Dem Bones and the Invitation
by Edward T. Rangel Every once in a while, the question comes up, the opinions make their usual rounds on social media, everybody gets their two cents in, and then the subject disappears again until “dem bones” are resurrected a few months or years later. Well, dem bones are rattling again. What is the topic…
Read MoreWhere did the concept of one man and one woman come from?
Question: Where was this concept of one man and one woman first introduced, and why did early people marry many women and have many concubines? Were there no marriage laws among early mankind? Did God ignore or permit early people to marry and have relations with as many women as they wished? Answer: The concept…
Read MoreGreatness and Humility
by Hugh DeLong Who is the greatest in the kingdom of God? Out of all the people in Galilee, out of all the people who came to see Jesus, out of all the disciples who followed Jesus, the apostles were chosen. Is that not enough? No, they constantly argued about which of them was the…
Read MoreGod’s Victory Over Enemies
by Zeke Flores “Do not fear them, for Yahweh your God is the one fighting for you” (Deuteronomy 3:22). Deuteronomy 3 highlights God’s victory over powerful enemies, especially King Og of Bashan. Moses reminds Israel that God’s power supports them. This wasn’t just encouragement; it was a command rooted in experience. Israel had already seen God…
Read MoreShopping and Communion Kits
by Clay Gentry What do shopping at Kroger and prepackaged communion kits have in common? It starts with a small change I noticed at Kroger last night that completely changes how checking out feels. It used to be that after everything was scanned, the screen would scroll through line after line of your “Kroger Savings.”…
Read MoreUnconditional Love (Benton)
by Terry W Benton Daily Points of Light from Heaven Is God’s love unconditional? If so, what does it mean? There is no doubt that the core character of God is that His endearing quality is love. Yet that very point is not understood. We bring to the table our own concepts of what we…
Read MoreConsider the Source (Hamilton)
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/Consider-the-Source.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: II Chronicles 24:15-22 I. A fellow preacher, whom I’ve corresponded with for several years, wrote concerned about how to address a problem. A. He had recently contacted a man who had been in a preacher’s training program and moved into the area a few months prior. Interestingly, the…
Read MoreCan someone remain in an adulterous marriage without sin?
Question: The minister at my congregation recently led a Bible study on marriage, divorce, and remarriage. During the study, he said that he agrees with Matthew 19:9, which teaches that a spouse may divorce someone because of sexual immorality. However, he then argued that the guilty party is also permitted to remarry. He repeatedly emphasized…
Read MorePriest vs. Prophets
by Tommy Peeler An idea largely abandoned in this time to explain the religion of Israel is that the priests and prophets taught different ideas about what their God wanted and what was needed to be pleasing to Him. The idea was that the priests of Israel taught a religion that emphasized ritual, sacrifice, and…
Read MoreOpen My Eyes That I Might See (Sermon)
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Open-My-Eyes-That-I-Might-See.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: Hebrews 5:11-14 I. Discerning good – Hebrews 5:11-14 A. I can understand a person not recognizing evil, but how does a person miss good? B. The topic under discussion was seeing that Jesus was like Melchizedek 1. This was something needful and good 2. But the audience could not see it…
Read MoreSince no church is perfect, can we attend any church?
