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Does God still communicate with us through our dreams?

Ask Anything Team — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 09:57:48 +0000

In the Old Testament, the prophet Joel writes in Joel 2:28-32 wrote, “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes”.

In the New Testament, the apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:8-12, “Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known”. So yes, God still communicates through dreams and visions. However, that doesn’t mean that every dream and vision comes from God. Zechariah 10:2 tells us that there are, “false dreams that give empty consolation”, and 2 Thessalonians 2:8-11 tells us about “the coming of the lawless one”, “by the activity of Satan”, “with all power and false signs and wonders”. The only way we can be sure if a dream, vision or a sign is from God, is if we check it against His Holy Word, the Bible. 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that the Bible is the very breath of God i.e. God speaking to us, and that we should, “test everything”, and “hold fast what is good” (2 Thessalonians 5:21).

I know God is all-loving, but why does His children go through depression?

Ask Anything Team — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 10:23:27 +0000

Depression is a painful, and difficult condition that many people go through. A short, impersonal response like this would not be the best medium to work through something as personal as this, and hence, we would suggest the person asking the question to approach someone from our church, a homegroup leader, a Deacon or perhaps and Elder to talk through the issues.

There are a variety of causes for depression. It could be a physical condition that can be diagnosed clinically. It could also be psychosomatic, or have spiritual causes. What we do know is that, although God created the world good (Genesis 1-2), because of man’s rebellion against God (Genesis 3), the world is not in the shape that God had intended in the beginning. The fall is terrible and pervasive. It affects even our physiology, and our psychology. But, we have hope that Jesus has overcome the fall by taking God’s punishment for sin on our behalf. The Christian clings to the hope that when Jesus returns, He will wipe away all tears and restore joy to the full (Revelation 21:4). We can have a foretaste of that now here living as God’s people on earth, but the full fulfillment of our hope and joy is when Jesus comes, for sure one day! With that hope in mind, we can have joy even in the midst of our deepest afflictions (1 Thessalonians 1:6).

What does Christianity say about cruelty to animals? Is it a sin to be cruel to animals?

Ask Anything Team — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 10:19:55 +0000

God’s intention at the Creation was for man to care for and develop the earth’s resources, including animals, in a creative and responsible way, mirroring how God created the entire universe. The sense of ‘dominion’ in Genesis 1:28, taken in context of the whole of Genesis 1 and 2, is not one of exploitation but good and wise stewardship. A Christian’s treatment of animals, and of creation for that matter should take its cues from the Creation account. However, after the fall (Genesis 3), we do note that this harmonious account is disrupted. Humanity’s relationship with God is disrupted, humanity’s relationship with itself is disrupted, and humanity’s relationship with the created order, including the animal kingdom is disrupted. While these relationships still bear the marks of the original, and we can see some level of harmony, it falls far short of the ideal that God had in mind. In Genesis 9, after the flood, which was God’s judgment on the earth, God now permits humans to eat the flesh of animals as food (Genesis 9:3-5). Yet, within that permission, God still notes that they are not to consume the blood, signifying that life is from God and is still sacred. It is also important to note that humans are still to steward and care for creation, including animals (Genesis 9:2). Hence, while God has given permission for the use of animals as food, this in no way implies that God has given permission for animals to be treated in a cruel manner. Hence, there is a delicate balance here – on the one hand, we do have permission to use animals as food in this fallen world, but at the same time, we are not to do so in a way that absolves us of our responsibility as care-takers, stewards and protectors.

Being cruel to animals and bugs is hence not right, you could even say sinful. But, it is a symptom of a deeper problem – the root of sin is our rebellion against God as our Creator and Master. As a result, we also reject His ways and intentions for how we should live with the rest of creation, including animals. As mentioned in Genesis 9:5, God requires a ‘reckoning’ for how we treat animals, and for all our other sins as well. But, God in His mercy sent Jesus to be that ultimate sacrifice for our sins – our hope for forgiveness and change is in Him. We need to turn to Him in repentance, and believe that He is that sacrifice for us. With that sacrifice, God is not about a work of restoring the world and the created order into what it was intended to be at the beginning. This will be culminated when Jesus returns to judge sin once and for all. In Isaiah 11:6-9, we have a beautiful picture of what the restored creation will look like, with regard to the animal kingdom,

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.

