Return to the Lord
by Warren E. Berkley “‘Yet even now,’ declares the LORD, ‘return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping and mourning; and rend your heart and not your garments.’ Now return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and relenting of evil” (Joel…
Read MoreGod’s Unchanging Hand
by Ken Weliever, The Preacherman “For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we,…
Read MoreWhat Shall I Do?
by Jefferson David Tant One undeniable certainty of life is that it is full of choices. What time to get up in the morning, what clothes to wear, what food to eat, what car to buy, who to marry, what occupation to pursue, what friends to choose. All of them have consequences. And of course,…
Read MoreLet Justice Roll Down
by Doy Moyer “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (Amos 5:24) We typically think of justice as being connected to our legal system, and this is important. However, justice, biblically, must also be practiced personally. It isn’t just about what we do legally; it’s about how we as…
Read MoreAre some of the problems behind homosexual attraction due to not understanding what it means to be male?
Question: Dear Mr. Hamilton, I read your response to the young man who asked: “I think I’m gay because my penis gets erect for guys and not gals.” Your answer to why the young man doesn’t get erect around young women was excellent and clear: “You don’t get the same reaction because you don’t see…
Read MoreContending with the Almighty
by Doy Moyer The book of Job is not as much about Job and his faith as it is about God and how He operates. Job was being tested, to be sure, but God even more so. Does God bless Job for nothing? Is God being unfair and unjust? Is God the true adversary? Does…
Read MoreSin versus Grace
by Doy Moyer Sin is much more than just the commission of a bad act here or there. It is a condition in which we reside. Sin is something in which people walk and live (Colossians 3:7). We were dead in sin and were by nature “children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:1-3). Sin holds us captive…
Read MoreThe Unusual Style of the Bible
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/The-Unusual-Style-of-the-Bible.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Peter 1:16-21 I. When we talk about the Bible, a major point made in its defense is to point out the unusual unity it displays despite being written by about 40 writers over a 1,500 year period. A. The authors lived in different regions, had different occupations. B. The writings…
Read MoreThe One Thing that Matters
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/The-One-Thing-that-Matters.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Luke 11:5-13 I. How do you pray? What do you pray for? A. A young Chinese preacher asked me to explain Luke 11:9-10 better so that he could teach others in his area better B. God is all knowing, but God expects us to ask 1. Consider how many people won’t even…
Read MoreIs it wrong to bow during a prayer offered by someone who does not live a Christian life?
Question: My brother often leads prayer at family gatherings. I have a problem with this. He drinks alcohol daily, often is intoxicated, and lives a sexually immoral life. When he says, “Let’s pray,” everyone bows their heads. My husband is always present and sometimes he does lead the prayer. My brother is not a member…
Read MoreThe Preacher’s Work
by Andy Sochor When Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, one of the matters he addressed was the support of preachers (I Corinthians 9:3-14). He explained that although he did not take wages from them (I Corinthians 9:15; cf. II Corinthians 11:8), he had a right to receive such support. To show that a…
Read MoreIs having a child by artificial insemination without being married acceptable to God?
Question: Hi! I know someone who wants to have a child but doesn’t want to marry. She is planning to have artificial insemination instead to keep her reproductive organ healthy by bearing a child at least once in her life. She considers adopting too, soon, if she still can. She just prefers having a child…
Read MoreWhy would a prophet tell my mother to bathe me?
Question: Good morning sir, I saw your counseling online and I immediately felt at peace, so I felt I should ask for your advice sir. Some weeks ago, my grandmother’s prophet of a celestial church came to the house and asked my mum to bathe me as she would a child. He said it was…
Read MoreMormonism and Polygamy
by Jefferson David Tant It is well known that in the 1800s the Mormon Church taught and practiced polygamy. Its founder, Joseph Smith, had many wives. Andrew Jensen, who was an assistant Mormon church historian, listed 27 women who were married to Joseph Smith (see the Historical Record, pp. 233, 234). The Mormon author John…
Read MoreSome Things I Want to Teach My Children
by Bill Hall “And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath; but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). In keeping with the instruction of this passage, there are certain things that I want to teach my children. Reverence I want to teach my children proper reverence and…
Read MoreJames, Peter, and I
by Matthew W. Bassford Acts 12 offers one of the great conundrums of the New Testament. In the first few verses of the chapter, the wicked king Herod Agrippa arrests and executes the apostle James, the brother of John. Shortly thereafter, he arrests Peter with the same intention. However, God sends his angel to rescue…
Read MoreTaking Advantage of Personal Contacts
by Jefferson David Tant The day was hot, and they walked a long distance. They were passing through unfamiliar territory among people of a different culture, and some were possibly nervous. By now it was noon, and the sun was beating down. At last, a resting place ahead – a well. The group left their…
Read MoreIs imagining what God is like idolatry?
Question: Hi Mr. Hamilton, How have you been? I’ve been wondering, is it sinful or idolatrous for me to try and picture God or Christ in my mind? This is often something I do whenever I pray for God’s wisdom on a matter, when I’m stressed out about something and just want to leave those…
Read MoreI want to change my life. Can you help me?
