Christ, the Only Way
by Frank Walton Beginning the Day with God The Confession of the Four Murderers Jesus Shows Us How to Evangelize Jesus Shows Us How to Forgive Others Love One Another (recording failed) Finding a Spiritual Family
Read MoreTwo Young Men Baptized
by Mike Willis I recently conducted a meeting in which two young men were baptized on Thursday night prior to the services beginning. It was the highlight of a good meeting. On Friday night when the meeting came to a close, as the father of the two young men came out I said, “This will…
Read MoreWhat can be done about women who speak out of turn in Bible class?
Question: My wife and I have been to the congregation there in La Vista. We really enjoyed it and found it to be a true church. We have been having a problem locally with the verse in I Timothy 2 about the women being silent. I read your article on that subject. We are experiencing…
Read MoreDoes everyone need to work?
Question: You say that everyone must work, but what about those that cannot work because of a disability or ones that cannot find work? I do not have any working background, and when I looked for a job nobody would hire me because of it. And what about the ones who have been laid off?…
Read MoreFinding a Spiritual Family
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/2010Spring6FindingASpiritualFamily.mp3 by Frank Walton Christ, the Only Way
Read MoreWhy were only books which agreed allowed in the Bible? Wouldn’t writings by men naturally have variances?
Question: I read with interest your response to the ‘missing books in the Bible’ issue. I also wish to thank you for taking the time to respond to such a matter. However, your response is brief at best, no… it is brief, and ultimately comes across as a veiled threat from a semi-benign dictator to…
Read MoreIs having a boyfriend or girlfriend the biblical way to find a spouse?
Question: Could you please explain what is the biblical way to find a spouse? Many people today choose a girlfriend or boyfriend (some choose more than one) before marriage. But it seems that the Bible never mentioned “boyfriend” or “girlfriend.” So what is the biblical way of finding a spouse? Is it wrong to have…
Read MoreJesus Shows Us How to Forgive Others
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/2010Spring4JesusShowsUsHowToForgiveOthers.mp3 by Frank Walton Christ, the Only Way
Read MoreYou make no attempt to understand the Salvation Army
Question: I just read with much displeasure the article, “Can Christians Help Support the Salvation Army?” I am admittedly somewhat biased as a third-generation Salvationist, but I found your posting quite misleading. It makes no attempt to understand the Salvation Army doctrines and looks simply to highlight doctrinal differences with other denominations. A few points…
Read MoreJesus Shows Us How to Evangelize
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/2010Spring3JesusShowsUsHowToEvangelize.mp3 by Frank Walton Christ, the Only Way
Read MoreThe Confession of the Four Murderers
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/2010Spring2TheConfessionOfTheFourMurderers.mp3 by Frank Walton Christ, the Only Way
Read MoreBeginning the Day with God
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/2010Spring1BeginningTheDayWithGod.mp3 by Frank Walton Christ, the Only Way
Read MoreIs masturbation a sin and can God give me a sign to increase my faith?
Question: Hi. I am 12 and I just wanted to know if masturbation is a sin. I’ve researched it on Google and it said it was, so I stopped for a while, then I did it again and I still am. I also have another problem. I believe in God and heaven but I just…
Read MoreIs it God’s will that I marry?
Question: I am planning on engaging my girlfriend, God willing, in a few months, though I haven’t told her obviously. But I have a nagging feeling in my heart. I don’t know whether it’s fear or what it is. So I prayed to God asking Him if it’s His will I marry this gal. I…
Read MoreWhat dictionary did you use to define the Hebrew words for wine in your article?
Question: I am doing some research on the symbolism of wine the Bible, particularly its use in the Old Testament and I came across your web site about the different Hebrew words and meanings of wine. I wanted to ask you which Hebrew lexicon you are using because I use Strong’s Lexicon and I found differences…
Read MoreDoes Matthew 5:28 apply to other sins?
Question: Matthew 5:28 says “But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Does this apply to other things? If I had a desire to smoke and drink, but I actually don’t do it, does it means that I had…
Read MoreShould Catholics call their leaders “Father” and is the church the light of the world?
Question: My questions are about: Catholics call their spiritual leaders “father.” In doing so they claim they follow Paul’s example: “I became your father in Jesus Christ through the gospel” (I Corinthians 4:15). Jesus said his church would be “the light of the world.” He then noted that “a city set on a hill cannot…
Read MoreI know I sin so how can I obey God?
Question: I read your article regarding the role of obedience in salvation. Very interesting. I would have to agree with some of your take on obedience as long as it doesn’t take away from the redeeming work of Christ. How does one deal with a difference of opinion on what obedience is and what it is not? …
Read MoreI posted a picture of a girl I loved and me kissing. Was that wrong?
Question: I truly loved a girl. We had sex. We made a kissing picture and I put that picture on a web site. That was my mistake. Is that a wrong thing to do? Answer: I hope I understand your question accurately. If I misunderstood, please help me to understand better so I can help…
Read MoreIs it wrong to sell food, books, candy, drinks, etc. in God’s house to raise money?
