The Benefits of False Teaching
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/BenefitsOfFalseTeaching.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Romans 8:18-39 I. It is said there is a silver lining in every cloud A. Paul tells us that God can turn even wicked events to the advantage of the righteous (Romans 8:18-39) B. But it is hard to imagine any good coming from the work of those who teach against our…
Read MoreAnachronism?
by Steven Harper This past week, I got to witness a large-scale display of anachronous events near the town of Florence as the Society for Creative Anachronism [SCA] put on Estrella War XXIII. [There’s humor in that name if you do a little research.] We went down with several other families from my hometown of…
Read MoreAm I My Brother’s Keeper?
by Steven Harper You may be familiar with the story in which the title for today’s article was spoken, and probably just as familiar with its popular usage today. In the Bible story, Cain had killed his brother Abel and God said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” (Genesis 4:9). Cain’s reply was this familiar statement and question: “I…
Read MoreI’m beginning to doubt the things I’ve been taught most of my life, and I’m afraid of losing my faith in God
Question: I have something I would like your opinion on. I was part of a church called the Shepherd’s Chapel from the time I was 13. Their ideas run parallel to some of the ideas of the Nazis and the Christian Identity Movement. My mind has been opened to the idea of entertaining these thoughts…
Read MoreIs not the homosexual act and the person one and the same?
Question: Please explain: “God loves the sinner but hates the sin.” Is not the homosexual act and the person one and the same? Answer: They are not the same because sin cannot change from being wrong, but a person can change from doing wrong. See: Should we separate a man from his deeds, hating his sins…
Read MoreI gave my life to Christ, but I can’t seem to stop sinning
Question: I gave my life to Jesus when I was 7 years old because I was very interested in Jesus, When I did I was filled with the Holy Spirit and bawled my eyes out. I’m in my early twenties and what a journey in between all those years. I watch a lot of sermons…
Read MoreAccidents Don’t Happen
by Kent Heaton “Morning Afters Can Be Tough” the poster proclaims. The American College of Obstetricians & Gynecology announced a new plan to help women who do not want to become pregnant following a tryst with a lover with a drug called the “Morning After Pill.” A poster with the aforementioned heading has a cup…
Read MoreYou are not supposed to judge and you did
Question: In regards to “Can a girl get pregnant before her first period?” I really want to say that by reading this, you can no more tell if this is the person who may have sinned or someone who is uneducated and has a child who has been sinned against. Just as it is written,…
Read MoreWhy Teenagers Take Risks
Source: “Teens more likely to embrace unknown,” The Omaha World-Herald, 3 October 2012 An interesting study finds that teenagers are more likely to take risks when they don’t know what the odds are, but if they know the odds are poor will avoid dangerous situations. Adults will do the opposite. They will avoid situations where…
Read MoreDrunk Driving Down Among Teens
Source: “Drunken Driving Down,” Omaha World-Herald, 3 October 2012 It is nice to have some good news once in a while. “In 2011, 10 percent of high school students reported drinking and driving, compared with 22 percent in 1991.” More notable is that this change is attributed in part to enforcing the law. “The legal…
Read MoreI am so thankful to have found another faithful church
Question: I am so thankful to have found another church of Christ that practices the doctrine of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. God bless you in your courage to present these truths to all who would read and listen. I am a member of the church of Christ in Mississippi. I will be accessing…
Read MoreIt was wonderful to know more about the gospel from your site
Question: Hello Brother, Recently I visited your web site. It was really wonderful to know more about the gospel. Thanks for doing God’s services. Helping, like us, to share more information with believers. Answer: I’m glad you found the site useful.
