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).

My question is if christians go to be with Jesus when they die, where do non-believers go at the moment of death?

Sincerely,
The Other Side

Dear The Other Side,

God tells us that when the faithful die, they go to be in Paradise (Lk 23:43).  At the time of their death, christians are escorted to Paradise by angels (Lk 16:22).  Inversely, when those outside of Christ die, they wake up in a place known only as “torments” (Lk 16:23).  There is a great chasm fixed between Paradise and the place of torment, and it is impossible to cross from one place to the other (Lk 16:26).  The place of torments is described as being a place of anguishing flame (Lk 16:24).  It is a place where the worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched (Mk 9:48).  It is a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt 25:30).  It is the outer darkness away from the presence of God.  ‘Torments’ is the last place anyone wants to go.  This makes it all the more important to ready our lives before this life ends (Heb 9:27).

Why does the church allow men to be elders that do not have "faithful" children?  I hear excuses that it's IMPOSSIBLE to find a man like that... if God demands it, then it MUST be possible.

Sincerely,
No Excuses

Dear No Excuses,

When you use the term ‘the church’, that makes it sound like every congregation allows men to become elders even if they aren’t qualified.  That simply isn’t true.  Our congregation here in Monroe, as well as many others that we personally know of, only select elders who have faithful children because that is what Tit 1:6 says.  You are right, it isn’t impossible to find qualified men to serve as elders because many congregations have qualified elders.  The amount of care that a congregation puts into following the Bible pattern for elders is an indicator of how serious they are about being a Bible-led church.  The qualifications for elders are easily found in 1 Tim 3:1-7 and Tit 1:5-9.  What a congregation does with those verses says a lot about their priorities.

Why does the Bible say in numerous passages to repent and be baptized to be washed of sins... but PEOPLE say just believe, and everything is all right?

Sincerely,
Where’s The Water?

Dear Where’s The Water,

Because people are wrong and haven’t been taught the whole Bible.  Belief is a necessary part of the salvation process, but it isn’t the only part.  Even the demons believe in God (Jas 2:19).  God clearly says that baptism is the final step to being saved.  After believing in God (Jhn 20:31), confessing Jesus as Savior (Matt 10:32-33), and repenting of your sins (Lk 15:7), you need to be baptized to be saved (1 Pet 3:21).  Baptism is what removes your sins and gives you the gift of salvation (Acts 2:38).  We are added to the church when we are baptized (Acts 2:41), and our sins are buried when we are baptized (Rom 6:4-5).  Many churches don’t preach the necessity of baptism because baptism is a “work” or condition upon salvation.  The truth is that God does put conditions upon salvation, and that is why only those who turn and obey Him will be saved (Heb 5:9).

My friend has a very religious mother, and she thinks she likes women.  She wanted to know if it is a sin to be homosexual.

Sincerely,
Confused

Dear Confused,

Yes, homosexuality is a sin… no matter what society teaches.  The Bible is very clear on the subject of homosexuality.  Homosexuality is a perversion of the relationship God intended between a man and a woman (Rom 1:26-27).  Openly accepted homosexual lifestyles are a sign that a society has deeply diverged from Bible principles (Jude 1:7).  Homosexual urges should be fought and controlled just like we should repress the desire to be violent and show the self-control to watch how we speak.  An actively homosexual lifestyle is a sinful lifestyle.