Your website is absolutely amazing!
Question: Dear brothers I’m a member of the Church of Christ, and I just want to thank you for the great work you did put into your website! I’m currently reading through all your topics and I learn so much. It’s absolutely amazing. So again, thank you, and may God bless you! Answer: Thank you…
Read MoreWhen It’s Time To Leave
by Joe Works Leave Peaceably That may not happen but it needs to be your goal. No good will come from “letting people have it” as you’re walking out the door (Romans 12:18; Hebrews 12:14). Leave Hopeful If people have treated you poorly maybe they will change. Pray sincerely for them. God changed you from…
Read MoreExamining Christianity
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Examining-Christianity.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Corinthians 13:1-8 I. Most religions in the world surround themselves in mysteries A. Followers are asked to accept things without full knowledge B. Only a select few are granted special insight C. But God’s teachings are not like these religions 1. God challenges us to reason about the evidence available – Isaiah…
Read MoreWhy Doesn’t God Prove Himself?
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Why-Doesnt-God-Prove-Himself.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Isaiah 43:8-13 I. “If God is real, why doesn’t He just give concrete evidence?” A. It is a question that preachers frequently run into. B. If I don’t personally see the evidence, then I don’t think adequate proof exists – John 20:25 II. God has given evidence A. The Creation speaks of God’s…
Read MoreThanks for posting the lessons!
Question: I have read several of your church’s lessons and just wanted to say thank you for posting them and making them available! Keep up the good work! We need to encourage each other more as Christians to let others know they are making a difference in people’s lives! God Bless! Answer: I appreciate your…
Read MoreFor This Is God’s Will
by Ethan R. Longhenry “For this is God’s will: that you become holy” (I Thessalonians 4:3) Many people agonize over this question: what is God’s will for my life? They imagine God has a specific intention for them to live in a specific place, be with a specific person, have a specific career or job,…
Read MoreWould God override someone’s free will to marry me?
Question: Hi, I have a question about me personally and the desire to marry. I’m a 33-year-old, virgin, born-again Christian. I had, years ago when I was in college, a moment with God. I asked God if this one girl I could date and I knew God spoke to me and said, “You have free…
Read MoreOur Mixed-Up, Topsy-Turvy Society
by Dennis Abernathy Our society can be described as running toward chaos. I am 77 years old, and today’s society is not the culture I grew up in. We are seeing more and more what the apostle Paul describes as “perilous times” (II Timothy 3:1-5). Today’s society is described in Isaiah 5. People were greedy,…
Read MoreIs it wrong for women to wear some items of men’s clothing?
Question: Sometimes when I’m at home I’ll wear some of my husband’s clothes because they’re very comfortable for lounging (basketball shorts, t-shirts, things like that). I’ll also wear his basketball shorts outside in the yard when I’m playing with the kids, once again because they’re very comfortable and also much more modest and longer than…
Read MoreOn Being Faithful
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/On-Being-Faithful.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Corinthians 4:1-5 I. If you were a boss, what kind of person would you want working for you? A. You probably would want someone who performed his duties well, skilled in the particular task that you needed done. B. But one thing that I think most bosses would highly desire…
Read MoreI Will Not Forsake You
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/I-Will-Not-Forsake-You.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Deuteronomy 31:1-6 I. Moses was approaching the end of his life. The time of his departure was at hand. A. Understandably, the children of Israel would be nervous. He has been their leader for 40 years. Moses faced down Pharaoh and led them out of slavery. He is the one…
Read MoreWhat the Bible Says About Hell
by Gary W. Summers From the 2012 Bellview Lectureship, Pensacola, Florida, What the Bible Says About, Ed. Michael Hatcher “If there is a God who will damn his children forever, I would rather go to hell than to go to heaven and keep the society of such an infamous tyrant. I make my choice now.…
Read MoreWhy It Is Necessary to Teach Children Godly Values
Author Unknown Children, without teaching and training, do not know about true values, especially godly ones. They depend on their parents to teach them what is valuable or not, right and wrong, truth and error, good and bad. Left alone, kids have a slim chance of becoming knowledgeable about such things. They need to be…
Read MoreThe Whole Duty of Man
by Matthew W. Bassford The opening chapters of Ecclesiastes are surely among the gloomiest in the entire Bible. In them, Solomon examines life under the sun and concludes that all of the usual human pursuits are futile and vain. Wealth doesn’t bring lasting satisfaction. The pursuit of pleasure proves to be pointless. The accumulation of…
Read MoreWhen I Am Old and Gray Headed
by Kent Heaton The infirmity of old age is the burden of a fleshly temple ravaged by time through disease and increasing weakness of mind and body. Solomon spoke of the descent into the difficult days when the affliction and sadness burdened life; the arms and hands tremble; the legs bow down; teeth are few…
Read MoreYour Past Choices Don’t Determine Your Present and Future Choices
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Your-Past-Choices-Dont-Determine-Your-Present-and-Future-Choices.mp3 by Austin Hausner
Read MoreIs it wrong to have an Easter egg hunt after services?
Question: Hello, I was reading one of the articles on your website about Easter. I am a member of the church and studying what has been taking place in a previous congregation I’ve attended. There was an Easter egg hunt directly after the service. Is that wrong or not since the activity occurred after the…
Read MoreWhat is “Fellowship”?
by David Smitherman The early disciples “continued steadfastly in ..fellowship” (Acts 2:42). And, this “constant attention” to fellowship is a practice of our first-century brethren that we would do well to imitate. But what is involved in “fellowship,” especially fellowship with a local church? Fellowship is not “placing membership” or having one’s name “on the…
Read MoreCompassionate and Merciful
by Matthew W. Bassford There are many different opinions about the point of the Book of Job. Some say that it proves that man will serve God for nothing. Others posit that it is about the incomprehensible nature of suffering. Personally, I am partial to the explanation provided in James 5:11. According to the inspired…
Read MoreIs it wrong for a spouse to move back in with elderly parents to take care of them?
