I am currently working on writting out as many answers to the common questions/heckles you get in the open-air.Heckle: How could God send His own children to hell? Answer: God does not send His own children to hell. Rather, the children of the devil go to be with their father when they die, and the children of God go to be with their Father. The assumption that everyone is a child of God is false. Though all are part of the creation of God, not all are children of God. Some are "children of the devil". Jesus said to religious hypocrites that they were just like their "father the devil". Paul said to a sorcerer "you son of the devil". The popular and modern belief that everyone is God's child flies in the face of the gospel itself. The gospel is that "through faith in Jesus Christ" we have been granted "the right to become children of God"; that if we are led by the Spirit of God then we are sons of God; that we have "received the Spirit of adoption" to the family of God. But until someone is "born again" into God's family, they are in the family of the devil. There is a way to tell whose child you are. The bible tells us that the answer is manifest by what we do; if we do not practice righteousness we are not righteous, if we do not love we are not Christians. If we sin, meaning continue in sin, we are of the devil, and we know that "the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience." The greatest opportunity God has given fallen man is to be reconciled back to Him through Jesus Christ. We all have the opportunity to become children of God if we turn away from our sin, and turn to Jesus Christ. Scriptures: 1John 3:10, John 8:44, Galatians 3:26, John 1:12, Romans 8:15, John 3:3, 1 John 3:10, 1 John 3:8, Ephesians 5:6, Colossians 3:6 Heckle: You can't repent! You can't stop sinning! Answer: There are some children (and adults) that will say they can't live without their video games. Cigarette smokers will say they can't live without their cigarettes. When you love and cherish something, you can't imagine living without it. And often sinners will say that they can't live without their sin; that they can't repent. And the reason is because they love their sin. I always ask them to be specific, to tell me exactly which sin it is that they can't repent from; just which sin is it that you can't stop doing. The real problem is not that they can't stop but that they won't stop. The drunkard does not will to put down the bottle. The fornicator does not will to live pure. But Christ said, "Unless you repent…you will perish" We are told that God does not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able to bear, and that God always provides a way out. What we need to do is always take the way out. If we love God we will keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. We even have the ability to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and be more then a conqueror if we allow Christ to strengthen us. Some say, "Do I really have to give up all my sin?" And of course the answer is no, you can keep sinning if you want. You don't have to give up ALL your sin. You don't have to give up getting drunk. You don't have to give up fornication. You don't have to give up blasphemy. You don't have to give up all your sin. And you don't have to go to heaven either. You can go to hell if you want. You can abide under God's wrath if you want. Or you can repent and be reconciled back to God. To the heart that loves God and hates sin, it brings much peace and comfort to know that you can obey God and that you don't have to sin against Him! Just as possible as it is for us to sin, it is just as possible for us not to sin. So stop loving the sin that hates you, cast away your sin before your sin has you cast away! Scriptures: Luke 13:3, 1 Corinthians 10:13, 1 John 5:3, 2 Corinthians 10:5.Heckle: Your not very tolerant! Answer: Modern society seems to not know the definition of marriage, nor the definition of love. Many have added a new description of love to 1 Corinthians chapter 13 - "love is tolerant". There is a reason why it's actually not there, because love is actually intolerant. Though love is patient, it's patient for change while tolerance means acceptance. A liar wants you to accept his lying, a thief wants you to accept his thievery, an adulterer wants you to accept his adultery, a blasphemer wants you to accept his blasphemy, an idolater wants you to accept his idolatry, a drunkard wants you to accept his drunkenness, etc. And none of those things ought to be tolerated by God's people!Though some intolerance leads to killing (which is not what I am trying to promote by any means), biblical intolerance leads to change. The intolerance that leads to killing is based on hatred for individuals while the intolerance that leads to change is based on love for individuals. If I have a child that grows up to be a drug addict, (biblical terminology is sorcerer) would it be loving or unloving for me to tolerate his destructive choice? Of course, it would be unloving. In that situation, love is demonstrated by in-tolerance. Likewise God does not want you to be tolerant of your sin. He does not buy into this tolerant teaching. God refuses to tolerate your sin that is why "God commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day when He will judge the world in righteousness". But in His longsuffering and patience, He has given you time to repent. You must repent today because tomorrow may be too late. Scriptures: Acts 17:30-31 Heckle: The bible says you're not to judge! Answer: There are two types of judgment in the bible. There is hypocritical judgment, which Jesus condemns (Matt 7). And there is righteous judgment, which Jesus commanded (John 7:24). Matthew chapter 7 is talking about the qualifications for judging. Jesus clearly says in verse 5 that "hypocrites" are not qualified to judge. He says you must remove the plank in your own eye before removing anything from someone else’s. But once a Christian has repented and cleaned up his life, he is then qualified to call others to repent and to clean up their lives too. John 7:24 says we are to "judge with righteous judgment." Jesus said, "My judgment is righteous." (John 5:30) A Christian is not to declare his own personal judgment but rather he is to declare the righteous judgment of God! So what is righteous judgment? God's judgment is that adulterers, fornicators, idolaters, homosexuals, thieves, murders, blasphemers, covetous, drunkards, etc will have their part in the burning lake. (Revelations 21:8) That is the righteous judgment of God. Because many do not want to hear the righteous judgment of God, they attempt to say "judge not". They did the same to Lot in Sodom in Genesis 19:9. But God's righteous judgment is coming, and so God's righteous judgment must be declared! Scriptures: Matthew 7:1-5, John 7:24, John 5:30, Revelations 21:8. Genesis 19:9
