Dear Susie:
I’ve seen so many things that say or imply that God loves everyone; things such as “Smile, God Loves You” and the Bible verse “For God so love the world.” Does God really love non-Christians? Murderers and terrorists? I don’t see how He can. After all, He’s supposed to hate sin!

Freaked Out

Dear Freaked Out:
Yes, God really does love every human being in the entire world. It’s true He hates sin, but He loves the sinner. In fact, He loves us so much that He gives us free will to decide if we’re going to love Him back and give Him our lives or if we’ll turn our backs on Him and do our own thing.

I used to think, Why doesn’t God just make everyone love Him? But that wouldn’t be real love, would it? Genuine love allows the freedom to choose. Otherwise we’d just be robots, not human beings. For all who repent of their sins and follow Christ, they’ll spend eternity with God. But those who reject Christ will be separated from Him forever in hell.

Dear Susie:
My cousin recently started smoking a hookah and seems very proud of it. I don’t know exactly what it is—maybe some kind of herbal thing? I don’t smoke, and I told her I didn’t think it was a good choice. What’s your take on hookah?

Unsure

Dear Unsure:
I agree with you: It’s not a wise choice. A hookah is a glass-based water pipe. Some have single stems (only one person at a time smokes it), and others are multistemmed (several people at once smoke). Some people smoke herbal fruits from a hookah; others smoke tobacco or pot. I don’t think smoking anything glorifies God, therefore—in my opinion—a hookah is a dangerous thing to play around with.

Dear Susie:
I’m a big fan of suspense and mystery novels. I’m wondering if there are some Christian authors and novels in this genre that would be good alternatives to mainstream secular novels of this genre.

Bookworm

Dear Bookworm:
Glad you’re enjoying books! Check out Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker. You can find several others in any Christian bookstore, but these two can fulfill your desire for suspense and intensity!

Dear Susie:
I feel that God has called me into the music ministry, to be a contemporary Christian artist. I’m in the choir at church, and I’ve been taking voice lessons for three years. I’ve been praying really hard, but I don’t feel like I’m getting anywhere.

Stuck

Dear Stuck:
Guess what! You’re exactly where God wants you to be! When God told David that he was going to be king someday, what did David do . . . go out and buy kingly clothes? Run to the palace? Purchase a fancy chariot?

Nope. He went right back to the fields and continued to watch his father’s sheep. And he continued doing the daily, ordinary things he was supposed to do until God opened the door to the kingdom.

So instead of trying to make things happen on your own, continue to bloom where you’re planted. Keep singing in the choir. Continue taking voice lessons. Maintain your daily activities and do all you can to train your voice. And trust God to open the right doors at the right time. When He does, you’ll be ready!

Dear Susie:
The Bible tells us not to lust after a guy. So does that mean it’s a sin to see a guy and think he’s hot? Is it a sin to be boy- crazy? My friend is always looking for a cute guy.

Wondering

Dear Wondering:
Lusting and admiring someone’s looks are two different things. Lusting means fantasizing about him and playing out that fantasy in your mind. Simply admiring someone’s looks or clothes isn’t dangerous, but like anything, it can become an obsession if you keep thinking about it.

God created us to be sexual beings, so it’s natural to desire the opposite sex. But to always be looking for a cute guy or to be obsessed with the opposite sex takes your focus away from God. He wants to saturate your life. If you’ll set your sights on Christ and truly fall in love with Him, you’ll experience peace, joy and purpose as you’ve never known before!