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Dear Father Paul

Dear Father Paul: What translation of the Bible do you like best? Mike, Fayetteville.

Dear Mike: For my own personal reading and devotion time as well as reading from the pulpit during sermons, I use the NIV, the New International Version. I began using the NIV many years ago when it was first published.

For more in-depth study, I really like the Amplified Bible. But, there are a number of wonderful translations out there as a visit to one of our local Christian bookstores will demonstrate. Many people still use the King James Bible. My wife has a copy of the New King James translation that she reallylikes.

Dear Father Paul: What do you believe about the "rapture?" Martin, Fayetteville.

Dear Martin: This is not a cop-out, but I believe what the Nicene Creed says on the subject of Christ's second coming..."He (Jesus) will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end."

This has been the belief of Orthodox Christians for around 1,500 years sincethe Creed was adopted. How, when and in what manner Jesus will return to the earth is open to lots of differing ideas: pre-tribulation, post-tribulation and the like. I call all of these "non-essentials," because you can believe any of them and still be a Christian. The main thing, again, as the Creed says is that He is going to return to the earth and we need to be ready.

Dear Father Paul: My wife and I are having serious financial problems. I have prayed and asked God to help us out of this mess, but so far nothing has happened. Jason, Fayetteville.

Dear Jason: Keep praying. God will honor your faith and your persistence.

His answer will probably not be for you to win the lottery or have a rich uncle die and leave you one million dollars, but will more likely be to show you strategies to deal with the problem, i.e. a new job, tighter budget, stop abusing your credit cards and the like.

You don't mention what kind of "seed" you have been sowing and are now sowing into God's kingdom through tithes, offerings, and alms to him through his church, but financial giving (the principle of sowing and reaping) is a Kingdom principle that applies to all of us. If you sow sparingly you will reap sparingly; same as when a farmer plants a crop in the ground. Conversely,if you have sown abundantly, you can expect to reap abundantly.

Don't be misled by (some of) the TV preachers. God is not manipulated. We should't give just so we can get in return, but we give because God loves us and because we love Him. When we do obey God through our financial giving we can "expect" him to provide for us just as he says in his word. "Bring the whole tithe (10 percent) into the storehouse (the church) that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessings that you will not have room enough for it." Malachi, Chapter 3. This is the only place in the Bible where God actually invites (dares) us to put him to the test.

Father Paul will answer your questions. Write him at paulmassey@earthlink.net or P.O. Box 510, Fayetteville, GA 30214.