14 Questions About Life

Philosophy of Life Questionnaire
I did this in a class with Raymon Hanson, one of my professors at Bethel.  How is it that we get on without thinking about these things? I think I’d like to do this every couple of years.

Click here to download as a .doc file. Write your own answers!

1. What presently is the highest priority of your life?

• My highest priority is to love and God with all of my heart, soul and my mind and with all my strength, and my neighbor is myself.

2. At the end of your life, what three things would you like to say you’ve accomplished?

• I want to have lived and raised my family so I see my grandchildren closely following the Lord.
• I want to have lived a life of discipleship, through sacrifice and investment in others.
• I want to know and love God deeply, seeing his power & glory displayed in and through my life, leading many to the truth.

3. Is there any cause or causes for which you would be willing to make significant personal sacrifice? If so, what are they?

• I will make whatever sacrifices are necessary for my family and discipleship of the nations. I have a passion for bringing the clarity of truth to people in challenging situations, and especially in a cross-cultural context and I would make significant sacrifices to pursue this calling.

4. If someone asked you to explain what the principles are that you live your life by, what would you say to them?

• God is way bigger than Josh.
• Worship God - His way is best.
• God loves me and wants me to know Him. I get to know God by studying the Word he gives me and the way he demonstrates his power in the world.
• Eternity is going to last a lot longer than I can imagine and the more that I can keep eternity before my eyes, the better my decisions will be each day.
• God speaks to us, primarily by his word, through his Spirit.
• Faith gets stronger as I focus on the great things God has done.

5. How would you respond if a child were to ask you, “What makes something right and what makes something wrong?” - (may want to list primary and secondary considerations)

• God does. The more you know God’s word and His ways, the more you’ll know what to do in every situation. He gives us his Spirit to teach us. Most of the time the right thing to do is pretty clear. It’s helpful to get counsel from people you trust for their wisdom.

6. Are there any absolute rights or wrongs? (If so, what are they?)

• The New Oxford American Dictionary defines ‘absolute’ in the phrase ‘absolute moral standards’ as “viewed or existing independently and not in relation to other things; not relative or comparative.” With this definition I would say that there are no ‘absolute rights or wrongs.’
• Some who read this may be surprised that I would say this, but the problem is not the answer, the problem is in the definition. Morality is never separate from God.
• God embodies, prescribes, and judges right and wrong both because he is the standard of righteousness and because he has the authority as creator to judge right and wrong. A helpful Biblical term for wrong is iniquity, which is a term that was used in archery. It meant ‘to miss the mark.’ When we fail to meet God’s standards of holiness, this is iniquity.

7. Are there any particular areas in which you personally struggle to determine right or wrong? (Please list) 

• Music is one of the most challenging areas of morality because of its power. A wise man once responded that in light of guiding a nation, if given the option to change a nation’s laws or it’s music, he would change it’s music.
• Music reaches into some of the deepest parts of human existence and can be used for good and for evil. One way that I evaluate music is to consider the effect that it has on me. Does this music encourage me to be more the way that I want to be?

8. How would you respond if a child were to ask you, “What happens to people when they die?”

• It’s only our bodies that die. When God put life into each human being it was a spiritual thing, and the life that was created was primarily spiritual. Just like a caterpillar has an outer shell that it eventually leaves behind to rot away, people’s bodies die too. The good thing is that those who believe in Jesus are like the      caterpillar that turns into a beautiful butterfly.
• Do you believe in Jesus? The Bible tells us that God gives his children new bodies that are fitted for glory. Won’t it be wonderful to have special bodies that are made just for praising God in heaven?

9. How do you make big decisions? (e.g. How did you decide upon your career? The person you decide(d) to marry?

• I don’t expect that God will give me direction in the same way every time. But I know that my first priority should be to get to know Him by reading His Word and going to church. The more that I know God and walk in his ways, the more He directs me in the very best way to go. It isn’t a simple answer because there are no shortcuts to finding God’s will.
• When I am facing a big decision the first thing that I do is to make sure that my heart is right with God. I don’t want to have anything in my life that’s more important than following His ways.
• His word says that I should delight in Him, and that He will give me the desires of my heart. I often seek counsel from godly and wise people and write and pray about my thoughts. After considering all the information that is available to me I decide if there’s enough with which to make a decision. Typically the option that I want is the option that seems the best anyway!

10. Why do some people believe in God? Why do others not believe in God?

• In God’s love and mercy, even though He knew we would be His enemies, He chose some to be His own and put faith in their hearts.
• We have no answer for why others do not believe in God other than that they have rejected Him. We are in no place to judge that God ought to have saved more than He did. See Romans 9.

11. How would one determine whether or not God exists?

• Again, there is not a standard formula to follow because God reveals Himself to each according to His plan. Some people may find that God reveals Himself supernaturally in a vision or an experience. Others see the reality of the demonic spiritual forces. Still others such as C.S. Lewis find that the study of God in Christianity convinces them, because by it’s truth everything else that they perceive, visible and invisible in the world makes sense. Finally, confirmation can happen by comparison to the other options. Comparing the holy books of various religions and the lives of their faithful followers highlights key differences between them.

12. In a paragraph or two, give a basic description of Christianity. Be sure to include some of the essential Christian beliefs.

• Christianity is the only religion, to my knowledge that has a loving deity who sacrificed Himself for His creation to reconcile the enmity and separation of His creation from Himself, providing a solution for our sin problem and the power to live a changed life.
• God’s son Jesus, after He died to pay the penalty for our sinfulness, rose from the dead, having broken the power of death and the grave. He lives today in heaven with the Father where he stands making intercession to the Father for all who believe in Him. He will come again from heaven, drawing all believers to be with him in the air.
• We will all stand before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ and be judged according to the deeds done in our bodies. All those who have done any evil will be cast into the lake of fire for eternal torment with the devil and his angels. Those who have believed in Jesus Christ stand in the righteousness of the son Himself. They pass into life with the Father and the Son where they will live forever praising and glorifying God.

13. What is one question that you would most like answered about life?

• Why is it that God didn’t make it easier for more people in the world to get to heaven?

14. If you could change one thing about our world, what would it be?

• I would put faith in God in the hearts of everyone in the entire world.