In this sixth Online Fireside Chat, we have brothers Paul Cooke, Chris Wilde, and Bob Henry sit down and share with us about their experiences of Christ at our fireside chat on a variety of questions.
These questions range from sharing the gospel with those who seem to be so good (and think they don’t need God), relating to our workmates who are so sinful, praying for God’s need, feeling that God doesn’t answer our prayers, how to deal with addition, will the flesh ever go away, and what to learn from sufferings. Plus two questions on relationships and courtship, and the response from the brothers is so real and deep.
You can watch the entire fireside chat via youtube here and by questions via the UniStudents website.
Online Fireside Chat 6 – the Gospel, Does God answer Prayers, Courtship Problems, Dealing with Addiction, what to Learn from Sufferings, and Does God move in Africa
Question 1 – How do I share the gospel to someone that says all gods are the same? To them, even the God we believe in is just the same as the gods that they believed in.
This is a question that we all have, especially when we preach the gospel to someone, and they have this particular kind of response – “there are so many gods, and all gods are the same, so the God you believe in – is no different than any other god that I believe in and that anyone else believes in”…so in a sense, to them, it doesn’t matter which God you believe in…The response from the brothers is so interesting, for they use a lot of experiences from their human life and their travel to see if they can help. A helpful verse is 2 Cor. 4:4, which shows that there is a God and there are gods (with small letter g). There is the unique God, and there are the “gods”, which is the enemy, Satan, who is a deceiver. These “gods” blind the thoughts and understanding of people so that they don’t receive the Lord as light to shine in their being. Listen to the answer of the brothers to find out more.
Watch the response/s given by the brothers here or here.
Question 2 – How do I explain to my friend that just being a good person isn’t enough? Why does she have to be a Christian, and why can’t she just live her whole life doing good deeds as an atheist?
This is along the line of the gospel, for many are wondering why do they have to become Christians, isn’t it enough for them to do good deeds, striving to live in a good, moral, and upright way. Some even justify that, as atheists, they strive to be moral, so they see no reason to become a Christian. This comes from a complete misunderstanding and misconception of what God is, that is, if there’s a God, there’s a scale in the heavens, with the good on one side, and the bad on the other side, and if your good outweighs the bad, you get in. This is a watered-down gospel…and many take comfort in the fact that they are good persons in essence. Listen to the response of the brothers for more.
Watch the response/s given by the brothers here or here.
Question 3 – How do you respond in work environments when everyone around you is talking about sinful things? How do you avoid being judgmental? How can you be relatable and approachable?
This has to do a lot with the work environment, our interaction with the unbelievers in the world; a lot of time we are surrounded by people who speak things that are completely inappropriate because they didn’t have the light shine on them to see they are sinners. So we may judge them, for they may talk about binge drinking over the weekend, fornication, and other such things. And we may also sin by judging them for their sins. How do we interact with our work-mates in a way that we are approachable and relatable so that they would even open up to us, but still not be judgmental? Part of the response of the brothers is pointing toward our need to have a heart for man, and realizing that we should not feel that we’re better than them. By the Lord’s mercy, we eat rich and amazing food, even spiritual steak, daily, but they eat dog food, and we feel sorry they have to live such a life… – listen more to enjoy.
Watch the response/s given by the brothers here or here.
Question 4 – Many times, especially in these times we currently are in, I feel like praying for my personal needs/ feelings/ circumstances is not the prayer that the Lord needs, so I end up never praying about the things concerning me. (I feel really selfish when I do). But at the same time, we hear again and again the brothers encouraging us to converse with the Lord and to tell Him about everything. I know He cares for me, but how do these prayers actually meet His needs and help Him accomplish what He is after? Can you offer any fellowship about praying for personal matters and needs as opposed to praying for God’s need? I also feel like prayers for God’s need are really high prayers and I feel extremely short to pray such prayers. I have the sense that much authority is needed for such prayers, which I definitely lack. How can I pray such high prayers to cooperate with the Lord when I lack so much?
Watch the response/s given by the brothers here or here.
Question 5 – How do you go through a situation where you and many other people are praying for something, or for someone, but the prayers are not answered? Sometimes, it seems like the Lord is silent, or He doesn’t answer the prayer in the way we are asking Him to answer. How do you deal with that?
This is a follow-up question. In Heb. 11 we have the story of faith, and the Lord took care of so many people. But in some cases, some were martyred or went through sufferings and persecution; it may seem that in such cases, the Lord was silent. In our situation, we and many people may pray for someone or something, and the prayer is not answered; sometimes it seems that the Lord doesn’t answer the prayer in the way we expect Him or ask Him to answer it. The brothers’ response is so sweet, even though it is such a hard question, and we all wrestle with this.
Watch the response/s given by the brothers here or here.
Question 6 – Can you speak on relationships with someone of the opposite gender? I am courting a brother who has several close female friends that he talks with frequently over the phone–he used to have feelings for one of his female friends and pursued her in the past. I don’t feel at peace with this, but he says I’m being too spiritual. Am I being too spiritual or legal? I really am confused about this.
