Random Q & A's for Pastor Boston

This is by no means all of, or just the only questions that I have been asked over the years as a pastor and teacher. But I decided to share with you through my blog some of the questions that I often get asked as people join or visit our church, or questions that people ask me when they find out that I am a pastor. I pray that by just reading through the questions I have been asked, and the answers that I have given, that they benefit you in your biblical understanding and bless you in your walk before a watching world.

Question…If God hates, will He hate me if I lie or will He hate the lie that I told?

Answer…[Proverbs 6:16-17] is just one of many verses that prove that God hates lying. Before I go any further with this answer you must know that just as God’s love is perfect, His hatred of things is perfect as well. Because we as humans can’t employ this, it is difficult for many of us to accept this. Now, as for God hating you or any person for that matter. God doesn’t hate the sinner; He hates the sin that the sinner commits, whether it’s lying, stealing, or even killing. God knows how to hate, just as He knows how to love, [perfectly].

Question…Is it wrong for me to have doubts about some of the occurrences in the Bible? I’m afraid of my doubts because they make me feel like a fraud?

Answer…As it relates to doubting anything in the Bible. If Satan can get you to doubt anything, he’ll soon have you doubting everything. Satan uses doubt to obscure the love and graciousness of God. Satan knows that if you suspect Christ’s Words (the Bible), you will embrace Satan’s lies. Doubting any of God’s Word is an inlet to many sins and miseries. Don’t look for an event to make something real for you, look at your present pattern of life.

I answered this question from the aspect of you only doubting some of the events in the Bible, not your salvation. I would have given another answer if you doubted your salvation.

Question…Since Pastor Boston said that demons are real. How do we know when we are in the presence of demons?

Answer…Again, I say that demons are real because God says that demons are real. As for knowing when you’re in their presence, I believe that too many Christians or professed Christians are busying themselves with strategies that include speaking to demons and learning techniques for exorcising them. Not that this is the pretence of your question, but it bothers me when people want to know more about demons than about God.

But to be fair to your question, there is nothing more necessary than to distinguish between true and false experiences in religion; to “try the spirits whether they are of God.” And making this discrimination, there is no other test but the infallible Word of God. The Bible tells us to “let every thought, motive, impulse, and emotion be brought to this touchstone. To the law and the testimony; if they speak not according to these, it is because there is no light in them.”

(Don’t concern yourself with the presence of demons—because you may become consumed with their presence and not God’s).

Question…Why does the Bible not talk about dinosaurs—shouldn’t they have been significant enough to mention?

Answer…God in His providence allowed their species to die out—probably about the time of Noah’s Flood. Job, possibly the earliest book in all of Scripture, seems to include a description of a sauropod dinosaur. This creature, called the behemoth, “eats grass like an ox” (Job 40:15); “his strength is in his hips” (v. 16); and “He moves his tail like a cedar” (v. 17); this cannot be speaking about the short tail of a hippo like some commentaries suggest. “His bones are like beams of bronze, His ribs like bars of iron” (v. 18). And he is too large and powerful for any but the Creator to kill him (v. 19).

The dinosaurs may have perished when earth’s climate changed severely after the Flood. We know that human life expectancy was severely decreased in the post-antidiluvean world. Before the Flood it was common for men to live nine hundred years or longer. After that, the human life span decreased notably almost immediately. Severe environmental and atmospheric changes may explain this, and the same types of changes may also explain the extinction of all the dinosaur species.

                                                           

Question…How many children did Adam and Eve have? I’ve always been taught about Cain and Abel. Were there any other notable children?

Answer…[Genesis 5:3 – 4] tells us that Adam and Eve had another son named Seth. After Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he (Adam) had other sons and daughters.

Question…If I like to look pretty and shop for nice things, is this a sign of pride or vanity or something that God hates?

Answer…Being healthy and taking care of your appearance is not a sin, unless it comes at the expense of your relationship with God. If you’re more or only interested in how you look physically, but not how you’re developing spiritually—then yes, that is a sin.

Not that this speaks to your question or you in particular, but our Christian culture has become so saturated with a consumer mind-set that such self-centeredness is no longer perceived as a vice. The poison of pride, coupled with a perilously inadequate view of God and His church, beckons twenty-first-century believers to promote their own self-worth. The result is today there are churches filled with egotistical, pragmatic, individualistic Christians who are more interested in serving themselves than serving God. And God hates that!

Question…If I gamble illegally, is it a sin to put some of my winnings in church?