Read MoreGod wouldn’t put unnecessary restrictions on people
Question: Homophobia is such a joke. God, if He exists, wouldn’t put unnecessary restrictions on His people. Can you really imagine your ever-loving, ever-forgiving God being that petty? This is pathetic. Answer: It is interesting that you assume that anyone who disagrees with you does so without reason and only because of a “fear” that…
Read MoreIslam and the Bible
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/IslamAndTheBible1.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Philippians 2:3-11 I. I found an article on the editorial page of the newspaper back in 1996 A. It was written in defense of the Islamic religion. 1. Claiming that it is similar to Judaism and Christianity 2. In fact, it is the natural follow-on to the work of Moses and Jesus…
Read MoreWe want to get married, but we can’t even afford rings
Question: My partner and I want to get married so badly, but we don’t have money for anything, not even rings. I have a six-month-old baby with my partner and refuse any longer to sleep with him until we are married because the truth about how the children of God should live has been revealed…
Read MoreI sinned, but I’m afraid to tell my priests
Question: I am twenty-two years old, almost twenty-three. I did something a few days ago that has damaged my heart deeply and left a big emptiness. I have been dating a guy who is not a Christian. He started going to church when we started dating. I was baptized two years ago and had been…
Read MoreThanks for posting information on the history of the hymnbook
Question: I was looking up hymn book resources on the Internet and found the La Vista church’s page for hymn book history. Thanks for putting the page up there. Answer: I’m glad you found the material useful. There are several articles filed under “Music” on the history of the hymns we sing.
Read MoreIf a man married three times, but his wives are all now dead, can he marry again?
Question: If a man had three spouses, he divorced his first wife for adultery and he married an adulterer, divorced her for unknown reasons, and married a woman who was not an adulterer and divorced her to go back to his second wife, and all three spouses die, is it OK for the man to…
Read MorePeople stop being friends with me because of some nice things I’ve posted. Should I stop posting?
Question: So I’m in college right now, and I was finally making friends. I say finally because I’m very shy and have a hard time making friends. Anyway, I like to post things on Facebook about God — nice messages about waiting for marriage or pro-life stuff. I have noticed some of my friends have…
Read MoreBy One Spirit … Baptized Into One Body
by Terry W. Benton “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body–whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free–and have all been made to drink into one Spirit” (I Corinthains 12:13). What does “by one Spirit” mean? The Holy Spirit is the element we are immersed in? Holy Spirit is the agency…
Read MoreCould you review this debate on whether God exists?
Question: Can you look at this is a video of a debate asking if the God of the Bible exists? Now it’s lengthy, but I imagine you will skim through the main points. My question is if you could address some of the statements that were made because I feel the Christian side did a…
Read MoreI feel that God promised me this house, but I know it is more than I need. Why can’t I stop thinking about it?
Question: Please give me some insight: There is this house that I have been praying for. Now in my spirit, I sometimes believe that this is my house and that God has blessed me with it. I have received some signs that it could be God’s promise, but they not so concrete, and keeping this…
Read MoreI’m in an abusive relationship and I don’t know what to do
Question: I need help trying to discern God’s will for my life and the life of my family. I am prayerfully hoping that you will be able to help me with how to go about making this decision. I have been married for nearly twenty years and have several children. I don’t know how much…
Read MoreMy wife divorced me after she had an affair, and I can’t help thinking it was all my fault
Question: I found your website searching online and I have a question to ask! My wife of 15 years divorced me recently. I’m just lost and devastated. From the start, I was verbally abusive and on a few occasions had pushed her. The fact is: I was abusive and that’s a fact. I hurt inside…
Read MoreCan medical conditions be behind negative thoughts, worries, and anger?
Question: I often wonder if medical conditions can be an excuse for how we feel? Take someone that has started having anxiety attacks out of the blue. They have never been someone that worries but because of a hormone imbalance they often have negative thoughts. Are they in sin? How can God help them? I…
Read MoreMy parents don’t like the guy I’m dating and I don’t know what to do
Question: Hi, I have a problem with my parents not being supportive when it comes to my relationships. They want to choose for me whom I date even if I hate the person. They don’t consider my feelings at all. I had to date one guy whom I will name Charles. I took him as…
Read MoreDo Christians celebrate Yom Kippur?
