I Will Follow Thee
by Kenneth Frazier via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 1, March 1995 “And it came to pass, that as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest” (Luke 9:57). This passage in Luke provides a helpful insight into human nature. Three persons are mentioned by…
Read MoreThe Alternative to Autonomy
by Steve Dewhirst via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 1, March 1995 Considering our brotherhood’s abundance of controversies, teamed with an all-too-common sectarian mindset, it’s not surprising that some are beginning to show their true colors. Historically, brethren have revered the sacred axiom of church autonomy in principle, if not in actual practice. We have taught…
Read MoreVictims of Our Own Success
by Floyd Chappelear via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21, No. 1, March 1995 Nothing is quite so easy to learn as error. One can easily pick up bad habits in nearly any athletic endeavor, but one will find it very difficult to get rid of them. Mistakes are easily learned, but correct procedures are not. If you…
Read MorePeter Was Led Astray
by Hugh DeLong Error can affect any of us. Peter was used to convert Cornelius and his household. Then he defended that action: “Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”…
Read MoreHow Can We End Confusion About the Book of Revelation?
by Bob Prichard There is probably no book of the Bible that is more often misunderstood, misapplied, or abused than the book of Revelation. It has been the “jumping-off” point for cults and wild religious speculation for centuries. Simply understanding the book’s purpose and nature would end the confusion. It begins, “The Revelation of Jesus…
Read MoreBless the Lord, O My Soul
Bless the Lord, O My Soul – Part 1Bless the Lord, O My Soul – Part 2 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalms 103 I. Hardly a week goes by that I don’t get someone asking me: A. Do you think I can be forgiven of my sin? B. How can I know I’ve been forgiven? C. I…
Read MoreHow can someone like me make it to Heaven?
Question: I wonder how someone like me could make it to heaven. I see real Christians, and I’m not really anything like them. I always fall. I repeat the same sins over and over and over. My thoughts are not pure; I’m easily enticed. My faith is knowing that every word of God is true,…
Read MoreHow Many Containers in the Lord’s Supper Cup?
by Terry Wane Benton Some divisions have plagued churches over the meaning and use of the word “cup” when Jesus spoke of taking “this cup” as He instituted the Lord’s Supper from the old Passover meal. Was Jesus telling His disciples to use only one container among them, and that even when they suddenly grew…
Read MoreSome Believed
by Hugh DeLong “In Iconium they entered the synagogue of the Jews together, and spoke in such a manner that a large number of people believed, both of Jews and of Greeks. But the Jews who disbelieved stirred up the minds of the Gentiles and embittered them against the brethren. Therefore they spent a long…
Read MoreCan You Be Saved Without Baptism?
by Terry Wane Benton Can a person be saved although they have not been baptized? Was this the case of the thief on the cross? Jesus commanded baptism in His name after He was raised from the dead (Mark 16:15-16). The thief was like David, pardoned under the terms of the Old Testament (Hebrews 9:15-17).…
Read MoreWhy Anyone Still Follows a 2,000-Year-Old Book
by Steve Wolfgang via InLight Media To be fair, the Bible is a very old book. You might wonder how relevant it could even be to our modern questions and problems. But there’s a reason the Bible is still the best-selling book of all time, and it’s the same reason people keep coming back to…
Read MoreWhat Kind of Drugstore Is This?
by Edward O. Bragwell, Jr. I saw a cartoon posted in a brother’s drug store with the caption saying in effect: “What do you mean you don’t have nuts and bolts? What kind of drug store is this?” Our society expects more from a drug store than just drugs. The sign may say “Drug Store,”…
Read MoreConsuming Fire
by Chadwick Brewer “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:28-29). The Hebrew writer has spent considerable time telling us that Jesus is a great High Priest. In…
Read MoreGod’s Description of Himself
by Zeke Flores “Then Yahweh passed by in front of him and proclaimed, ‘Yahweh, Yahweh God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth'” (Exodus 34:6). This is God describing Himself. Not Moses describing God, nor Israel describing God. God Himself says, “This is who I am.” Compassionate. Gracious. Slow to…
Read MoreVisitor or Member?
