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Since baptism is a burial, shouldn’t everything be under simultaneously?
Question: Dear Minister, I was recently baptized. The water was not very deep, but the baptizer said it was deep enough. It was deep enough to be immersed in, but still shallow enough to be risky to have part of the body not fully immersed at the same time. The photo of my baptism shows…
Read MoreShame on you for telling a man to leave his woman!
Question: Shame on you for telling a man to leave his woman and that he has no responsibility to her. Have you no knowledge of grace and forgiveness? We all sin and have consequences for God to judge and decide. God also forgives those who ask. It sounds like they understand what they did. Who…
Read MoreHow can I listen better during a long prayer?
Question: Hello Jeffrey, I hope you’re doing well by the grace of God. I need your help with a challenge I face during worship. I find it hard to focus when someone called to lead the congregation in prayer gives a relatively long prayer. Can you please share any helpful tips you know that can help…
Read MorePlease continue your work
Question: My Dear Beloved Brother, I give greetings to you in the precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I am from India. Your site provides good sermons and gives me more information. I am learning and also teaching in our congregation. The information you provide is very useful in our spiritual life.…
Read MoreDo I tell my husband that I had an affair before we married?
Question: Hi, and good day, I don’t know if you can read this email or answer it, but I still want to confess my sins to someone. I stumbled upon your post online about adultery and fornication. Here is my story and question: I have been a woman who believes in Jesus Christ ever since I…
Read MoreHow should a church handle a significant event?
Question: Greetings Brother Hamilton, I trust your worship service went well today. Please, I need your guidance on these matters: What can the church do when someone in the church dies? How should the church go about it? I need a procedure. In other words, how can the church take responsibility? Child Birth: How can…
Read MoreI don’t think I’m ready to get married
Question: Good afternoon, sir, I have a question. Please help me. I have a girlfriend I dated for three years, and she wants me to marry her. Honestly, I love her, but I have not yet reached the decision to marry her. Somehow, I feel like I am being pushed by her into marriage because…
Read MoreShould I marry this woman?
Question: Hi, I’m a male in my late twenties. I’ve been dating my girlfriend, who is a few years older, for several years. It’s been rocky because we didn’t have God as the center of our relationship until the last few months. To make a super long story a lot shorter, there have been many…
Read MoreThe Self Examination Required During the Lord’s Supper
by Terry Wane Benton “Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For…
Read MoreHow do you deal with a fear of missing out?
Question: Dear sir, I trust this email finds you well. I’m writing to seek more knowledge. Are there biblical passages that speak of the fear of missing out? As humans and most especially Gen Z, we often bow to peer pressure and the fear of missing out on godly things. Is there any biblical passage…
Read MoreShould the Elders know what each person gives?
Question: We have three elders at our local congregation, and one of them handles the banking, pays the bills, etc. Is it wrong for the other two elders to want to know more about the congregation’s financial situation and individual members’ contributions? We are expected to give of our means or first fruits. I’m not…
Read MoreDid the Catholic Church edit Matthew 28:19?
Question: What baptismal proclamation was used in your baptism? Probably you were baptized, “In the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Do you know that this Baptismal Proclamation is not the original text commanded by Jesus Christ as in Matthew 28:19? The Roman Catholic Church has edited and replaced…
Read MoreIs vaping wrong?
Question: Hello minister, My question concerns non-nicotine herbal diffuser smoking pens and an e vitamin bar smoking pens. If these pens (typically used to wane people off of smoking) are without harsh toxic chemicals or don’t contain marijuana, are they safe to smoke? Answer: E-cigarettes or vaping pens are typically used to vaporize nicotine (the…
Read MoreIt annoys me that people act differently when they find out I’m a preacher
Question: Sorry to bother you, but I have a question for you. Sometimes, when people want to talk to me and find out that I am a minister or preacher, I realize that almost all of them say basically the same thing: “You know, I go to church too,” “You know, I am thinking of…
Read MoreThank you for the insight your website brings
Question: Hi Jeff, I have been teaching a course on the prison epistles in a Bible college to student preachers and leaders. I am emphasizing the need for the church of Christ to focus on its core purpose, which is the proclamation of the manifold wisdom of God to the powers and authorities in the…
Read MoreWhat does Calebite refer to?
Question: Could the term ‘Calebite’ in I Samuel 25, which refers to Nabal, refer to those descended from the Caleb in Joshua? Answer: “Now the man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. And the woman was intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings, and…
Read MoreWhy aren’t the elders helping me to learn to preach?
Question: I hope this email finds you doing well. I have a question. I finally got to preach and teach for a month in another congregation. I asked the elders in my church to attend one day and give me pointers. One finally attended, but all the elders said that they should or would not…
Read MoreWhat about affirmations?
Question: Hello Minister, I hope you are well! My question is about saying “I am” affirmations. I know that many people in the new age spirituality movement say a lot of affirmations regarding love, beauty, prosperity, etc. However, I am wondering if it is okay for us as Christians to say them as long as…
Read MoreIs there no proof of Christianity’s truth?
Question: My sister told me to grow up. She said, “I feel like I’m talking to a younger me,” and told me that I’d understand what she spoke of when I was older. What did she speak of? She denied Christ and said, “I am sure Christ made mistakes.” When I told her the reason…
Read MoreDoes the CIA Gateway Process interfere with Christianity?
Question: Does the CIA Gateway process interfere with Christianity? Answer: I had no idea what this was, so I glanced through a few sources. In 1983, Wayne M. McDonnell, a Lieutenant Cornel in the U.S. Army, gave the CIA a paper claiming to have a procedure “to help people access the intuitive knowledge of the…
Read MoreDo you tell others about your sins they know nothing about?
