Do Warring Factions Mean Christianity Is False?
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Do-Warring-Factions-Mean-Christianity-Is-False.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: I Corinthians 11:17-22 I. You hear all sorts of excuses when you attempt to talk to others about Christianity. A. “Well, I can’t take that Christian stuff seriously. You folk are all suppose to worship the same god, love your neighbor, and things like that, yet look at…
Read MoreThe Influence of Only One
by Flavil Nichols During the War Between the States, a young woman learned the truth and obeyed the Gospel. Her sweetheart, J. H. Halbrook, was a Confederate soldier. He was captured by the Union Army and kept a prisoner in Michigan until the war was over. He was given a ticket to Nashville and $2.50,…
Read MoreA Bogus Argument on Justification Versus Sanctification
by Terry Wane Benton A recent post I saw said that justification is instantaneous, covering all past, present, and future sins in one act of God, that it is once for all and requires no effort from us, and then the man argued that sanctification demands a lifelong effort of work to be pleasing to…
Read MoreAre thoughts of promises binding?
Question: Good morning! I have a question regarding OCD and false promises to God. I have thoughts pop up (even intentionally about things I don’t actually want to swear, I will do, like giving up on things) with a sentence like “If I ever use it” or “If I ever read about it again” with…
Read MoreDoes forgiving one another only apply to fellow Christians?
Question: Hi brother! I have a friend who is not a Christian. We talk about spiritual things. She has family members who have treated her badly. She said she needs to forgive them because of passages that say we are to forgive our enemies and that if we don’t forgive others, we won’t be forgiven,…
Read MoreIs it wrong to quote extrabiblical writings in lessons?
Question: Dear Jeffrey, I have a question and would like to seek your views on it. I have, on several occasions, observed preachers and Bible class teachers quoting denominational leaders (whom I classify as false teachers). Quotations made from Augustine of Hippo, Martin Luther King Junior, Tertullian, etc. The quotations made are not doctrinal in…
Read MoreThe Meaning of “Believe”
by David Gibson I have seen on the rear side window of an SUV: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” This is a quotation from Acts 16:31. If we read the verses preceding and following (Acts 16:16-34), we see this verse is in answer to the frightened jailer’s question, “Sirs,…
Read MoreWhat World Are You In?
by Terry Wane Benton People live in different worlds! Some live in a world of poverty, dysfunction, hate, violence, fear, and hopelessness, while others live in the same poverty but choose love and peace, which gives them hope. The two may live in the same housing projects, but they live in different worlds of experience.…
Read MoreIt’s Not Fair!
by Hugh DeLong Text: II Thessalonians 1 It’s not fair! I thought God loved us! We are striving to follow His instructions! Yet, what we live with is persecution, trouble, and being ostracized by the people! I don’t know if that is how I would react if I were one of these disciples in Thessalonica during…
Read MoreDressed with Good Works
by Edwin Crozier Paul wanted the men of the congregation to pray. Buy his statement in I Timothy 2:8 is not so much about the prayer as it is the holy hands lifted while praying. Paul wants Timothy to teach the men to get rid of anger and quarreling. They are not to lift in…
Read MoreIs it wrong to become a lawyer?
Question: Good day, minister, I don’t know how best to put this question, but it’s been bothering me. A sister has been facing a lot of pressure from the church lately regarding her career choice. In some parts of my country, many still believe Law is an evil profession. They believe it is not something…
Read MoreMy sister left the church to become a Catholic. Should I attend her wedding?
Question: Howdy, You do such a thorough job answering practical questions, so I thought I’d pose this issue to you that I’m struggling with: I grew up in a strong Christian home, but my sister recently converted to Catholicism and is now engaged to her Catholic boyfriend. I’m struggling to determine whether I can attend…
Read MoreHow should Christians deal with difficult topics, such as sex?
