Do animals go to heaven… like, when Elisha flew to heaven in a fiery chariot, wouldn’t a horse pull the chariot?  And when Jesus comes back, won't He be riding on a horse that came from heaven?

Sincerely,
Horse Whisperer

Dear Horse Whisperer,

Any horse that could pull a chariot that is on fire and flying through the sky isn’t a “horse” in the traditional sense, and Rev 19:11’s reference to Jesus on a white horse is symbolic just like the rest of the book.  The white horse represents purity, not necessarily a physical steed.

Animals don’t go to heaven.  Animals are a blessing from God (Gen 1:26).  Animals have the “breath of life” just like humans do (Gen 2:7, Gen 6:17).  This “breath of life” is also sometimes referred to as the “spirit” of a man or animal (Gen 7:22).  Animals have spirits, and humans have spirits, but humans were also made in the image of God (Gen 1:26).  Our spirits are eternal and will go up to be with the Father, and animal spirits are temporary and will return to the dust of the earth (Eccl 3:21).  God made our spirit of a different caliber than He made those of the animal.

     Hello again.  Thanks for your time.  I have researched Greek manuscripts for several months now, trying to find the closest Bible translation: Lucianic, Western, Byzantine, Alexandrian, Textus Receptus, Westcott and Hort, Nestle-Aland, United Bible Societies, and on and on.  I have looked at interlinear Bibles and searched and searched.  I was sold on the fact the New American Standard Bible was the most accurate, but my further study has all lead me back to the King James Version.  I think the King James Version and the Textus Receptus are the most accurate and can be trusted.  I have found Byzantine text types are more favored than Alexandrian.  Some theologians say the Alexandrian text was written by cults and pagans.  But anyway, what are your thoughts on searching for the truth?  Now there are all of these lost gospels which they found to be phony and some new old Bible they said they found that has a book of James in it that says Christ was just a servant.  I just want the truth.  I think I will use the King James and keep a NASB on the side to compare.

Sincerely,
Eager Reader

Dear Eager Reader,

All of the major word-for-word translations use a solid, trustworthy base of original texts. The King James, the New King James, the American Standard, the New American Standard, and the English Standard Version are all reliable word-for-word translations.  Take a look at our post "What's The Best Translation?" for a more in-depth discussion on word-for-word vs. thought-for-thought translations.

Many, many people with many, many doctorates have combed and re-combed the original manuscripts and texts, and there is very little real argument amongst them about the quality of the Bible texts that you hold in your hands today.  Using a KJV with a NASB as comparison is a fine choice.

God bless you, brethren.  First off, I would like to thank you for allowing yourselves to be used by the Lord.  Your insights and biblical knowledge are encouraging, helpful, and refreshing.  My question today is the following:

How should we, biblically, spend our time each day?  I know in one verse, we are told to "pray without ceasing".  What I understand from that is we should be praying all the time.  What else does the Bible say we should do throughout the day?

Sincerely,
Day Planner

Dear Day Planner,

There is no way we can cover all the things that we should do in our lives in one short AYP answer… after all, the answer to that question is an entire lifetime full of sermons.  However, here are some generic things that we are told to constantly do.

1. Show gratitude to God.  We are told to always pray with gratitude (Php 4:6), and since we are told to pray all the time, that means we should always seek to count our blessings and be thankful for the life we have.  Rejoicing is a characteristic of a godly life (1 Thess 5:16).
2. We are told to forgive others (Matt 6:12) and to never render evil for evil (1 Thess 5:15).  We should seek to do good and overcome evil with goodness (Rom 12:21).  By forgiving our debtors and leaving vengeance to God, we live as God intends.
3. We are to be the lights of the world (Matt 5:14).  God expects Christians to be enduring examples to mankind.  We are told to always be prepared to give an answer for the hope that is in us (1 Pet 3:15).  God wants us to change the world around us and bring the message of Christ to a dying world.
4. Col 3:17 says that whatever we do, in word or deed, should be done for the glory of God.  Live your life avoiding sin and embracing godliness.

As we said, these are simply generic goals, and there are more to be sure, but these four are enough to keep most of us busy!

     If Adam and Eve were the first and only people on the planet, then how did their children have children if there were no other children around? Yes, incest is an option (which is against the Bible), but their children's children would have had defects.

Sincerely,
All My Children

Dear All My Children,

Eve is the mother of all living (Gen 3:20).  In the beginning, there were only Adam and Eve.  Adam and Eve had multiple children (Gen 5:3-4).  It is morally repugnant in today’s society for someone to marry his sister, but it wasn’t that way in the beginning.  In the beginning, they had no other choice.  God told the family of Adam to “go forth and multiply” (Gen 1:28).  When Adam’s sons and daughters intermarried, they fulfilled God’s command.

Today, we worry about children having deformities if the mother and father are too closely related.  This is because of genetic mutations and defects in our DNA.  Adam and Eve wouldn’t have had these defects.  When God made Adam and Eve, they were genetically perfect, and their descendants wouldn’t have had to worry about hereditary deformities.  God didn’t prohibit close intermarriage until almost 2,500 years after Adam and Eve (Lev 18:9-17); it took that long for genetic mutations to increase enough to become a real issue.

     I have been hearing that Jesus’ real name is Yeshua.  Is this right, and if it is, then what is His last name?

Sincerely,
Identity Please

Dear Identity Please,

‘Yeshua’ is Jesus’ name in Hebrew.  Jesus is the Anglicized version of the Hebrew name that is used in English Bibles.  The name ‘Jesus’ or ‘Yeshua’ mean ‘God is salvation’.  Jesus didn’t have a traditional English last name.  In His day, a man’s last name was their father’s first name, so Jesus would have been called ‘Jesus, son of Joseph’ (Matt 1:16).