Can a congregation ask its preacher to step down?
Question: Dear Sir, I greet you in the name of Christ, and thanks for all that you do for the church. I would like to ask a great question that has been bothering me. Can a congregation tell a preacher to step down from his role because of old age? This would be the congregation’s decision…
Read MoreBeing Sensible
by Hugh DeLong Be Sensible! Paul demanded this of older men (Titus 2:2), younger women (Titus 2:5), and younger men (Titus 2:6), and then of all disciples (Titus 2:12). But what does that mean? Basically, it means to have a sound, self-controlled, well-governed mind that produces wise, restrained, godly behavior. It is not merely “being…
Read MoreWhen Your Children Leave Home
by Brandy L. Pack Some of my friends’ children are becoming independent, moving out, or getting married. They asked me for help dealing with this transition. It was a question that caught me off guard a little. I have three faithful children, and two of them are living independent lives. I also have two children…
Read MoreThe Unsearchable Riches of Christ
by Terry Wane Benton “To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8-9 NKJV). A man who had first thought Jesus was a fool who misled people and fought against His church had an…
Read MoreSound Doctrine
by Russ Bowman “But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1). Sound doctrine – healthy teaching – is vital. It is the task of men like Titus – evangelists who declare the gospel of Jesus Christ. And it should be the aim of everyone who aspires to follow…
Read MoreDid Jesus feel shame?
Question: Hi brother Jeffrey, A friend of mine from our congregation wrote a short article in which he stated Jesus felt shame. He used Matthew 23:37-39, where Jesus laments over Jerusalem. He said Jesus was ashamed of Jerusalem. I don’t believe this to be true. My friend also stated that Jesus felt the guilt of…
Read MoreDo I have a right to this woman?
Question: I am writing because we both sincerely desire to know God’s will. We are not looking for someone to simply approve our relationship or tell us what we want to hear. We are asking for biblical guidance, even if the answer is painful. Our situation has become emotionally, spiritually, and morally complicated, and we…
Read MoreNo One Can Snatch Them
by Terry Wane Benton In John 10:28, Jesus points to the safety of staying within range of the Shepherd’s voice. “My sheep hear my voice,” and this hearing sets the stage for the next claim: “no one shall be able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.” The Father’s hand is the pen, the…
Read MoreRules for Detecting Apocrypha
by Ron Halbrook via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 4, December 1995 (I am regularly asked why the Apocrypha of the Catholic Bible should not be considered a legitimate portion of God’s word. Several years ago, Rpn Halbrook presented the following material to the Bible class he was teaching in Athens, Alabama. Brother Halbrook has given…
Read MoreLeslie Diestelkamp Has Died
Author Unknown via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 4, December 1995 (Most of you knew Leslie Diestelkamp and what a wonderful saint he was. He has gone on to be with the Lord after a lengthy illness following a stroke. The following is a letter from a father to his children who are away from home.…
Read MoreMisinformation
by Jeff Smelser via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 4, December 1995 No informed individual can rationally claim the Bible does not condemn homosexuality. There are people who try to make such a claim, but these fall into two categories: the uninformed and the biased representatives of the homosexual community. The latter are engaged in a…
Read MoreI’m Only Human
by Ney Rieber via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 4, December 1995 When someone uses the phrase “I’m only human!” you can be pretty sure that they are getting ready to do something inhumane. What do we mean when we say “I am only human?” Most often, “I’m only human!” is used to describe a person’s…
Read MoreTeaching Other Faithful Men
by Hugh DeLong Having preached now for over 50 years, one of my favorite instructions on preaching is II Timothy 2:2: “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” I think this may have been the…
Read MoreWithout Compromise
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2003/11/Without-Compromise.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: II Corinthians 6:14-7:1 I. Disagreeing parties are often urged to reach a compromised position. A. After all, Christians are told to live peaceably – Romans 12:18 B. We are to pursue the things that make for peace – Romans 14:19 C. Without such a pursuit of peace, we cannot see…
Read MoreThe Discipline of an Athlete
by Lee Wildman via Biblical Insights, Vol. 14 No. 8, August 2014 Paul used examples from athletics to illustrate principles by which Christians are to live. His readers, especially those in Greece and the surrounding areas, knew very well what it meant to be an athlete in the 1st century. Let’s look at some of those…
Read MoreThe Faith of Abraham
by Jeremy Paschall via Biblical Insights, Vol. 14 No. 8, August 2014 In the Gospel of Jesus Christ, God has revealed His power to save mankind from sin (Romans 1:16). It is not a salvation based upon the works of men (Ephesians 2:9), requiring that they “earn” their way with sinless obedience (Romans 3:20), for then…
Read MoreWhat Can Kill a Church?
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/What-Can-Kill-a-Church.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: Revelation 3:1-6 I. The certainty of life is that it will eventually be followed by death – Ecclesiastes 9:5 A. And it is not just people who die, churches die as well. 1. Unlike people, churches don’t have to die, but they do. B. The church at Sardis appeared to…
Read MoreSuppositions Without Support
by David Gibson Jumping to conclusions John the Baptist warned the Jews, “… do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father …” (Matthew 3:9). Simply depending on physical descent from Abraham without the faith and repentance God requires is a baseless assumption (see John 8:37-42, 44, 47; Romans…
Read MoreThe “Let Us” Admonitions in the Book of Hebrews
by Rowland Gbamis “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16-NKJV). The book of Hebrews addresses Christians who, after years of serving the Lord, began to drift from the truth and were in danger of hardening their…
Read MoreHumility Among God’s Children
by Rowland Gbamis “Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble” (I Peter 5:5 KJV). In a world that celebrates self-promotion, personal branding, and the relentless pursuit of recognition, humility stands…
Read MoreShame
by Terry Wane Benton “For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret” (Ephesians 5:12). Yet many want to flaunt what should be held in shame. Some want others to see their pride in their rebellion against the word of God and want to shame those who…
Read MoreKeep a Close Watch on Yourself and the Teaching
by Edwin Crozier Surprisingly, the letters written to Timothy and Titus, both evangelists, say almost nothing about what we typically mean by evangelism. When we talk about evangelism, we are usually talking about bringing the gospel to those outside of Christ. But these three letters almost exclusively talk about the evangelist’s work among the congregation…
Read MoreMany Convincing Proofs
by David Gibson Is it just wishful thinking—the belief that Jesus did indeed rise bodily from the dead? Or is there good, solid evidence for it? Luke says of the apostles, “To these He presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days …” (Acts…
Read MoreHow Would You Answer?