Question: Hello Brother in Christ! I have recently been studying Christian perspectives on sex, and I would like to know your thoughts on the matter. How should Christians talk and discuss sex? How do we, as teachers, open up such topics? And how do we start such conversations so we can teach Christians more effectively…
Read MoreLife’s Storms
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Lifes-Storms.mp3 by Raymond Warfel Download Audio
Read MoreIn a disaster, should congregations help a congregation rebuild?
Question: Brother Hamilton, I have already read several of your articles on benevolence, and they are quite useful. I was hoping that you could provide some answers to the following. A church is hit by a natural disaster, and brethren have damage to their homes and vehicles. There is also damage to several church buildings. A…
Read MoreFor All to Come to Repentance
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/For-All-to-Come-to-Repentance.mp3 by Raymond Warfel Download Audio
Read MoreHow should a preacher ask for a raise?
Question: Hello! I have a question regarding a pay raise as a preacher. I love the congregation I am with. I have been here for 3 years. I am the full-time minister. There is a part-time one as well. How do you approach the eldership with this? I understand talking about money can be awkward.…
Read MoreAre church owned schools and hospitals good works?
Question: Good day, minister. In a Bible study, we were talking about Christianity and good works. The teacher emphasized that good works do not leave out the church building, schools, and hospitals. I’ve heard a contrasting teaching elsewhere. But the way the teacher put it just offers a new perspective. He mentions that the church…
Read MoreHow Quiet?
by Edwin Crozier In addition to addressing competition between men and women, Paul addresses decorum in congregational work. Paul provides a fantastic permission, but also a limitation. My understanding is that many in Paul’s day did not think women should be educated. There was no need to teach them and no need for them to…
Read MoreLet Patience Have Its Perfect Work
by Terry Wane Benton James not only was inspired to tell us how to consider our trials, but also commands that we “let patience have its perfect work” (James 1:4), “that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” So, what does all of this mean? “Let” means to allow, give something a fair chance…
Read MoreEncouraging One Another
by Hugh DeLong We begin I Thessalonians 5 with a reminder that we are living with the foundation of God’s great gift to us and the hope that we have in Jesus. Having warned these young in the faith disciples of the trouble and persecution they would face because of their faith and lifestyle, he…
Read MoreThe Apologetic Value of Prophecy
by Kenny Chumbley “(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were” (Romans 4:17). According to Paul, prophecy—the ability to call things which are not, as though they were—is…
Read MoreWhat They Want Me to Believe
by James D. Bale via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 3, September 1995 I know that I am a dependent being who has not existed forever. I was born to mighty fine parents. They, too, had parents, and so on ad infinitum. Since each of us was dependent, it was obvious that there could not be…
Read MoreInerrancy and Figurative Language
by J. M. Boice via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 3, September 1995 “Some people say, ‘If you believe in inerrancy, you have to take every statement in the Bible literally. (You must believe] that God has a heart, perhaps even that God has wings’ (Ps. 17:8). This is foolish… It is based on the error…
Read MoreModern Churches Don’t Look Like New Testament Churches
by Steve Wolfgang via InLight Media Modern churches often look very different from the churches we read about in the New Testament. From liturgical traditions and denominational structures to megachurches and contemporary worship styles, many Christians wonder: Is this simply a natural development—or have we drifted from the original pattern God intended? In this episode,…
Read MoreDoes a polygamist need to divorce his extra wives?
