Why did God force me to live with autism when I don’t want it?
Question: People say God does not force, but why did God force me to be alive? Even He saw my life before I was born, and God knew that I didn’t want to be alive. Why was I born with autism? It is so hard to have autism. Why can’t I be normal like other…
Read MoreI’ve accepted Jesus so many times! How can I be sure that Christ lives in me?
Question: How do I surely know that Christ lives in me? Because every time that I’m at my church and they ask who wants to receive Christ, I always feel something in my heart. But I’ve accepted Jesus so many times! Almost every Sunday I pray: “Lord I don’t know if you really live in me,…
Read MoreThe Lord is My Help and My Deliverer
Text: Psalm 40 I. Evil exists in this world, and God is concerned about our welfare – Psalm 121 A. With God on our side we have no fear of man – Hebrews 13:5-6 B. Yet many wonder why troubles beset us when the Almighty has promised us protection. II. We often don’t recognize God’s protection A. Perhaps a…
Read MoreYour study on Revelation is just what I was looking for
Question: I just wanted to say I love your web site. I was looking for a study on Revelation to use along with the class we are having on Wednesday night. Our preacher is doing an excellent job of teaching the class, but I wanted to find a scripturally sound study to use as a…
Read MoreI’m impressed by your home page
Question: I came across your home page and took the time to read it. Well, I was impressed with what you had to say and just want to lift you up in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. What a shame there are not enough ministers (churches) that would stand on the principle you stand for.…
Read MoreWhy did God order the death of children?
Question: The Bible identifies, describes, and labels God in many ways. God is love, He is the redeemer, the savior, the beginning, the all-knowing, etc. God is also perfect and the Bible also says that God is a Judge, a righteous Judge above all. A righteous Judge administers the most fair and the most just methods…
Read MoreAm I being inhospitable not to want my father-in-law around so much?
Question: In this question, I’m honestly not sure if I am being inhospitable, or if I have genuine concerns. Thus why I seek to ask this to you. My wife and I have been married for still a relatively short time, and have a child. My father-in-law lives a couple of hours away, but still…
Read MoreCan’t people use fake fur instead of animal skins?
Question: first of all, people can where fake fur, and do not have to have animals skins. These animals are tortured in fur farms in China. It sound to me that you are just looking for a way to mold God into you world where you can teach your children to get OFF on hunting…
Read MoreCan’t the building be used for things other than worship?
Question: The church building is what it is — a building. The way we use “fellowship’ is to socialize. Every time people meet before worship they are said to fellowship with one another. Fellowship is not the same thing as the Lord’s supper; however, a type of fellowship is involved in the process. A fellowship…
Read MoreYour answers to questions from youth are kind and respectful
Question: I just wanted to thank you for the very thoughtfully written Question and Answers page on your web site. Many of the questions, I can tell, are submitted by youth, and the kind way they were answered shows great respect for the outcome of the choices they are to make. I came looking for…
Read MoreWhy do people tolerate adultery in the name of “forgiveness?”
Question: I came upon your web site while trying to find answers regarding repentance for adultery, divorce, and the actions taken by so-called “Christians” thereafter. My husband left our nearly twenty-year marriage for another woman last year. We seemed to have a good marriage and he lied about any situations that caused suspicion during the…
Read MoreCannot Sin
by Weldon Warnock via Biblical Insights, September 2000 We are told by some of our religious neighbors that the soul of a child of God cannot sin, but rather only the outward man sins. This erroneous position is taken in order to justify a denominational dogma of “once saved, always saved.” A child of God may…
Read MoreCould Stephen be making Moses out to be bigger than life?
Question: I know from Acts 7 it is said that Moses knew he was a Hebrew prior to the burning bush event. What is your take on the possibilities that this was based on the Jewish tradition? Acts was written by Paul who was brought up a Pharisee and in the strictest Jewish tradition, could…
Read MoreDidn’t God support polygamy by offering David more wives?
