My late father was mostly in prison when I was growing up, and the one thing I always said was that I'd never end up like he did. But now I have (I'm in jail for the first time), and it's really depressing me. Did God make me so I'd be just like my father, and there's nothing I can do about it?
I'm not sure I want to go to heaven when I die. It sounds kind of boring, just floating around on a cloud all day with nothing to do. Or do I have a wrong idea about heaven?
Why didn't God destroy the devil before he had a chance to do anything evil? And where did the devil come from anyway? Did God create him, or has he always existed?
Some people came to our door recently and offered to explain the Bible to us, which we let them do since we'd never thought much about God. But how do I know if they are a cult? I don't want to get sucked into a cult, but they're friendly and have interesting ideas.
How do we know heaven exists? Sometimes I think it does, but then I wonder if it's just something we dreamed up. Maybe this life is all there is.
I've heard of the Ten Commandments all my life and been told I ought to obey them but aren't they out of date? After all, they were written thousands of years ago, and the world has changed a lot since then.
My parents always believed that children couldn't understand anything about God, so they never took me to church until I was 10 or 11. But our 4-year-old keeps asking questions about God, and we wonder if we ought to begin taking him to church. What do you think?
If God sometimes says "no" to our prayers, then why bother to pray? I admit I have a hard time trying to figure out when to pray and when to just keep quiet -- although if something looks hopeless, I really don't see any reason to pray about it.
Recently I've been watching some reruns of your crusades, and I'm thankful for your clear preaching. But why do you always ask people to come forward at the end of your messages? Can't people put their faith in Christ wherever they are, not just in a stadium?
My pets mean a lot to me, and I hate to see people neglect animals or treat them cruelly. Does the Bible say anything about how we should treat animals? God made them also, didn't He?
It seems like I'm always having financial problems, and they'd all be solved if I could just win the lottery. But I haven't won hardly anything the last few years, although I've prayed and prayed for God to help me win. Why won't God hear my prayers?
I was just elected to serve on our church's governing board, and I have to admit I'm nervous about it. What advice would you give me? I've been a Sunday school teacher for several years (and still am), but this is new to me.
