Who rules the world today?

Sincerely,
Measuring The Rulers

Dear Measuring The Rulers,

Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords (1 Tim 6:14-15).  Ultimately, Jesus is the great and awesome Savior of the world (1 Jn 4:14).  The devil has a certain level of power in this life; the Bible describes Satan as the “prince of the power of air” (Eph 2:2).  Satan’s power is as fleeting as the wind – powerful, but without substance.

God says that He chooses the rulers of this world (Rom 13:1-2).  Even when it seems like men are in charge, the Son is holding everything together by the strength of His might (Col 1:16-17).

Does a person who has never heard of God or Jesus go to hell or heaven?

Sincerely,
Curious

Dear Curious,

God is the only one who can judge where someone’s eternal destination will be.  The Scriptures give us an insight into how the Great Judge will decide our verdict.  Here are some Scriptures to consider:

1. Just because someone is ignorant, doesn’t mean they aren’t at fault.  God tells us that anyone who seeks the truth will find it (Matt 7:7-8).  The Bible is the most widely available book on the planet – just because someone hasn’t read it, doesn’t mean they didn’t have opportunity.
2. People go to hell because of their sins (Rom 6:23), not because of Jesus.  Jesus’ death on the cross is a cure for mankind’s self-inflicted spiritual death sentence.  It is the same as a disease outbreak – the disease kills people, not the lack of a cure.  If Jesus had never come, and none of us had ever heard of Jesus, we would all have been lost.
3. God tells us that everyone has been given enough information to seek Him.  Rom 1:20 says that the very beauty of the created universe speaks of God’s existence and leaves mankind without excuse.  God has provided an “all call” message anyone can hear through the wonder of His creation.
4. God doesn’t desire anyone to perish (2 Pet. 3:9).  God won’t make any mistakes on the Day of Judgment, and no one will accidentally end up in heaven or hell.

As we said, God is the final judge.  We will all face Him when we die (Heb 9:27).  The best thing we can do is make sure we are prepared for that day.

I am very troubled and offended by people that go out of their way to discredit the Bible and the existence of God.  I feel there must be something deep down inside of them that asks the question, “What if it's true?”.  What would some other reasons be for why people discredit the Bible and God’s existence?

Sincerely,
A True Believer

Dear A True Believer,

People reject and seek to destroy Christianity for a number of reasons.  We must make sure to differentiate between those who are actively opposed to Christ and those who simply haven’t become christians.  Only a small portion of society is actively engaged in trying to eradicate God from society.  Those who are vehemently opposed to God have many reasons for being that way:

1. They may be like Paul – actively ignorant.  Paul persecuted the church because he was stubbornly ignorant of the truth about Jesus (1 Tim 1:13).
2. Their consciences have been seared by sin, and their view of the world has been warped by immorality (1 Tim 4:2).
3. Sometimes people oppose God because they have something to gain by pursuing religious (or atheistic) goals.  Their appetites and desire for power become their gods (Php 3:19).
4. They were mistreated and abused by religious people in their past.  If someone has had bad experiences (molestation, abuse, etc.) at the hands of those who professed to serve Christ, they may lash out at God because of their pain and suffering.  This isn’t the right outlet for pain, but it certainly does happen.

Ultimately, we each must stand before God (Heb 9:27).  Whether we believe in God or not – we will all meet Him.

I have been going to church for about twenty years.  I have been around several churches and have noticed something about my current church of about three years.  I noticed the pastor is very transparent.  The church size is around 150 total and has never went over that size in the last twenty-five years.  When I first went there, a lot of growth was taking place after they brought on a new staff member.  The church grew from 85 to 200 in about 4 months, but I noticed the pastor kept doing things that offended people.  He would call people out in the middle of service, discipline them, make fun of something that had happened to them, etc.  The church has had over 325 visitors in the last three years, and only two families remain from those who visited.  Here's my question: why does it seem my pastor has a self-destructive spirit?  It's almost as if he does not want to succeed or is afraid to grow.  He is very grounded biblically (although says a lot of things personally that offend people) and is very evangelistic.  I don't know how to encourage him.  He justifies everyone leaving because he is speaking "solid biblical" truth, and they don't like it.  He does speak truth, but at the same time, will point people out and make fun of them.  It is as if you can see a switch click when there are visitors.  He will be going along preaching, then stop, and then looking right at the visitors, make an "off-the-wall” comment.  They don't come back.  We don't have a deacon, elder, or leadership group that can help walk with the pastor… any suggestions?

Sincerely,
Put Off By The Pastor

Dear Put Off By The Pastor,

One man leading a church without any checks or balances can create lots of problems… and that is exactly why God didn’t design the church to be run by a head pastor.  God intended for the church to be lead by a multiplicity of elders (Acts 14:23) – never by one person.  The qualifications for elders can be found in 1 Tim 3:1-7 and Tit 1:5-9.  Many, many churches are suffering from the exact same problems as your congregation because they don’t use the Bible’s pattern for church leadership.

No single individual should be left alone to guide the Lord’s church.  Even an honest person would be bound to make major mistakes without other faithful leaders to rely upon.  It is only in a multiplicity of faithful elders that we can have safety (Pr 24:6).  When churches aren’t arranged according to the Bible pattern, things don’t work.

My question is about fantasy life.  Ever since I was a young child, I remember living in a fantasy world.  It made me feel better knowing that this world I was living in was controlled by me.  This has continued into adulthood now.  It seems that what I look forward to are my nights when I will get to visit my fantasy world again.  I guess what I want to know is: is this a bad thing?  If it is, what should I do to break this habit?  Are there references in the Bible about this?

Sincerely,
Dreamer

Dear Dreamer,

God wants us to live in the world and trust Him… not avoid this life.  If God desired for christians to completely remove themselves from the influences and difficulties of this world, He would have commanded us to.  Instead, we see that He wants us to live amongst mankind as shining lights (Matt 5:16-17), and we are specifically told to remain amongst our fellow man (1 Cor 5:10).  You mentioned that your reason for living in a fantasy world was to find control.  The Bible tells us that we should give up control (1 Pet 5:6).  Let God be your refuge and fortress in life (Ps 91:2).

It is very easy to slip into the habit of finding refuge from life in television, video games, internet, books, excessive sleep, etc. – but ultimately, all we are doing is running away from reality.  That isn’t healthy.  It is time to grab your Bible and start facing this life head on.