What Made God Want To Flood The World?

"Christianity Questions and Answers" podcast CQA 067

Why would God ever want to flood the world? The great flood of Genesis was not an accident, it was done purposefully. But why? That’s one of the questions we answer on this podcast.

Podcast recorded live at New Song Community Church in Oceanside, California

This podcast was recorded live at New Song Community Church in Oceanside, CA. Pastor Hal Seed and I were answering questions posed to us live that day. New Song is Carolyn’s and my home church where I have served on the Leadership Board for many years.

Dr. Hal Seed, Senior Pastor of New Song Community Church

One of the questions posed in the Questions and Answers time was: What made God want to flood the world?

Please listen and learn.

In addition to the question of why God would flood the world, other questions addressed in this podcast are:

• What is the connection between evolution and science?

• How did the 10 plagues happen?

• What about dinosaurs and the Bible?

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Who is Dr. Hal Seed?

Hal is the Founding and Lead Pastor of New Song Community Church, in Oceanside, CA. New Song is a multi-site church that has seen over 18,000 come to Christ and is one of the Outreach 100 Fastest Growing Churches in America.

Hal’s Pastormentor ministry provides tools and training to grow bigger and better churches. He has authored six books, including The God Questions, and his latest book I Love Sundays.

Hal and Lori have two grown children and who are working on the next generation of “Seedlings.” Hal’s website is: www.pastormentor.com

Who is Dr. Mark Alan Williams?

Mark is a missionary, speaker, author, podcaster and blogger at www.markalanwilliams.net. In 2016 he founded Discipleship Journeys with Jesus which has a vision to disciple a half million believers in actionable, biblical wisdom. He has traveled to 60 countries on 6 continents, sharing the Gospel and training leaders.

Mark is a graduate of Moody Bible Institute, Biola University, Talbot Seminary and Fuller Seminary where he earned a Doctor of Ministry degree. He was named alumnus of the year by Moody Bible Institute in 2010. Mark & Carolyn were married in 1979 and have three sons.

For additional help with creation, evolution, dinosaurs, the age of the earth and related questions, see these resources on my website:

• Podcast: Where do dinosaurs fit in the Bible?

• Podcast: What do Christians believe about creation and evolution?

• Vlog (video): Creation demands a Creator

Also, there are other wonderful resources on the web if you want to dig deeper:

• The Institute for Creation Research

• Answers in GenesisApologetics Press (has lots of answers on all kinds of topics including creation and evolution)

• Reasons to Believe

PLEASE NOTE: Because I have included a website above doesn’t mean I agree with or endorse all their opinions.

You can leave a comment below.

Help Spread the Word! If you found this episode helpful, we’d love for you to rate the podcast in iTunes. This will help get this podcast in front of more people who need biblical guidance. Also, please Click here to leave a review – thanks so much for your help!

How To Practice Christian Meditation

The Bible tells Christians to do it.

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Meditation, including Christian meditation has a bad name, at least with some. It is suspect, likely because of Eastern Meditation, even though it is taught in the Bible. If you’re a Christian, you should meditate.

Joshua 1:8 says that if you want to prosper and succeed, you must meditate on God’s Word. It says, “Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.” (Joshua 1:8 NLT)

Psalm 1 says that you’ll find real joy when you meditate on the Bible “day and night.”

“Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.” (Psalm 1:1-2 NLT)

But it seems that Christian meditation is misunderstood and avoided. What a shame.

To meditate means: “think deeply or carefully about something.” We should meditate on the Truth of Scripture.

If someone says they can’t meditate, then my question is, “Can you worry?” If so, then you can meditate, because meditation is worry turned in the right direction.

So here are 2 guidelines and then a process for Christian meditation:

Guideline #1: Focus your meditation on the Truth of Scripture. 

We meditate (think) about all kinds of things: worries, memories, hopes, relationships, fears, resentments, sayings, movies, videos, conversations, etc.

These are not all bad and some might be good. But the best thing to meditate on is the Word of God.

Did you know that if you are a Christian, Jesus prayed for you? The prayer is recorded in John 17 where He prayed for all those who would become his followers. One of the things Jesus prayed for us is this, “Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.” (John 17:17 NLT)

Jesus prayed that we’d be holy. To be holy is to be great! God is great in part because of His holiness.

The more we become holy, the greater we’ll be.

Where does holiness and greatness come from? Jesus said it is by the Words of Scripture.

You can read a lot of meditations, sayings and “spiritual wisdom” from people, but they can never match up to the truth of God’s Words. In fact, some of it will lead you far astray from the Truth.

Never substitute anything for the Word of God.

Guideline #2: Refocus away from wrong thoughts.

I’ve often found myself meditating on unhelpful issues: resentment, remorse, anxiety, sins, revenge, complaints, offenses, lust. The list goes on and on. This despite the fact that I know these thoughts aren’t accomplishing much, except wearing me down.

Sometimes I legitimize my less-than-helpful thoughts by thinking that they’re helping me to solve a problem, or think through an issue. But often I must admit that I am worrying, or resenting, or working myself up by thinking the wrong thoughts.