by Terry Wane Benton Many congregations are made up of workers who pitch in to help the local church grow in edification and meaningful fellowship in the work and worship of God. They try to be involved in teaching classes, preparing communion, cleaning the building, hosting meals for other members, and fostering togetherness. They try…
Read MoreHard Thinking
by J. Watson My Dad was a preacher. He was a good man, a kind man, a strong man, a people person, a completely God-focused man. Lately, I’ve been going through times when I wish I had his strength and wisdom to rely on. As I’ve been thinking a lot about him lately, I have…
Read MoreThree Principles for Living Well
by Terry Wane Benton “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8 NKJV). Do justly Be fair with others. Start at home with your wife, husband, and children. Make this…
Read MoreExtrabiblical Mentions of Biblical Characters
by Stuart Steinberg Here is a list of inscriptions discovered that mention various figures in the Hebrew Bible. There are several dozen inscriptions—mostly seals, ostraca, plaques, and royal stelae—that mention individuals named in the Hebrew Bible. Below is a concise list of the key inscriptions and the biblical figures they mention, with approximate dates. Key…
Read MorePrayers and Thoughts
by Edwin Crozier As Paul continued to instruct the Philippians in the wake of calling out Euodia and Syntyche, he addressed two important aspects of maintaining harmony. First, recognize that a great deal of disharmony comes from anxiety. Let’s face it. Viewing others as more significant and prioritizing their interests over our own can make…
Read MoreWhy did Paul wait a week to teach the Gentiles?
Question: Regarding Acts 13:42, why would Paul have the Gentiles wait a week to hear the word of God? Why would he not simply tell them that the church is meeting tomorrow (the first day of the week) as we are commanded? Thank you Answer: “But going on from Perga, they arrived at Pisidian Antioch,…
Read MoreRighteousness
by Terry Wane Benton In Jesus’ great sermon on the mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus spoke of the necessary principles of those who would be part of His kingdom. He said that if our standard of “righteousness” did not exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, we could by “no means enter the kingdom of…
Read MoreEuodia and Syntyche
by Edwin Crozier In one little paragraph, we find the rubber hitting the road for Paul’s letter to the Philippians: “I entreat Euodia and Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and…
Read MoreCan a man remarry in this situation?
Question: Please give me the biblical answer to the following situation: A man and woman get married (neither one is a Christian). It is his first marriage and her second marriage. They started dating (and having a sexual relationship) while she was still married to her first husband. They eventually married but later divorced. Is…
Read MoreThe Change Starts With Me
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/The-Change-Starts-With-Me.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: Psalms 64 I. Years ago, I was reading the posts from a discussion A. As it tends to happen, the topic strayed from the discussion group’s stated purpose. The area the discussion strayed into was hotly contested. 1. Some people became annoyed that everyone didn’t agree with their view.…
Read MoreOnly God Can Make a Man
dby David Gibson A designer with a lowercase “d” A few years ago, we visited with a man who helped design a life-size robot of Abraham Lincoln. Not only did it look realistic, but it could even stand up and make a speech. The designer showed us the schematics of its inner workings—a true marvel…
Read MoreBible versus Other Religious Writings
by Terry Wane Benton There are two ways to test the validity of a book’s claims about itself. There is the external test, which considers the historical accuracy and archeological evidence in its favor. Then there is the internal test, which considers prophetic accuracy, unity, harmony, and unusual marks of foreknowledge or super-human knowledge. When these…
Read MoreCongregational Divorces
by Perry Hall Divorces can get ugly. Husbands and wives can get cutthroat, trying to financially and emotionally consume the other. Anything that is personally untoward to the attorneys can be used as a fair game to play a court game unfairly. Too many divorces can be over trivial issues, which leads to such ugliness.…
Read MoreChrist versus Culture
by Ed Harrell via Christianity Magazine, June 1988, p. 11 Reinhold Neibuhr, along with others, argued that all religion tends to be captured by its culture. Rather than standing in judgment of the world around them, most religious people find ways to give divine sanction to their society. I have no difficulty in seeing that…
Read MoreRemembering
by Ed Harrell via “Remembering,” Christianity Magazine 2:1, January 1985, p. 32 Cluttered with a record of every trivial encounter of our experience, our minds have a very limited capacity to call most of that memory to the conscious surface. Most of us remember very little about our past…None of us could reconstruct with any…
Read MoreWhat does it take to start a congregation?