Question: I’ve heard many ministers respond to why God allowed polygamy by saying that it’s like divorce. God allowed it but it wasn’t His will. I disagree with that response. After King David sinned with Bathsheba God said to David if you had only asked “I” (God) would have given you more wives. Now, why…
Read MoreWhere do dreams of the future come from?
Question: When people have dreams regarding the future that come true, where does this come from? Answer: There are several problems here. In times past, God did speak to people at times through dreams. “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets” (Hebrews 1:1).…
Read MoreIs giving a client a handjob as part of a massage a sin?
Question: I am a male massage therapist. I want to know if it is a sin to give a full body massage that includes massaging the penis and masturbating the client for full relaxation. Answer: Is this not just one aspect of homosexuality? But homosexuality is condemned in the Scriptures: “Do you not know that…
Read MoreDisciples of Christ
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2005/08/DisciplesOfChrist.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 28:18-20 I. No one name is used to describe a person. A. A single word cannot encompass all that a person is. I could be called a preacher, but I’m also a father, a husband, a writer, a teacher, a computer scientist, a singer, and many other things. B. Similarly…
Read MoreWhy is it always brought up that prophecy will cease?
Question: My question is regarding prophecy. It seems I always get the same answer regarding this question (I Corinthians 13:8), “Love never fails, but whether there are prophecies they will fail, tongues will cease, knowledge will vanish,” (not an exact quote). But if you take this one verse literally, if prophecies have come to an end,…
Read MoreCould Jasher be right about Jacob spending 14 years with Eber?
Question: You wrote: The Book of Jasher claims that Jacob fled to Eber’s home: “And Jacob was very much afraid of his brother Esau, and he rose up and fled to the house of Eber the son of Shem, and he concealed himself there on account of his brother, and Jacob was sixty-three years old…
Read MoreThe Question of Wine and the Drink-Offering of the Old Testament
Original Author Unknown, Edited by Carl A. Allen and Jeffrey W. Hamilton via The Berean, Vol. V, No. 5,6, February 2010 The argument for the drinking of wine with the Old Testament feasts is stated as thus: “The drink-offerings at all set feasts, including Passover, were of wine (Numbers 15:1-10); therefore, as Jesus was eating the Passover when…
Read MoreThe Catholic Church and The Bible
by Dennis Tucker Recent articles in the local newspaper have dealt with the Catholic Church and whether or not it is of Christ. Some view such discussions as being non-Christ like. They think everybody has a right to their own faith and all faiths are alike. Therefore, one can be a Catholic, Protestant, Jew, or…
Read MoreNow that my wife left me for another man, should I give up living for God?
Question: I’ve been divorced over a year and a half. My then-wife started an affair with another man. We were married for almost a decade and been together years longer than that. I discovered the affair, by accident, seven months after the fact via emails and Facebook. How ironic, as these are social web sites…
Read MoreIs a “bag raffle” gambling?
Question: Is it wrong to participate in a bag raffle? I purchase my groceries from a health food store, and when I bring in my own grocery bag, they subtract five cents from the total, and they offer me a raffle ticket so that I can put my name in a jar to possibly be chosen to win a 30 dollar gift…
Read MoreWhy can’t I find a wife?
Question: I have spent so much time trying to find a good faithful wife. I cannot find one. I have searched for so long. I’ve tried online dating sites. I’ve tried everything. I’ve dated a number of girls and none of them wanted to marry me. I have tried so hard to be the right example and do…
Read MoreI was baptized as an infant. Do I need to be baptized again?
Question: I was baptized as an infant; however, I have recently found Christ and repented from my sinful ways. I know the importance of baptism and want to ensure that I am in accordance with the Scriptures. There are many different views on this subject; however, I cannot seem to find anyone to answer me…
Read MoreWhen Is One Bidding Godspeed to Another’s Error?
by Kenneth E. Thomas One may be prone to say, “Why, that’s a silly question, everyone knows the answer.” Not so fast my good friend and or my brother in Christ; the answer may not be quite as easy as you first thought. I will take a stab at a partial answer by citing some…
Read MoreHow can God judge me when I didn’t ask to be born?
