Throughout Confirmation, Confirmands (youth in Confirmation) have the opportunity to submit questions to the Question Box. Each question WILL BE ANSWERED HERE (somehow or another). The DOOZEY questions (in Pastor Rhodie's opinion) receive an answer and a prize.

Here are the questions so far:

 Q: Why do only Catholics have Rosaries? (EB)

A: Rosaries are a special aide to prayer in the Roman Catholic Church. Anyone can use them but they hold special meaning for Roman Catholic people. The word means something like "garland of roses" and is tied to celebrating Jesus' Mom, Mary. Other faiths do use prayer beads which are similar. In the United Methodist Chruch, we are happy to use any reminder to pray but we do not have the same feeling about Rosaries as Roman Catholic folks do.

Q: Do you think artists like Kesha or Fergie really know what's going on in their music video? (AS)

A: No (that was easy).

Q: If God loves us, why does He let us suffer through war and chaos? (AS)

A**: Oh Boy...this is a Doozey: There are three beliefs we hold: 1. God is Great (all powerful) 2. God is Good (God is gracious, loving and kind) 3. Evil exists. Well how can all three truths exist? Here is what I do know: 1. When we meet on the other side of life, we will be amazed at the full answer. 2. Folks have tried to answer this fully. Some believe they have but the question still floats in cancer wards, around natural disasters and in many other places. 3. God loves YOU so much that God sent God's Son right into the darkness to bring YOU into light and life. No garbage or disease or sin or principalities or powers or hight or depth can keep us from the love of God in Jesus. That is no small promise.

Q: Who made God? (AR)

A: No one. God is, was and will be eternal. Our minds just can not think that far. This answer is so short that it seems easy but the wonder of God is so grand that it sure can make us feel little. It's sure is neat that this Grand, Eternal God cares so much about YOU!

Q: Why did God create mental and physical pain? (BK)

A: Oh Boy again...this is no small question. I think that I will hold to the answer I gave above about chaos. Am I cheesing out?

Q: If God is considered the Lord, why doesn't He give us commands? (BK)

A: There are "Ten Commandments" in the Old Testament but God does not want rules carved in some rock for us. God really wants His command written on our hearts. In the New Testament book of Hebrews, God says to us, "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts" (Hebrews 10). Jesus talked about God's command and even said once, "I give you a new command; that you love one another as I have loved you." (John 13) Through the Old Testament and the New, God calls us, invites us, commands us to love God and to love one another. If we live that out fully...whoeeee!

Q: Is Heaven the unexplored space or is it in the clouds? So pretty much, where is Heaven? And is it invisible if your didn't die yet? (TO)

A: I won't know this answer fully until I am there. What if it is invisible but becomes visible when we fully love God and fully love one another. Maybe Heaven becomes more visible the more we do that. Jesus did say that the Kingdom of God is "at hand" (Mark 1). Is He talking about Heaven? Is Heaven and the Kingdom of God the same? Some people say that they are enjoying a "slice of heaven" right here. The traditional faith (and I believe it too) is that Heaven is a realm we can go to through the grace of Christ. Instead of death being the end, we get to go to Heaven. I also believe that we can get tastes of it right here. We can do that when we are fully loving God and neighbor. We can do that in the Baptismal waters and in holy Communion.

Q: If you have the first pick for fantasy football draft, who do you pick?

A: Bob Lurtsema

Q: If God loves us, why does He let us suffer? (AS)

A: Great question and I will keep with my answer above (look for the **). I will reemphasize that God sure loves us so much that God did not want the suffering to be the all and all or even the end of us so God sent His beloved Son to give us life beyond suffering. Another question popped into my head...it convicts me an everyone else: If we love God, why do we let God suffer (why do we do unloving things against our neighbor...why do we choose grudges over forgiveness and grace)?

 Q: Ho does everyone fit in Heaven? How does everyone from the past and the present fit into Heaven? (annon)

A: Heaven is Really, Really Big. This is bigger and better than we can imagine.

Q: How many children did Adam and Eve have? How can a whole population of people be created with only Adam and Eve's kids? (KS)

A: Adam and Eve had Cain and Abel and Seth (that we know of). Although the Bible only lists Cain, Abel and Seth, it hints very strongly of other people. For example, after Cain killed Abel, Cain went off to live in the land of Nod and had a wife. The Bible doesn't say where his wife came from but there she was. Also, Seth had a wife but the Bible does not relly explain the details of her life. It just kind of hits at some of the highlights (and low spots) of the beginning of our history. So, my answer is that the whole world just might not have been created by just Adam and Eve's kids. In the New Testament, Jesus even talks about "Other flocks" of sheep he cared about. Could that mean that, in addition to Adam and Eve, God created more in other lands (like Nod)?

Q: What is Brittany's Middle Name?

A: Cleopatra?

Q: With all of the chaos in the world, why hasn't Jesus come back to save us yet? (EB)

A: Maybe Jesus did not come to save us FROM the chaos or even with the chaos but instead He came to save us THROUGH  all of the junk of this world. He came right into the chaos, right into the darkness but the darkness did not overcome Him. That was not pain free for Jesus. It was pain-full. But because of Jesus, good wins, death and sin are defeated.

Q: How old do you have to be to be considered really old?

A: 11

Q: Why are boys so immature? (EB)

A: Yes.

Q: Why is Ayla so impatient?

A: Tight socks.

Q: Will Jesus rally come back for us or will we have to save ourselves from sin? (annonymous)

A: Jesus DID come back...and He WILL come back again. In the meantime, God sends the Holy SPirit to help us through the tough spots. We do not, and could not, save ourselves from sin. God does all of the work for us. We just accept the gift through Jesus. Then, we live by grace, we grow in grace and grow in graciousness!

Q: How do we know what God looks like if we have not seen Him? (Annonymous)

A: We don't know what God looks like. Even if we imagine to our biggest, best dreams, we will be wonderfully surprised.

Q: Did Jesus die thinking God had deserted Him? (AH)

A: No. Although Jesus did feel forsaken at one point (He said, "My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me"), just before He died, He said, "Father, into your hands I commend my Spirit." He felt God's presence right then. GREAT QUESTION!