Till that day, we do well to do what we can to be good stewards of the good Creation God has entrusted into our hands.

Why did God disregard Cain’s offerings and only accepted Abel’s? Is God then responsible for Abel’s death because His rejection made Cain Jealous? Isn’t Cain’s selfishness induced by God’s choice alone? Why does Cain have to master avoiding that desire of killing Abel?

Ask Anything Team — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 06:41:16 +0000

This question refers to the account of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4. One way to explain why God accepted Abel’s offering and not Cain’s is to note that Abel brought the ‘firstborn of his flock’ (Genesis 4:4), while Cain brought just ‘an offering of the fruit of the ground’ (Genesis 4:3), implying that Abel’s offering was more costly and expressed truer and deeper devotion (Hebrews 11:4). In a sense, it is not the offering per se that is in question. The Bible does not suggest that offering of certain items to God works automatically, but rather that the worshipper’s faith in who God is, and his contrition before Him matters. In this passage Cain’s lack of faith, and real devotion are seen clearly in his response of resentment towards his brother, his uncooperative answers to God, and finally his brutal murder of his brother! So, Cain’s killing of Abel, rather than being a result of God’s rejection of his offering, or God’s ‘choice alone’, was actually the outward display of the evil that was already in Cain’s heart. God didn’t reject the offering leading to Cain becoming evil and resentful. No, Cain was already evil and resentful, and it showed in his meager devotion. That is why God rejected his offering! This is confirmed in the New Testament, in 1 John 3:12, where it is noted that Cain killed Abel because, “his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous”. God’s admonition to Cain to master his sin (Genesis 4:7) is the same admonition that God gives to all mankind – we cannot make the excuse that we are sinful because God has made us that way. No, we are sinful because we have willfully rejected God’s designs and plans for life, and God holds us personally responsible. And yet, when confronted with our sin, God is the one that makes a way of restitution in sending His Son Jesus to die on the cross, for our sins, in our place. We must run to Him – turn away from our sins, and believe in Him – that is the way of dealing with our sin.

Why was God alone chosen as the powerful one?

Ask Anything Team — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 13:02:24 +0000

The implication of this question is that someone, or something, appointed God as “the powerful one” and charged Him with the responsibility of dealing with mankind; however, this is not what scripture teachers. Genesis 1:1 states plainly, “In the Beginning God…” Later in Isaiah 45:5 God clarifies this by noting, “I am Jehovah, and their is none else; besides me there is no God.” God has always existed, has always been, and will always be. There are 27 other verses that I located in the Bible that speak of the eternality of God. Check them out for yourself:

Deuteronomy 4:35,39; Deuteronomy 6:4; Deuteronomy32:39; 2 Samuel 7:22; 1 Kings 8:60; 2 Kings 5:15; 2 Kings 19:15; 1 Chronicles 17:20; Nehemiah 9:6; Psalm 18:31; Psalm 86:10; Isaiah 37:16,20; Isaiah 43:10,11; Isaiah 44:6,8; Isaiah 45:21; Isaiah 46:9; Hosea 13:4; Joel 2:2; Zechariah 14:9; Mark 12:29-34; John 17:3; Romans 3:30; 1 Corinthians 8:4-6; Galatians 3:20; Ephesians 4:6; 1 Timothy 1:17; 1 Timothy 2:5; James 2:19.

The point I think the Bible, and ultimately God, is trying to teach us is that their is no higher authority, no higher power, no committee, other than God Himself. This runs counter to many other faiths which contend that either their are hundreds or millions of gods, or that their are none at all and we are simply cosmic energy. One of the difficulties one runs into when thinking about a God who was appointed or created is, who does / did the appointing? What one ends up doing is a series of infinite regressions. The Bible teaches that God existed before time began, an uncaused cause if you will.

