HOW TO PRAY OUT LOUD?

Some Christians feel uncomfortable praying out loud. When they are in groups where people are praying out loud, they become tongue-tied and often feel awkward with their words.

The most important thing to remember is that prayer is talking with God, whether it's silent or out loud. We don't pray to impress others. We must pray from our hearts. So if we pray out loud, we must just remember to speak to God in our own way using our own words...the ones that we are most comfortable with. When we speak with sincerity and honesty, the Holy Spirit will give us the words to use.
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WHY DOES GOD SOMETIMES REMAIN QUIET OR DISTANT?

I appreciate the honesty behind this question. In every Christian's life, there are times when God seems unresponsive to our prayers. The main goal in prayer should be to communicate and stay close to God. When we pray, it changes us by keeping us close to Him, and by helping us understand what He wants us to become. We know He answers our prayers, because it says in his word that He will. The answer we receive may not be what we expect, but what is best for us. (Philippians 4:6-7, Matthew 7:7-8)

Scripture says. "There is a time for everything, season for every activity under heaven". (Ecc. 3:1). Since God knows what will happen before it even happens, there may be reasons that we have to wait for His answer. He may be teaching us something as he remains quiet. He may be testing our faith, and our trust in him. He's really always with us, even if He seems distant. If we keep trusting Him even when it feels like He is quiet, our faith becomes stronger.
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What is Trinity's position on predestination and free will?

T hanks for putting us in the hot seat with a baseline question that has been discussed down through history. The best way to answer this question would be to say that Trinity understands the Bible to teach that God is working all things together for good to those who love him and are called according to his plan (Romans 8:28). We believe God has a wonderful plan for our lives-a plan that begins before the creation of the world, a plan that includes you and me, a plan that reveals the sovereign will of God to bring us from the deadness of sin to the new life that we have in Christ and all the way to heaven.

To elect means to choose. Predestination emphasizes the goal of a choice (Acts 4:28; Romans 8:28, 29; 1 Corinthians 2:7; Ephesians 1:5-11). In brief, election reflects God's choice of his people, predestination their divinely ordained destiny. The Bible neither makes an issue of election nor gets embarrassed by it. The Bible is neither puzzled by it nor ashamed of it. The Bible simply accepts and expounds it as an integral part of the gospel.

When election is discussed, the purpose is to help Christians see how great is the grace that has saved them and to move them to a worthy response in worship and life. Sometimes the topic of election leads us to an invitation to praise: "praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy, and in love, he predestined us to be adopted as his sons to the praise of His glorious grace." Sometimes the topic is raised to bring us assurance and encouragement: "who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies; (Romans 8:33). At other times the Bible leverages election a basis for ethical appeal: "put on, therefore, as God's elect, a heart of compassion." (Colossians 3:12).

The New Testament presents the saving work of God not as a series of unconnected actions, but as a single complex operation, the carrying through of a unified composite purpose by God. The final issue of this mighty plan is to glorify the whole Church: this is yet future. God chose us to be saved through Christ. All the blessings that flow from election are enjoyed in and through Christ. Back in eternity, when God chose us to be saved by Christ, (2 Timothy 1:9; 1 Peter 1:2), He also appointed Jesus to become man and to be our Savior (2 Timothy. 1:10; 1 Peter, 1:20).
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Are there rewards for believers in heaven beyond the hard to imagine reward of spending eternity with our creator and Redeemer? If so, what are these rewards and how are they earned?

I like the way you have phrased this question, because you have noted that the greatest gift that God could ever give us would be the gift to spending both time and eternity with Him in a personal and loving family relationship. The Bible does however speak of rewards for believers. God offers rewards to believers as recognition of whatever faithfulness may be shown to him in service. The New Testament clearly teaches that we are not saved by our works, but rather by God's grace when we place our faith in Christ Jesus as our Savior. So we must not confuse rewards with works that are meritorious of salvation.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3:8-the man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. In verse 14, Paul writes: if what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. The implication of Paul's words seemed to be that among Christians, some will be rewarded for their faithful service to God, while others who have not been faithful in serving God will still be saved but not rewarded.

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:10, "for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Again, Paul seems to indicate that those who have been faithful to Christ and served him will be rewarded. Again Jesus himself said in Matthew 16:27, "for the Son of Man is going to come in his father's glory with his angels, and that he will reward each person according to what he has done." Again, Jesus said in Luke 14:14, "and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

Exactly what the nature of these rewards will be is unclear. The rewards are not spelled out in the Scriptures. Insights from Matthew 25:14-30, The Parable Of The Talents, suggest that the rewards we are given will be the opportunities to serve in some deeper and more wonderful way under the rule of Christ in heaven.
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Why do we need to confess our sins, if Christ has died for all of our sins, past present and future?

I don't know if you have ever thought about this question, but it is an interesting one. It is based on the reality the finished work of Christ on the cross for us. You may not be familiar with the term "the finished work of Christ". It is a phrase that highlights the completeness of the sacrifice Christ made for us. In Hebrews 10:11-14, the writer says "Day after day, every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest (Jesus Christ) offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down the right hand of God. By one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. This passage clearly teaches that Jesus Christ made one sacrifice for all the sins that we will ever commit. In essence, he provided a complete and final and full forgiveness in the eyes of God for all the sins, past present and future in our lives. Since this is true, why do we need to confess our sins?

The answer that question moves us from a legal standing before God to a family standing before God. From a legal standing, we have been declared righteous before God through our faith in Christ, who has died so that all of our sins could be forgiven. From a family standing, when we sin, we do not lose our legal standing before God, but we do lose our sense of fellowship with God. And so when we sin, we grieve God, and we want to renew our relationship with our heavenly father through confession. For that reason, the Bible has given us a great promise in 1 John 1:9-"if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all in righteousness." If I were to die with unconfessed sin in my life, I believe that I would wake up in heaven, because Christ died for all of my sins. But every day I want to draw close to God so that he will draw close to me (James 4:8) and part of that closeness with God involves confessing my sins to Him when I commit them. The Bible is very clear that we are not perfect in our behavior, just because we become Christians. We will continue to sin until God brings us home and transforms us perfectly into the likeness of Christ. Until then, the best advice is to keep short accounts with God. When you sin, confess.
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