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    Questions from a Hat: Answering the Tough Questions of Student Ministry
    Questions from a Hat: Answering the Tough Questions of Student Ministry
    Questions from a Hat: Answering the Tough Questions of Student Ministry
    Ebook137 pages1 hour

    Questions from a Hat: Answering the Tough Questions of Student Ministry

    By Noah Raulerson

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    About this ebook

    The greatest endorsement I can give this book is I would undoubtedly and unashamedly go through this material with my students on Wednesday nights. -- Joshua Thomas, Student Pastor at Joppa Baptist Church,

    Fanning Springs, Florida

    In churches today many youth pastors, volunteers, and parents struggle to answer those tough questions teenagers can produce. Students are curious about spiritual matters: God, Jesus, Heaven and Hell, creation, angels, stress, how to share their faith, and much more. So, come on...reach in and draw a question from a hat!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWestBow Press
    Release dateAug 30, 2016
    ISBN9781512745740
    Questions from a Hat: Answering the Tough Questions of Student Ministry
    Author

    Noah Raulerson

    Noah Raulerson serves as the Associate Pastor and Student Minister at Hardeetown Baptist Church in Chiefland, Florida, and has been active in Christian ministry for over a decade. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Ministry from the Baptist College of Florida and a Masters of Divinity in Christian Ministries from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. His passion for teenagers led him to pursue student ministry. Besides developing young disciples for Christ, Noah enjoys spending time with his family participating in a variety of hobbies which include traveling and movie-going. Noah resides in Chiefland with his wife and son, Jennifer and Jonah.

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      Book preview

      Questions from a Hat - Noah Raulerson

      Copyright © 2016 Noah Raulerson.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc.

      WestBow Press

      A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.westbowpress.com

      1 (866) 928-1240

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      ISBN: 978-1-5127-4575-7 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-5127-4576-4 (hc)

      ISBN: 978-1-5127-4574-0 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2016909844

      WestBow Press rev. date: 08/29/2016

      Contents

      Preface

      I. CREATION

      Who Wrote Genesis, and How Did the Author Know the Story of Creation?

      If God Created the Universe, Then Who Created God?

      How Did God Create People?

      Where Did Cain Find His Wife?

      Does the Bible Mention Dinosaurs?

      II. GOD & MAN

      If God Knew Humans Were Going to Sin, Why Did He Create Us in the First Place?

      If God Hates Sin So Much, Why Didn’t He Create Us Perfect From the Start?

      If God Wants Us to Believe Him, Why Doesn’t He Show Himself?

      How Did People in the Old Testament Get Saved?

      If Old Testament People Were Saved by Grace Through Faith in the Messiah, Why Did God Command Animal Sacrifices?

      What Can We Do to Make God the Number One Priority in Our Lives?

      Was Jesus Dying on the Cross Really the Only Way to Save Us?

      How Do You Know if God is Listening to You?

      III. THE BIBLE

      How Old is the Bible?

      Why Do We Have Both an Old Testament and a New Testament?

      How Do We Know the Bible Is True When Compared With Other Writings?

      What Does the Bible Tell Us About the End Times?

      IV. CHRISTIAN ETHICS

      Is it Against Our Religious Beliefs to Marry Someone of a Different Race?

      What Exactly Does Sexual Immorality Mean?

      Why is Sex Before Marriage Wrong?

      If Someone Commits Suicide, Does That Person Automatically Go to Hell?

      Is it Possible to be Both Gay and a Christian?

      Some People Say Jesus Never Taught on Homosexuality. Is This True?

      Seeing That We Are to Look Out For Our Brothers and Sisters in Christ, How Do You Tell Someone They’re Sinning and They Need to Stop?

      What if You Have a Conversation With Someone About Their Sin and They Get Mad at You and Refuse to Stop?

      How Do You Respond to Someone Who Verbally Attacks and Disrespects Your Beliefs?

      Does Jesus Get Angry When We re Disrespectful to Our Parents?

      What Does the Bible Say About Stress?

      What Does it Mean to Covet?

      Are Those in the Military That Have to Kill Others in Combat Guilty of Murder?

      Is it a Sin For a Christian to Drink Alcohol?

      Are Christians Allowed to Eat Pork?

