Question:

What do you do when someone says, “I’ll just ask for forgiveness and everything will be fine”?

Answer:

You can explain that God loves us and wants to forgive us when we sin, but simply asking for forgiveness is not enough.  Forgiveness can’t be given unless a person repents when they ask for forgiveness.  This means they have to feel true sorrow and regret about what they did and then change the way they act so they don’t do the same thing in the future.

2 Corinthians 7:10 says,

“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”

Asking for forgiveness just to make ourselves feel better is an empty request.   God knows if we are truly sorry and want to change our ways.  This is the only case in which God will grant us forgiveness.

Question:

A: I have been baptized and I believe that is something God calls every Christian to do but I grew up at a Baptist Church where you committed to Christ through salvation, so what happens to the people who haven’t been baptized do they go to hell?
B: Is baptism REALLY necessary for Salvation?

Answer:

First let me say that we are saved by the grace mercy and kindness of God (Romans 6:23) through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross (1 John 2:2, Hebrews 10:1-18) not by anything we’ve done or do (AKA works, and by the way, baptism is not a work on our part but on God’s part.  I say this because there is often push back, “But wait, isn’t baptism a work?  We aren’t saved by works so we aren’t saved by baptism.  Done.”  Baptism is indeed a work, but not a work by us.  It’s a work by God because God is the one doing all the work in baptism.  Also we do no work in baptism because it’s someone else lowering us in the water and bringing us out.  Saying a prayer to receive salvation, which isn’t in the bible but is taught by many churches, is more a work than baptism).  So what happens in baptism?

In baptism we receive God’s Spirit (Acts 2:38), our sins our washed away, forgiven (Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16), our old life is buried, we die to our sin and we are resurrected into our new life (Romans 6:1-7.  And this is not a symbol of something that has already happened, but it happens in baptism), we become children of God and are clothed with Christ (Galatians 3:26-27), and so much more.

When asked if baptism is essential for salvation or to be a Christian, we need to ask, “Is it essential to have God’s Spirit?” “Is it essential to have our sins forgiven?” “Is it essential to be raised to a new life with Christ?” “Is it essential to be one of God’s children and clothed with Christ?”  If the answer to this is “yes,” and it is, well all these things happen only in baptism.  So yes, baptism is indeed essential.

There are all sorts of, “Well what about…” questions and we can answer them as they come about.

Question:

A: I have been baptized and I believe that is something God calls every Christian to do but I grew up at a Baptist Church where you committed to Christ through salvation, so what happens to the people who haven’t been baptized do they go to hell?
B: Is baptism REALLY necessary for Salvation?

Answer:

Short answer to “B”: Yes.

In answering this we need to understand that God’s Word is our ultimate authority so regardless of what our parents taught us, what our church taught us, what our pastor taught us, God’s Word is our authority.  This is an emotional question because so many of us were taught so many things and once we start saying something like baptism is essential, well, “My grandma believed something different and taught me something different so you’re saying she’s wrong?”  This is a very emotional question because the answer has all sorts of implications based on what we say, but ultimately we need to turn to the bible to see what it says because God’s Word is our authority.

As we approach the bible we can’t pick and choose verses we like and dislike.  If we did this we wold and up with the Thomas Jefferson Bible, a version of the Bible Thomas Jefferson created where he took out all the miracles because he thought them unrealistic and fantasy.

So in terms of salvation we, like the early Jewish audience in Acts 2 ask the same question, “What must we do?” (Acts 2:37)

In taking the bible as a whole we can’t pick and choose verses on salvation.  John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  So there it is right.  Believe and you have eternal life.  But what about Romans 10:9? “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  This talks about a belief and a confession.  So which is it, John 3:16, just believe, or Romans 10:9, believe and confess? But what about when Jesus says in Mark 16:16, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved…”  Where’s the confession there?  Is it just belief, belief and confession, belief and baptism, or maybe it’s Acts 2:38 where Peter tells the people to “repent and be baptized” – no mention of belief at all.

