Hello, I'm sixteen and homeschooled and have been knowing God since I was a small child in Christian school, but I feel the pulse that I'm here to do something for God… not that I feel more important than anyone else.  I just feel I'm here to accomplish something for Him on earth, and I also have a strong pull towards Armageddon in Revelation; am I just weird, or is my strong pull towards doing something in God’s name real?

Sincerely,
Full Of Fire

Dear Full Of Fire,

You aren’t weird… the right word is ‘zealous’.  Being zealous for God is a good thing (1 Pet 3:13, Tit 2:14).  The important thing is to take the zeal of youth and combine that with Biblical knowledge.  It is only when we combine a zealous spirit with truth that we can please God (Jhn 4:24).  Many people have a zeal for God but fail to gain knowledge to properly serve Him (Rom 10:1-2).  Dedicate yourself to becoming a worker who has no need to be ashamed because you will have gained a proper and deep understanding of the Scriptures (2 Tim 2:15).  God wants to use everyone for His service – the question is whether or not we will be prepared (2 Tim 2:21).

Case in point, it is clear from your question that you have some misunderstandings about the book of Revelation.  We recommend you start building a sturdy and scholarly Bible knowledge now.  We have an entire section of our website dedicated to classes on every book of the Bible.  We recommend you visit sermons.mvchurchofchrist.org, download, and listen to classes on various books of the Bible… including the book of Revelation.  The more you know, the more you will be prepared to do good in this world.

Why is it so hard to just have faith?  Why can't it be absolute instead of questionable?

Sincerely,
Wanna See It

Dear Wanna See It,

Faith, without an element of trust, isn’t faith at all.  If you can see something, then all doubt is removed – faith is a conviction in things not seen (Heb 11:1).  God has provided ample evidence of His existence (Rom 1:20, for further details read “Does God Exist?”) as well as abundant evidence that the Bible is His Word (see “Who Wrote The Bible?”).  The vast preponderance of evidence proves that God exists, but it is up to us to trust the evidence without actually seeing Him.  Faith is the great struggle and battle of the human soul.  Will we choose to believe in a God we cannot see (but can logically prove exists)… or will we choose to believe that there is nothing after death?

I was in and out of a relationship for about five years.  Things were pretty good with her, but there was one period that we were apart for a whole year during the five-year period.  I felt that this girl was the love of my life, and we got back together.  During the year apart, however, I sinned with another woman...then I lied about it when I got back with the original girl.  Finally, I told her the truth after being with her for about a year more, and she broke things off.  It has been about six months since we broke up, and I still feel like I love her and that she is the love of my life.  I am feeling discouraged and a bit hopeless in finding another woman that I will feel the same way about since I live in a somewhat remote area from other young people.  It is even affecting my faith as it is on my mind quite often.  I know I sinned greatly and have repented of those sins, but is this feeling a scar for my sins?  Should I try to win her back again?  How can I get rid of this feeling and be more optimistic towards love?

Sincerely,
Love Lost

Dear Love Lost,

The pain you are feeling is a consequence of sin.  We reap what we sow (Gal 6:7), and you have the battle scars to prove the cost of poor choices.  The most important thing is that you seek and get forgiveness from God for your sins (1 Jn 1:9)… regardless of whether your ex-girlfriend ever forgives you.  We recommend you read “What Must I Do To Be Saved?” to see what the Bible teaches on the subject of salvation and forgiveness of sins.  Making your life right with God is the most important step in repenting of sin.

It is always difficult when a romantic relationship ends (especially near Valentine’s Day – also known as Singles Awareness Day), but God promises that if you serve Him, all things will work together for good in your life (Rom 8:28).  God tells us to not rush love and romantic relationships (Songs 8:4).  If you work on becoming the kind of person you ought to be, the Lord will bless you.  Make a decision to become a person prepared to serve God in whatever capacity He sees fit (2 Tim 2:21).  When you allow Christ to live in you, life turns out right (Gal 2:20).

If I have denied God to someone, and I am a christian, does it mean I will not spend everlasting life in heaven?

Sincerely,
Mum’s The Word

Dear Mum’s The Word,

A single act of denial will not condemn you to hell, but a lifestyle of denying Christ will.  Christ warns against being someone who will not confess His name before mankind (Matt 10:32-33).  Christ teaches us to be courageous and not timid with our faith (2 Tim 1:7).  Peter denied Christ three times (Lk 22:34) in a single night, but Peter also later repented and changed his ways (Matt 26:75).  It was a sin for you to deny God.  Repent of that sin, chart a new course of brave faith, and seek God’s forgiveness (Jas 5:15).  If you draw near to God, He will faithfully draw near to you (Jas 4:8).

     Why would God allow the torture of innocent children?

Sincerely,
Appalled

Dear Appalled,

This world is full of all sorts of disease, pain, violence, and strife – but God didn’t cause those things; sin did.  All bad things are a result of sin.  When God made the world, He placed mankind in the Garden of Eden and gave us a joyously blissful existence in that paradise.  Who caused the pain?  We did.  It is sin that has brought all of the death, disease, decay, pain, suffering, troubles, and heartaches into our world.  We all, in varying degrees, are reaping the benefits of a world with sin in it.  Sickness is a consequence of Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden.  One of the curses of their sin was that we all must face our own mortality – life is finite.  Sickness, disease, and pain are a part of the human existence.

Sadly, this is true even for our children. When God gave us freewill, He gave us the right to cause problems for ourselves and others, and if He simply removed all the consequences for our actions, He would be removing our freedoms as well.  The flip-side to this is that all children go to heaven, so after a child dies, God immediately comforts them on the other side.
 God gives mankind the freedom to make decisions, but He also has the wisdom to know how those choices will affect the future (Job 12:13).  God planned before the foundation of the world to save us by sending His own Son to die (Eph. 1:3-4).  Even though He isn’t responsible for our choices, God sent the perfect cure. This world isn’t fair – if it were, it would be heaven.  Instead, we live in a fallen world where man has been exiled from paradise.  This world is not our home; Christians await a better world where the most innocent don’t face such things. (Heb 11:16).