When that happens, I have to pull my thoughts back to what Scripture tells me to focus on: “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” (Philippians 4:8 NLT)

I’ve memorized that verse, and recommend you do the same. Then quote it when you’re tempted to allow your meditations to wander down the wrong paths.

A Process for Christian Meditation

a. Confess your sins

The first thing to do is to clear out all that will hinder your communion with God through confession.

There is no doubt that sins will hinder our Christian meditation. “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” (Psalm 66:18 NIV)

But Scripture promises in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

b. Ask the Holy Spirit for guidance.

If you are a Christian, you have God’s Spirit living in you.

His job, in part, is to guide you into truth. Jesus said, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.” (John 16:13 NLT)

c. Find and focus on pertinent Scriptures

What are you meditating (thinking) about: is it a relationship, a topic, a problem, a goal?

Whatever your focus, find Scriptures to meditate on that relate to the issues you’re facing.

How? With the internet, it is so simple. Just search the key word using a phrase such as “Bible verses on ___________ (stress, anger, guidance, worry).”

You’ll come up with potential passages from which you can choose which ones work best for you.

Then meditate on that passage as it relates to your issue. Go over and over the passage. Review it to the point that you find you have it memorized. You’ll find that you can memorize a couple of verses without even trying to memorize them.

d. Replace negative thoughts with Scripture

When meditating, it is so easy to slip into negative thought patterns. The world, the flesh and the devil all want to take our heads where they shouldn’t be.

So, when tempted to fall into a negative thought pattern, corral your thoughts by going back to God’s Word.

When Jesus was tempted with wrong thinking in the wilderness, He answered each time with Scripture that He had memorized.

So, memorize Scriptures that will help you to overcome wrong thinking and temptation.

e. Refocus on God’s Word repeatedly until your mindset changes.

Once you’ve done the steps above, don’t let go until you have victory. Like a great meal where you want a second helping and the next day you want to have the leftovers for lunch, come back repeatedly for more!

For more articles about related topics, see these resources on my website:

• 4 Reasons You Can Love and Trust the Bible Today

• How Digging in the Dirt Proves the Bible is Reliable

• Have You Written Your Own Bible?Five Ways God Speaks to Us

NOTE: Facebook is random. Email is reliable. Subscribe via email and you won’t miss any of my articles, podcasts or videos. You’ll also get my eBook: 10 Prayers to Unlock Heaven on Earth

What Separates Christianity And Hinduism?

"Christianity Questions and Answers" podcast CQA 066

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Christianity and Hinduism are both religions, but that’s about where the similarities end. There are vast differences that the average person doesn’t either know about or understand. Many think they’re similar, but they are not. Some Christians would say that Christianity is not even a religion, but a relationship.

Dr. Jayakumar Ramachandran

My guest on today’s podcast knows intimately the differences between Christianity and Hinduism. He grew up Hindu in India, but later he found The Way.

In other “Christianity Questions and Answers” podcasts and blogs my guests and I have explored questions like Six Reasons all Roads DON’T Lead to Heaven, Isn’t Christianity arrogant to claim to be the only way to heaven? and Does salvation come only through faith in Christ? (Exclusivism).

But today we’ll look specifically at Christianity and Hinduism.

You might ask “Who is Jayakumar (Jay)?”

Dr. Jay was born and raised in Chennai (Madras) India to a staunch Hindu father and a traditional Christian mother.

Jay was more influenced by my father’s beliefs, values, and practices of Hinduism because his father was more religious than his mother. This deprived Jay of any Christian atmosphere and nurturing during his childhood and teenage years. Consequently, Jay formed a pluralistic religious belief.

However, in 1976, through God-orchestrated events, Jay came to know the true and living God by reading the books of John and Romans. In 1989, Jay founded Bible Believing Churches & Missions (BBCM) and continued to plant churches in Bangalore, India and challenge other church leaders to do the same.

Jay has diligently pursued advanced education. His degrees include:

• Doctorate degree in Ministry D. Min. (Miss) from Columbia Intel University, USA

• Masters degree in Sacred Theology (STM) from Dallas Theological Seminary, USA

• Masters degree (M.Th) in Bible Exposition from Asian Christian Academy

• Masters degree (M.A) from the University of Madras

Please listen and learn from Jay.

For additional help on topics related to Christianity and Hinduism, check out these resources on this site:

• Five Questions for Those Who Think Many Roads Lead to Heaven

• Who Needs Jesus, I’m a Good Person

• Why Your Sincerity Can be Deadly

• Podcast: Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God?

To learn more about this “Christianity Questions and Answers” podcast and how to submit your questions, click HERE.

To develop your relationship with God, get my free eBook “10 Prayers to Unlock Heaven on Earth” click HERE.

You can leave a comment below.

Help Spread the Word! If you found this episode helpful, we’d love for you to rate the podcast in iTunes. This will help get this podcast in front of more people who need biblical guidance. Also, please Click here to leave a review – thanks so much for your help!