Question: Greetings to you, I have read almost everything that you have written on homosexuality and you have answered most of my questions. Still, I feel like writing to you with some of my other questions and feelings. I am a young guy. Since I can remember, I felt attracted to men and not girls. I…
Read MoreA Better Understanding of Baptism
by T. Sean Sullivan As many lessons as having included baptism, one might think everyone has it all figured out. However, lessons don’t always stick and their points are not always being absorbed as they should. There also seems to be a never-ending stream of false ideas from out there. With so much confusion on…
Read MoreCount Your Many Blessings — But Use Them
by Kent Heaton As a nation, we are blessed in measures far exceeding the majority of people in the world. The material wealth possessed by Americans may seem rather routine but in most countries owning a pair of shoes is like owning a rare jewel. Stores often are filled to the brim with an abundance…
Read MoreCoddling Sinners
by Ron Daly To “coddle” is to treat indulgently. Coddling sinners not only can be but is disastrous to an individual or congregation. God does not give us any authority to provide an “escape hatch” for sinners, that is, people who sin and do not repent. Obviously, if a person repents of his sins and…
Read MoreDo Not Become Slaves Of Men
by Sewell Hall “Were you called while a slave? Do not worry about it; but if you are able also to become free, rather do that. For he who was called in the Lord while a slave, is the Lord’s freedman; likewise he who was called while free, is Christ’s slave. You were bought with…
Read MoreGoing Before and Following After
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Going-Before-and-Following-After.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Timothy 5:21-25 I. The phrase “lay hands upon” in I Timothy 5:22 deals giving your blessing to another person A. Such as when Jacob blessed his grandchildren – Genesis 48:14 B. Such as when someone is appointed to a duty – Acts 6:6; 13:2-3 C. It can also be a sign…
Read MoreBad Influence
by Zeke Flores Some 2400 years ago, God’s people were confronted with their sins yet again. When Ezra the priest heard about how Israel had broken God’s law by marrying foreign women, he tore his robes, prayed, and fasted. When faced with the gravity of disobedience to God, the people committed themselves to faithfulness. And…
Read MorePreaching and Performance
by Doy Moyer There is a difference between preaching and performance. This is not to say good preaching does not involve solid delivery or shouldn’t use any aids. It is to say there is a difference in focus, and the preacher does well to understand this. Performance aims at the mechanics. It can come across…
Read MoreAre We Looking for Questions or Answers?
by Doy Moyer There is a difference between the one who is constantly seeking questions and the one who is seeking answers. The following is not intended to be a list of hard rules with no exceptions. Rather, these are observations I have found to be fairly typical in my own experiences: The question-seeker is…
Read MoreSolomon: Failure of the World’s Wisest Man
by Max Dawson In my mind, it is one of the most difficult things to reconcile. How did it happen? How could it possibly happen? I am talking about King Solomon. How did the wisest man in the world mess up so badly? How did a man with such a great beginning have such a…
Read MoreMy daughter’s school is insisting that she take a class that includes provocative dancing
Question: Brother Hamilton, I pray you and your family are well. I have a concern about a class my daughter is taking in high school. There is provocative dancing that I don’t think it’s appropriate for her and our Christian beliefs. I addressed my concerns to the counselor in order to change her class to…
Read MoreWhy didn’t you list the ten tribes?
Questions: You fail to answer your own question, “Who are the 10 tribes of the Northern Kingdom?” I was looking to see if Levi was among them but no list is given. If Judah and Benjamin remained in the south then that would mean Levi was in the north. But I have read that some…
Read MoreThe Passover Lamb and Baptism
by Matthew W. Bassford The story of the first Passover is familiar to most of us. In Exodus 12, Moses instructs the Israelites to take an unblemished male lamb, slaughter it, eat it as part of a ritual meal, and apply its blood to the doorposts and lintels of their houses. This strange ceremony had…
Read MoreStages of Decline
by Steve Wolfgang The stages of development often seen in religious fellowships, related here by historian David Edwin Harrell, Jr., are well worth contemplating in these times. From truth-oriented to group-oriented. From open controversy to closed controversy. From self-conscious rejection of society to self-conscious acceptance of society. From builders to preservers. [Ed Harrell, “B.C. Goodpasture:…
Read MoreProverbs Sometime Overlooked
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Proverbs-Sometime-Overlooked.mp3 by Raymond Warfel
Read MoreBe Kind to All
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Be-Kind-to-All.mp3 by Raymond Warfel
Read MoreThe Wages of Sin Is Death
by Doy Moyer “For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23). Why should death have been the penalty for sin? In short, because we have disregarded the Giver of all life and breath and all things. If in our own pride we try to usurp God and take His throne and His glory for…
Read MorePride and Preachers
by Bruce Reeves There has been some discussion lately about preachers and jealousy. Brother Tommy Peeler has pointed out that preachers are not the only ones who struggle with jealousy. I knew a man one time that told a gospel preacher that he did not think that it was fair that he had more personal…
Read MoreSalvation by Grace (Bassford)
by Matthew W. Bassford Recently, I have become an even louder proponent of grace, indeed of the naked necessity of grace, than I ever was before. I can tell from the comments I’ve been getting on social media that this has made some good brethren nervous. They reply with variations of, “Yes, but you have…
Read MoreIs it wrong for your mom or sister to lead prayers at home?
Question: I know I Timothy 2:11-12 says that women cannot exercise leadership over a man nor teach him, but I’m a little confused. I’ve heard that this only applies in church or in schools, so some clarification on the wording would be very helpful. I ask this because my sister and my mother sometimes lead…
Read MoreThe Bible
by Matthew W. Bassford I will begin with Paul’s farewell address to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20. In verse 32 he commends them to God and the word of His grace, which is able to build them up and give them an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. Today, we’re going to use…
Read MoreWhat Is “A Different Gospel?”
by Jefferson David Tant In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatian churches, in the beginning, he deals with a serious problem in the churches concerning which he has knowledge, and that is “a different gospel.” “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for…
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