Posts Tagged ‘evil’
The Impenitent
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/The-Impenitent.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Jeremiah 26:1-15 I. Jeremiah was told to warn the people of the doom that was approaching them A. God thought there might be chance that the people would change – Jeremiah 26:2-3 B. Did they respond? Yes, but not in the right way – Jeremiah 26:8-9 C. Jeremiah again reminded them that…
Read MoreHow do you be around someone who has done evil?
Question: Hi, I’ve been reading through your website and have found your work interesting. I was wondering if you have some advice for me in a situation relating to my boyfriend and his family. Recently my boyfriend’s stepmother filed for divorce against his father. Scripturally, both parties are in the wrong in different aspects. His…
Read MoreHope for the Future
by Andy Sochor Throughout the book of Proverbs, a contrast is made between wisdom and foolishness. Since the wisdom described in the book comes from above, those who follow this and live according to its precepts will be righteous. Conversely, those who reject the way of wisdom will inevitably find themselves engaged in wickedness. Despite…
Read MoreDo I keep fighting for my daughter?
Question: Firstly, thank you for your ministry. Your doctrine is thoroughly biblical, honors God, and gives Him the glory. God is surely using you to help others through His word so may God continue to bless it and you. A brief summary of my situation and then my question. I will attempt to keep this…
Read MoreAre We Asking the Right Question About God and Evil?
by Perry Hall I have been studying and teaching “The Problem of Evil and Theodicy.” The main question usually asked is, “If God is good, why does God allow evil in this world?” The question needs to change. Change is needed because I am not sure that question is plainly asked and answered in the…
Read MoreIn the Midst of Evil
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/In-The-Midst-Of-Evil.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Peter 1:3-9 I. Abraham was told that his descendants would be strangers and slaves in a land before being brought back out 400 years later – Genesis 15:13 A. That nation, Egypt, was one of the more wicked places on earth, totally given over to idolatry 1. It became one…
Read MoreWhy Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?
by Jefferson David Tant One of the frequent questions I get, often from young people, is “If there is a God, why is there so much evil in the world? Why do we have children starving in Africa? Why are women raped and murdered by marauding men? Why are innocent people mowed down by a…
Read MoreThe evil in this world makes me want to be a Buddhist
Question: I read your response to the person asking questions about theodicy. I don’t feel you did a good job answering: Inasmuch as I can understand God “letting” a bad person hang themselves, it makes no sense that innocent, good, sincere people should suffer as a result. A young couple on their second date in…
Read MoreMy Own Worst Enemy
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/My-Own-Worse-Enemy.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Esther 7 I. There is a phrase popular in our culture, “I have become my own worst enemy.” A. It is the realization that in our struggles against what we perceive as evil or wrong, we end up realizing that we are the source of our greatest problems. B. I have…
Read MoreTwisted up by Evil People
by Matthew W. Bassford When we read the Bible, we learn about some people we simply have to feel sorry for. Hosea has to marry a prostitute. Jeremiah has to faithfully proclaim God’s message to a wicked nation that doesn’t want to hear it and will kill him for saying it. And so on. On…
Read MoreThings the Wicked Despise
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Things-the-Wicked-Despise.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Leviticus 26:14-32 I. This might come as shock, but have you noticed? The world is full of wicked people who are not nice. A. Why do the wicked behave as they do? II. The wicked only care about themselves A. They despise their fellow man – Proverbs 14:21 B. They only care about…
Read MoreOvercome Evil with Good
by Eric M. Hamilton “Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21). This is one of those profound statements in the Bible, that when it hit me, it hit me hard. On the surface, it seems a no brainer: Duh! Of course, you overcome evil with good! Photo by Andrea…
Read MoreA Godly Man in Wicked Surroundings
by Bill Hall Elijah fed by the ravens I Kings 17:6 Elijah was a man who reached true greatness in the Lord’s service. He was always ready to go where God would send him (I Kings 18:1; 19:15); to pray whenever prayer was needed (I Kings 17:20, 21; 18:36, 37), and to confront evil whenever…
Read MoreIs Satan the source of all evil?
