As a christian lady, would it be inappropriate to slap a worldly man in the face when spoken to in a provocative, evil manner?

Sincerely,
Talk To The Hand

Dear Talk To The Hand,

It would probably be best if you walked away.  The Lord tells us to turn the other cheek… not slap the other cheek (Matt 5:39).  Christians should never resort to violence to solve problems; that is the way of the world (Gen 6:11).  Christians should be known as peacemakers (Matt 5:9).  Be angry, but don’t let that anger turn into bad behavior (Eph 4:26).  Show them you are a lady by kindly and quietly removing yourself from such vulgar company.

Hello!  So I have a very strange question to ask.  You see, as a child, I tended to over do things, and well, not think ahead, although, I like to think I'm still young.  So, one night, while praying, and this was after learning about giving up things for the Lord, I promised something along the lines of being like the Virgin Mary and never getting involved in sexual acts.  Ever.  Now, I fully plan on waiting ‘til marriage.  That's not an option for me to not wait.  But my question is, what should I do?  I made this promise to the Lord, but I did not remotely know what I was promising.  I believe I was only eight or nine.  Should I keep it or trust in the Lord that He understands?

I have been wondering about this for a very long time, and any advice and guidance will be very welcome!  Thank you so much, and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Sincerely,
Waiting

Dear Waiting,

Children make promises all the time that they are not legally bound to because... they are children.  God says that children have foolishness bound up in their hearts (Pr 22:15).  Eccl 5:4-5 makes it clear that a vow is a very sacred and binding thing, but that verse applies to adults.  Children are still under the authority of their parents (Eph 6:1) until they reach adulthood.  They don't have the authority to make such grave and long-term commitments as you did.  If an eight or nine-year-old vowed to give all of their money for the next fifty years to the poor... the parents' will and wisdom would supersede that charitable, innocent, and foolish promise.  Your situation is the same.  In Num 30:1-5, we see that in the Old Testament, God specifically said that children didn't have the power to make and keep vows that their parents disagreed with.  We here at AYP are pretty sure that this would count as one of those kinds of vows.

5 minutes a day
5 days a week
1 New Testament in a year

There are 261 weekdays in a year, and there are 260 chapters in the New Testament. By reading one chapter, Monday through Friday, you will read the whole New Testament by the end of the year. The Daily Cup series is to help with that goal.

Happy Studying!

"The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup." -- Psalm 16:5

Click here for a pdf of the study schedule - CLICK HERE

Are you considered a member of a church just because you got baptized there?  And if so, are you always considered a member even though you do not attend that particular church any longer?  If not, could you become a member of a different church?

Sincerely,
On The Move

Dear On The Move,

Baptism makes you a member of the universal church (Acts 2:41), but you must decide what local church of believers to which you will attach yourself.  There is a difference between the universal church (which encompasses all faithful christians regardless of locale – Acts 9:31) and the local church which is compromised of all the christians in a specific community (i.e. the churches in Corinth, Thessalonica, Rome, etc.).  The word ‘church’ is used to describe local congregations (1 Cor 4:17) and the universal church (Col 1:18)… context is the only way to differentiate.  All christians are a part of the universal church (also know as Christ’s body – Rom 12:5), but we are only members of one local church at a time.  When someone moves to another part of the globe, they change congregations and join a new local church (just like Phoebe did – Rom 16:1-2).

What is the difference between the soul and spirit?  I am assuming that the soul encompasses the whole body and is not in the mind somewhere.  If your feelings are emotions, can this be your soul or spirit?  I do not understand the difference between these two words and if they have an invisible place in the body.

Sincerely,
Soul Searching

Dear Soul Searching,

The words ‘soul’ and ‘spirit’ are used interchangeably in almost every circumstance.  There is only one verse that points to the fact that there is a difference between your soul and your spirit.  In Heb 4:12, it says that the Bible can pierce even to the divide between soul and spirit.  Apparently, there is a difference between your spirit and your soul… but we have absolutely no idea what that difference is.  As we said, in every other verse, those two terms are used as synonyms.  We could theorize for hours on the topic, but anything we said would simply be conjecture.  As far as we can tell from Scripture, both terms are used to talk about that ungraspable spark of life (where? – we have no idea) in every human that exists even after death.