by David Gibson A friend asked how I would respond if someone said he did not believe the Bible is inspired. This is what I told him. If the person is open to the truth, I would first prove that Jesus rose from the dead. “Nothing is more crucial in the field of Christian evidences…
Read MoreThe “Christian” President
by Whit Sasser James Garfield was the only minister elected as President. He was a preacher, even having, as a young man, once preached in a meeting with an elderly Alexander Campbell. It is claimed that he said upon his election as our 20th president, “‘I now step down from being an elder of the…
Read MoreWhy do so many myths of gods’ births involve stars?
Question: Why do stories of many gods’ births have a star at their births, such as Krishna? Answer: Mankind has long toyed with the idea that the stars controlled events. Astrology is “The study of the movements and relative positions of celestial bodies and their supposed influence on human affairs.” It is a belief that…
Read MoreAn Inconsistent Obituary
by Craig Meyer via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 3, September 1995 In the July 1993 issue of Reflections On Truth, David Padfield reports an obituary in the Chicago Tribune of May 22, 1993. It seems that William Bentley, a Pentecostal preacher, died while conducting Sunday services at the Progressive Beulah Pentecostal Church. Bentley had served as…
Read MoreScience’s Impact on Christian Teaching
by Kenneth W. Ledbetter via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 3, September 1995 [The author is an aerospace engineer with NASA, most recently involved with the Hubble Space Telescope project, and is a faithful Christian at the Annandale church of Christ.] How many of the everyday devices around you can you honestly say you understand the…
Read MoreReady to Suffer
by Hugh DeLong “For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day” (II Timothy 1:12) Why Suffer as Paul Did? After his time of denying…
Read MoreBefore You Choose a Church, Ask Yourself This Question
by Josh Creel via InLight Media How do you choose a church? Is it about the song worship, the preaching, the community, or something deeper? In this conversation, Josh Creel and Jackson Sneed explore what the Bible actually teaches about finding a healthy church, and why the first question may not be “Which church is right…
Read MoreThe Temptation of Christ – Hebrews 4:15
by Floyd Chappelear via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 3, September 1995 In 1984, a debate was held in Indianapolis, Indiana, concerning the need to be sinlessly perfect in order to walk in the light (I John 1:7). The brother in error (John Welch) contended that one must be totally sinless in order to continue to…
Read MoreWho Brought the “Trojan Horse” into the Church?
by Donald Townsley via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 3, September 1995 In ancient history, the Greeks besieged the city of Troy for 10 years. Unable to take the city by force, they devised a plan to capture it by strategy. They built a large wooden horse, filled it with soldiers, and, under the guise of…
Read MoreShould I Believe in Horoscopes?
by John Warwick Montgomery via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 3, September 1995 If you do, you believe in something most unscientific. French astronomer Paul Couderc plotted the horoscopes of 2,837 musicians and found that there was no astrological relationship among them whatsoever. He concluded, “The musicians are born throughout the entire year on a chance…
Read MoreExplanations for the Empty Tomb
by Kenny Chumbley via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 3, September 1995 Paul’s belief in the resurrection, shared by early Christianity, was absolute and categorical; nevertheless, the apostle’s exuberant faith has not been universally shared, and a literal resurrection of Jesus’ body has been denied not only by non-Christians but also by liberal theology. The opposition…
Read MoreHow to See “Eye to Eye” Religiously
by Mark M. White via Seeking Things Above, Vol. No. 4, July 2026 Why do some people not see religious things the way we see them? Why is there so much difference between what we teach and what the denominations profess? Do we not all have the same Bible? Are we not all trying to…
Read MoreThe Falling Away
by Hugh DeLong “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron” (I Timothy 4:1-2). Paul’s warning is based upon the fact…
Read MoreOffice of Overseer
by Hugh DeLong Text: I Timothy 3 “It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do” (I Timothy 3:1). There are several important words to identify: Office: The word does not primarily mean office in the sense of a position or…
Read MoreWriting and Face-to-Face
by Terry Wane Benton Some are not writers, and that is understandable. They are gifted in a personal way, but not so much at expressing themselves in writing. Not all have the same gifts and talents, and that is certainly understandable. Paul believed in face-to-face teaching and in the power of the written word. Writing…
Read MoreYour Q&A section is a wonderful teaching tool
Question: The Q&A section of your website is a wonderful teaching tool and a great ministry! I would like to say “thank you” for providing this service. I have asked our eldership to follow suit with what you have done. In large congregations with large classes, people are sometimes reluctant to ask important questions. This…
Read MoreWhy Has Our World Gone Crazy?
by Terry Wane Benton People don’t know that there are only two genders, that marriage is only for one man and one woman, that killing a baby in the womb is still murdering a human being, that if you choose not to work, you choose not to eat and benefit from others’ work. Why are…
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