Answer… Well it is good to know that you know that gambling is illegal. It is not only illegal, but it is evil as well. Its evil for a government to prey on the greed of its citizens by attempting to derive through gaming either what it ought to derive through productivity of its citizens or what it could not legitimately expect its citizens to pay in fees and taxes. –The final answer to your question I’ll answer with a question, whose money is it anyway? When a Christian gambles the money that they take to gamble is God’s, so why wouldn’t the church take it? Remember the church specializes in taking in unfit things and making them fit for the kingdom of God [all the time].

Question… What is the biggest challenge that Christians face within the church?

Answer… Not fully understanding the heart of this question, I can only answer with a general answer and not a specific one. Because the Bible tells us that in the later days “things” will get worst—that alone tells us that the challenges that we face within the church will change, be different, and increase. But to give you an obvious answer, the busyness of God’s people certainly can be viewed as a big challenge. For all the progress attributed to modernity, a busyness comes attached that threatens to compromise our worship. Today in church we tend to add extraneous human and technical touches to our church gatherings that leave less room for the timeless touch of God.

Question… I lost my virginity before I knew what it was. So what does that make me? Can I still be a spiritual adult?

Answer…What that makes you, is a person who has had sex outside of marriage which is totally contrary to God’s kingdom agenda whether you are a believer or not. Sex outside of marriage is wrong and a sin that needs to be acknowledged and repented from. You can be forgiven if you truly seek God’s forgiveness. You can be a spiritual adult if you do the things that will attribute to your spiritual growth. For even more encouragement read (John 8:1 – 11) the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery (sex outside of marriage) and how Jesus Himself forgives her.

Question… If our church grows, will we still be a close family? Especially if the leader of the church won’t be able to know all the church members’ name?

Answer…I must admit every time I’m asked this question about our church, I wonder if we understand that when we quit growing, then we have started dying. God has called us to be Christians, not a close family. The thing that we must remember is; when we are being the type of servant-Christians that God expects, we don’t have to know a person’s name to serve them or even bless them. All throughout the Bible we see and hear of faithful servant-Christians serving and ministering to people they didn’t know personally or intimately. Do you think that Peter knew the names of all the eight thousand plus members of the first church in the Book of Acts? Leading people you don’t know is something we see every day in our society in government, education, and businesses. We will always be close if we’re all drawing close to God!

Question… If babies are born into sin and die shortly after birth, where do their souls go?

Answer… “Heaven!”

…To give you a full answer to this seemingly simple question I would have to address such topics as sin, the age of accountability, and predestination. I don’t have the time or space for this type of answer. However, I know that this is a very sensitive question especially for those who have experience the death of infants and children—including those who die in the womb, those who die at birth, and those who never fully grow mentally to the point of being capable of discerning right from wrong.

But the first thing I would caution every parent to remember is that children are a gift from God. The decision about whether a baby lives or dies is God’s decision. He allows conception. He allows birth. He also allows death at birth. He allows what is in keeping with His purposes. We may called them our children, but remember it is God who first gifted us with them. Now with that in mind consider this: No death occurs apart from the purposes of God, just as no life occurs apart from the purposes of God, so it is God who determines how long it takes for every person to fulfill their god-given purposes. In case you didn’t understand that statement, let me say it another way; God claims ownership of every little one from every culture, tribe, nation, and people. So, what I’m saying is, “The (my) baby should be remembered first as (God’s baby). And that the salvation of every person is a matter of God’s grace, not our works.

Question… I’d like for Pastor Boston to say exactly how do I know if I’m saved, or am going to heaven? Is it true that all you have to do is believe that Jesus died and rose?

Answer… Well it sound as if you’re dealing with doubt, one of Satan’s most affective weapons. There are many biblical answers that I’m sure you’ve been exposed to, but somehow I sense you’re seeking certainty through some other experience. To which I will share with you something I often say about my salvation, “I don’t look for a past event or even experience to make my salvation real to me. I look at the present pattern of my life.” Focus on your lifestyle and attitudes as they relate to the things of God if you want certainty. Test yourself in this way. You once lived in sin and loved it. Do you now desire deliverance from it? You were once self-confident and trusting in your own fancied goodness. Do you now judge yourself as a sinner before God? You once sought to hide from God and rebelled against His authority. Do you now look up to Him? If you can honestly say “Yes” to these questions, you have repented and you are saved—and all saved people go to heaven.

To answer the second part of your question—a person can believe something without believing in that something. (Remember my Niagara Falls wheel-barrow illustration). So, if your belief is total surrender follow by obedience, and executed daily by faith, if this is what you mean when you say that you believe in Jesus, then yes, this all you have to do.

Question… In the original Hebrew language, what was Jesus’ name and why in the translation was the name “Jesus” chosen since this name is relatively new and quite common? I have heard that Jesus’ real name was Yeshua.