It isn’t about either or but both and.  We must take Scripture as a whole and not pick and choose.  Sadly some churches and denominations have chosen some passages regarding salvation and not others.  We must take the bible as a whole.  So belief is on the same level as confession which is on the same level as repentance which is on the same level as baptism which is on the same level as following God.

Let’s talk about Salvation real quick and how this happens.  Since the sin of Adam sin has entered the world and messed everything up.  In life we sin and our guilty of our own sin.  When Jesus died on the cross he died to forgive us of our sins and not only our sins but the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2).  Christ’s death on the cross almost 2000 years paid for everyone’s sins in the whole world for all time, past, present and future (Hebrews 10:1-18).  Everyone’s been forgiven in the world in all of history!  This is the gift of God!

But just like with any gift, even though it may be there waiting for us, intended for us, it isn’t ours until we accept it.  If I’m going to pay for your house with a check and I ask you to meet me at the corner of Dam Neck and General Booth at 3pm on Tuesday to pick up that check, well it isn’t yours until you meet me where I’ve asked you to meet me and until you take it.  In the same way God’s salvation and forgiveness is for all of us but it isn’t our until we accept this gift.  The way we accept this gift is through belief (John 3:16, Mark 16:16, Romans 10:9) that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead for us, confessing this belief with our mouths (Romans 10:9) and our lives (repentance which means turning from our way and following God’s way – Acts 2:38) and by being baptized (Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, Romans 6, 1 Peter 3:21).  It’s in baptism that we meet God where he has called us to meet him and at which point we are saved.  How does this work?  It’s because of all the things that happen in baptism.

This is getting pretty long so check in for part 2 of this post.

Question:

What do you recommend to do to work through pain by not just putting on a fake face and pretending to be joyful while your heart is in horrible pain?

Answer:

We should never put on a fake face and pretend everything is ok if it isn’t.  One thing the cross does is it gives us permission to be genuine and real even if our current reality isn’t rosy.  The Psalms, the books of Job, Lamentations, Jeremiah all grant us permission to be real in our sorrow and hurt and pain.  So I think the first part in working through our pain is embracing it rather than denying it or covering it up – this pain is real, this doesn’t feel good, I don’t like it, but this is the reality I’m facing in this moment.

A few thoughts on pain and sorrow and difficult things that happen in our life.  First we must remember and know the truth that God is good and desires good things for us.  We also must remember that nothing happens in this world unless it is God’s doing or passes before God with his permission.  This is very difficult to accept if we first don’t embrace the truth that God is good and desires good for us.  Here are a few examples:

In Jonah 1:4 as Jonah is running from God it says, “Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.”  In Jonah 1:17 it says, “Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.”  Neither of these things are good but God brings these things into Jonah’s life.  The storm isn’t good and the fish definitely isn’t good (the fish isn’t saving Jonah from dying in the ocean because once Jonah is thrown overboard the “raging sea grew calm” (Jonah 1:15) and then the fish comes and swallows Jonah in verse 17.)  So these aren’t good things but God brings them on Jonah.  We understand why these things happened now reading Jonah, but Jonah in these moments didn’t.  However, even in the midst of these bad things, Jonah, while in the fish prays a prayer in Jonah 2 where he borrows from several Psalms.  There are various types of Psalms: psalms of lament and sorrow and pain, and also psalms of thanksgiving and praise.  The psalms Jonah borrows from while in the fish are all psalms of thanksgiving and praise.  Even though these bad things come directly from God (and we understand that God is trying to redirect Jonah through these things) Jonah praises God in the midst of his suffering, knowing that God is still good.  You ask about still having joy in suffering and I think the anchor to this is even in the midst of pain we know that God is still good.  This is an example of “bad things” coming directly from God.

