Is marriage the business of the church or the family?
Question: Hello Minister, I hope you are doing well. I have a few issues I would like some clarification on. Is marriage primarily the business of the church or the family? In many African contexts, the acceptance of a bride price by the woman’s family during a formal occasion is a prerequisite for marriage. After…
Read MoreViews of Heaven
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Views-of-Heaven.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: Revelation 21:1-4 I. Most cultures have some view of an afterlife A. It is a logical conclusion. Either there is an afterlife or there is not. 1. If there is no afterlife, then life becomes meaningless. There is no reason to go through hardship and suffering. There is no…
Read MoreCan Deconstruction Actually Be a Good Thing?
by Andy Diestelkamp via InLight Media A lot of Christians may think deconstruction is nothing but a threat to Christendom. But maybe that’s not always the case. Andy Diestelkamp unpacks the concept of deconstruction, highlighting ways we can engage in good deconstruction as people of faith seeking objective truth.
Read MoreWhy Do We All Believe in Right and Wrong?
by Doy Moyer via InLight Media Across cultures, times, and worldviews, humans share a deep sense of moral obligation—a feeling that some things ought to be done and others ought not. But where does that sense come from? Is morality something we invent as societies… or is our conscience discovering something real? In this video, Doy…
Read MoreDo we have eternal life permanently?
by Terry Wane Benton Question: If we have eternal life, doesn’t that mean we have it permanently? Answer: We have eternal life in promise. Just as formerly, we had eternal condemnation in promise. The promise of eternal damnation is to the unbeliever who can change their destiny by belief and repentance. Change your destiny by…
Read MoreDoes faith cause salvation?
Question: Dear Mr. Hamilton, Thank you for sharing the article “What Saves a Person.” I’ve read it carefully and wanted to follow up with a sincere question. I noticed the article lists many things Scripture associates with salvation — God, Christ, grace, faith, repentance, baptism, obedience, etc. — and then concludes that all are equally…
Read MoreIf everyone sins, how can anyone go to heaven?
Question: I have some questions for you: I saw a video that says sinners cannot go to heaven; you cannot walk on the path of sin and still expect your name to be written in the Book of Life. If the video is correct, sinners cannot go to heaven. However, even Christians make mistakes and…
Read MoreA Need to “Reinterpret” Paul?
by Allen Dvorak via Biblical Insights, Vol. 14 No. 8, August 2014 In Matthew 5:41, Jesus said, “And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.” His statement makes sense to the Bible student who understands that, under Roman law, a Roman soldier could compel any Jew, as a subject in…
Read MoreDon’t Be Surprised by Suffering
by Edwin Crozier Text: I Peter 4 Jesus told the apostles: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the…
Read MoreAin’t Skeered!
by Dennis Strickland While driving around in recent months, I have been seeing stickers on the back windows of trucks that say: “Ain’t Skeered!” It is not very difficult to determine what this means. To one speaking properly, the phrase would be: “I’m not afraid.” In various situations, many people have claimed they were not…
Read MoreThe Foundation of My Belief
by Hugh DeLong What is the foundational base of my belief (and consequently, yours)? Not that my understanding becomes the standard for your belief, but how you read, interpret, and understand the revelation given by the Spirit. Let us start with several observations. There is a revealing of God’s will to men. (OK, first hurdle – what scriptures…
Read MoreNotes on Foreigners
The Resident Alien The Hebrew word is gerim. These are people who live within Israel’s borders, often as refugees or laborers. Leviticus 19:33-34 “When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you…
Read More“David” Found at Dan
by Henry Robinson via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 20 No. 2, June 1994 Tel Dan Stele The March/April 1994 edition of the Biblical Archaeology Review (Vol. 20, No.2) reported the following: “It’s not often that an archaeological find makes the front page of the New York Times (to say nothing of Time magazine. But that is what…
Read MoreDo You Know Who I Am?
