Are Jews a race or a religion?
Question: Are Jews a race or a religion? Answer: In the Bible, the concept of “race” does not exist. The Bible talks about nationalities, but not “race.” See How did the different races come about? for more details. The word “Jew” is a derivation of “Judah.” When the kingdom of Israel divided, the ten northern tribes continued…
Read MoreHow do I help a friend who is blaming God for her mother’s death?
Question: A friend’s mother has died. The friend is approximately 40. She blames God for the death of her mother and is becoming more and more bitter about losing her mother. What can we share with her from God’s word to help her? Answer: While I considered your question important, I delayed responding because the…
Read MoreCan a church be wrong in doctrinal teaching?
Question: Can a church be wrong in terms of doctrinal teaching? If they are in those areas that are less fundamental, will it do them any eternal damage? Answer: The answer should be obviously “yes.” In the letters to the seven churches in Asia in Revelation 2-3, only one didn’t have anything said negative about…
Read MoreIf my husband left his improper second marriage, could he marry me again?
Question: I have been reading a number of your “questions-and-answers” on your web site regarding divorce and remarriage. Could you please shed your thoughts and opinions on the following for me? I am very confused. First of all, I would like to say that I agree with your view of divorce, remarriage being adultery, and…
Read MoreIsn’t it a miracle when a person sees an angel or receives the Holy Spirit?
Question: What about people who see angels these days? Is that not a miracle or are you teaching that is of the devil? What about receiving the Holy Spirit is that not a miracle? Answer: Miracles are alterations of natural events. The birth of a baby is a wondrous event, but it is not a…
Read MoreI keep falling into the same sin over and over. Will God forgive me?
Question: I keep falling into the same sin over and over. I never intend to do it, but it always happens. Can God help me? Will He forgive? Will you pray for me? Answer: Someone asked a similar question not long ago. See: How long does it take for God to forgive? Usually, when these things…
Read MoreI was saved once, but I’ve sinned so much. How can I serve the Lord?
Question: When I was 14, I was saved and born again. I immediately felt the power of the Holy Spirit enters my life. I got into the Bible, read it daily, and had a grave sensitivity to sin. I hated it. All the shows I used to enjoy I couldn’t bear watching because of all…
Read MoreYour answer regarding struggling against “fooling around” was just what I needed to know
Question: Hello! I don’t know your name, but I read a response you gave on the La Vista Church of Christ web site about a boy struggling with “fooling around” with his girlfriend and what God says in the Bible about it and some strategies to turn around, and I just wanted to thank you. My boyfriend and…
Read MoreDo I have to divorce my husband in order to be baptized?
Question: I was married to a man who would not make love, have sex, or be intimate with me. He said he preferred to masturbate and fantasize about my sister, neighbors, and the neighbor’s mother. This greatly distressed me. He was also abusive, holding a gun up to my head threatening to kill me. He was…
Read MoreCan a person who married a person who had no right to marry, divorce, and marry someone else?
Question: If a man marries a woman who was not supposed to remarry because she and her husband had committed adultery, can the man in the second marriage divorce her because of her continued adulteries during the second marriage and be able to marry again? Answer: When a person marries someone who has no right…
Read MoreHow do I go about having a relationship as a Christian?
Question: Hi, I want to start by saying how I appreciate your help to others as seen through your web site. My question is: I recently got saved and have been in secular relationships before. There is this lady in our fellowship group whom I am deeply in love with and would wish to start…
Read MoreWhat do you think of Songs of Faith and Praise?
Question: Hello, I am writing to you because I came across a blog you had on your website concerning your review of the Songs for Worship and Praise hymnal. I have owned the hymnal for a couple of months and also own Songs of Faith and Praise and Praise for the Lord. I am trying to find a good hymnal to…
Read MoreCan fear be a sin?