Now an example of bad things not coming from God but passing in front of God and given permission by God.  In Job chapter 1 Satan comes before God asking to crush Job to which God gives him permission.  This isn’t a sadistic game between God and Satan, but rather this is an allowance that comes from a good God and if we were able to ask Job after his ordeal if he came out better and understanding more and maybe even glad that this happened to him, he might well possibly have said “yes, that this was a good thing.”  In the midst of this pain does Job embrace it and love it? No way!  But we see throughout and in the end of the book a maturing and growing from Job.

So again, the anchor in still having joy in pain and suffering is knowing that all things either come from God or pass before God and God is a good God and if we trust that this is true, then like Job we can say, “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.” (Job 13:15).  When we realize this truth then we understand what James says in James 1:2, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds…”  Jesus says, “Rejoice and be glad” when it comes to being persecuted and falsely accused. (Matthew 5:11-12).  Joy in sorrow seems very foreign to us but it is possible when we remember that God is a good God and it’s in him that we rest and seek refuge and hope and comfort.  There is a place in our lives that despite the hurricane of the chaos and pain of what is going on around us we can still have joy and peace in the eye that is centered in the truth that God is good and loves us and desires good for us.

So in working through our pain, sometimes our first inclination is “God take this away,” but it may be God who brought it.  It’s natural to feel this way because it isn’t pleasant but oftentimes rather than responding, “God take this away,” we should say, “God, grant me peace, comfort, and understanding in this.”

We must deal with our pain in a healthy way and there are various stages of this and many ways to balance this.  Sitting in silence and contemplation, crying, praying, etc. is a way we come to grips with our feelings and centering ourselves on what is really going on within.  So being alone is a good thing, but also, it’s important to press into community rather than withdrawing from community and becoming reclusive which can drive us into despair, depression or hopelessness.  So we must also be around other people even if it’s to have company to sit in silence with you and help you bear you your pain, even if it is in silence.  We also need for people to speak encouragement and hope and peace and comfort into our lives to help us through.  Sometimes the pain we face is so great that we need to seek professional counseling to have someone help us sort through what we’ve experienced or are experiencing.

To ignore the pain and sorrow doesn’t make it go away so we must embrace it and be real with our feeling and thoughts and trust that God really is good and in him is joy, peace and comfort regardless of our circumstances.

Question:

Is once saved, always saved?

Answer:

Jesus understood that when people heard the Word of God they would react in different ways – from total rejection to total acceptance. He explained it in ‘The Parable Of The Sower’. I have quoted the Matthew 13:3-23 Scripture here, but the same parable can also be found in Mark 4:1-20 and Luke 8:4-15.

Matthew 13:3-9
Then [Jesus] told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed.
 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.
 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 
7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.
 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop – a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
 9 He who has ears, let him hear.” [NIV]

The Disciples wanted to know what this parable meant and Jesus explained.

Matthew 13:18-23
18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 
19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.
 20 The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.
 21 But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.
 22 The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.
 23 But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” [NIV]

For people who believe that “once saved, always saved,” I rhetorically ask: how do you relate your beliefs to Matthew 13: 20-21? If a man cannot lose his salvation then why would Jesus say: “When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away”?

Also, in Revelation 3:5, John writes,

“He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.”

This notation in Revelation 3:5 grabs my spirit, “and I will not erase his name from the book of life.” I’m not going to try and read this for anything more than it is. If I hold strong, obey God, and faithfully follow Jesus (even in my short falls and tripping up), He in His amazing graces will clothe me in white garments and restore me to the place He deemed holy and blameless. He’s going to be my advocate before God. Now, if I don’t overcome, turn my back upon God and completely walk the other direction, He will turn me over to my choices and I will give Him no choice, by my actions He would erase my name for not turning, clinging to, and following the God of Creation.

