that’s not good, but how can I avoid it?”
“I’m not sure the Bible is of much use today. For example, we don’t practice idolatry, and yet the Old Testament talks a lot about idolatry and things like that. Maybe the Bible needs to be updated.”
“We’re concerned because we found our son (who’s 14) accessing a porn site on the Internet the other day. We gave him a strong lecture and I don’t think he’ll do it again, but why do they allow such things on the Internet? We were shocked.”