Question: Is it wrong to sell food, books, candy, drinks, etc. in God’s house to raise money to go on trips or to help buy the things the church needs? Answer: Your question is actually backward. You should be asking if it is right to do those things. Since God told us that “as His…
Read MoreThoughts on Parenting
Adapted from a study by Ralph Walker via The Exhorter, Bulletin for the Henderson Blvd. church of Christ in Tampa, FL June 2009. Parenting has never been easy. But ask yourself this question. Do you really think your parents had as tough a time rearing you as you have with your own children? Maybe my parents…
Read MoreA Thought on Business Meetings and Elderships
by Bill Jackson In any situation involving men laboring together, some decisions are going to have to be made and some course of action must be decided upon by someone if any good product is obtained. In the congregations of God, the thousand-and-one details wherein the work of the congregations goes forward must be decided…
Read MoreThank you for explaining controversial issues
Question: I am full of praise for your web site that explains controversial issues for people to understand and remove the burden of misinterpretation from their minds. In fact I only got to know of your site about two days ago, but on going through some of the answers that you have provided for the…
Read MoreWhy did Paul have Timothy circumcised after the council in Jerusalem?
Question: I was scanning the questions and found the Jewish lineage one. Timothy was counted as Jewish because of his mother. Paul circumcised him and we know that Timothy’s father was a Gentile while his mother and grandmother were Jewish. Why did Paul have Timothy circumcised after the council at Jerusalem? As stated in, “Was Hebrew…
Read MoreShould an absent father be invited to graduation?
Question: My neighbor has a son who is confused about whether to invite his father to his 8th-grade graduation. The parents are divorced and his dad has only called twice in the last two years. His father has only visited a handful of times over the past twelve years. The father feels that the son…
Read MoreWould the Exodus have been a two-week walk?
Question: Also, in Deuteronomy 8:2, I heard that same preacher say that it should have been a two-week walk for their travel from Egypt, but it took them 40 years instead. A two-week walk? Answer: For one person or a nation? It took three months to get from Egypt to Sinai (Exodus 19:1-2). And then…
Read MoreWere the disciples rowing the boat for seven hours?
Question: In Mark 6:45, were the disciples rowing that boat for 7 hours? I know it says the “fourth watch” but is that equivalent to 7 hours like I heard a preacher say? Answer: In the days before timepieces, people tended to divide the days and nights into three-hour segments. While you might not know…
Read MoreThinking Highly of Self
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/ThinkingHighlyOfSelf.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Romans 12:3-16 I. Several years ago, Whitney Houston, came on the music scene with a song that became her signature song, “The Greatest Love of All.” I never found anyone who fulfilled my needs. A lonely place to be. And so I learned to depend on me. I decided…
Read MoreThey Think It Strange
by Terry W. Benton For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles– when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking…
Read MoreThese Six Things the LORD Hates
by Tanner Campbell “These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren” (Proverbs…
Read MoreWhy didn’t Lot turn down his daughters’ advances?
Question: Why did Lot in Genesis 19, get drunk, have sex with his daughters, and get them pregnant? I wondered what was the purpose? Couldn’t he have just said no to his daughters? Answer: A major problem with all drugs, including alcohol, is that they impair a person’s judgment. Things that normally would be rejected somehow become “reasonable” to…
Read MoreIs Paul talking about destroying the body with food or sin in I Corinthians 3:16-17?
Question: In I Corinthians 3:16,17, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye.” Paul talks about the temple of God, which I…
Read MoreYou shouldn’t condemn those who believe baptism is unnecessary for salvation
Question: I am a Christian, a part of the Church of the Nazarene. I myself have been baptized, but it becomes a concern to me when many others find it absolutely necessary to be baptized with water to be saved. I am very open to the consideration of the doctrines of men that find their…
Read MoreIf we had committed fornication, would God judge us and force us to divorce?
Question: Of late, I have been pouring over the articles on the La Vista church website. I came across a number of articles that have left me a bit confused. I wonder if my girlfriend and I can still get married even though we committed fornication. According to “Why Sex Outside of Marriage is Wrong,”…
Read MoreRelying on God
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/RelyingOnGod.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I. The afternoon news and talk show featured a short debate over a recent story. The parents of eleven children had two of their children die. One died from untreated diabetes. The other died from complications of an untreated ear infection. The parents believed firmly in the power of prayer and…
Read MoreMy girlfriend and I fear we will lose each other, even though we aren’t fighting. What are we doing wrong?
Question: I hope you don’t consider me a whiner, but I know you are one person who gives me straight answers. My girlfriend and I are engulfed with this fear of losing one another or breaking up. We are not fighting, but the fear is there. Is this normal? What are we doing wrong? Kindly…
Read MoreHow do I know which church is the right one?
Question: Hello, I am a struggling 24-year-old who has been struggling with what church to go to and what kind it should be. The reason for this is because I have been to four different churches and everyone claims that their church or religion is the right one. How would I know what is the…
Read MoreI’m using your pictures in a study with senior citizens
Question: Thank you for these wonderful old Bible story pictures from my childhood. I am using then in a study with senior citizens! Blessings! Answer: You are welcome.
Read MoreThank you for a web site that pulls no punches
Question: Thank you for your boldness in creating a web site that pulls no punches. I have read “How to Misunderstand the Bible” and “Sons of Thunder” a great blessing to me. And please continue doing what you are doing Thank you! Answer: I appreciate the encouragement.
Read MoreDo you need to be thinking about remission of sin when being baptized for it to be valid?
Question: I am a member of the church but have become paranoid recently about an issue relating to baptism. I read something recently by a member of the church who wrote that if you were not “thinking” about remission of sins specifically when you were baptized, then your baptism was basically no good. My story is…
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