      V. THE CHURCH

      Is Church Involvement Really That Important?

      Why Do People Get Baptized?

      Should Women Be Pastors? Why or Why Not?

      Should Women Be Allowed to Speak in Church in Reference to 1 Corinthians 14:34?

      VI. HEAVEN AND HELL

      What Happens to the Lost When They Die? Do They Go Straight to Hell?

      In Heaven, Will You Get to See Your Family That Has Died?

      Pastor Noah, What Do You Think of the Movie Heaven is for Real?

      VII. VARIOUS AND SUNDRY ITEMS

      Church and State

      The Trinity

      Is It Wrong For Christians to Display the Confederate Flag?

      Afterword

      Acknowledgements

      Works Consulted

      PREFACE

      Before reading, you should know how this project came to be and the factors that led to this work. My journey as a Christ follower and as an author is as follows:

      I can’t recall a time in my life when I have not been intrigued by God. The whole idea of a being responsible for the creation of everything astounded me. From an eternal, personal mind came everything; time and space, the universe as we know it created from the words of an intelligence far beyond anyone’s comprehension. What really amazes me is that this God would interact with his creation and choose to reveal himself to people. Before I go any further, it would help you to know I am one of those people fascinated by the written word. People often look at me like I am from another planet when I tell them my favorite hobby is reading. So, you can probably guess as soon as I learned to read I would eagerly and frantically search the Scriptures to learn more about this God. I would open my Bible as a child with the same fervor another child would have opening a birthday or Christmas present! Before I could read my parents had taught me that the Bible was God’s Word and because it came from God it was total truth. I learned about this God as much as a six-year-old mind could comprehend. About this time I made a decision to follow Christ and get baptized. Although according to my pastor at the time, I could recite the Romans Road and answer all the right questions about salvation, the decision did not produce the kind of life change the Gospel brings. Instead of relying on Christ for my assurance and peace, I essentially became what I call an Elementary School Pharisee. I became a legalist, desiring to be justified by my works instead of the imputed righteousness of Christ. I was the kind of kid who would serve as the morality police to my friends (yeah, I was that kid) while unaware of my own shortcomings. Thankfully through God’s grace and further study of the Bible, I came across a passage of Scripture that wreaked havoc on my (now in the fourth grade) life. The passage in Galatians described my life as Paul recounts his testimony before he came to saving knowledge of Christ:

      I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers (Galatians.1:14).

      What an uncanny resemblance to my young life! There I was winning Bible drills and memory verse contests, taking attendance in Sunday school, and quoting the Bible on the school playground while entirely missing the point. I was extremely zealous for the Bible but missed its main theme. I was zealous for church traditions without knowing the reasons behind them. I was zealous for God but never met him. Paul could not find salvation in mere zeal for the law and neither could I. Just three days shy of my tenth birthday on February 22, 1995; I gave my life to Christ. I recognized him for who he is, not only my Savior but as my Lord. My life I now live for him. No longer do I do good things out of fear of breaking the Law, but out of love and gratitude for Jesus who held nothing back from me. The things that I had to do before I met Jesus were now the things I got to do.

      As much as I enjoy reading, I never felt the desire to write a book. The daunting task of organizing and compiling my jumbled, scatter-brained thoughts petrified me to no end. However, I have learned that God will use some of the most unqualified folks to do things for the kingdom. No greater evidence of this in my own life as I finished my senior year of high school. Although I had lived a season of rebellion during my final year as high school student, I was still active in church. During this season of my life I felt a call to full time ministry. At a summer camp that year I surrendered to that call which set in motion events that led to many years of theological and ministerial training at two academic institutions. As I neared the end of my time at seminary, the time came for me to become an ordained minister. For those of you unfamiliar with this process, when the time comes for a person called into ministry to become ordained, this person meets with the pastors and deacons/elders from a local church and is questioned. My home church, First Baptist Church of Callahan, Florida oversaw my ordination process. Again, for those unfamiliar with this process, the church needs to know if a candidate meets the qualifications to be set apart (ordained) for ministry. In my experience, I was questioned on fundamental doctrines (God, Jesus, the Bible, salvation) my philosophy of ministry, and how I planned to serve as a pastor. At this point, a deacon named Blake asked me a question that

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