Was faith an absolute requirement for Jesus’ healing people?

Question: Was faith the absolute requirement for Jesus’ healing people? Answer: “Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to…

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Why did God choose the Israelites as His people?

Question: Why did God choose the Israelites as His people? They were the only saved people before the death of Jesus Christ. What about others? Why did God has chosen only Israel as His own people? Answer: “For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you…

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Was Cain the son of the Devil?

Question: My Sunday school teacher says that Cain is the son of the Devil. I don’t see where in the Bible this is true. Is it? Answer: If your teacher means physically, then it is time to find a better teacher. “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said,…

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What is the spirit of offense?

Question: What is the spirit of offense? How do you know if you have it? Why do so many churches use this phrase against people to control them? Answer: The phrase “spirit of offense” is not found in the Bible. People can cause offenses by their behavior, but using the phrase “spirit of offense” implies…

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Why should we go to church every Sunday?

Question: Recently a friend asked me why we should go to church every Sunday. I told him to learn the Word of God, but he said we can learn that any time. So why should we go to church? Answer: Ask your friend what he learned from the Bible last week on his own. Most…

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What can I do to grow?

Question: How should I be confessing Jesus with my mouth? What kind of works can I do to please God? Right now, I feel like the guy who is given one talent in the parable of the talents. What can I do to increase that what God has given me? I was baptized last year,…

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When is one saved?

Question: When is one save? Is he saved after he confesses that Jesus is the son of God? Or is he save after he is baptized? What saves Him? And are there supporting Bible verses for such questions? Answer: Since, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering…

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How long should an engagement last?

Question: First, I want to thank you for a beautiful, wonderful site. I’m a young Christian, growing in the Lord. I have a girlfriend. We love each other and I desire to marry young, as soon as possible. We’ve been dating for two months now, but we have known each other for three years. I…

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Handling Opposition

Handling Opposition Part 1Handling Opposition by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Nehemiah 6:15-19   I.         Nehemiah took on an ambitious project to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.             A.        He completed the project in just 52 days – Nehemiah 6:15             B.        That alone is an amazing feat, but we can’t overlook the fact that the project did not go smoothly.…

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Confirmed

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Confirmed.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Peter 1:12-21   I.         How important is the proof of what we know? – Hebrews 2:1-4             A.        God put a lot of effort into not just saying but proving.             B.        Jesus Christ is the foundation – I Corinthians 3:11             C.        It becomes a solid foundation – II Timothy 2:19             D.        So many people…

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If a driver purposely runs over a dog, is that murder?

Question: Honestly, I don’t know how I stumbled onto your web site,  but I am glad that I did.  I read through the majority of the “Question Answered 2010” and thought your advice was appropriate to the questions. So here is my question:  I was sharing a conversation with my teen-aged daughter.  I told her…

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Thank you!

Question: Thank you for your web site! I found it by accident, but I appreciate your articles and resources. I have saved it as a favorite and will use it for some of my class material. I also checked out your Facebook page and I appreciate the thoughts that are posted there.  Thank you for the thoughts from the…

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Is it possible not to sin daily?

Question: What do you think about the statement that a preacher said from the pulpit that he does not sin every day and then said that the closer and the more we grow in Christ the less we sin? Answer: John warns that we should never think that we immune to the problem of sin.…

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The Bible is not meant to be read literally!

Question: Jesus never once hit a child to teach his lessons about love. The absence of true love for your child is the reason you hit them! Open your eyes to the fact that most Christians don’t know how to read the Holy Bible correctly. The Bible is not meant to be read literally! The…

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Must I ask forgiveness from the person I wronged before I can repent?

Question: Must I ask for forgiveness from one who suffered the consequence of my sin before I can repent? This only seems logical to me. A person should first seek to heal a fellow human who has been hurt by them. Please email me something brief about this as I am in anguish. Answer: “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not…

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What were Hymenaeus and Alexander’s sin?

Question: What were Hymenaeus and Alexander’s sin? Answer: “This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander,…

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Was Timothy’s father a non-believer?

Question: One passage I’m having a problem with is Acts 16:1. In time past I have heard a couple of different preachers on different occasions say some that Timothy’s father was a “non-believer”. I am not confident in teaching that Timothy’s father was/was not a believer.  While it is true the text does not say that the father was not…

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How are faith and prayer related?

Question: How are faith and prayer related? Answer: Prayer is a form of worship to God where we bring our requests to Him along with our praise and our thanksgivings. But what use would it be to ask God for a favor while at the same time having no confidence that He will give you…

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So You Married the Wrong Person?

by Tanner Campbell The statements: “I don’t love you anymore,” and “I think I married the wrong person” we all recognize. They are commonly said at the end of a failed marriage. It is no secret that many marriages fail in the world and a number of them fail among members of the church. Did…

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How do I find balance in my life?