Question: Hello! I have a question, and it’s kind of been bothering me for a while. When the Bible mentions Matthew 5:23-24, “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your…
Read MoreIs my boyfriend using me because he doesn’t want to get married?
Question: Good Evening! My boyfriend and I have been in a relationship for four years now. I have visited this other church, and they told me I should leave my fiancé because he doesn’t want to marry and is just using me. I love him so much, and he has told me so many times.…
Read MoreHow do I deal with a person with strange beliefs?
Question: I had a conversation with a person of interesting beliefs. Their beliefs were: The Holy Spirit gave us the name “God” to comprehend him. Aliens and other life forms have different religions, like having a different Christ, as we have. The Holy Spirit didn’t mean everything literally, like in Genesis. I go with whatever…
Read MoreWhen am I acting as the Judge?
Question: Hello Brother, I hope you’re doing well by God’s grace. Thank you so much for your time. Please, I have a question. On one of the web pages of a church of Christ, the question is asked, “Are my parents lost because they did not practice the things you teach?” The answer given by the writer…
Read MoreShould VBS material be used that help support Baptist Missions?
Question: The elders at the church where I worship are asking us to do something that I have never been asked to do in the church. They have bought Southern Baptist VBS material. The proceeds from the sale of this material go to Baptist missionary work. Please give me some direction on how to approach…
Read MoreAm I wrong to associate with someone who steals?
Question: I have some friends who live in a senior retirement home. I met one of them about a year ago and was introduced to some more of his friends. I also live in the same retirement home. I am the only one who is a member of the church of Christ. Hearing them talk, I…
Read MoreAre fellowship halls optional?
Question: Good morning, brother Jeffrey: I have had several discussions with an elder of a church of Christ. First, the issue of fellowship halls. I sent him the article entitled “Kitchens and Fellowship Halls, What Was the Issue?” His response was because the early church met in homes for worship and fellowship, there was a…
Read MoreIf I don’t see it as sexual in any way, is it a sin?
Question: Hello. I have a few questions about things that I have committed with my partner. I am Catholic. He and I had sex, and now, officially, I failed to complete one of the commandments. Now, along the way, we have done some things like blow jobs and everything. My first question is if my…
Read MoreWe were pleased to visit your congregation
Question: Yesterday, we visited your church, and we were so pleased we did! The Bible study was informative and thought-provoking. We definitely enjoyed all the fresh perspectives voiced during the discussion! The members are so genuinely friendly and welcoming. We loved the acapella songs. I found your church while doing some research online. I have…
Read MoreDo I go to Bible study and worship?
Question: Good morning, sir, I am writing from Nigeria in Western Africa. One day, in the village where I visited a brother, the King sent his town crier (messenger) to announce that the weekend would be used to perform some ritual rites from Saturday morning to Sunday night. They warned that no human must be…
Read MoreMy parents think it is OK to have sex outside of marriage if you are in love
Question: What should I do about my parents if they won’t admit that they sinned by having sex outside of marriage? I consistently tell them that what they did was wrong, but they just admit it reluctantly. My Dad also told me that he thinks that God said that because he and my Mom were…
Read MoreI think one of your tags was misspelled
Question: Hello, I found your church’s website via my Google search for “responsive reading of scripture in the early church.” I found several articles, mostly answers to questions where the responses were based on scripture and the writings of early church fathers, as well as written observations from early-century historians. I have been approached directly…
Read MoreDoes God honor all marriages?
Question: Good morning, I would like to know if God honors all marriages. I was recently in a study and they brought up Hebrews 13:4. I was told this verse God applies to Christians who are in the church. God does not honor marriages outside of Christ. For example, if I am a Baptist and…
Read MoreShould a couple marry because they will be having a child?
Question: Hello, What do you think about a couple who have been dating for five months, argue often for various reasons, and she gets pregnant? The guy is not sure she could be a good wife because he doesn’t like things about her. Do you think they should get married just because they’re having a…
Read MoreWas Vashti wrong for refusing her husband’s request?
Question: Hi Jeff, I have a question about Queen Vashti in Esther 1:12. Was she wrong for refusing to appear before the king and his guests? Are wives not commanded to be submissive to their husbands? Please explain if her actions were right or wrong. Answer: First, remember that we are talking about the Persian Empire’s…
Read MoreDoes Zechariah 5 show there are female angels?
Question: I read your posts on the internet with great interest. But I have a question. The Bible frequently speaks of angels, which are implied to be male. However, I find an allusion to female angels in Zechariah 5. Will there be female angels and male angels in heaven? Thank you for your time and…
Read MoreAre women not leaders in the church because they are weaker?
Question: Hello, brother in Christ! I am currently stuck with understanding the application of I Peter 3:7. When we were having a Bible Study on the roles of women in the church, some cited I Peter 3:7, specifically highlighting the part that says “women are weaker vessels” as one of the reasons why God chose…
Read MoreIs celebrating diversity wrong?
Question: Good morning, I am a Resident Assistant at my college. Part of my job is doing programming for celebrating different cultures with programs such as Black History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, Arab Culture Month, etc. I just recently read your statement on Black Lives Matter, and I was wondering if I would be in…
Read MoreAre there inappropriate times to sing or pray?
Question: Are there times it would be inappropriate to pray or sing hymns? I’ve often wondered if you should pray or sing while taking a shower, for example, when you’re quite literally wholly exposed. Is it wrong to approach God in prayer like that or to worship Him in a song like that? Or even…
Read MoreAre there qualifications for who performs baptisms?
Question: Dear Minister, May I ask for further clarification? You stated, “There is nothing in the Scriptures listing out a requirement on those doing the baptism” in the article “What is successionist baptism?” My query is, when Matthew 28:19 says, “Go and make disciples,… baptizing them..” doesn’t it imply that saved people are the baptizers…
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