Question: Why do people have the “no church is perfect” mentality? I had a conversation with my mother about a church she was trying to convince me to go to. It was a church I knew about, and I told her I didn’t want to go because the church she spoke of was part of…
Read MoreModesty for Men 101
by Tol Burk It’s summertime, so there will be articles about modesty, but before you ignore this one, I ask you to stop and read it. Usually the emphasis is on swimming attire and such. But modesty is much more than showing some skin—you can be immodest in the dead of winter. For the sake…
Read MoreThe Evidence of Nature
by Elton Trueblood, The Logic of Belief, p. 158-159 via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 22, No. 1, March 1996 “The chief strength of atheistic naturalism has lain in the notion that the material world needs no explanation, external to itself, that it is, indeed, a perpetual motion machine, which had no beginning and will have no end. But…
Read MoreFound: A Legendary City that History Forgot
from U.S. News and World Report, December 4, 1995, p. 10 via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 22 No. 1, March 1996 They lived, legend said, more than 4,000 years ago, mining ore and worshiping a god that lived in their fabled capital, Urkesh. Modern history remembered their contemporaries—the Sumerians and the Semites—but it all but forgot the Hurrians…
Read MoreAdventures with Alaskan Dinosaur Bones
by Margaret Helder, Creation Science Dialog, Vol. 21 No. 3 via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 22 No. 1, March 1996 Sponsored by Creation Research Science Education Foundation, five men went to Alaska in July 1994 to collect unfossilized dinosaur bones. They included John Whitmore (Associate Professor of Geology at Cedarville College, Ohio); Mike Liston (outdoor and rescue specialist);…
Read MoreCan Random Events Create Order?
by Michael Talbot, “Mathematical Evidence of the Existence of God,” p. 195 via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 22 No. 1, March 1996 From Beyond the Quantum: “David Ossekon chided his fellow mathematicians for ever popularizing the issue of monkeys and typewriters. The basic mathematics behind the notion that, given enough time, a group of monkeys would eventually…
Read MoreLife
by Mark M. Chatfield via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 22 No. 1, March 1996 Ken Ledbetter wrote an excellent article titled “The Emotional Issue of the Origin of Life” for the December 1995 issue of Sentry Magazine. It was thought-provoking and showed the author’s characteristic truth-seeking. It took me a couple of days considering the subject to…
Read MoreComparing Against the Standard
by Bob Dawson via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 22 No. 1, March 1996 Several men speaking at Annandale (Virginia) have recently made a point in their lessons, warning against straying from the truth, as revealed in God’s word, in our worship of Him. They pointed out that even though we start out following the truth in our…
Read MoreAuthenticating One’s Faith
by James P. Needham via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 22 No. 1, 1996 Should young people go through life accepting what parents and teachers have taught them, or should they, through honest questions and serious study, authenticate their own faith, making it their own? Should we encourage questioning, or resent them, feeling that we are being rejected…
Read MoreAre Christians Under the Old Testament?
by Jeff Wilson via InLight Media Has the Old Testament been done away with? Or does it actually still apply to modern-day Christians? If you’ve ever wondered how Christians should read the Old Testament today, this biblical discussion will challenge assumptions, strengthen your faith, and help you see God’s redemptive story with fresh eyes. Watch…
Read MoreEmotion vs. Truth
by Chadwick Brewer One of the greatest challenges that we have in walking according to the Spirit is that we are so accustomed to walking according to our emotions. We have been trained to and constantly instructed to act according to our feelings. “What do you feel in your heart?” “Be true to yourself.” “Speak…
Read MoreGod Goes Before You
by Zeke Flores “Yahweh your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf” (Deuteronomy 1:30). Deuteronomy 1 opens with Moses reminding Israel of their long journey and the moments where fear held them back. One of the most striking lines is God’s reassurance in Deuteronomy 1:30. Israel had seen God’s power, yet…
Read MoreWhat Are Christians to Be Doing in the World?
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/What-Are-Christians-to-be-Doing-in-the-World.mp3 by Raymond Warfel Download Audio
Read MoreFacing Life’s Challenges
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Facing-Lifes-Challenges.mp3 by Raymond Warfel Download Audio
Read MoreAn Angel Saves Peter by Grace Through Faith
by Terry Wane Benton Daily Points of Light from Heaven James was killed by Herod (Acts 12), and Herod thought killing Peter would also appease the Jews. So, what we have here is Peter under wrath and condemnation, chained between two soldiers, guarded to be executed soon. The Lord sent an angel, a messenger of…
Read MoreThe Danger of Dainty Morsels
by Jeremy Hodges Humans are often highly susceptible to gossip, and the Bible’s clear statements about the danger associated with it show how susceptible we really are. (Proverbs 18:8; 20:19; 26:22; Romans 1:29; II Timothy 3:3). The one who is spreading the gossip likes the air of authority and insight it gives them without any…
Read MoreJesus, Truth, and the Word of God
by Hugh DeLong While reading Matthew 15, I took a piece of paper and made some observations. It should be obvious, but such observations do not exhaust our understanding of this text. So here are my scribbles: God commanded and said – (Matthew 15:3-4) There is a God. God has expectations of men. God revealed…
Read MoreDid I judge correctly that my wife committed adultery?