Question: Greetings, Hope this email finds you well. I have some questions about the organization and definition of a local church. My first question is: What are the necessary requirements for a group of Christians to form or constitute a local church in the biblical sense? I understand that an agreement to work together (worship,…
Read MoreWhat Are We Really Worshiping?
by Andy Diestelkamp It’s so easy for us to get wrapped up in physical things — but that’s not what Christianity is about. In this video, we explore a timeless biblical pattern: how easily God’s people drift from worshipping the Creator to identifying with what they’ve created. From the tower of Babel to modern church…
Read MoreHow can there be church autonomy when the church in Jerusalem oversaw many house churches?
Question: Hello brother, I have a question about the autonomy of the local church. I understand that there were many house congregations in the first century. So, if there were many house congregations in Jerusalem, how can they be considered the church in Jerusalem? Also, if there were many congregations in one city, it means…
Read MoreWhat does James 4:5 mean?
Question: Dear Sir, What does it mean that the Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously (James 4:5)? Answer: “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that…
Read MoreGod’s Job is Perfection; Our Job is Pressing On
by Edwin Crozier What a statement Paul made in Philippians 3:12. He had not already obtained the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Neither was he already perfect. Don’t forget Paul’s circumstance in writing. He was in prison. For all he knew, he was going to receive a death sentence. He…
Read MoreWhat is meant by “word of mouth” in II Thessalonians 2:15?
Question: In II Thessalonians 2:15, Paul states that the brethren must “stand firm and hold fast to the traditions” that they were taught, under the criteria that they were either given by “word of mouth” or by the Apostles. I’m having some trouble trying to understand what “word of mouth” means, because if we’re taking…
Read MoreLook to Exemplary Disciples
by Edwin Crozier I’m sometimes surprised by how Christians talk about the selfishly ambitious teachers in Philippians 1:15-17. The way I hear some people talk about these men is as if Paul were unconcerned about their envy and rivalry. Oh, sure, they should probably do better than that, and they probably need to grow some…
Read MoreLearning the Story of God and His People
by Hugh DeLong As a preacher, I have converted many people, most of whom knew very little about the actual bible story. Then it took time to ground them in this story of God and His work. This was particularly true of our preaching efforts in China. How were they to learn this story? In…
Read MoreYour article on the Sabbath has all the hallmarks of false teaching
Question: I stumbled on your article about Sabbath and was left speechless. The article “Was Paul a Sabbath Keeper?” had all the hallmarks of a person more determined to twist the Scriptures in a classic example of “But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” (Mathew 15:9). I have…
Read MoreWere Cornelius and his household saved before baptism?
Question: I’ve been studying the Holy Spirit and have been reading some of the articles on your website. I’m a little confused. The article says that it’s obvious that the gift of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:38 is salvation. If it’s salvation, then the people in (Acts 10:45) received salvation before they were baptized,…
Read MoreWhat is God’s Will for Me? Part 4: Making a Decision
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Proverbs 16:1-9 I. What makes a decision a good one? A. Is every decision a moral choice? 1. Should I have chocolate or strawberry ice cream? B. How do I tell when a choice is personal and when it is moral? C. Jesus said that all of God’s laws fall into two categories -…
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