[MUSIC PLAYING]

We're going to take some time to answer the email

questions that you've sent in.

And this first one, Pat, in our Bring It On segment,

comes from Tom, who says, "how do we

know that God actually exists?"

Well, if you begin to understand cosmogony,

you begin to understand something.

The Bible says the heavens declare the glory of God.

There, it shows forth his handiwork.

So we see it all there in nature.

You see it in you.

You see it in the marvel of your body.

You know, you have 500,000 sensors

that go between your eyes and your brain, 500,000 of them.

Your brain is so complex that it would

take a whole battery of computers

to even come close to doing what your brain can do.

But at the very beginning, we believe

the whole universe started with an explosion that's

known as the Big Bang.

An astrophysicist that I had the privilege of talking to said,

now listen.

At that moment, now get this.

If the material in the Big Bang had been off by 10

to the 28th power--

that's 10 with 28 zeros after it--

if it had been off one flyspeck of an atom

too much or too little, the universe as we

know it couldn't exist.

There would be either not enough gravity,

and it would all fall apart.

Or there would be too much gravity,

and it would all shrink down on itself.

It had to be precise, and that was 14 billion years ago.

And you go down the list of things

that were so miraculous of how this Earth is.

And when you begin to see that, there

has to be a creative person, a creative genius.

I remember reading an encyclopedia article that

said, well, there were 5,000 different combinations

in a human gene.

And it said when evolution saw that, it did the following.

I think, you idiot.

Evolution saw 5,000 different combinations of genes?

Of course not, it had to be a creator.

The heavens declare it.

Your hand declares it.

Your being, your eyes, your heart, your endocrines,

everything that's making you up had to show a creative genius.

It couldn't possibly have come together spontaneously.

All right.

This is Carroll, who says, "I saw

on another Christian program that celebrating Christmas

isn't considered Christian.

What are your thoughts?"

Well, Christmas, let's face it, is the winter solstice.

It's a pagan event.

It is.

But the church Christianized a lot of these things.

And chances are the shepherds were out in the field.

And they were giving watch.

They weren't out there in the middle of winter.

Probably, it was spring.

It could have been some other time.

But we have a day, and we celebrate it.

And we say it's a mass for Christ.

So it's not going to hurt you to do it.

But the history doesn't necessarily

back it up because it doesn't comport

with the biblical account when you

look at all the fine points.

But your faith doesn't depend on when Christmas takes place.

It depends on the fact that there

was a person who lived whose name was

Jesus, who lived and died and rose again from the grave.

That's what's important.

OK, this is Shanoah, who says, "can I

just start reading the Bible from John or the beginning

or wherever I want to?

Or do I have to wait for God to tell me what to read?

If so, how can I hear God.

I need direction.

I'm at a low point in my life."

God will speak to you out of his word, wherever you start.

The Gospel of John is nice because it's

easy to understand.

It's easy Greek.

It's easy English, and it's a good way to start.

But can dip into the Old Testament.

You can read Proverbs and Psalms.

Or you can start in the Genesis account

and read that, then read a book in the New Testament.

And balance them all.

But the big thing is let the Bible speak to you.

If you have one verse that talks to you,

well, meditate on that verse.

And let the Lord enrich it in your heart.

But you don't need permission, and you

don't need some Bible study.

And you don't need some preacher telling you when to do it.

You let the Lord show you.

He'll show you.

But just pick up the Bible and start.

Yes, John is a good place.

Genesis is a good place.

You know, you can find--

It's all good.

It's all good, all right.

OK, this is Marie, who says, "I have two childhood

friends who never got married.

They recently told me that the Bible does not

mention about being single, and they

feel churches don't offer anything for singles.

They're discouraged.

Any suggestions?"

Wait a minute.

They're living together, but they say that--

No, I think they're just friends who happen to be--

Just friends?

Yeah, I don't mean, like, male-female friends.

I just think two single friends that never got married.

Oh, they never got married.

I thought they were, like, living together.

No, I don't think so.

All right, hey.

The Bible doesn't talk about singles.

It talks about people.

And there are men, and there are women.

There are women who do marvelous things.

There are men who do marvelous things.

The Apostle Paul was a bachelor.

And he mentions the fact.

I never had a wife.

I was free to take a wife, like Peter and the other apostles,

but I didn't do it.

So he was single.

So there are many other people in the Bible who are single.

I don't know what you're talking about.

They don't mention singles?

Of course, they're there.

They're God.

They're people.

God deals with people.

And he loves people.

Wow.

All right, whatever.

OK, this is Ed, who says, "Mark 8:38 says,

'whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me,

of him also shall the son of man be ashamed when he cometh

in the glory of his father.'" What does it mean to be ashamed

of Jesus?

Can you explain this scripture?

Are you kidding?

You go into a secular environment,

and you start talking about Jesus.

And people make fun of you.

And so you don't want to have the fun made of you.

So you keep your mouth shut.

And they ask you about it.

The Apostle Peter, do you remember the little

serving girls?

I thought you were with him.

No, I wasn't with him.

Yeah, you were.

I saw you.

No, I wasn't.

And he started cursing.

That's ashamed of Jesus.

But the Lord forgave him.

He said, all right, now strength your brethren.

God will forgive everything, including that.

But it's a natural thing in a sinful world

to keep your head down and not want to stick it up

and get it knocked apart by the scorn of doubters.

So, you know, that's what it means.

And there is not one of us that hasn't had that problem.

But God will forgive it.