Question: Many years ago, my first wife and I got a divorce. I came home one night after church, and she told me she wanted a divorce. I didn’t want it, and she said it was for irreconcilable differences. So we separated for a bit, then tried reconciliation, which ended up failing. While separated, I…
Read MoreLoving God Leads to Loving Your Neighbor
“Again and again the message of the Old Testament is that if you choose the wrong gods you will end in social decay. Biblical monotheism, far from an abstract creed, affirms that only when God is properly honored will society be just and compassionate. Modern western society, reaping the fruit of two centuries of systematically…
Read MoreJust How Important Is the Body?
by David Gibson The body: present and future In this life, we who are Christians are “at home in the body” (II Corinthians 5:6). At death, our spirit is separated from our body (James 2:26). After death, we are “absent from the body” and are “present with the Lord” (II Corinthians 5:8). When Christ returns,…
Read MoreOf Whom the World Was Not Worthy
by Terry Wane Benton Daily Points of Light from Heaven The Hebrew writer makes a great point when he speaks of the long list of persecuted and rejected servants of God who “escaped the edge of the sword…became valiant in battle… others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They…
Read MoreJesus Gave Them Authority
by Hugh DeLong “Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness” (Matthew 10:1). “These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: ‘Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any…
Read MoreIf Jesus Is God Then to Whom Did He Pray?
by Jon Rowe The Scriptures clearly teach that Jesus is God (John 1:1, Colossians 2:9, etc). So, in an attempt to dismantle that claim, skeptics may ask, “Then to whom did Jesus pray?” While it is true that there is only one God, He exists in three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the…
Read MoreHow can marrying a divorced woman be ongoing adultery?
Question: In Matthew 19:9, “commits adultery” is used twice in this verse. The first time, concerning the husband, it is in the present tense. Now, the present tense does not always mean ongoing action. The context must determine that. The second time, concerning the wife, it is in the aorist tense. Aorist tense never is ongoing.…
Read MoreIntegrity
by Zeke Flores “If a man makes a vow to Yahweh … he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth” (Numbers 30:2). Numbers 30 emphasizes integrity. When someone made a vow, God expected them to keep it. Their words mattered. Their commitments reflected their character. We…
Read MoreOf Speaking Donkeys
by Terry Wane Benton Daily Points of Light from Heaven Critics of the Bible say: “The story of Balaam’s donkey speaking to him is considered a miraculous event rather than a scientifically plausible occurrence”. We know such cannot happen, and therefore the Bible contains myth, not verifiable truth. Response: Again, the Creator of the donkey…
Read MoreI Am With You
by David Gibson Comforting assurance By using a Bible computer program, you can type in the words, “I am with you,” and in just moments the screen displays every passage where this phrase is found. If you count all references to “I am with you” plus “I will be with you,” you will discover more…
Read MoreEasier to Say
by Hugh DeLong Jesus asked a simple question: “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’?”(Matthew 9:5). Of course, the answer is that it is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’, for how does one prove or disprove that such took place? However, if one says…
Read MoreA Model of Good Works
by Edwin Crozier Not only is Titus to teach what accords with healthy teaching, but he is also to be a model of good works. That is, he should model self-control, sober-mindedness, dignity, soundness in faith, love, and steadfastness. He is to demonstrate purity. He is to place special emphasis on being a model in…
Read MoreHealthy Teaching
by Edwin Crozier Though there are some teachers who need to be silenced, as Paul explained at the end of Titus 1, teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach, upsetting whole families, Titus needs to teach what accords with sound or healthy doctrine. I have no doubt all true doctrine falls under…
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