To Hannah:

Pastor Garid covers a number of questions about Christians being single, going through breakups, dating non-Christians, and how important it is to know who you are in Christ and to seek Him above everything else.

What does the Bible say about fasting? How and when should someone fast?

I know what the Bible says about spiritual gifts, but what exactly is Biblical about speaking in tongues? For example, the Bible says not to speak in tongues unless there is an interpreter, but we recently went to a prayer meeting with about twenty other people from another church that is not a Calvary Chapel. When the meeting started, they all began to speak in different tongues, and it made things so difficult to concentrate and sort of freaked us out. It was so unorderly and confusing. Is this wrong or is it okay? There was no interpreter present, but it wasn’t exactly a church setting - we were at someone’s house.

To add to this question: these people believe that once you are baptized in the Holy Spirit you have all of the gifts, and you can use them at any given time even if you make mistakes. I don’t think that I personally have have been given the gift of tongues yet, but there were trying to encourage me to practice anyways. I don’t feel I should just practice if I haven’t received the gift yet. Sorry for so many questions, but we are very confused. Please help. Thank you.

“What is the significance of baptism, and do you have to be baptized in order to be saved?”

“CAN GOD MAKE A ROCK SO BIG HE CANT LIFT IT”. I am truly sincere with that question. I have a friend who uses that incessantly whenever i try and bring up God… please help! thanks

I hang out with mostly non-Christians and the few professing Christians I do know don’t really behave like Christians. I feel like I should stay to keep my Christian friends encouraged and to remind them of who they are, but I don’t get any encouragement from them in my own life (and I REALLY need it!). Should I stay in that group of friends or would this apply to ” Bad company corrupts good morals”?

We have always heard that being a Christian isn’t a “feel good” thing. However, every time I go to church, I feel great. It makes me love life more… I enjoy going to Church… [Is the role of the church to make us feel good?]

Also…

I know God isn’t going to ask how many Bible verses we memorized, but I have to wonder…if [someone] doesn’t go to church or struggles to understand the Bible, does this make them an unfaithful Christian? …I hope you will be able to shed some light!

With such an apathetic generation that many of us are growing up in, how do you express the importance of Jesus when many people seem not to care if he died for them or not? On top of that, we often don’t have time to give a long speech on the historical reliability and prophecy of the Bible to prove its not just blind faith. How would you summarize this information if you only had a few minutes to reach a stranger after you stir up the courage to break the ice and get the conversation going?

In Psalms 139:8 David states, “If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in hell, you are there”. I concluded that this meant God is always with us, just as He tells us he will never leave us nor forsake us. However, if hell is the consequence for our sins and is eternal separation from God how is it that God is with us if we make our bed in hell?

Question: I was reading Matthew 10:40-42 and I don’t think I fully understand it. I was wondering if you could help me understand it, especially verse 42.

Even if a disciple of Jesus asked you to do something as little as giving a glass of water to someone, the Lord would reward you for contributing in the work of a disciple.