Question: How should a Christian go about getting the things in their life in order? I know the entire counsel of God deals with the things of life, but I need a basic starting point. I am 25 years old, have my own car, live in my own place, and have a job that allows…

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Why does the Bible contain impolite phrases?

Question: I was always taught from a small child by my Christian parents, not to say bad words; yet, I noticed in I Samuel 25:22,34; I Kings 14:10; 16:11; 21:21; and II Kings 9:8 that the writer used these types of words.  Could you tell me what this means? Answer: Terms that are concerned polite…

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Why don’t my parents treat me as an adult?

Question: I am planning to drive to a large city for a big lectureship at a congregation there. I have never driven in a large city. I am in my early twenties and still live in my parents’ house because I don’t have the money to rent an apartment. I am a recent college graduate.…

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Is your advice free?

Question: Is your advice free or will I be charged for it? Answer: “Did I commit sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge?” (II Corinthians 11:7). The teaching of the Gospel is always done free of charge. I wouldn’t even know…

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Is it wrong for a Christian to marry a non-believer?

Question: In I Corinthians 7:12-14, it doesn’t mean a Christian marrying an unbeliever. You need to see the background and the circumstances Paul wrote this letter. Actually the problem in Corinth is that after marriage a husband or wife accepted Christ. Because of the desire to serve Christ, the believing wife or husband thought they…

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Go Unto All the World

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/GoUntoAllTheWorld.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton

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Do you preach the true word of God?

Question: Hope you are ok. I was looking for a picture to upload to my Facebook when I found the logo of the La Vista church on the Internet. I like it. Please tell me more about this church. If it preaches the true word of God, then I will let it remain on my Facebook.…

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My boyfriend proposed to me. Are we sinning if we have sex?

Question: My boyfriend proposed to me. I’m not pregnant and I do love him. Does this make me a sinner, if we have sex? Answer: “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge” (Hebrews 13:4). Sex outside of marriage is a sin. A proposal to marry doesn’t…

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Our Hurried Lives

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/OurHurriedLives.mp3 by Garry Floyd

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Is it sinful to mistreat animals?

Question: In regards to “What about those farmers who torture their animals?” “There are laws in every state opposing cruelty to animals. I daily read about accounts where they are being enforced. Farmers who mistreat their livestock would not stay in business. Mistreated animals don’t make good breeders or good food.” If we want to…

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If someone is in an adulterous marriage, what happens if his original spouse dies?

Question: I’ve got a scenario concerning divorce and remarriage for you: Jack and Jill are scripturally married. Jack commits adultery, and Jill puts him away for adultery. Both of them remarry, but Jill dies before Jack does. Question: Is Jack’s marriage no longer adulterous according to Romans 7:2-3, and would this equally apply if the original scenario…

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She Changed My Life

by Marlon Ruck as told to Wilson Adams via Biblical Insights, Volume 9, Number 6, June 2009 Marlon was a twenty-four-year-old Catholic, home from the military, and living in Toledo, Ohio; Delores was eighteen, beautiful, and a member of the Lord’s church. “I was crazy about her from the beginning and asked her to marry me…

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Doesn’t more than one translation says “‘the Word was a god?”

Question: Regarding your statement on in “Jesus is God”: “To get what Jehovah’s Witnesses wish to claim, that Jesus was just a god in the sense that some men are “gods” in that they are God’s representatives you would need “and the Word was God” (καὶ θεός ?ν ὁ λόγος) in the Greek. This is why…

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Ye Are Gods

by Joe R. Price via Guardian of Truth XL: 3 p. 6-7, February 1, 1996 In the last year of Jesus’ life, during the Feast of Dedication (present-day Hanukkah), unbelieving individuals confronted him and demanded of him a plain declaration that he was the Christ (John 10:22-24). Like ravenous wolves, the Jewish rulers encircled him, ready to…

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How should a congregation go about selecting another preacher?

Question: I was wondering if I could get your advice on selecting a pulpit minister. Our minister stepped down due to fleshly and worldly desires, like Demas “having loved this present world.” We have an interim minister at this time. We have other ministers who sent resumes but didn’t have a chance to hear them…

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Why doesn’t going back to church remove lust from my mind?

Question: Why is it that when I turn to God and I have gone back to church to try to release lust from my mind it returns and I constantly have to ask the Lord for his forgiveness? Answer: You didn’t give me much to go on. I’ll make some guesses. My apologies in advance…

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