I have been searching for God and trying to convince myself of Jesus being my savior, but I am still on my journey, I suppose.  I'm concerned that I'll die and be unforgiven before I can finally convince myself of God.  Perhaps this is something only God can help me with?  I'm a true skeptic, but I have been finding increasing evidence of there being a divine creator, God.  Should I pray to Him that He reveals Himself to me?  I guess my real question is... will He forgive me for not believing in Him when I am not convinced of Him?  I haven't read the Bible yet, and I've been increasingly convinced; should I read the Bible, all of it?  What if I don't read it before I die?  It does sort of feel like I am being pursued by God to believe in Him... I'm just not yet convinced...

(I used to be christian; then I rejected Christ because I realized I was 'believing' without actually believing.  I couldn't live as a hypocrite to myself, still can't today).

Like Plato talked about, I don't wish to be a blind man just happening to take the right path.  That is not knowledge.  If knowledge only truly comes from Him, when will He bless me with it, so I may know Him?  It's so backwards to me... doesn't the Bible say that He will only reveal Himself to me after I put faith in Him before I can convince myself of Him?  Sometimes I want to believe; it's just the doubt... like I said though, maybe it's just the journey I have to take without any help.  Would God put me on one of those journeys?  Will I be lost as long as I strive to be an intelligent and rational human being that bases belief on incidences in my life I'm convinced of?

There have been times where God has answered me... I'd say "God, if you do this for me, I will never doubt you again."  It would then happen, but I ended up brushing it off as coincidence afterward... this was when I was really young though.

Doubt has to be the hardest problem to deal with... maybe I just want reassurance that I'll find Him; it's only a matter of time, and if I don't find Him, He'll be understanding as long as I was given a reasonable amount of time in my life and enough evidence to convince me that He is there.  I don't like dogma...

I apologize for this being so long; I guess I just needed to get it out... I also want some guidance I guess.  Is there any Bible verses online that could help deal with this?  Thanks for reading.

Sincerely,
Unconvinced

Dear Unconvinced,

No, the Bible does not say that God will only reveal Himself to you once you have faith.  God reveals Himself to all of mankind through creation (Rom 1:20) and through His Word (Rom 10:17).  Many religious groups that profess to be christian teach the circular logic that you can’t know about God until you trust in Him – that is wrong.  We have an entire section of AskYourPreacher.org that is dedicated to EVIDENCES.  We here at AYP became christians because of the evidence.  These evidences are found in creation, the proven fulfilled prophecies of the Bible, the uniqueness of the Scriptures, and the proven accuracy of the Bible (we recommend you read “God Is Alive” and “Who Wrote The Bible”).

God will not forgive you for not believing in Him because He has made so much evidence available to prove His existence.  From mountains to molecules, this world screams of a Creator.  Seek the truth, and the truth will set you free (Jhn 8:32).  We too once doubted God’s existence, but after reading books like Evidence That Demands A Verdict by Josh McDowell, A Case For A Creator by Lee Strobel, and Has God Spoken? by A.O. Schnabel (too name a few) – it became very clear that there is real proof that God truly is alive.  After you’ve taken some time to read some of these articles and material, write us back at askyourpreacher@mvchurchofchrist.org, and we would be happy to show you what it takes to become a christian and find a faithful church to be a part of.  The truth is out there for those (like yourself) seeking it (Matt 7:7).

Why is it that we are to believe the earth started 6,000 years ago?  It makes no sense.  I think that God created the universe six billion years ago, and at every stage, He has built and destroyed along the way.  The dinosaurs, for example, why couldn't He have gotten bored with them, killed them off, and one million years later came back and created something new on the earth?

My point is that Satan was already Satan before Adam and Eve, but before that he was an angel and had dominion over the earth.  Okay, well when?  When it was without shape or form?  Makes no sense.  I think God has created destroyed and recreated this earth many times over, and for the life of me, my very soul, I can not be blind to how old this earth is.  My faith is not in question; my question is with the church because I think God has done this since He created the universe.

I do not want to limit His power because I'm told by a human the earth is six–thousand-years-old, and I also think these half-human ape-looking bones that geologists find could be His first shot at making mankind, and things did not go so great, and He wiped them out.  I don't believe in earth evolution, but perhaps a God evolution where it took Him a while to create living, breathing, thinking beings… and I do not limit His power in thinking this.  This has to come from God Himself.  I think my question is for Him.

Sincerely,
REALLY Old Earth

Dear REALLY Old Earth,

There is one major problem with what you’ve asserted – it is the opposite of what the Bible says, and God wrote the Bible.  The idea of evolution, even theistic evolution, is contrary to Scriptures.  You listed a smorgasborg of contradictory theories: multiple destructions of the earth, ape-men existing before Adam & Eve, and God “learning” how to create.  It would take more faith than we here at AYP have to believe in the ideas that you are trying to have us swallow.  The Bible answer is much simpler.  God created the universe in six days (Gen 1:1-31).  When God created the universe, He created everything good – the first time (Gen 1:31).  If the theory of evolution is true, then God didn’t create everything good; He created it flawed, warped, and dysfunctional.