This is a serious question, and it cannot be ignored. The answer is amazing and very clear cut. Such a person, such a brother that this sister is in a courtship with, is quite scary; the fact that he talks frequently to another sister, is worrisome. He is flirting with something very damaging, and this is very worrying. The Bible speaks of relationships – it even ends with the Spirit and the Bride saying, Come! Our relationship should be uniquely with the one with whom we want to spend our life and our time with, and frequently spending our time with someone else is damaging to this relationship, and it is diametrically opposed to such a courtship. Listen to the brother’s answer – so good!
Watch the response/s given by the brothers here or here.
Question 7 – The brother I am courting wants to be more sexual and says he can’t go on without this – I don’t feel right about this, but I also don’t want to make him upset.
This is also a very serious question. Such questions take courage to be uttered, and we appreciate such sisters; such things need to be addressed, for it is not the first case we have encountered. Clearly and unambiguously, it is never OK for such things to happen. If such a brother would love the sister, he would never ask the sister to do what she is not comfortable doing, even to violate her conscience and violate the God-given sense of modesty that God built into the sisters. The people around us in today’s age may be loose, casual, even having this as a recreational activity in the world…and even among the believers, such a thought may be implanted. Listen to the brothers’ response to hear more on this.
Watch the response/s given by the brothers here or here.
Question 8 – Can you provide fellowship about addictions? How do you overcome them?
A very helpful response to this question from the brothers. It is very good to bring this to the Lord, and even tell the Lord, I hate this addiction, Lord! And learn to open that part of your being to the Lord. No one can do it for you…And our mind – when it is set on the flesh, it is death, but when it is set on the spirit, it is life and peace. So we need to learn to open this to the Lord, even in a desperate way, even asking Him to take this desire from us, even our liking to do this particular thing that keeps us addicted…We even have to nip it in the bud, for it comes as a thought, we dwell on that thought, and this leads us to action, and we may do something.
Watch the response/s given by the brothers here or here.
Question 9 (Follow up to question 8) – In messages, we hear that the flesh never goes away. In struggles that we have, should we as believers actually think that we are going to overcome this thing, and that it will go away permanently? Or are there certain things that don’t go away, and it’s something you have to flee from?
We may hear that the flesh will never go away, it will even get worse…so in our struggle as believers, will we ever overcome this, or are there certain things that we need to know, maybe flee from? It is true that the flesh will never go away; rather, the older we get, the stronger the flesh gets. The flesh never gets better, and it can’t be improved. Rom. 8:6 is a key verse: we need to overcome the flesh is to set our mind on our spirit. The provision that God gave us is our human spirit; every time the thought comes, the lust comes, we need to call on the name of the Lord Jesus. We can never graduate from calling on the name of the Lord, for the flesh is still there. We need to set our mind on our spirit! Listen to hear more.
Watch the response/s given by the brothers here or here.
Question 10 – I have heard it said that sufferings cause us to grow and mature in the divine life. Has this been your experience? Can you give us some examples from your life?
Sufferings are part of our human life, but precious are the tears of those who suffer in the Lord, for the Lord counts them. We may be put in a spot, in sufferings, and there’s nothing we can do but weep – but the Lord counts each one of those tears. The Lord is not trying to hurt us; sufferings are part of human existence – when Satan injected himself into mankind, suffering was sown in human existence. But suffering for the sake of suffering doesn’t benefit you, for the whole world suffers! And you hear stories, read the news, people losing their dear ones to the pandemic, even in a tough death, with much pain and agony in the family. Just because we’re believers doesn’t mean we are spared from sufferings. What we do with that suffering, and how much we turn to the Lord and set our mind on our spirit. We need to take our tears to Him and let Him be the ointment. Listen to the brothers’ answer to hear more…
Watch the response/s given by the brothers here or here.
Question 11 – How can those of us who are in the church life in Africa participate in the Lord’s up-to-date move on the earth? There is a lot of fellowship in the ministry about the direction of the Lord’s move being towards Europe and the Middle East. What part can Africa play in that?
The Lord moves in so many directions; at a certain point in the Lord’s move, the focus will be on a certain place at a certain time. At this time, the Lord is moving here in Europe, and the reason is the damage that was caused during the turmoil in the 1980’s and 90’s, so the Lord had to start another work, even to do something new in Europe. After the rebellion that took place in Europe, out of more than 1000 saints who were there, only 60 remained. But the Lord is moving in Africa very much. In 1997 there were only four countries that had local churches, and today there are almost 27 countries with local churches; the Lord is moving. The focus may be Europe, but the Lord is moving in Africa and in all the continents. Listen to the brothers’ fellowship to find out more.
Watch the response/s given by the brothers here or here.
You can watch this online fireside chat in Russian here: Вопросы и отклики полная сессия #6 [Russian].
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