Question: Let’s say I place you in a room and gave you a written exam where if you answered correctly you would have eternal life, if you answer wrong you would suffer eternal punishment if you didn’t answer by not taking the exam you still get a 0% and that is still a failing grade.…
Read MoreWhat is God doing for me now to prove His love?
Question: God taught us to love and loving is a daily process requiring lots of physical and conscious effort. To show I love my wife, I have to remind her, I have to shower her with gifts, I have to kiss, hold, caress her, and sacrifice to her daily. Sometimes I have to do the…
Read MoreShould services be missed because you have a cold?
Question: I have a random question: What do you think about the arguments people make that if you are sick you shouldn’t assemble to worship to God? For example, I recently saw this on the blog of a close friend: Please be kind and loving (both of which are Christian virtues) and don’t come bringing…
Read MoreIs it wrong to love a non-Christian?
Question: I am 20 years old, and I have a boyfriend. We both really love each other. Although he is not a Christian, I can’t leave him. Is it wrong to love a non-Christian? We both sometimes end up having dry sex. He says it’s not a sin because we truly love each other. I…
Read MoreDid the rider on the pale horse appear in Egypt?
Question: Have you seen this video? Video: Has Revelation’s ‘pale rider’ shown up in Egypt? People think it’s one of the horsemen, but I don’t really know about that. It seems something like that wouldn’t really be able to be filmed. Also doesn’t this kind of tie in with only God knows when the world will end…
Read MoreHow did casting lots work?
Question: I am studying the book of Jonah. The mariner’s cast lots to determine who the person was that was causing all the evil to happen to them. I would like to know in greater detail how this worked. Also, how did this compare to how Haman cast the lot to determine the date of slaughter for the…
Read MoreIs “dry humping” considered fornication?
Question: Is “dry humping” considered fornication? Does it count as sex before marriage? Answer: Dry humping is slang for rubbing or bumping the genitals against someone or something in order to gain sexual stimulation. It isn’t fornication, but fornication isn’t the only sexual sin that can be committed. Paul warned, “It is good for a…
Read MoreTo the Young Men
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/ToTheYoungMen.mp3 by Kirk Davidson
Read MoreDo I need to keep foolish promises I made in the past?
Question: I have been worrying about things in the past. Before I became a Christian I was scared and considered being a nun. In prayer, I think I spoke concerning being a nun because I was scared of going to hell. I am not 100% sure I stated as a fact I would become one…
Read MoreJesus’ Relation to the Law of Moses
Matthew 5:17-20 by Bobby Graham When Jesus was teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, was he merely explaining the Law to bring the Jews into closer alignment with God’s will, or was he setting forth principles that would operate in the coming kingdom? It is understood that there was already a kingdom operating, from…
Read MoreThe Book of Jasher
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/BookOfJasher.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Samuel 1:17-27 I. It is no mystery that people are not happy with God’s word. Through the ages people have sought ought various reasons to modify it. A. No long ago, Dan Brown wrote a fictional book called The DaVinci Code. At the core of this book was the…
Read MoreThe “Jesus Was Born Under the Law” Argument
by Terry W. Benton The Argument Stated: Jesus was “born” under the law (Galatians 4:4) and he died on the cross to “end” the Old Testament law of Moses (Romans 10:4; Colossians 2:14). This means that everything Jesus said and taught was under the authority of the Old Testament law of Moses. The Argument Answered:…
Read MoreThere is so much happening and my marriage is falling apart. What do I do?
Question: I’m lost and my life is so out of place. I’m married, and we have eight kids: my husband had two by his first wife, and I had one by my first marriage. We have one together. My dad past away with cancer. He had four kids who live with us. About four years…
Read MoreJoseph was the favorite of all of Jacob’s sons, so why did Judah get the blessing?
Question: Joseph was the favorite of all of Jacob’s sons, so why did Judah get the blessing? Answer: There were two things which typically went to the eldest son (not the favorite son): The blessing and a double portion. While it was normally the right of the firstborn to receive these, there were times when…
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