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This page contains the text of questions and answers from previous submissions. If you would like to submit a question, click on the "Submit Question" button at the top of this page.

For a catalog of these Q&As along with other articles listed according to subject matter, visit our Subjects Page.

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Click here to submit a question to Living Springs!
Question 1

"My question is: If man had not fallen - Do you think (what is your thought) that humans could have died due to accidents?"


Answer

The answer to a question like this seems at first to be very complex. People like to start asking all kinds of other questions such as, "if man was supposed to live forever, how could he possibly die?" On the basis of thinking like this, some people would say that it wasn't possible for man to die, that his body was simply indestructible at the time; and that it was not until after they took of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, that their bodies became capable of being hurt. The truth of the matter is that the question is not that complicated. All we have to do is look into the Word of God and find....

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Question 2

"Is it right to display a copy of the Ten Commandments in or around a courthouse here in the United States or does this violate separation of church and state?"


Answer

Yes, it is right and we should display the Ten Commandments. There should be a copy of the Ten Commandments in every last courthouse in this country, from the local all the way to the federal. Further, there should be a copy on display at every public school! This is not an issue of separation of church and state. The Ten Commandments are part of an ancient writing that is thousands of years old. The fact that many of us believe this writing is actually spoken by God Himself, does not change the fact that this ancient writing is the basis of all this country's laws. These commandments give us a moral basis; that without, no civilization can hope to last. Those who say we can not legislate morality have no real idea what law is. If everyone in a society could hold perfect moral values, there would be no need for the rule of law. Basic rule of law is nothing more than....

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Question 3

"I found this on the internet and was wondering if it was true. 'Abbreviating Christmas as Xmas doesn't really "take the Christ out of Christmas." The X in "Xmas" stands for the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter in Christos, the Greek word for "Christ," and a commonly used symbol to represent the name of Christ in religious writings.' Does this really hold true in today's world?"


Answer

Oh what a tangled web we weave! The tangle we are dealing with here is the fact there is always debate when it comes to the "Holy Days" or simply holidays! However, the topic you have brought out also digs deep into the tangled web of language and its development. Further, there is the issue of symbolism, and it doesn't get any more complex than that! The good news is, that you have asked the intelligent question in the matter. The real debate here is connection and validity between the X used in Christmas and a possible symbol. The writer of the statement you found does not make the argument for connection, they simply make the flat statement that there is. We will talk about this fact more and answer your direct question before we're through; but yes, the first thing we need to look at is whether any of the information in the statement you found is actually true.

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Question 4

"What is your belief concerning Deliverance Ministries, and born again believers needing deliverance?"


Answer

Let me start out by saying there is almost no way for me to answer a question like this without offending a certain number of people. When it comes to "ministries," it seems there are always those who feel certain kinds of ministries have helped them or harmed them. This is why we need to talk about the truths in the Word of God, instead of just looking at anything which calls itself, Christian or Bible believing, as good. There is a proper structure to things according to God's Word, and we need to follow it. There should be a greater effort made on the part of true believers not to....

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Question 5

"Can a Christian ever lose their salvation?"


Answer

The answer to this question all depends on one thing, what do you mean by "salvation"? The bottom line is simply this, each human has to decide if they want to know the God who created them or not. God created us with such a free will that even the decision to have or not have a relationship with Him is up to us. When we decide we believe there is a God, and we want to have a relationship with Him, we must understand....

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Question 6

"1 Thess. 5:22 -----mistranslation or not, please explain."


Answer

The answer to this question all depends on which "translation" of the English Bible you are talking about! I put the word "translation" in quotations, because to call some versions a translation is really not an accurate description. There are many versions of the English Bible which, at best, are interpretations. When you go from a language like Greek or Hebrew into a language like English, there are always going to be difficulties. You can't simply translate word for word like you might do if you were translating from Spanish to English. To start with, English sentence structure is very different from that of Hebrew or Greek. Another problem is, the fact there is not always an English word to directly translate to. English is a very weak language, and there is rarely....

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Question 7

"...why are we who believe in 'Abundant Life' only offering humanitarian aid at the time of crisis or need? When the person's need is met they cease to exist... Shouldn't we offer more than compensation for loss?..."


Answer

The answers are actually simple but very disturbing. There are far more people who claim to know God's love than actually do! The problem of people disappearing out of our database the moment we believe their "need" is met is a basic failure in the churches understanding of the Bible. Sure, there will always be those who do not want anything but a handout, but we many times do not respond properly to people in general, because our churches have become a static organization. The body of Christ is supposed to be a living organism as is described for us in I Cor. 12....