Now, this eternal security topic is openly debated by theologians, scholars, etc. It’s nothing new. Now, while I hold this position, there are others who cling to 1 Corinthians 1:8, 1 Thessalonians 5:24, Philippians 1:6, 1 Peter 1:5. They would say God is going to seal us and no choice we make can separate us from Him. While I wrestle with these passages, I find a strong teaching towards the option, and free will choice of one stepping away from Christ. An example of this is Demas, not found to a great extent in scripture, but where he is noted is profound.

He is a ministry companion of the early church. He’s found with the likes of Mark, Paul, and Luke. He’s mentioned three times in the New Testament. In Philemon 1:24 ; Colossians 4:14, and then in 2 Timothy 4:10. The first two instances of Demas being noted, he’s hard at work, in the thick of ministry and serving the Lord. But, something changes, and Paul takes a moment to express it in his letter to Timothy:

“For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.”
2 Timothy 4:10

I just see a picture here of a man who was serving God, faithful, and in a relationship with Jesus. Then, he fell in love with the world and left. I see in scripture we are not of this world and are to have no partnership with things of this world lording over us. Some would say Demas never really loved God or was a follower of Jesus. I just cannot see this. Now, I could be wrong, and if I am- it’s celebration for every person who comes to faith (regardless if they step away), because their eternal security is still in tact. But if my fellow believers who hold to eternal security or “once saved, always saved” are wrong in their study, then it makes it ever more important to hold strong and guard our hearts. Or, in Paul’s words,

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
2 Timothy 4:7

My prayer is that can be said of me, and every other person who claims Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Question:

How do you approach a fellow Christian who is teaching false/bad theology?

Answer:

Well, like question #10, teachers are held to a higher standard. James (half brother of Jesus) is clear when he writes:

“Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.”
James 3:1

We have to be tested, approved, and show by our fruit that God is the one moving through us- not our own selfish ambition. When the teaching turns from that of the Bible and to some other message other than what God ordained, it’s time to take action. The reason we take action is because eternity is at stake and God takes it seriously. It’s one of the Ten Commandments that we, “not give false witness to thy neighbor.” The context culturally, was to not lie in a court of law against them, but the truth remains… taking God’s message and altering the truth about it has grave consequences. Proverbs 6:19 tells us, “God hates a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.”

So, I would first pray. Pray that you are not making these claims lightly. Ask god to give you guidance on the text/doctrine that is being taught. If you find confirmation in these claims, bring it to them in love. Explain the problems at hand. If they listen, great. If they turn you away, practice Matthew 18 principles with them. Bring a witness and meet again with the person. If they still do not listen, bring them to the elders of the church. If they refuse to back away from this false teaching, you part ways with them. Essentially meaning, they go to another church and no longer share community with you and the church they are currently a part of.

This is tough, but we’re held to a standard as Jesus life and ministry shows us. When people who don’t know God act foolishly, we are to love them and share the love of Jesus. When Christians act foolishly, we are to love them and help hold them accountable to the commitment they made to Christ. If they reject that accountability, according to Matthew 18, we have to take the proper Biblical steps to help restore them, or part ways with them.

Question:

What happens when someone is taught something that isn’t true about the Bible? Are they able to go to Heaven?

Answer:

Let’s answer this question in reverse… Luckily for you and I, God is the final judge and authority on who celebrates eternity in Heaven and who does not. I’m very thankful you or I don’t have to make that call. Although many people (Christian or not) like to cast judgement on others and make conclusions, it’s obvious that none of us are qualified enough to make those calls (i.e. we’re not God).

As far as false teaching or being taught something that isn’t true about the Bible… Peter warns against such things:

¹But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. ²And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. ³And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”
2 Peter 2:1-3

False teachers will always pop up. They will take the Bible out of context, use it to push their own personal agenda, and manipulate people for personal gain. It’s a very serious offense to misuse the Bible selfishly. They will answer for their false teaching when they die or if Jesus returns during their lifetime.

