• What about minorities? Are different races superior/inferior?

According to Acts 17:26, different races really do not exist. God created us all as “one blood” and we are all part of the human race. Yes, some of us may have more pigment in our skin than others, but to treat each other differently on that basis is absolutely contrary to everything Jesus and His apostles taught.

• Is homosexuality a sin?

If by homosexuality, you mean the condition of being tempted to engage in sexual relations with a person of the same gender, then the answer is no, since temptation by itself is never sin. If, on the other hand, you mean to yield to that temptation and to practice the homosexual lifestyle, then the answer is yes, it absolutely is a sin. God hates it passionately, just as He hates other sexual sins such as cheating on your spouse, having sex outside of marriage, using pornography, or divorce and remarriage. 1 Thessalonians 4:6 tells us that “the Lord is the avenger of all such” sins.

• You have indicated you disagree with much of how Christianity is practiced in America.  Explain.

Much of what is called Christianity consists of simply giving a mental assent to some facts about Christ, rather than a true surrender to the lordship of Christ. Many teach that all you need to do to be right with God is to have “faith alone” (a term coined by Martin Luther but refuted by Scripture) or to “pray a sinner’s prayer.” Jesus, on the other hand, said that in order to truly build our lives on Him, we must both hear and obey the commands He gave (Matthew 7). In short, we need to have more than just a mental belief in Jesus. We need to have a relationship with Him, and that relationship needs to be characterized by love, faith, and obedience.

This problem is especially apparent when you look at how American Christians treat the commands of Christ in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) on the subjects of war, wealth, and divorce.

• Jesus told us to love our enemies, yet most Christians today seem to think it’s okay for them to go to war and kill their enemies. (If professing Christians would have stayed true to the teachings of Jesus, atheists wouldn’t be able to energize their cause by pointing to all the wars that have been fought in the name of Christianity.)
• Jesus told us not to accumulate wealth for ourselves on earth, yet Christians tend to be among the richest and most selfish people in society.
• Jesus preached against divorce and also remarriage after divorce, yet the divorce rate among Christians is virtually the same as it is among non-Christians.

In short, Christians in America seem to live as though Jesus said nothing about these subjects, when in fact He said a great deal about them. In 1 John 2:3-4, we are told that the way to determine whether or not we really know Jesus is by whether or not we obey His commands; if anyone says that he knows Jesus, but doesn’t obey His commands, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

• Is America a “Christian nation”?

No. There is no Christian nation, and never has been, other than the kingdom of God. Satan is still the prince of the power of the air, and still exercises control over the nations of this world, even those that may have been influenced by certain principles from the Bible. When Jesus invited men and women to follow Him, He was calling them to become citizens of His kingdom (see description under question 2) and to give their primary allegiance to that kingdom. Since a Christian’s primary allegiance is to Christ’s kingdom, the earthly country we live in can only have our secondary allegiance, at best. This will often bring us into conflict with our country of residence, especially when the values of the earthly kingdom clash with the values of the values of the Heavenly kingdom. (For instance, my earthly nation may tell me to join the military and fight against the same enemies that my King, Jesus, commands me to love). Further, we are to live as ambassadors from God’s kingdom to the nation where we live, much as earthly ambassadors live in a foreign country in order to represent the interests of their homeland. (For a more thorough description of this relationship, read The Kingdom that Turned the World Upside Down by David Bercot.)

• Explain your thoughts on “separation of church and state”.  For instance, should public schools be able to lead children in prayer?  Should “God” be on our money, and Bibles in our courtrooms?  Why or why not?

Since I belong to another nation, as described above, these are questions I really don’t spend a lot of time worrying about. I’ve been called to seek first God’s kingdom and work for its causes, not to try to legislate godliness in an earthly kingdom which is destined to be destroyed. It would be a losing battle anyway, since all earthly kingdoms are still temporarily under the control of Satan. My calling, rather, is to show as many as possible how they can turn “from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith that is in Jesus Christ” (Acts 26:18)

It’s true that our American society is on a downward slide away from any sort of a fear of God, yet I would say the blame lies as much with the moral compromises of Christians as it does with the activism of the atheists. Having said that, though, I do think it is somewhat hypocritical for atheists to work so hard to get the religions of others (such as Christianity) out of the classroom, but then want to have their own religions (naturalism and evolution) taught in its place. If you want to get religion out of the classroom, then why not get it all out?

• Explain your biblical views on money.  How do you know what is right or wrong with regards to money?

We as Christians are not owners of our money, but simply stewards for the real owner, who is God. As such, we need to listen to what Jesus said about money and act accordingly. So what did Jesus say? First of all, He said, “Woe to you who are rich” and “Blessed are you who are poor” (Luke 6). He also commanded us not to store up wealth for ourselves on earth (Matthew 6) but to sell our possessions and give to the poor (Luke 12). (This is actually a tremendous privilege, because Jesus said that in doing so we are accumulating riches for ourselves in Heaven.) My views are quite simple: Jesus gave these commands to us as Christians, and, at some level, He intends for us to obey them. To read more about this, you are welcome to read for free my book Through the Eye of a Needle by going to GetReadyForEternity.com.

• Does prayer always “work”?

No. God Himself says that there are conditions to Him hearing us, and if we don’t meet those conditions, He puts Himself under no obligation to grant us our requests.

• Does God have a “plan”, and does he change it based on prayer?

God does have a plan, and He is sovereign, controlling “all the keys on the ring” so to speak. However, because He is sovereign, He has the right to pull several keys from the ring, give them to us for a limited time, and call it free will. I believe that is exactly what He has done on certain issues, including prayer. So yes, He is willing to work and even “change His mind” in response to believing prayer, precisely because He is the one who has handed us that key in the first place.

• Does he intervene in “small stuff”, like football games? What if both sides pray equally hard?

I believe God is much more concerned about the tens of thousands of people in the stadium who are worshiping the false god of sports than He is about who wins or loses the football game. But could He intervene in the game itself, if He wanted to? Sure.