by Mark Mason via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 20 No. 2, June 1994 There is a story floating around about then-President Bush a few years ago. He was supposedly visiting a nursing home, where he took the hand of an elderly man walking the halls and asked kindly, “Sir, do you know who I am?״ The…
Read MoreUse Your Gifts to Serve
by Edwin Crozier Text: I Peter 4 Let’s get back to what it looks like to keep our conduct honorable among the Gentiles. Peter provides a handful of instructions. We are to be sober-minded and self-controlled. I know this is part of honorable conduct because it mirrors what he told husbands about living with their…
Read MoreClouds Without Water
by Terry Wane Benton Peter spoke of change agents as false teachers who creep into churches, promise liberty from the old way of doing things, but they “despise authority” (II Peter 2). They are “clouds without water”. What does that mean? It means they have no real substance to their own teaching. They can criticize…
Read MoreSuicide Is a Very Complicated Issue
by Kevin Rutherford Suicide is a very complicated issue. It is one that we cannot be flippant about and careless with. This discussion should always be accompanied by caution, compassion, and care. If anyone reading this article has come to such a condition that you have had thoughts of suicide, please seek professional and spiritual…
Read MoreThe Judgment that Matters
by Edwin Crozier Text: I Peter 4. In I Peter 3:18, the apostle explained that when Jesus suffered once for sins, He was put to death in the flesh, but was made alive in the Spirit. Men killed Him, but God raised Him. Man’s rejection mattered little to Jesus personally. God’s assessment and acceptance mattered…
Read MoreIslam and Governments
by Larry Rouse Here is the simplest way to explain what makes Islam fundamentally different from every other major religion, and why it is uniquely destabilizing. Judaism, Sikhism, Christianity, and Islam are monotheistic religions, meaning they teach belief in one deity. Islam adds a second, inseparable layer, and that is exactly what makes it problematic.…
Read MoreIf the Devil Wanted to Make a Denomination Out of the Church
by Floyd Chappelear via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 18 No. 2, June 1994 The church of our Lord was fashioned in the mind of God before earth-time began (Ephesians 1:9-10; 3:9-11). It was made according to His purpose and was built by Him after the earthly sojourn of Jesus Christ (Matthew 16:18). Everything about it was perfect…
Read MoreVery Costly Perfume
by Hugh DeLong In chapter 14 of Mark, we are introduced to two different worldviews: what is the most important goal of one’s life, and the resulting use of one’s monetary resources. First, the ‘woman’, identified for us in Matthew 26:6-13 and John 12:1-8, is Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. She takes an…
Read MoreJudah and Jospeh
by Chad Bird Genesis 38 often feels like an unwanted interruption in the Joseph story, a dark and unsettling back-alley detour filled with death, sex, deceit, and judgment. For years, I treated it like a commercial break, impatient to return to Joseph’s story. But that view missed the point. Badly. Genesis 38 is not a…
Read MoreScience Still Can’t Rule God Out
by Buddy Payne via InLight Media Has science really proved that God does not exist? Many people assume modern science has made belief in God obsolete—but is that actually true? In this video, Buddy Payne examines the limits of the scientific method and asks an important question: Can science prove that God does—or does not—exist?…
Read MoreRoots of Repentance
by David Gibson Repentance isn’t easy. Why? Sin is pleasurable. Change is challenging. Confession is humbling. What can prompt a 180°? Fear of punishment Knowing God was about to punish, the Ninevites repented (Jonah 3:4-10). Seeing their penitence, God relented (Jeremiah 18:7-8). Shouldn’t Judgment Day motivate us? “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now…
Read More“Woke” – A Biblical View
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Woke-A-Biblical-View.mp3 Download Audio by Garry Floyd Text: James 3:17 “Woke” philosophy is not a single, formal philosophy. It’s a modern cultural and social framework that blends ideas from civil rights activism, social justice theory, and academic critical theories. The term has evolved a lot, which is why it’s often confusing and controversial. Here’s a clear,…
Read MoreTwo Sons Show Us the Truth
by Terry Wane Benton When we hear those who read the scriptures through Calvinistic lenses tell us that Adam and Eve handed down “Total Depravity” and “Inability”, we turn our attention to two sons, each of whom should have inherited this depraved gene. Cain and Abel show us the opposite. Both brought an offering to…
Read MoreA New Man
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/A-New-Man.mp3 Download Audio by Garry Floyd Text: John 3:1-18 What Does It Mean to Be “A New Man”? II Corinthians 5:16–17 Paul declares that in Christ we no longer evaluate life merely from a human point of view. To be a New Man is not cosmetic change or religious language. It is a complete transformation…
Read MoreYou Can Be Hurt in the Church—and Still Raise Faithful Children
by Brad Harrub, Ph.D. There are few pains more confusing than being wounded by people who wear the name of Christ. Many parents have sat in pews with a knot in their stomach—betrayed by leadership, ignored in suffering, judged unfairly, or damaged by hypocrisy. Some have endured church splits, public shaming, mishandled discipline, gossip, or…
Read MoreWhat God Does with the Wounded
by Matthew Allan Many are tired. Not just busy, but worn down: disappointment, loss, prayers that feel unanswered, strained relationships, and quiet grief that piles up over time. The Lord is near the brokenhearted; he saves those crushed in spirit (Psalms 34:18). God draws near, not away When people are wounded, they pull back, isolate,…
Read MoreIs Anything Too Hard for the Lord?