God exists outside of time. Since we live in a universe of cause and effect, we naturally assume that this is the only way in which any kind of existence can function. However, the premise is false. Without the dimension of time, there is no cause and effect, and all things that could exist in such a realm would have no need of being caused, but would have always existed. Therefore, God has no need of being created, but, in fact, created the time dimension of our universe specifically for a reason so that cause and effect would exist for us. However, since God created time, cause and effect does not apply to His existence.

I’m 13 years old. All my friends have girlfriends right now, but I don’t find girls good looking, and always get an erection when we change in PE class. Is something wrong with me?

Ask Anything Team — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:47:48 +0000

This is a great question. Thanks for your willingness to ask it. Generally speaking, somewhere around age 12-13 most boys begin to experience something of a sexual awakening. This involves not just thinking about sexuality and sex, but physiological changes (erections and “wet-dreams”). Given that we don’t know anything about you it’s difficult to be specific if something is “wrong” with you. What we can say is that it is not uncommon at all for kids around your age to be conflicted about sex and their sexual identity. This may mean at times you “feel” you have feelings for someone of the opposite or even the same sex. The question that needs to be explored further is what these “feelings” mean to you. If we were to chat with you one-one this is something we would try to help you explore without condemning you for what you are trying to process. In most cases we would say that your thinking and physiological responses are not atypical (out of the norm) at your age. We’d like to encourage you to seek out someone in our church, maybe a Homegroup Leader, a Deacon or an Elder, someone you think you could trust, and have a chat with them. They’d be more than happy to help you process some of these things in a loving way.

Does the bible tell us how old the earth/humanity is?

Ask Anything Team — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 07:53:31 +0000

Please refer to the post I understand that creation theory teaches that everything is circa 6,000 years old. How does it explain light from millions of years away? How do you reconcile science pointing toward an old earth and the Bible? for the answer.

Why do I need to attend church in order to believe in God?

Ask Anything Team — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 07:49:20 +0000

Please refer to the post “Can I also not have God dwelling with me if I just have church at home, i.e. listening to sermons, praise and worship on DVD without having to go to church or be part of a home group?” for the answer.

What if we have stopped going to church regularly, are we still Christians and still go to heaven?

Ask Anything Team — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 07:47:55 +0000

If God did not want Adam to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge, why did He create it in the first place?

Ask Anything Team — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 12:52:38 +0000

This is an important question to ask, as long as we ask it with no assumptions – why did God create a situation where man could disobey Him? Why did He create anything at all?

Everything was created to ultimately serve and please God, and we were created with that purpose as well. He gave us the ability to choose to disobey Him, and this was also given to us to serve God’s purposes. Adam and Eve knew God and walk with Him in the garden where He had placed them. They could eat from any other tree in the garden. They chose in a selfish moment to do the one thing God told them not to do (Gen 2:15-17). Thus, Sin was brought into the world.

Adam and Eve did not trust God, even though He had created them. They did not treasure their relationship with Him. They thought they could do better than He. We are similiar in many ways. Do we see our proper position to God?

In the bible, Job 15:7-16 records God speaking to Job to put him in his proper place: “Are you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills? Do you listen in on God’s council? Do you have a monopoly on wisdom? What do you know that we do not know? What insights do you have that we do not have? The gray-haired and the aged are on our side, men even older than your father. Are God’s consolations not enough for you, words spoken gently to you? Why has your heart carried you away, and why do your eyes flash, so that you vent your rage against God and pour out such words from your mouth?”

We must see God for who he really is. We must trust God in what he says, in His plans and promises. God is good and is sovereign over all things, thus he has chosen things for his divine purposes and for his own glory(Romans 7:7-12, Romans 8:28-29, Romans 9:21, Romans 16:25-27, 1 Thessalonians 1:3-4, 2 Timothy 2:20). It’s really amazing what God has done to bring us back to Him.