[MUSIC PLAYING]

It's time to bring it on with some of the email questions

that you all have sent in.

And we want to start with Bethany today,

Pat, who says, "Hi Pat.

I'm 16 years old.

My two younger sisters who are 12 and 13

say they no longer believe in God.

They watch videos online that twist the Bible into something

that it's not.

How can I tell them the right way of Christianity

and turn them back to God?

OK, first of all, you are a letter from God to them.

So they'll see God in you.

And make sure they see the right thing--

that they see love, joy, and peace--

and they'll begin to understand.

I'd recommend two things.

First of all, asked them to explain the mystery of ice.

You say, what are you talking about?

Well, ice.

Everything that's liquid has a tendency to get heavy.

Water, on the other hand, when it gets very cold, freezes.

And instead of sinking like a solid does in water, it floats.

And if the ice didn't float, we wouldn't

be able to have any water, because all the rivers would

freeze all over the world.

Get them to give you an explanation

of how come that happens.

And then remember one verse, "It is appointed unto man

once to die, and after that, the judgment."

Just say it to them over and over again.

Don't argue with them.

Just say, look, "It's appointed unto man

once to die, and after that, the judgment."

And the thing will-- watch what it does.

OK.

This is Nicky Patters.

She says, "What does the Bible say about hypnosis?

And what are your thoughts?

My son has a friend who's really into it,

and has started a hypnosis business.

He says he does it to help people quit smoking, lose

weight, et cetera.

I've always thought it best to stay away from it.

I don't want my son getting involved if it is truly wrong.

What answer can I give him?"

Well, I don't know anything in the Bible

that talks about hypnosis.

I don't think they did stuff like that.

But it was kind of like-- they had wizards and necromancers

and magicians and people.

Look, hypnosis is nothing more or less

than an extended power of suggestion.

And I know how to put somebody under with hypnosis.

You get eye strain and then you give them suggestions.

And the suggestions begin to take hold.

And all of a sudden, something happens.

I don't think that we should open

our spirits to anybody else.

And I think it is dangerous.

As long as you have your conscious mind,

it's kind of a gatekeeper.

But now you're opening yourself to suggestion

from anybody else.

And you don't know what suggestions

they'll put into your subconscious that

may stay there.

You're not even aware of it.

So I don't think it's a good thing.

All right.

This is Tristen who says, "I go to a church which

goes by the King James Version of the Bible.

I've done research and have come to find

there are multiple versions of the Bible, such as NIV, ESV,

and so on.

How do I know that I'm living by what God wants?

Please help."

All right, look.

The English Bible came from some source.

It didn't come in English.

It either came from the Hebrew, which is the Old Testament,

or from the Greek.

Then a question is, which is the most reliable manuscript

in Greek, for example?

And we want to get back as close as we can to the apostles.

So there's been the writing of a man like Irenaeus,

who was a great saint of God, writing about John.

You've got other fragments that have been available to us.

And then we have several so-called codices,

like the one in the Vatican and the one in Alexandria, Egypt

and so forth.

And we look at those.

And from those we get a Greek text.

The Hebrews pretty much settled on what they have.

Their book from their own spiritual leaders

is pretty much settled.

So that's out of the question.

So it's a question of the New Testament.

The King James was translated from what

is called the Textus Receptus.

It is a Greek translation that was put together

by a man named Erasmus.

And it's beautiful language.

The King James is beautiful language.

But there are things in there that are not as accurate

as later discoveries show us.

One of the most interesting courses I had in seminary

was called Textual Criticism, where

you look at a couple of Greek texts

and say, which one would I translate if I was doing it?

And it's so easy to see-- invariably,

the phony one is the one that's got the most stuff in it.

Always.

People want to add to it.

And whenever you saw that, you'd say,

uh oh, that's a later edition.

But you can tell it.

It just speaks to you.

You can see the Greek and hear.

And you say, this is what ought to be translated.

But I tell you what-- they all have the same story.

Every translation you've got comes out with the same thing.

It is God's message to mankind.

And the salvation of mankind is through Jesus Christ

on the cross.

There is no variation.

There may be a few words, you know-- omicron, alpha,

or what have you.

Chosen words that someone put-- right.

So you can change a little bit here.

It was twilight or midnight, it's

not-- but in terms of the basic-- they're all the same.

All.

So that's all the time we have for the day.

Thank you.

And thank you for your questions.

We love hearing from you.