by Terry Wane Benton Genesis shows the Lord creating and organizing the entire universe and all manner of life. Once we admit that the creation and life did not form themselves, which is obvious and undeniable science and fact, we have to follow the rest of the testimony given in Genesis that there is nothing…
Read MoreBorderline Christians
by B. C. Goodpasture There is a story of a county Superintendent of Education who received three applications for one vacancy among the school bus drivers. He devised this scheme for selecting the proper man. The superintendent took the first applicant to a sharp curve on a steep grade along the road and asked, “How…
Read MoreWhat are all the commands we must keep?
Question: What are all the commands that we are called to obey under Christ? In 1st John, it states that the commandments are not burdensome, and it lists two commands throughout John’s epistles. How many more commands do I need to follow? I want to make sure I’m not leaving anything out. Answer: God did…
Read MoreWhen Christians Grow Confused About ICE, Borders, and the Bible
by Brad Harrub, Ph.D. Few issues today generate more emotional confusion among Christians than immigration and the role of ICE. Social media has a way of reducing complex biblical questions into shallow slogans: “Jesus would tear down the walls,” or “Borders are unloving.” Those statements may sound compassionate, but they are not grounded in Scripture.…
Read MoreIs God in Control?
by Doy Moyer We often hear that “God is in control” when things in this world aren’t going well. With all the violence and evil, we wonder, how can God be in control? Are we saying that God makes bad people do bad things? Are we saying that God creates the violence and evil? It…
Read MoreBe Sober
by Terry Wane Benton Deuteronomy 29:19 says the drunkard cannot be included with the sober. Christians are commanded to “watch and be sober” (I Thessalonians 5:6). and “let us who are of the day be sober”(I Thessalonians 5:8). Instead of relaxing our minds with a little alcoholic beverage or a little weed, we are commanded…
Read MoreScoffers in the Last Days
by Terry Wane Benton “Knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts” (II Peter 3:3). Scoffers are those who would laugh off the pure word of God. For example, they would scoff at the idea of a worldwide flood, Noah, and the animals being saved on an…
Read MoreRich Young Ruler
by Hugh DeLong I find it interesting to see the list of commandments that Jesus quoted to the rich young ruler in Mark 10:19: “You know the commandments: Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness; do not defraud; honor your father and mother.” If you compare this…
Read MoreRaising Doctrinal Concerns the Right Way
by Matthew Allen via From Fear to Faith Truth matters. Scripture never calls God’s people to ignore error. Elders are told to guard the flock, preachers are charged to handle the word accurately, and Christians are warned that some will depart from the faith. But Scripture is equally clear about how concerns are to be…
Read MoreWhy don’t preachers follow Paul’s example and not accept pay for preaching?
Question: In I Corinthians 11:1, we are commanded to follow the example of the Bible, so why don’t preachers today follow Paul’s example and not take money for preaching so as not to hinder the Gospel of Christ? Reason I ask this question is because from 1950s-1970s preachers were ranked by majority of people to…
Read MoreA friend doesn’t want to think her parents might not be saved
Question: Hello, Thank you for all the information you have on your website. I use the resources weekly! We visited your congregation a few years ago when we were in Omaha for a hockey tournament. My wife studied with her friend for 5-6 months, almost weekly, and she obeyed the gospel and was baptized. She grew…
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