Now, what about the Christian who has been led astray by false teaching/untruths concerning the Bible- Matthew discusses how to tell if the teaching is true:

15“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
Matthew 7:15-20

As a Christian, it would be the Holy Spirit that would convict you of the teaching you’re hearing. You would be able to identify it by the fruit they bring forth. Are people coming to Christ? Is Biblical leadership and accountability in place? Do they practice Matthew 18, when disagreements & sin arises? Is the community being impacted by the lives of those who are in the church? As you test these things, you will have a clearer picture as to whether or not you would need to follow this teaching or turn to another, more Biblical community of believers.

Again, God will make the final decision as to salvation. We’re simply taught through scripture what God commands of us (faith, believe, repent, confess, baptism, lead a life according to scripture). I love that we’re saved by grace, through faith, in baptism, for good works. I also cling to the beautiful truth that God is amazing and helps me understand the Bible more and more clearly each day. He’s loving, gracious, just, and so on. Personally, I think grace will be shown to those who had been led by an awful leader who twisted scripture, and the penalty of the false teaching and leading others so wrongly will be paid by the leader/teacher. That’s the extra burden leaders bare in taking on His calling. It’s a serious/weighty task, that no one in it should take lightly.

Question:

The Bible says Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden to live with “the others.” Are the others from like LOST, if God created Adam & Eve from dust from the beginning??

Answer:

The bible actually doesn’t say this at all.  The passage you are referring to is Genesis 3:21-24.  It never mentions being cast out of The Garden of Eden to “live with the others.”  It simply says they were cast out.

You may be merging this passage with Genesis 4:10-16 where God  sends Cain to be a “restless wanderer on the earth” as a punishment for killing his brother Abel.  Cain laments that his punishment is too severe and that whoever finds him wandering around will kill him.  The “others” you may be referring to are these people Cain is referring to.

Let’s look at the history here.  God creates Adam from the dust (Genesis 2:7) and his wife Eve from Adam’s rib (Genesis 2:21-22).  These are the only two people on the planet – the first man and woman as all of us come from Adam and Eve.  Adam and Eve are cut off from the Garden in Genesis 3 and in the first few verses of Genesis 4 we are told of Cain and Abel.  These may have been Adam and Eve’s first children – perhaps, but we don’t know for sure.  We do know that these aren’t Adam and Eve’s only children though as they have Seth (Genesis 4:25) and many other children and their children had children (Genesis 5:3-32).

Often people have the image that Adam and Eve just have Cain and Abel and that’s it, so where did all the other people come from?  Adam and Eve didn’t have just Cain and Abel as seen in the above verses and Adam lived to be 930 years old.  That’s a long time for Adam to have a lot of children!  Not only this, but that’s a lot of time for those children to have children (incest…I know).  The time frame from when Adam and Eve had Cain and Abel to when Cain killed Abel was sometime in the span of 130 years, probably a bit less.  (Eve had Seth after Abel was killed – Genesis 4:25 and it was when Adam was 130 – Genesis 5:3.)  So let’s estimate there’s a 100 year span where Adam and Eve could have other kids and those kids have kids and so on.  In the period of 100 years that can be quite a bit of kids, thus through this process of procreation there could certainly be enough people, descended from Adam and Eve to be the “others” you refer to.  This is a reasonable and logical answer to explain how there are other people living around the area without resorting to some mysterious people who appeared from somewhere else.  The other people Cain is afraid of are distant relatives who came from Adam and Eve and the lineage that reproduced over a period of at most 130 years.

Question:

Where is God when natural disasters occur? i.e. recently Japan and like down in New Orleans…

Answer:

When Adam and Eve eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil sin enters the world and as sin enters the world it not only brings death to the world (Genesis 3) but it also mars creation, making the paradise God originally created into a far cry from perfection.  Sin even affects creation (Romans 8:19-22).  Because of this, thing like earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc. occur.  In the midst of these tragedies God could very well intervene and make everything ok but he doesn’t because things like a broken earth are the consequences for sin entering the world and making the world a fallen place.