Question: I am trying to change my ways and live a better Christian lifestyle (a life more pleasing to the Lord). I know temptation will always be hounding me, but I know the Lord will provide me a way out. However, I want to know if fear can be considered a temptation? Like the fear…
Read MoreThanks for the ideas for class material
Question: Hello, I am a pre-teen teacher, and I look for lessons that will inspire the boys, but also bring it down to where they understand the importance of God’s Word. I often let the students teach a class and prepare a devotion on their own, but I also like to get different ideas for…
Read MoreWhy do you list cults among the denominations?
Question: I have just viewed your web site, and once again have seen cults included in a listing of Christian denominations. I fail to understand why church of Christ folk do this. I have emailed a few different ones, asking for an answer, but no one seems to want to respond. As someone who has…
Read MoreIf you are to love your enemies, why did David kill Goliath?
Question: I was listening to a sermon about how to be a man after God’s heart. He was speaking about love, and he said David loved Saul even when Saul tried to kill him and searched for him for years. Even if Saul became David’s enemy, David would never do the same against Saul. He loved Saul and he’d never become his enemy. Then…
Read MoreIf a spouse broke a breach of promise to marry someone else, does that mean our marriage isn’t valid?
Question: I have another question for you about marriage. While my wife has never been legally married, she was engaged in the state of South Carolina. I recently discovered a law in South Carolina called breach of promise. Are you familiar with this law? From what I understood from the law was that if a…
Read MoreWhich is better: to visit a prostitute or masturbate?
Question: Is it true that it’s better to have sexual relations with a whore than it is to masturbate? Some people refer to it as, “better in a whore than on the floor.” As a kid, I was taught that it would be better for me to masturbate than to have sex with a girl…
Read MoreMy girlfriend is moving back into a bad situation. What can I do?
Question: OK. This could take a while. I’m with this girl. She is by far, without a doubt, the love of my life. I’ve come a long way. Far enough that I can tell through some of my people they want what I got, though they won’t say that. But it seems I have done…
Read MoreWho Is Responsible?
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/WhoIsResponsible.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Galatians 6:1-10 I. One of the issues that has divided brethren is that of doing good. A. The question is who is responsible? B. One side argues that it doesn’t matter, so long as the good is done. The other side argues that you cannot give away a responsibility God has…
Read MoreAren’t we to desire the greater gifts? So miraculous gift could not have ended, could they?
Question: I have seen on a couple of occasions on this site that you believe the gifts of the spirit are a thing of the past, and that you use I Corinthians 13:8-10 to try and validate that point of view. It is very easy to take a verse or two of scripture and make…
Read MoreCan you sell your soul?
Question: I was on my computer about a while ago trying to load a video tutorial. However, it wasn’t working well and I was getting irritated. I then thought to myself “God get this working…even Satan get this working. I would sell my soul to get this working.” Upon having that thought, I immediately got…
Read MoreWere Elders Limited to the Age of Miracles? (Sermon)
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/WereEldersLimitedToTheAgeOfMiracles.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Acts 20:17-35 I. Some times I wonder where ideas about the Scriptures come from. A. The passages are clear, but it seems that some want a certain outcome, so they seek whatever means they can find to arrive at that result. B. I was asked if elders were only for the…
Read MoreIf an unbelieving spouse leaves the marriage, can the Christian remarry?
Question: I guess my question is about “wrongful marriages.” If a Christian is married to an unbeliever and the unbeliever does not want to stay married to the believing party, it is my understanding that the Christian is to let the unbeliever go and the “bond of marriage” is not binding anymore. Therefore, this bond is broken…
Read MoreDid the first three plagues affect all of Egypt, including Goshen?
Question: As I read Exodus 7-8, I noticed that in Exodus 8:22-23, God specifically said that He will make a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites that the swarming of the flies will not take place in Goshen. Since God made a point of saying that here, does that mean plagues 1-3, water turn…
Read MoreThank you for talking about repentance and forgiveness
Question: Hi, I just want to thank you for answering some of the questions and confusions I have been dealing with. I am a real Bible-believing Christian woman who just divorced my husband of 20 years over his prolonged, continuous, unrepentant adultery. I prayed over him and reasoned with him for over a year before…
Read MoreWere elders limited to the age of miracles?