Question: Is a wife moving back in part-time (several days and nights per week) with her parents to provide care a violation of Ephesians 5:31? Her elderly parents will not accept paid help (strangers) in their home even though they can afford it and the arrangement could foreseeably be for months or possibly a couple…
Read MoreIs eating balut or anchovies wrong?
Question: Hello brother, I read this post as part of my research and study: Was eating blood only wrong because it was associated with idolatry? We’ve also been teaching this in our local congregation, and I agree with everything that you wrote here. As mentioned, I’m doing my research because I came across a question that…
Read MoreMeasured to Us
by Doy Moyer “For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you” (Matthew 7:2). “Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same…
Read MoreGenetic Link Between Marijuana Use and Psychiatric Disorders
Source: “Shared Genetics for Cannabis Use and Psychiatric Disorders,” Neuroscience News, 21 May 2023. “Researchers discovered shared genetic underpinnings for cannabis use and psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.” “Some genetic variants can have opposing effects – increasing risk of cannabis use while decreasing the risk of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.” “These findings may…
Read MoreIs it a sin to marry an unbeliever?
Question: Please, I’d like you, sir, to answer this question. It’s also a problem that’s come into our congregation and I would like you to please explain to me what the scripture says about this. Our preacher is teaching us that it is a sin to marry an unbeliever. He interrupts everyone claiming to believe…
Read MoreAm I wrong to see a non-Christian doctor?
Question: As a patient who needs to have an appointment for a potentially serious health issue, is it acceptable according to God’s Word for the patient to see a doctor who is most likely not a Christian? I would prefer that the doctor be a Christian, but in the location where we live, the non-Christian…
Read MoreAm I failing because I don’t lead prayers in the congregation?
Question: I have followed your site for many years and asked a few questions from time to time. Now I have a big one. I have been a member of the church of Christ for many years. I do sermon readings, I always participate with answers in class, I say the prayers at the Lord’s…
Read MoreIs there hope for me to overcome pornography?
Question: I’m a Christian and a member of the church of Christ. I’ve been married for 20 years. For most of those years, I have struggled with pornography. Nobody knows this about me. I’m also a very weak Christian. Here’s how the cycle works for me: I watch porn, masturbate, feel guilty, pray for forgiveness,…
Read MoreThe Holy Spirit (Fulford)
by Hugh Fulford Quite possibly more confusion exists with reference to the Holy Spirit than any other Bible subject. The divine personality of the Holy Spirit is not recognized by many people; how He works in the conviction and conversion of sinners and in the life of a Christian is often misunderstood. A single essay…
Read MoreThe Quiet People
by Matthew W. Bassford Let us exalt the quiet people. Let us consider and honor them. They are nothing in the sight of the world and too often nothing in the sight of their brethren, but they are choice and precious in the sight of God. Every congregation has them. They assemble faithfully each Lord’s…
Read MoreDid Jesus take some of the dead with him to heaven?
Question: Good morning, sir, In Ephesians 4:8, “Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men,” Do you have a lesson on this? Does it mean that Jesus took some of the dead to heaven with him? Answer: “And you were dead in your trespasses and…
Read MoreThe Right Kind of Preaching
by Cled E. Wallace (1892-1962) Much is being said about the right kind of preaching and writing. Charges of hard and soft are being bandied back and forth. With as plain a book as the New Testament in hand and with its abundant supply of examples of the very best preaching and writing, it ought…
Read MoreThe Importance of Our Thoughts in Motivation
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/The-Importance-of-Our-Thoughts-in-Motivation.mp3 by Garry Floyd
Read MoreFearful or Cowardly?
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Fearful-or-Cowardly.mp3 by Austin Hausner
Read MoreA Death, a Burial, a Resurrection
by Doy Moyer Josiah was one of the greater kings of Judah who initiated reform and called the people back to God. Sadly, his reforms did not last and the people soon reverted to evil after his death. While Josiah himself would not live to see Judah taken into captivity, his children, who did not…
Read MoreGod’s Will for Motivation
God’s Will for Motivation (Part 1)God’s Will for Motivation (Part 2) by Garry Floyd
Read MoreShamefastness and Dress
by Jerry Fite In the context of holiness, Paul instructs women to ”adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefastness and sobriety; not with braided hair, and gold or pearls or costly raiment; but (which becometh women professing godliness) through good works” (I Timothy 2:9-10). We communicate many things about ourselves through dress. It should not…
Read MoreDealing with Criticism (Grushon)
by Mike Grushon One of the persistent problems young people must overcome is criticism from adults. Paul exhorted Timothy to conduct himself in such a way that he would give no one a basis of truth for such criticism (I Timothy 4:12). Unfortunately, some choose to criticize the young even if they do not provide…
Read MoreTeaching with Care
by Doy Moyer “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness” (James 3:1). For men and women who choose to teach in whatever capacity provided by the Lord, this passage can generate conflicting feelings. On the one hand, we know the…
Read MoreCan I get baptized while being in a relationship?
Question: I’m a 21-year-old male. My Father is a pastor. I’m in a relationship with my sister-in-law. Now I wanted to take baptism, but I have concerns. Do we need to break our relationship in order to get baptized? She is a very good girl, and I preached the gospel to her and made her…
Read MoreI think it’s bizarre that people do NOT think prophecy has been fulfilled
Question: Just read your article on AD 70 Doctrine. I think it’s bizarre that people do not think prophecy has been fulfilled. I mean, our Lord clearly said “this generation” will not pass until “all” is fulfilled. I do not understand why people can’t accept this. The Bible nowhere teaches the end of the physical…
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