However God seeks to redeem and and restore all things, even this earth and we see this first and foremost in the cross as Jesus dies so that we could be forgiven and we and this world cold be restored.  We also see that God is seeking to make all things right and redeem all things as “creation waits in eager expectation…to be liberated from it’s bondage to decay.” (Romans 8:19-20).  God’s desire is to make all things new even this creation as he creates a new heaven and new earth where “there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:1-4).

So natural disasters occur because we live in a sinful fallen broken world, but God is in the midst of these disasters as a compassionate loving God who will ultimately make all things new and right in the new heaven and new earth. I think it’s important to remember that God is love (1 John 4:16) and every good and perfect gift comes from God (James 1:17) and God is good and desires good things for us. Even with God being loving, we see horrible atrocities that take place due to living in a fallen world with sin ever present.

Question:

When your parents are not Christian, and they disrespect you and tell you to do something that isn’t what a Christian would do… do you have to listen to them?

Answer:

First and foremost our allegiance is to God.  Jesus tells us that who he is and what he brings can be very divisive, separating people (Matthew 10:34-39).  Also we see the apostles respond to the Sanhedrin when commanded not to talk about Jesus as they say,

“Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him?  You be the judges!  As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:19-20)

So sometimes there is division amongst parents and children over faith. An interesting thing to note is that in this division as we see from countless examples in the book of Acts, the group or person who is hostile or divisive isn’t the Christian but the person who isn’t a Christian.  The Christian’s role in division is to show love and grace.

We are called to honor our mother and father and parents are called to not exasperate their children (Ephesians 6:1-4); essentially in everything we are to love.  Note also that honoring our father and mother doesn’t mean we always agree with or do what they say and not exasperating our children doesn’t mean we give in to their will.

So for this child (and by the way, honor your father and mother doesn’t come with an age limit so even when you are 40 you are called to honor your mother and father) you need to show love and respect and honor to your parents even if you aren’t able to do what they are telling you to do because it is immoral or against God and your allegiance is first and foremost to God.  In most cases I’ve seen this as a Student Ministry Pastor it’s been with teens who want to get baptized but their parents don’t want them to.  In this, I advise students to do what God has called them to do in accepting him by getting baptized, accepting what consequences may come with that, and loving their parents throughout and eventually after they make this decision the change in their life actually impresses their parents so much that their parents come around sometimes. Here’s an example…

“There was a kid by the name of Nate, who wanted to get baptized at Camp Rudolph years ago. His mother didn’t want him to. She thought it was a cult, and somehow brain washing her child. Each evening he would come up wanting to get baptized and surrender his life to God. And, each evening call his mother, only to hear the same response. Well, the week came to a close. Nate and some other went to the beach at our oceanfront, and this is what Nate said, “I love my mom. I love God too. I want to honor them both. I’m going to listen to God here by getting baptized, and then listen to God at home and honor everything my mom says.” Well, his mom had told him that if he did get baptized, he wouldn’t be allowed to go to church, see his Christian friends, or have anything to do with God. Less than a year later, by Nate’s example, his mother was going to church regularly, was baptized, and began volunteering at the church. He’s just one example of many kids who stood for God on something like that, without being a jerk to their parents- and God used it to revolutionize their moms & dads.”

By the way, for parents, if your child actually wants to be part of the church and they also want to get baptized, I would encourage you to celebrate with them because do you know how many parents would love it for their kid to take the path your kid is taking.  So, I encourage you to celebrate the fact that your child wants to make a difference in and with their life.

If your parents are disrespecting you by verbally or physically abusing you, or they are forcing to you to do something that is immoral or illegal, then you need to tell an adult so that you can get help in that situation.  If your parent is just saying something you don’t like or they are trying to parent you, giving you consequences for your actions or saying you can’t hang out with a certain crowd, etc. and you don’t care for that, then you need to realize you are their child and it is their job to rear you so be their child and let them parent you.