Answer…The key to this answer is really found in your question. In different countries and cultures there are different languages therefore the same person or thing could easily be called by another name in a different country. However, whatever we call Jesus does not alter who or what He is. The Son of God, the Incarnation of Deity in flesh, Jesus was and has been called many things. But just make certain that you know Him now as Savior and not later as Judge.

Question…What’s the difference between and Pastor and a Preacher?

Answer… A pastor is responsible for proving spiritual leadership, and a preacher is a proclaimer of the Word of God. At Conquerors all of its preachers are encourage and challenged to offer spiritual leadership (like a pastor).

Question… Why does our church have so many pastors? Do we actually look to these other pastors for spiritual guidance?

Answer… Well, the truth is we don’t have enough pastors for all of the ministry that is needed. They are supportive ministers similar to what Moses had in the Old Testament, and Paul had in the New Testament. There is no conflict in our/their roles at the church, I respect them as co-laborers in our church and they respect me as the Senior Pastor of our church. (For more clarity on the roles of pastors see an article I wrote on (“Why I Call the Preachers at our Church Pastors”).

Question… Why is there no children’s choir at Conquerors?

Answer… There are many things especially for our children that I as pastor would like to have, but that calls for additional committed leadership, sponsors, and full parental support. If you can help organize all these parties and get their support, come and see me—I have lots of work for you.

Question… I am not a member of CFBC, however, I was told it would be OK to submit a question… As a woman of God, how can I guide my husband to the Lord when he’s so reluctant? I feel like it’s a losing battle and I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to be spiritually led by someone who is not spirit-filled.

Answer… There are other things I would need to know about your relationship before I could give you a complete biblical answer to the things you’ve stated. Also, I’m not sure of what you mean when you called yourself a “woman of God.” And guiding your husband is a reversal of roles so that would be unbiblical. And a woman can have an unbeliever as a husband and still honor God with her life (according to the Bible). I would recommend that you and your husband get biblical counseling.

Question… At what age should I hold my child accountable for their actions?

Answer… If you’re looking for a Scripture to support a certain age for accountability—there is none. That’s something that has been misstated and misunderstood by many who claims that the Bible does. What I would encourage is not to tell your child that at a certain age they are free to make certain decisions and function independently, I would encourage them to do what the Bible says about honoring their parents (which is a life-long commandment), if they do that, they will be both responsible and accountable. I also assumed that the child you are speaking of is at least a young adult and not a tween-ager or teenager.
Question… I don’t believe in evolution, but shouldn’t we consider the fact that some sort of evolution takes place? The more layman term is probably (mutation). Things do mutate…

Answer… The word mutation is a word that evolutionist added to their theory to express accidental changes in heredity. But death and accidents do not create: instead they bring disease, defects, and decay into the world that God created. So mutations, (mistakes in the genes) that are occurring are used by evolutionists to try to prove that evolution is possible. They extrapolate into the past what they see today, and deduce that these processes over millions of years are the basis for evolution.

Be careful what you allow yourself to accept, the Bible tells us that there was a time when there was no sin (before Adam and Eve’s fall), and thus there was neither animal nor human death, nor disease, nor mistakes (mutations), because sin is the result of death. (Think about that!)

Question… If Jesus lived, died, and rose again, how come He doesn’t walk the earth as He did in biblical times? Then there would be no non-believers and the Word would not be misinterpreted.

Answer… First of all let’s agree on the fact that Jesus (did) live, die, and rose again. There are many Scriptures that I could give you to support this, but let me just respond to the fact that if He (Jesus) was still on earth the way He was in biblical times He’d be limited to only being in one place at a time. So, He has deposited Himself in us (believers) through Himself (The Holy Spirit), so that we could make Him known and seen and felt wherever believers are. Now as for the second part of your question, “Even when Jesus was earth there were still non-believers, and people were still misinterpreting His Word.” The fact that some will be lost, should encourage everyone to be saved, but it doesn’t.

Question… What can I say to invite non-believing coworkers to church? They are the ones who need to attend church the most.

Answer… I believe that it is not so much as to what you say or even how you invite them that make them respond favorably. I believe a favorable response to come to church with you will come after they have experience God from you in the workplace (not by what you say, but by what you do to advertise God, daily). Remember the goal is not to get people to attend church regularly; you can do that and still go to hell. And for the second part of your question I disagree, “non-believers don’t need church more than believers.” –I would agree with you though that communicating with non-believers is a problem, so you must not try and impress them with what you know, you must discover the level of their understanding in relation to Christian beliefs and start there, (that’s what was done in the early church found in Acts).

Please join me in my efforts to guard the “Truth” until He comes…

“So go and do your home work.” J