I lead a small group of high school freshmen boys. We recently studied faith vs works. One provides eternal life, the other determines the way you experience heaven. Am I on track here and can you provide guidance as I now tackle their obvious follow up question of “what will the judgment be about and will people experience heaven differently based on said judgement.”

Recently I heard a pastor argue that the fig tree in Matt. 24:32 does not represent Israel. He says Israel was described as an olive tree when the Church was grafted in. Is that true?

I have a question regarding Mary, the mother of Jesus. I can not understand why Jesus would tell John to take care of his mother when she had other children to do that job. I heard that Mary went with John to Turkey where he had a church and she died there. Could you please clarity this because we have the book of James the step brother of Jesus who was a believer so why did not he take care of his mother? Do we know the whole story about this?

I am trying to piece together from Scripture what Satan understood of Jesus’ purpose in taking a human body and living among us. I understand that Satan knew who Jesus was. In Matthew 8:29, the demons call Jesus Son of God. I also understand from 1 Corinthians 2:8 that Satan didn’t know what Jesus would accomplish on the cross. I have to believe since Jesus told His disciples many times that He would die and be raised the third day, that Satan also knew this. So what did Satan understand of Jesus’ mission?

In your post “The Wilderness Temptation”, you say “All of Satan’s temptations were an effort to get Jesus to take back His Godhood, and that would have compromised His mission.” How did Satan know that if Jesus took back his Godhood, His mission would be compromised?

I’ve noticed a lot of people lately who believe that the death of Jesus just “covers them” without their having to accept being a sinner with the need for salvation. The whole “God is love” thing and “God won’t really punish anyone” is a common point of view lately. It seems many more people than I imagined think that salvation is a blanket policy that everyone qualifies for by default. Could you address this issue in more depth?

I have a question about Psalm 83:2-3. “For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.” What does the phrase “hidden ones” mean in verse 3?

Do you think that Jerusalem will be captured by the Gentiles (Arabs in our case) during the Tribulation? Zachariah and Joel seem to make that claim. Is that correct? If so, how do you reconcile the claim that Jews will never be dispersed from their land. I understand that being captured and being dispersed are different things, but nevertheless, Jerusalem is a pretty big deal to give up.

Re: 1 Cor. 6:7 “The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?” Some take this to mean no matter what a Christian should never go to court against another Christian. What is your interpretation of this?

I was watching a fairly well known Bible teacher on television and at one point he said, ” Why do you think the Lord condoned slavery?” His answer was that the slaves who had benevolent masters were actually much better off then if they had been on their own as they were illiterate. I can only assume he was referring to slaves of the South before the Civil War, who were often grossly mistreated. I was totally stunned to hear a Christian say such a thing much less a teacher of God’s Word! I would very much like to know what your opinion is about this.