Question: If you’re married to more than one wife before you became a Christian, can you divorce your second and third wives and be only married to your first wife when you become a Christian? Answer: In God’s teaching, one man is to marry one woman. “And He answered and said, “Have you not read…
Read MoreThe Will of God
by Hugh DeLong Paul stayed only a short time in Thessalonica and thus left a fledgling group of disciples in a very ungodly situation. Thessalonica was a rather typical Roman city, with a very loose moral code, and one very far from God’s. While many things were permitted and practiced in this city (and across…
Read MoreAfflicted for Jesus
by Hugh DeLong Text: I Thessalonians 3 Here in Thessalonians, Paul writes because these new disciples were facing difficult times. Everywhere Paul established disciples, there was pushback from the community! Remember the story in Acts 17, “But the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob and set…
Read MoreGod Desires All to Be Saved
by Edwin Crozier Text: I Timothy 2 Paul told Timothy to get his prayer life in order first. By extension, get the congregation praying first. Specifically, they were to pray for kings and those in high positions. By this means, they were to accomplish peace for the church. They were to pray for these rulers…
Read MoreQualities of a Christian Life
by David Gibson For years, I have taught that the balanced Christian life includes these four things: prayer, Bible study, fellowship with Christians, and involvement in the Lord’s work. And for even longer, I have sung the classic hymn “Take Time to Be Holy.” But then it dawned on me that this song includes all…
Read MoreCultivating a Taste for the Spiritual
by David Gibson When my wife Sara first tasted avocado when she was young, she thought it tasted like butter, and it did not appeal to her. But over time, she learned to enjoy it enough to put it in salads. My first memory of eating cheese was its strange, unfamiliar flavor. In time, I…
Read MoreWorks
by Terry Wane Benton In Romans 3-4 We are justified “by faith apart from the deeds of the Law” (Romans 3:28). To be justified by means of the deeds of the law, one would have to be perfect and never sin. Break one law and being justified by the deeds of the law is all…
Read MoreHorns of Destruction
Horns of Destruction (1)Horns of Destruction (2) by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Zechariah 1:18-21 I. Zechariah, at the end of Judah’s captivity, was given a vision of four horns A. Horns are used symbolically to represent power. 1. In particular, the horns represented the power of the nations around Judah (see verse 21) 2. II Kings 18:11-12 -…
Read MorePraying for the Dead: An Error That’s Creeping into the Lord’s Church
by James P. Needham via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 3, September 1995 More and more, we are hearing brethren at funerals pray for the dead. I recently heard a young preacher pray that God would receive the soul of a dead brother into paradise. Later, a sister who attended the funeral asked me about this.…
Read MoreFreedom Indeed
by Cheryl Bryan via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 3, September 1995 The issue of equality between the sexes is not new. As early as 1792, a British paper entitled “A Vindication of the Rights of Women״ challenged the notion that women exist only to please men. The writer proposed that women receive the same treatment…
Read MoreOfficers, But Not Gentlemen
by Floyd Chappelear via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 3, September 1995 When God had finished his creative work with the fashioning of man, he declared that it was “very good” (Genesis 1:31). This was because Satan had not entered the earthly scene to confound man and confuse him. Afterward, when the Devil did appear, man…
Read MoreThe Disease of Sin and Its Cures
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/The-Disease-of-Sin-and-Its-Cure.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Ezra 9:5-15 I. Ever since Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit, sin has been a big problem for mankind. A. We just can’t seem to get away from it. You could almost look at it as a disease — a spiritual disease of the heart. B. Like any disease,…
Read MoreAre we saved by faith or through faith?
Question: Good day, Is it correct to say we are saved through personal faith and by faith? Thanks. Answer: The problem is that “by” and “through” are similar enough words in English that they are often used interchangeably. In Acts 15:9, Peter said God “made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by…
Read MoreThe Requiste Savior
by Dale Smelser via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 3, September 1995 Realization of what Christ accomplished on earth should increase our reverence and enhance our service. The reason for God’s son coming into the world was more complex than the need for someone innocent to be a sacrifice for the sins of others. It was…
Read MoreCivil Rights or Sinful Rights?
by Ron Nelson via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 2, June 1995 The Centerfold is a gay and lesbian newspaper distributed in Central Florida. In the September 1992 edition, the managing editor had this to say in an article entitled, “Moral Breakdown or Value Readjustment, The 1992 Election”: “When the United States politicians speak about ’Family…
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