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Question 8

"Does the Bible support the pre-tribulation rapture theory? If so, where?"


Answer

This could be one of the shortest answers I've ever written. The answer to your question is simply no; and since this is true, there is no need to go into the second part of your question as to where it is supported. However, anyone who is familiar with my writing or heard me teach, knows, I can not let a golden opportunity like this pass! So, I would like to take some time to talk about some of the ins and outs of this doctrine, and what the Bible does tell us about this subject.

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Question 9

"In Issue #25 of your newsletter - in the FBS section - you said 'through transplant surgery, we find even human bodies can be used for parts, and that's ok, because once death has come, our body is of no use to us?' Can you expound on this subject and where do you stand on the use of aborted babies in the production of cosmetics or commercial goods?"


Answer

The following is the paragraph from "Following the Biblical Stream" about which the above question was asked - "The only defense you can make for Cain is the fact this was, as far as we know, not only the first murder but the first human death which had ever occurred! This is one of the reasons God made coats of skin to cover Adam and Eve's nakedness. Humans had not existed long enough to understand death, and they needed to know that death was the end of these physical forms. Not to be gory, but using the animals' skins to cover Adam and Eve would emphasize....

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Question 10

"What is your stance on generational curses? Does your church believe that Christians (Holy Spirit filled, walking with God) can, due to lack of family tree knowledge and/or the devil having found a legal right to interfere with the person's life, be affected by generational curses e.g.: all women get breast cancer, all first born suffer from depression, all fathers die from heart attacks before 40 etc. etc."


Answer

A question like this would be much easier to answer if English was a more expressive language. The word "curses" in English can be interpreted as being just about any evil or harm which can befall us, and there are no restrictions or implications in the word itself to let us know we are talking specifically about one kind, as opposed to another. Because this is true, I feel it’s necessary to divide the idea of curses into two....

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Question 11

"What is your stance on the use of instruments in church music eg: drums, electric guitar? How do you feel about having modern music in church (sounds modern but is still Bible and Jesus based.)

How do you feel about youth ministries eg: mosh pits, concerts, loud music - all fun things youth like to do but under the teaching and covering of Bible-based teaching and the belief that true joy comes only from an intimate relationship with the Father (only obtained by knowing Christ)?"


Answer

In this world, we all have things we like and enjoy, but as a believer, how do we make choices about what activities to involve ourselves in and what we should avoid? The writing contained in this article is a Q&A segment, and though the questions are specifically about music and youth activities, the guidance given in the answer is valuable for making the right choices concerning any activity!

Read the Full Answer - Evaluating Our Activities This symbol means the link is to a PDF file. This article is available in booklet form

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Question 12

"Does a person have to stop sinning to receive Christ?"


Answer

The pivotal words in this question are "stop sinning." There are two ways which these two words could be taken. One is to say the technical definition of these two words boils down to one word, "perfection"; and the second is to apply the definition of sin given in James 4:17. Since this question could easily be taken either way, I want to cover both.

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Question 13

"What is the difference between The Holy Ghost and holiness?"


Answer

Well, to start with, both are nouns, but the simplest difference between them is that holiness is a concept and The Holy Ghost is a descriptive name for one part of God. I say a descriptive name because that is what the Bible uses for almost every reference to God. That being said, we should understand that even "names" are words and they have a meaning. Certain words are considered names or come to be looked at as names because we use them for that purpose, and sometimes that’s all we use certain words for. Some words get used as names right from the start, and other words come to be used as names...

Read the Full Answer - Defining Holiness This link is to the series' page.

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Question 14

"Is there forgiveness for a reprobate mind?"


Answer

One of the first things we must do to understand this issue is to look at the word "reprobate." This word and its plural form are used about seven times in the King James Version of the Bible. Only one of these is in the Old Testament and the rest are all in the new. This means only one of these appearances (The one in the Old Testament) is translated from a Hebrew word. The other six come from Greek, and whether plural or not, all six come from the same Greek word. To make it all even more simple,...

Read the Full Answer - A Reprobate Mind This symbol means the link is to a PDF file.

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Question 15

"My boyfriend and I have known each other for a few years, and we have been in a committed relationship for the past several months. He is divorced, and I have been separated for a couple of years. Now, my boyfriend and I have spoken of spending the rest of our lives together,..."


Answer

"Divorce & Remarriage" is a very moving Q&A segment based on a fairly long submission that lays out a story. The heart of the question is the issue of divorce and remarriage, but many subjects relating to relationships, love, marriage, family, the raising of children, physical relationships, and more are covered in the answer. If you have ever wondered about the issue of marriage and the basis of God's design for human interaction in general, this article will be of interest to you!