Question: Hello! Do Christians celebrate Yom Kippur? Should Christians fast on Yom Kippur? Why or why not? Is there anything that Christians should do on Yom Kippur? Thanks! Answer: Yom Kippur and the other Jewish feasts are a part of the Old Testament. Jews continue to celebrate them because they refuse to believe that the…
Read MoreThank you for all the encouragement and support you’ve given me
Question: Hey, Like always, thanks for encouraging and providing support to me. I wanted to share with you good news, I forget the verse that talks about sharing with the person who teaches or leads you. The other day I met with the housekeeping manager at the hotel. He wanted to know what the Bible…
Read MoreI never talked to a man who recently died about Jesus? Am I now condemned?
Question: Please help me, I am very scared. I have recently found God and I am trying to grow in my faith, but today a man died who I barely knew. He went to my school, but we never talked or anything and he is a lot older than me. I never told him about…
Read MoreDoes God allow differing beliefs, such as regarding evolution?
Question: Hello, I really like your site. I believe you’re the real deal. It’s clear you love God. Something has bothered me and been hurting my faith. I wondered why so many people have different views on the Bible. For instance, you said the world was 6,000 years old. I was taught that the world…
Read MoreHow do you know if a church is just there to entertain?
Question: How do you know if a church is just there to entertain? Answer: It caters to what people want. The Bible is rarely if ever referenced. Few people ever ask if this is according to what God authorized. You hear people talking a lot about what they feel should be done and no appeal to what…
Read MoreI was born again, but I still find myself committing fornication. What can I do to stop it?
Question: I am born again through the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ, but I still sin. I find myself in a state of fornication and all kinds of sexual immoralities but each time I do pray I feel unworthy even to do so, despite the fact that I preach. Can God forgive me and…
Read MoreA Day of Small Things
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/DayOfSmallThings.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Haggai 2:1-9 I. As Israel began to return from seventy years of captivity, there was great excitement A. Zerubbabel lead the first wave of less than 50,000 people back to Jerusalem. 1. There was a lot of work to do because Jerusalem was completely destroyed. 2. But worship restarted immediately – Ezra…
Read MoreThe Book of My Life
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/BookOfMyLife.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Job 19:23-27 I. Each week the paper publishes its list of top selling books A. Sometimes the books are biographies, fictional stories, or fiction placed in historical settings. B. They hope that others will also purchase the books, if for no other reason than curiosity. C. Many author’s hope their work makes…
Read MoreI moved in with my girlfriend for financial reasons, but lately, she is seeing another boy. What do I do?
Question: I have been in a relationship with this girl for about a year and a half now and now it’s starting to fall apart. First, let me lay out the facts: She was born and raised Christian, but in High School had a falling out since her Grandma died. She doesn’t drink or do…
Read MoreI can’t get the idea of “selling my soul to the devil” out of my head
Question: I am not a Christian, but I was just reading for curiosity about selling your soul to the devil. I came across your website in which someone mentioned thinking about ‘selling their soul to get a video tutorial working’ and they thought they sold their soul. I already have religious OCD, and now I…
Read MoreYou seem to have two articles giving two different positions on whether an elder’s unfaithful child makes him disqualified. Which is it?
Question: I’ve been restudying the issue of elder’s children who fall away. The La Vista website has an article “The Elder and His Children” by Brett Hogland that concludes that an elder whose children leave the Lord would still be qualified to serve, and another article, “Does an elder need to step down if one…
Read MoreWhat is the difference between feeling guilty and feeling convicted?
Question: Is it true that if you don’t know if something is a sin that you should not do it if it makes you feel convicted? So what is the difference between feeling guilty or feeling convicted? Sometimes I put a lot of thought into something that I bought. I bought the entire collection of…
Read MoreDoctors Push for Teenage Girls to Use Birth Control Devices
Source: Lindsey Tanner, “Teenage Girls Should Get IUDs or Hormonal Implants for Birth Control, Says American College of OBGYNs,” CNSNews.com, 20 September 2012 Logic has not been the strong point among liberal policymakers for decades. It seems that whenever it is found that people are ignoring moral common sense, the outcry is for society to give…
Read MoreAre singing and prayers during mid-week Bible study worship?
Question: Dear Brother, I am a member of the Body of Christ. I have a question that I hope you can answer for me. After midweek Bible class everyone gathers and we sing songs, offer up prayers, a short sermon is given, and an invitation is extended. Is this worship? I know it is not…
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