Comments on: What’s Your Question?

By: Does Prayer Change Things? | WithoutWax.tv by Pete Wilson

Does Prayer Change Things? | WithoutWax.tv by Pete Wilson — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:23:46 +0000

[...] before you jump in I want you to read the original question left on THIS POST which spurred this topic on to become week 3 of the Q series. Imagine sitting across from this [...]

By: Domenica Brighton

Domenica Brighton — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 01:41:48 +0000

Pete. A non-believer here. But I think you’re a person of integrity. My question is why none of you from the Christian mainstream have devoted any discussion to the recent murder of George Tiller — a story that gets to the heart of America’s most passionate ethical divide. I imagine that most, though not all, of your parishioners oppose abortion on moral grounds. You believe in a gospel of love, not vengeance. Isn’t it important for spiritual leaders to comment on religious violence? And violent religious rhetoric? Even if those comments may draw ire from the flock?

By: denawilliams

denawilliams — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:58:59 +0000

I read this through some Internet research not too long ago and didn’t realize some of the most basic questions of all…millions out there are asking online.

One of the top searches on Google is….”who is God?” In 2007 it was #1 of the top of mind item of Google’s Zeitgeist: http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/zeitgeist2007/mind.html. “Who is Jesus?” was #4. “Who is Satan?” was #10. Now in 2008, these got bumped a bit due to the election, economy, etc. but regardless of whether it’s in the top 10 or not, questions like these get asked millions of times per day….wow!! I just wonder…who’s answering them?

By: Todd S

Todd S — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:19:59 +0000

Our church has been doing a series called “Fearless Questions” that is similar in nature to Q and our preacher has been knocking it out of the park. His talk on homosexuality yesterday was phenomenal.

By: Robert

Robert — Fri, 29 May 2009 20:30:36 +0000

Thanks for the prayers, Pete. I'm sure my cousin and his family would really appreciate it. Robert’s last blog post..Swinging Like Rory

By: Pete Wilson

Pete Wilson — Fri, 29 May 2009 02:27:52 +0000

Wow! I just wish I could get to 1/10 of these questions in this series.

May have to plan a sequel to “Q”.

By: Cindy B.

Cindy B. — Thu, 28 May 2009 17:08:07 +0000

Your most recent post ties into my question perfectly – how can I trust in a Church (and its people) again after being hurt by the people time after time?

I’ve been to multiple churches in my life trying to find one that I feel comfortable in, but I always end up being hurt by the people at the church (both the leaders and the parishners in some cases) for acting in ways that I would consider un-Christian (gossiping, judging, lying, etc.).

How can you be lead to a Christian life if the people you worship with aren’t leading the same?

By: denise

denise — Thu, 28 May 2009 13:22:08 +0000

Hi,
Your call for questions has been on my mind this week, and today I read something great! Do you read MckMama’s blog? If not, try to check it out today to read her post about God’s will. I think it’s a great analogy that really gives a good example in everyday terms.
http://www.mycharmingkids.net/

Hope your series is going well … can’t wait to hear/read more about it!

By: Rachel Way

Rachel Way — Thu, 28 May 2009 04:11:50 +0000

@Kels I believe that God loves all of us. My dad is a preacher. He talked to me about how David was forgiven for his sin. In those days he should have been stoned to death. I know we serve a God that forgives all sins. My dad said that it wasnt my choice my husband left. God made man and didnt want man to be alone. Also my dad looks at sex as marrying someone in the eyes of God, like the old testament, so if that is true God forgives people who have sex with more then one partner and they marry. I have a new Q!! Then what is the difference? Because the act of sex is for marriage if someone has more then one parnter before they marry is that ok. Does God forgive them? What is the difference if u save yourself for your husband and then he walks out on you? If God can forgive a person who has many sex partners and then that person marries. Then should it be ok if I would re marry since my husband cheated, beat me and then walked out on me not my choice..I begged him for 2 years to stay after I found out and then one day he just left for good..He checked out of the marriage before that bc he was still involved with the other women. He said he was saved to before we got married yet when we married revealed all he was involved in and I knew that I would never leave him. I always said his walk was between God and himself yet He in the end left me. Rachel Way’s last blog post..God is writing our story.....

By: Wes Little

Wes Little — Wed, 27 May 2009 22:47:03 +0000

Hey Pete,

Great idea for a series, although I do not envy the work that you have ahead!

But, I think that to have a dialogue like this is excellent.

I recently had a long talk with a long time friend of mine in NYC, Thomas, aptly named, for he was brought up in the Southern Baptist Church, even took Christian Theology courses in college, and now has turned away to more of an agnostic or deist approach.

In our conversation, I found myself lacking in knowledge of the Bible, even though I can recite certain verses and know the larger points. This inspired me to read it for myself again, as I had tried to do as a kid. But, “the begats” and the whole Nephilim (giants) sleeping with human women in Genesis was too much for my 11 year old outlook.

So, this time, I started with the New Testament, finished it, and then continued with Genesis. I’m up to 2nd Chronicles now, and I hope to finish the whole thing in another month or so. I’m doing this because I want to know the Bible as best as I can for my faith and then to bring others to Christianity. So, here’s are a few questions….

1) How do I/we bring back a person who has a hardened heart by the world even after they’ve gone to church, read the Bible and studied it? On a personal level, this would be for my friend Thomas. On a national level, this would be Bill Maher.

2) How do you convince an atheist or a Darwinist/naturalist that science is an observation of God’s creation, and not a contradiction to it? And, moreover, can we as the church be open to God revealing himself to us through science as he sees fit, while still gleaning his messages from his word in the Bible? I guess that when I see E=MC2, I think biblically, “There is nothing new under the sun.” Of course, man would turn that into a bomb first. And, Galileo, the father of modern science, was Roman Catholic. So, what is this rift all about?

3) With the New Covenant of Jesus, we see by his teachings that there are really only one Greatest Commandment, consisting of two parts, that is the most important, and furthermore, they encompass all of the other laws of the Old Testament. So, did God give all the Levitical laws to Moses because we as humans had to be disciplined as two year olds since that was the way God’s chosen were acting at that time? I guess that the culture of the day was something that I can’t even imagine, but some of the laws in the Old Testament were really severe so I don’t know if I’m getting the context right.

I mean, one law was borderline humorous to me in either Deuteronomy or Leviticus which was (paraphrased): “If two men are in a fight, and the wife of one man crushes the testicles of the other man, then her hands must be cut off.” I had to reread that a couple of times!

4) Is some of God’s humor in the Bible, and perhaps it’s lost in translation? I would think that God would really be funny. I find the story of the guy falling asleep and then falling out of a high window listening to one of Paul’s sermons pretty funny, but only because then he was OK. Are there other examples of humor that I’m missing?

Anyway, thanks for entertaining my questions!

Oh, and after reading the blog, I have something to contribute. Please correct me if I’m wrong….

• I think that Jesus said “What” to his disciples when he said, “How much longer must I be with you?” This is kinda funny to me, cause it seemed like they were just not getting it….like us, maybe?