Question: Hey Mr. Jeffrey, Is every single evil ideology, false teaching and deceptive doctrine that is against God derived in some form or fashion from Satan? I noticed the Spirit says many will follow after the doctrine of demons in I Timothy 4. It got me thinking Answer: Since Satan is the one who originally…
Read MoreThese Are Our Times
by Doy Moyer Abusive. Heartless. Brutal. Slanderous. Reckless (read II Timothy 3:1-5). These are our times. These are times in which people will brutally kill a child in the womb, then slander and curse those who would oppose it. These are times in which people will be reckless in behavior, crude toward those who differ,…
Read MoreOn the Relationship between Good and Evil
by Doy Moyer Evil implies good, but good does not necessarily imply evil. Some have the mistaken notion that good and evil must be necessary counterparts. That is, if there is good, then there must be evil. Some worldviews are founded on this principle, but it is not so. Good does not in itself imply…
Read MoreWhy has God given me such a miserable life?
Question: I am 24 years old, a single female, living in a liberal yet strict family. Since the age of 2 or 3, I had been molested by my grandfather until I was in 10th grade. In midst of my 6th to 10th grade, my cousin who is older than me also started molesting me.…
Read MoreIf everything comes from God, doesn’t evil come from God?
Question: You said in a writing, that all good things come from God. I can understand this and agree with it. But what I don’t understand is if by that same logic don’t all things come from God directly or by proxy, including all the bad and evil in the world? I don’t understand this…
Read MoreWhy Is Evil Allowed?
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/WhyIsEvilAllowed.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Ecclesiastes 8:6-13 I. It has happened again. Incomprehensible horror has struck to kill innocent children. A. But we want to know why? Why did it happen? Why couldn’t it be stopped? B. I’ve seen guns blamed, drugs blamed, psychological problems blamed, schools blamed, and, yes, even God blamed – Psalms 10:1…
Read MoreGrandpa, Tell Me ‘Bout the Good Old Days
by Jefferson David Tant In 1986, Jamie O’Hara wrote a hit song with the above title. It was popularized by Naomi and Wynona Judd. Allow me to be nostalgic as I cite the words with a few comments. (If you don’t know the song, you can Google it.) “Grandpa, tell me ’bout the good old…
Read MoreA Voice Heard in Ramah
by Doy Moyer There are no words to describe the horrors of the slaughter of school children and teachers. None. We struggle to find some sense in it, some meaning, some greater purpose, but we come up empty-handed. No philosophizing will help. We cannot even imagine that someone would walk into a school — a…
Read MoreA Popular Sport – Unfortunately
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Judges 16:23-30 I. In our text, the Philistine lords and ladies were getting their jollies from having a captured enemy “amuse” them. A. Exactly what Samson was doing, we don’t know B. But here was a man whom they had gouged out his eyes and used as an ox to run a…
Read MoreA Heart that Devises Wicked Plans
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton A. Eph. 4:17 – Don’t walk like the Gentiles do, in the vainity of their minds. B. They have their own teachers telling them that everything is fine – Jer. 23:7 C. A carnal, or wordly, mind is at odds with God’s purpose – Rom. 8:7
Read MoreWhy Does God Allow Evil?
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton There is no doubt that sin, and the evil that accompanies it, exists in this world. When atrocious examples of evil come to our attention, people commonly wonder why God allows such evil to happen. Atheists will use the very existence of obvious evil to argue against God. “If God were…
Read MoreWhere was God’s protection for those caught in the September 11th tragedy?
Question: I recently read a piece lauding the blessings of the people who were supposed to be at the World Trade Center the morning of September 11, 2002, but in small ways, they were detained by the mishaps of life, faulty alarms, children dallying, traffic, etc. These people were saying how good and protective God…
Read MoreMen of Debase Minds
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Isaiah 5:18-24 I. Starting in Romans 1:18, Paul lays out the moral decay of the Gentile society A. All men at one time knew God, but there came a point in the Gentile society when the true God was rejected.- Romans 1:18-21 1. He was replaced with gods of man’s imagination, copied…
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