Read the Full Answer - Divorce & Remarriage This symbol means the link is to a PDF file.

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Question 16

"Does the spirit leave the body at the time of death? Then Jesus comes at the end of time and takes the soul home to heaven."


Answer

At first glance this question would appear to be about death, but in actuality this question is about life. We all know we will succumb to death someday, but what happens to that part of us which does not die? This requires us to look at how life works. This question is also about time, because we know we will simply keep walking this world in one way or another as we live in our bodies, but what do we do when the body functions no more? This requires us to also look at time and how it works. To look at both time and life from a Biblical perspective,...

Read the Full Answer - A Matter Of Life And Death This link is to the series' page.

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Question 17

"As you teach that the true 7th day of the week is Saturday do you feel that 'Sunday Christians' are in rebellion/naive/uneducated and as such are disqualified from true blessing from God?"


Answer

The first thing we must talk about is the definition of the phrase "Sunday Christians," because this can mean very different things to different people. To some, this term may simply refer to all those who worship on Sunday. For others, this term may mean a specific belief about Sunday that not all Christians hold even if they worship on Sunday. For example, the wording of your question could be interpreted to mean that you think of the term as referring to those who believe Sunday as the original seventh day, but many Christians do not doubt the Jewish held Sabbath of Saturday is the original seventh day. What many will tell you is that Sunday replaced Saturday for Christians because...

Read the Full Answer - What About "Sunday Christians"? This symbol means the link is to a PDF file.

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Question 18

"How were the Books of the Bible Named? Who named the Books? Who Wrote each Book? and Why are the Books in the order that they are in our Bibles?"


Answer

The gospel of John starts by telling us, "In the beginning was the Word,..." These words are not so different from Genesis chapter 1 verse 1. There we are told, "In the beginning God created..."; what this tells us is that unlike the creation we are part of, God has no beginning. Beginnings and endings have to do with the creation we live in. When God says He is the Alpha and Omega, He is telling us He was here before any of what we know existed, and He is responsible for all its existence. He will also be here to finish what He started! God is not like man in that he creates something which he hopes will stand for many years but someday through ill health, age and even death will be forced to turn over control to someone or something else.

Read the Full Answer - The Bible As A Book This link is to the series' page.

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Question 19

"I have been studying the Bible recently regarding death. A lot of questions arose due to me losing my son last year. One particular one is the idea of 'heaven' and 'hell.' What is Hades, Sheol...etc. and I don't believe that my son is in heaven - I believe he is asleep. What does the Bible say about hell? Is it different from the lake of fire? Was it meant for Satan and his angels? What have you learned in studying God's word?"


Answer

To answer your question, we could cover an immense amount of ground; but I believe this question breaks down into two principal discussions. At the core of what you're asking is the issue of where people go after they die, both before and after Judgment Day. The second issue is about terminology, and that discussion can be very complex...

Read the Full Answer - What About Death And Hell? This link is to the series' page.

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Question 20

"I am a Jewish believer in Messiah Jesus. For years I've given tithes to the church(es) I was attending. I have left the church and withdrew my name on the membership list. Now, about tithing; I was told by another Jewish believer that it is not required in the New testament as it was in the old testament. Can you clarify this with scripture please?"


Answer

In your question you use the word "required," and that word is really the key word in many discussions about tithing because that is the question most people struggle with. "Is there a requirement for me to tithe?" Now, just to be clear, asking this does not automatically put a person on the negative side of the subject, which is that people are always looking to do the minimum they can get away with. It's also about the positive side where people want to make sure they are doing at least what they should! Of course, because we are talking about requirements, this question is also very appropriately coupled with the second tithing question many people have, which is, where should I give my tithe?

Read the Full Answer - What About Tithing? This symbol means the link is to a PDF file.

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Question 21

"Is it true that the Jews are God's chosen people? I have a Christian friend who says the Jews were not God's chosen people."


Answer

Because this question is very general as it comes to the subject of Jews being God's chosen people, there are three arguments I believe we can and should take the opportunity to look at. The first one is the very general argument of, is there or has there ever been a chosen people? The second one, is that nation God established through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob still the chosen people or have they been replaced by something such as the church? The third one, are the people we know today as the Jews really the same people as those God chose to establish through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? In truth, there is no way to fully separate these three. In answering one, you at least show your opinion as to the answer of the others. Thus, where I stand as a teacher of God's Word on these three should be fairly clear quite quickly. However, it is important to look at all three of these as separate arguments, and answer them as separate discussions; and that is exactly what we will attempt to do!

Read the Full Answer - What About God's Chosen People? This link is to the series' page.

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