I have been struggling with what church to attend, my wife and son are not believers, and I am getting frustrated with going to a different church every weekend.  I love to be taught God’s Word, and would love to deepen my fellowship with Christ.  I just feel like giving up on everything about church.  I have prayed ‘til I am blue in the face.  Can you help?

Sincerely,
End Of My Rope

Dear End Of My Rope,

Looking for a church that is trying to follow the New Testament pattern as closely as possible can be difficult because so many churches have strayed from the Scriptures. A congregation doesn’t need to be full of perfect people, but they need to be trying to faithfully follow God’s Word and not their own ideologies.

Our congregation here in Monroe goes by the name ‘Monroe Valley church of Christ’ because ‘church of Christ’ is a Biblical name for a congregation (Rom 16:16).  We worship by singing (Col 3:16), studying the Bible (1 Tim 4:13), praying (2 Thess 3:1), taking communion (only on Sundays – Acts 20:7), and taking up a collection (also only on Sundays – 1 Cor 16:1-2).  We teach that you must hear God’s Word (Rom 10:17), believe God’s Word (Jhn 3:16), repent of your sins (Mk 6:12), confess Jesus as your Savior (Lk 12:8), and be baptized to be saved (Acts 2:38, 1 Pet 3:21).  We do all these things because they are practices found in the Bible.  As you said, you don’t want to go to a church that offers their own thoughts – you want God’s thoughts.

There are other congregations like ours scattered across the country and the world.  Most of them use the name ‘church of Christ’, but then again, many churches that use that name aren’t faithful.  A Bible name for a church isn’t enough to make it faithful.  We have helped others, like yourself, looking for New Testament Christianity find faithful congregations in their area by contacting other preachers and christians that we know.  We’d be happy to do the same for you.  If you feel comfortable, just let us know what general area you live in, and we will try and get you in touch with a congregation that lives like your Bible reads (our e-mail is askyourpreacher@mvchurchofchrist.org).  It is frustrating, confusing, and exasperating to deal with denominationalism.  Thanks be to God that there is a better option!

Will there ever be an earthly paradise?

Sincerely,
Ready To Relax

Dear Ready To Relax,

There was an earthly paradise; it was called the Garden of Eden (Gen 2:8).  Mankind was cast out of that paradise because of sin (Gen 3:22-24).  We are told that the next paradise faithful people see will be a heavenly paradise.  Jesus referred to Paradise as a place that God’s people would see once they die (Lk 23:43).  Paul refers to Paradise as existing in heaven, not on Earth (2 Cor 12:2-4).  Eventually, this world will be totally destroyed by intense heat (2 Pet 3:10-13), and this earthly age will pass away and be replaced by a spiritual one for all eternity (1 Cor 15:49-54).

All the major faiths of the world preach that only through following their teachings and believing in their god will one reach heaven.  This means everyone else goes to hell.  To a christian, all the muslims are hell-bound.  To a muslim, all the christians are infidels and will never reach God.  I find it hard to believe that a loving God would set up half the world for failure.  Each faith is strict about the requirements to spend eternity with God.  How do we come to terms with this concept that ours is the only way?

Sincerely,
Too Exclusive

Dear Too Exclusive,

One of the key components to any religion is that we accept that particular religion’s god as he is.  It isn’t fair to simultaneously try and find which god is real (Allah, Buddha, Jehovah, etc.) and also have a pre-conceived notion about how we want God to behave.  If the Muslim’s are right, then Allah exists, and it doesn’t matter whether Allah is loving or not – Allah is what Allah is.  If the Buddhists are correct, it doesn’t matter whether we like reincarnation or not – reincarnation exists.  The same is true with Jehovah, the God of the Bible.  God is who God is, without regard to our opinion of how we feel He ought to be.  We may feel that He has “set up” a large portion of society for failure, but if the God of the Bible is real (and we feel confident He is!), we must take Him at His Word that all have evidence of His existence and are without excuse if they don’t follow Him (Rom 1:20).

The key to finding which god is the true God is to look at the evidence – primarily the key documents for each religion.  When you compare the Koran, the Dharma, the Veda, and other books of faith to the Bible… there is no comparison.  The Bible is accurate scientifically, prophetically, historically, and contextually consistent; it never contradicts itself and contains truths that only God would know and yet can be proven true by practice.  We highly recommend you read our article “Who Wrote The Bible?” for further explanation of the proof that the Bible is from God.  When analyzing religion in the search for truth, follow the evidence, and it will always lead you to the Bible.

Why are innocent victims allowed to be violated in this world?  Are they sacrificial lambs or what?  I see no purpose in, for example, young children being allowed to be violated.

Sincerely,
Disgusted

Dear Disgusted,

All suffering is caused by mankind and sin.  When God made the world, He made it to be good - it was sin that destroyed that perfect vision.  All wickedness and evil brings pain to God and grieves Him and He will only endure it for so long.  In Noah's day, God saw all the violence that was in the world and it made Him deeply sad (Gen 6:5-6).  God gives mankind the freedom to make our own choices, but that doesn't mean it doesn't pain Him to see the evil upon this earth.  God tells us that the only reason He endures it is because He is longsuffering and desiring to give as many people as possible the chance to repent and turn to Him (2 Pet 3:9).  It is a dark and ugly world, and God's love is the shining light in that darkness (Jhn 3:19).  All the blameless and forgiven will be comforted in His arms in heaven (Rev 21:3-4).

Please define the three heavens.  Thank you.

Sincerely,
Celestial Wonderer

Dear Celestial Wonderer,

The Bible talks about three different heavens.  The first heaven is the sky, what we would call the atmosphere.  This is the heaven that the birds fly in (Gen 1:20).

The second heaven is what we would call outer space.  The second heaven is where the sun, the moon, and the stars reside (Ps 8:3).

The third heaven is the spiritual realm where the saved will go.  The third heaven is Paradise where faithful souls go to be with God (1 Cor 12:2-4).