Question: Were elders limited to the age of miracles? Was the church only supposed to have elders while the miraculous gifts were present? I have someone here who is claiming this and he bases it on Acts 20:28, Ephesians 4:11, and I Timothy 4:14. Answer: Stated to End? In order to make this claim, one…
Read MoreI really want to be a Christian, but I keep sinning. What should I do?
Question: I find it extremely hard to be a Christian. I am 14 years old, my father and mother are in ministry. I go to church every Sunday and have done for the past 12 years. My father became a minister several years ago. I grew up in a society where there are few Christians…
Read MoreWhy did Peter say that perhaps God would forgive Simon?
Question: I a question for you regarding a scripture. It was a passage that you showed someone grappling with blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. “Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you” (Acts 8:22) I am sure I am misunderstanding or overthinking the passage, but…
Read MoreMy husband and I are separated over his use of pornography. What can I do?
Question: I originally was a Baptist. I met my boyfriend at work as a friend. We started dating two years later. I moved into his house after dating him for two years on the pretense that we would get married. Once I moved in, I noticed pornography videos on his shelf in his closet. He…
Read MoreHow could so many and different people come from just two people?
Question: In the beginning, when there was just Adam and Eve, I know they had kids but if they were the only ones then how did there get to be so many people on the earth? And if there was only them at first then how come people are so different? Some people are super…
Read MoreI found your answers to be well articulated
Question: I stumbled upon your website by googling “the law of Christ.” I did already believed like you, but I found your answers and study to be really well articulated. God bless you. Much love in Jesus. Answer: I’m glad you found the information useful.
Read MoreHow can I stop these bad thoughts?
Question: Hello, I am a Christian in my early twenties who has been raised in the faith since I was born. I have generally considered myself to be a good Christian; although, I will admit I have made many mistakes. I am getting a bit personal, but since I was a teenager I suffered from…
Read MoreAre some passages impossible to understand?
Question: I have some questions about Calvinism if you can please help me with them. I was talking to a friend who believes in Calvinism (or some form of it) and we were talking about God wanting all men saved in regards to whether God chooses to save some above others. I told him that…
Read MoreWhat happens if you take marijuana and ecstasy in one night?
Question: Hi, I would like to know if you take weed with ecstasy in one night, what will happen afterward. Let say a day or two after. Answer: Ecstasy and marijuana are among the most commonly abused drugs. I didn’t find much research on how these two drugs interact. But there are some concerns expressed.…
Read MoreIs it wrong for teenage girls to give a report to the congregation during the worship service?
Question: I am visiting a new church of Christ. Today was my second Sunday to attend, both Sunday morning and evening services. Tonight, during the Sunday evening service, a group had just returned from a mission trip to Guatemala. The service was to include a report on what had gone on there and fill everyone…
Read MoreYou have great teachings and good common sense
Question: I just have to tell you folks that I cannot say enough good things about the articles on your web page. Way to preach the Truth. I’m so thankful that there are people who take on everyday issues and have such great biblical knowledge. I like the layout as well, but the content is…
Read MoreIf people are in a wrongful marriage, should they divorce in order to repent?
Question: I read your article, and I am asking if the people in this wrongful marriage with children should get a divorce in order to repent and go to Heaven? Answer: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live…
Read MoreHow can I know which church is the right one?
Question: Hello, I have a high-functioning form of Autism. After living many years in a false religion, I have recently heard about Christianity a few years ago. I am still trying to get the hang of understanding how Jesus can love me when he died many years ago. There is a problem that is blocking…
Read MoreAre You Weary of God?
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/AreYouWearyOfGod.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Micah 6:1-3 I. Being a Christian is a commitment for life. A. Matthew 7:13-14 – Few make it. B. Few made it from Israel – Romans 9:27 C. People will want in, but don’t put in the effort until too late – Luke 13:23-30 II. It isn’t that God is trying to keep…
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