Ask Your Pastor

Ask Your Pastor is a new feature of our site. If you have any problem, you can submit it over our web-site with out e-mail, so it is totally anonymous. Then, our Pastor, Will McGarvey, will answer your question. Any questions or problems are welcomed.

To Submit A Question, click here.

1: Question: When will this site be done? Answer: It is done right now!

2: Question: Why is there a chapter in the bible called genisis? Answer: Actually, there is not a chapter named Genesis, but an English name for the first book in the Torah named Genesis. We call it Genesis, or beginnings, because of a mistranslation from the Hebrew into the Greek. The Bible's first words actually should be translated, "When God first began to create – the earth being a void....." Instead, based on the first Greek translation of the Bible, the Septuagint, most English translators make the same mistake, translating it, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth..."

3: Question: How quickly do you answer a question? Answer: Actually, when the question is submitted it sends me an e-mail to check the questions and review them. Then I approve or delete the question based on if it just says the F word 100 times or it it is a real question. When I click on the approve button, the question shows up in the Ask Your Pastor Page and an e-mail gets sent to my dad telling him that there is a question to answer. Then he logs in and answers the question like I am doing now. So it could take half an hour or a couple of days.

4: Question: If you're going on vacation and you're going to be missing school and you have make up work that you don't want to do, What do you do? Answer: That depends. Recently we have been discussing the differences between being an adult and a child at our Youth Group meetings. Among those differences are taking responsibility for our ourselves and our actions and following through on commitments we make. You already have the choice not to do your schoolwork, and I imagine that you understand the consequences of not completing your work. If you will be away from school, for any reason, you could choose not to do the make up work or you could choose to do it, even if you would rather not do so. You may wish to seek ways of making your make up work less painful. If you wanted to take responsibility for the work, you could be proactive and talk to your teachers and ask for the work you would have done before you leave for your vacation. This would give you an opportunity to get a jump on the schoolwork on your way to your vacation, decreasing the amount of work you will have to do once you are back. If your teacher knows you will be away beforehand, they may also be more likely to help you rather than penalize you for not keeping up. The work will be there once you return, and only you can choose how to go about getting it done so you can keep up with the class – a little at a time, or all at once after you get back. I hope this is helpful in making your decision.

5: Question: What if your friend doesn't have the enternet and she's in youth group and she can't go on this site because she doesn't have the enternet and her mom likes not having the enternet becuase then my friend andher two sisters won't fight over the computer? can you talk to her mother about this situation, I'm pretty sure you know who i am and who i'm talking about. thanks bye now! Answer: Dear Friend, Your question raises some important issues. Access to internet connections aren't universal, even with recent movements to help. Such connections can cost a considerable amount of money monthly. One place where internet access has become more available are at county and school libraries. In fact, some schools even let family members use their connections to help with access to the internet. Another issue around access is the amount of time people spend online. The amount of "screen time" that instant messaging, email, and surfing the web can take all can contribute to less physical activity and even computer addiction. There are now self-help groups that help people who have become addicted to the internet. The other issue present within the context of this question is the dynamic of family conflict over a shared resource. Most families share their computers, and if family members are competing for time on the computer it can be a significant cause of tension. I would suggest the kids in the family prove to their parent(s) that they can come to some agreement about fairly using this and every other shared resource. Perhaps this could convince the parent(s) that the siblings are ready to responsibly share the computer. Please let your friend know that if anyone in the youth group would like to see the site, that I will open the church office after church and before Youth Group, for them to check it out.

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