What would you tell a high school-age school student about Ouija boards and why it is wrong to use one?  The student is not a christian.  I am one of his teachers.

Sincerely,
Teaching The Truth

Dear Teaching The Truth,

The Bible says that we should always be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within us (1 Pet 3:15).  If this student asks you what you think of Ouija boards, all you have to do is say that you don’t use them because your faith is in the Bible, not superstition.  The Bible has evidence that proves it is trustworthy; the Ouija board doesn’t.  Our goal is always to direct people to the Bible.  It isn’t about proving the Ouija board is wrong (although it is!); it is about showing people that the Bible is right.  If someone learns to embrace God’s Word, they will naturally begin to repel that which is wrong.  After all, there is only room for one master (Matt 6:24).

    I have trouble explaining my relationship with God.  And if someone asks me to tell them what Jesus means to me, I want to know how to explain it.

Sincerely,
Speechless

Dear Speechless,

It is a wonderful thing that you want to be able to explain what you believe and why you believe it.  Peter said that every christian should be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within them (1 Pet 3:15).  We are going to point you to some previous posts that should be of use to you in getting a grasp on why Christianity is the hope of all humanity.

1. Here is an article that gives evidence for God’s existence – “Does God Exist?”
2. Here is an article with evidences that the Bible is God’s Word – “Who Wrote The Bible?”
3. Here is an article which deals with what it takes to become a christian – “Five Steps To Salvation”
4. Here is an article that explains Jesus’ church and all the religious confusion in the world – “Down With Denominationalism”

Those should be enough to give you some verses and answers for many of the basic questions a christian needs to respond to.  Once again, you deserve a pat on the back for wanting to be ready to give an answer for your beliefs.

     I've been a christian my entire life, but I'm having some trouble finding some answers to questions I have.  One of my biggest questions is: if God created everything and knows everything, why would He create sin, knowing that's a choice that mankind will choose?  And why can't He just make sin go away?  I know that not everyone can go to heaven because it's a perfect place, and sin cannot be there, but why wouldn't God just completely get rid of sin, so all these people He's created and loves can be with Him in heaven?

Sincerely,
Hope For All

Dear Hope For All,

God didn’t create sin; the devil did.  The Bible says that Satan is the father of lies (Jhn 8:44).  Sin only exists when we turn our back on God.  Sin is a lot like darkness.  Darkness isn’t really a thing – it is the absence of light.  God is the father of lights and every good thing (Jas 1:17).  When we stop following the Lord, we no longer walk in the light.  Sin is the absence of godly living.

God can do whatever He wants, but God has chosen to give us the freedom to choose sin or choose life (Deut 30:19).  God doesn’t desire any of the wicked to perish (Ezek 18:23).  His desire is for all mankind to choose Him, but God also honors our freewill by giving each of us an entire lifetime to choose for ourselves whether we want to spend eternity with Him or away from Him.  If God simply removed sin, He would also be removing our freewill.  God respects the freedom He gave us.

     A lady told me her preacher had a stroke.

1. Was this illness from God?
2. If the preacher was a true christian, why did God not answer the preacher’s prayers for 100% recovery?
3. Did God have apostles that were handicapped?
4. This lady was questioning the preacher’s christianity.  How can I answer her using the Bible?

Sincerely,
Far From A Physician

Dear Far From A Physician,

We can’t tell you whether or not this preacher is a faithful man, but we can tell you that his stroke doesn’t mean he isn’t a christian.  The best passage to show this lady is 2 Cor 12:7-9.  The apostle Paul had a “thorn in the flesh”, some sort of illness that vexed him deeply.  Paul, being the faithful apostle that he was, prayed to God three times that the sickness would be removed.  God said, “No.”  Paul accepted the illness as part of his life and went on to preach very successfully in spite of it.

Good people suffer, too, and God blesses the faithful even through trials (Rom 8:28).

    In the news, a boy brought a gun to school and shot his classmate.  The teacher asked him why he did it, and he said his classmate acted “too girly”.  Do you think that the christian church is perplexing young minds and making them do silly things like this?  Also, how should we teach a child about diversity and homosexuals?

Sincerely,
Coexist

Dear Coexist,

The church needs to teach what the Bible says, and the Bible says that homosexuality is wrong (Rom 1:26-27).  Is it right to shoot people because you disagree with them? Absolutely not.  Vengeance, judgment, life, and death belong to God – not us (Rom 12:19, 1 Pet 4:4-5).  The Bible doesn't teach people to hate.  There are people who try and wield the Bible as a book of hatred, but when you read the Book yourself, it teaches forgiveness for sins, the love of God, and hope for the repentant sinner – this includes repentant homosexuals.

We should teach our children what the Bible says about men and women.  God designed marriage and sexual relations to be between one man and one woman (Gen 2:24, 1 Cor 7:1-2).  Homosexuality is a sin, but it is a sin that can be forgiven like any other.