The Bible says that it is mankind that introduced the curse of sin into the world (Gen 3:17).  The world was perfect, without flaw and without defect.  Animals lived in harmony with man, and there was no bloodshed.  If evolution is true, not only did God not create a good world, Adam & Eve never existed!  Adam & Eve don’t exist in evolutionary models; they are replaced by a slow progression from amoeba to man.  We cannot accept both the Bible account of creation and the Darwinian theory of evolution – they are not compatible with each other.  Theistic evolution is an attempt to reconcile evolution with the Bible, but in truth, the two cannot be reconciled.  Science doesn’t disagree with the Bible – the two are in perfect harmony (visit AnswersinGenesis.org to see some of the impressive things scientists are finding out that prove the Bible to be true).  God says that the creation speaks of His existence (Rom 1:18-20).  It isn’t a battle between science and the Bible; it is a battle between evolutionists and preachers.  We here at AYP accept the Bible account of creation, and we prayerfully suggest you do the same.

Hi, I'm 13, and I've got a lot of friends at my school.  Most of them are christian. However, there is one that is a mormon and one that is an athiest. Is it wrong to be friends with them?

Sincerely, Choosing Carefully

Dear Choosing Carefully,

There is a difference between a friend and a close intimate friend. Not all friendships are equal. David and Jonathan’s friendship was so close they were like brothers (1 Sam 18:1). Jesus was close to all his apostles- but especially to Peter, James, and John (Mk 5:37). Jesus also was kind and friendly to the tax collectors and sinners (Mk 2:15-16), but there wasn’t a great amount of depth to His relationship with them unless they converted. Best friends, friends, and casual friends are all friends, but not all are equal.

As you choose your friends you will need to make an assessment of how deep the friendship should be. Do they have the same values as you? Are they good people? Do they help you to be a better person? Are you their friend because they need you or vice versa? There isn’t anything wrong with being friends with people who aren’t exactly like you, but it is important to make sure that they aren’t leading you away from God. Any friend that influences you to compromise your morals or mocks you for being such a ‘goodie-goodie’ is not really a friend at all. However, if your mormon and atheist friends are willing to accept you as you are, then let your light shine. Maybe you will win them to Christ! Letting unbelievers see your life is one of the most important parts of being a christian (Matt 5:16).

Don’t shy away from people just because they aren’t christians, but be careful that your deepest, closest friendships are with people who have the same values as you. Always be aware of the danger of being corrupted by the world when you are choosing your closest friends (1 Cor 15:33).

I am very troubled and offended by people that go out of their way to discredit the Bible and the existence of God.  I feel there must be something deep down inside of them that asks the question, “What if it's true?”.  What would some other reasons be for why people discredit the Bible and God’s existence?

Sincerely,
A True Believer

Dear A True Believer,

People reject and seek to destroy Christianity for a number of reasons.  We must make sure to differentiate between those who are actively opposed to Christ and those who simply haven’t become christians.  Only a small portion of society is actively engaged in trying to eradicate God from society.  Those who are vehemently opposed to God have many reasons for being that way:

1. They may be like Paul – actively ignorant.  Paul persecuted the church because he was stubbornly ignorant of the truth about Jesus (1 Tim 1:13).
2. Their consciences have been seared by sin, and their view of the world has been warped by immorality (1 Tim 4:2).
3. Sometimes people oppose God because they have something to gain by pursuing religious (or atheistic) goals.  Their appetites and desire for power become their gods (Php 3:19).
4. They were mistreated and abused by religious people in their past.  If someone has had bad experiences (molestation, abuse, etc.) at the hands of those who professed to serve Christ, they may lash out at God because of their pain and suffering.  This isn’t the right outlet for pain, but it certainly does happen.

Ultimately, we each must stand before God (Heb 9:27).  Whether we believe in God or not – we will all meet Him.

Hi.  While my faith has recently been shaky, I'm happy to say that I am a whole-hearted believer in God.  My closest friend, however, is far from that which is something I've started to question God about.

She is very intelligent, especially in the sciences.  Actually, to be honest, we both are rather gifted in that area which is probably what brought us together.  But the most important thing that separates us is that she doesn't believe in God, and she has a lot of scientific evidence to back up her opinion.  I have my evidence too, but whenever the subject comes up, she refuses to talk about it, saying she's concerned she'll ruin my faith.  How do I reach out to a person like this?  It hurts me so much to see her live out her life with obvious gaps that only God can fill.

Any suggestions on how to direct my friend to the Lord without ruining our friendship?  She has developed something against religion recently, saying that it's just a tool used through history to give people power and reason to kill.  This really bothers me, but again, the friendship is so important to me, and I don't want to lose it.  At the same time, her salvation is also at least that important to me.  Thanks, and God bless.

Sincerely,
A Proven Friend

Dear A Proven Friend,

You are obviously dealing with a very intelligent person who has formed her own opinions… but without all the data.  What we normally do when studying with someone like this is to hand them a couple of books and tell them we would like to hear their thoughts after they are finished reading.  That has a two-fold effect:

1. It takes all wrangling over words out of the picture because it isn't an argument anymore... they are simply reading.
2. It shows you how serious they are about pursuing the subject.  If it is important, they will read and get back to you, but if it isn't important, the subject will just get dropped.  Either way, you can have a clear conscience that you tried to help.

In this circumstance, we recommend "Evidence That Demands A Verdict" by Josh McDowell (this book should address much of the argument of the Bible being used as a tool to hurt others).  We also recommend “Case For A Creator” by Lee Strobel to deal with the scientific arguments and “Has God Spoken?” by A.O. Schnabel (which addresses the internal evidence of the Bible’s supernatural origins).  That is our recommendation on the topic… less confrontation and more information.