by Aubrey Belue, Jr. via Gospel Guardian, August 15, 1974 In recent months, much writing –“pro” and “con” (but mostly “con”) — has been done on the “grace-fellowship” issue. Due to the misdirection and “side issues” that now obscure the scene, wisdom requires us to seek a clear definition of matters as they currently stand.…

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Question: Hi Jeffrey, This has become popular with people. Is the video sermon a new way to worship God?  I do not like it and don’t understand how it’s right. Do you find scripture to support it because I can’t? Thank you again and always. Answer: “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching…

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I.         As hard as we try to keep terms pure and free from the influence of denominations, we still sometimes find things creeping into our language.             A.        People wanting to call the minister, “pastor” even though it properly belongs to those who oversee the congregation – the elders.             B.        Similarly, the desire to call ministers by titles, such…

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Question: In “Should people be checked out before accepting them in a congregation?”, a person wrote about ‘checking out’ new people to the congregation before accepting them. While I understand the logic behind making sure they accept the true church and follow the Lord, I have experienced that type of probing and questioning that is…

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Question: I believe that there is a certain amount of due diligence necessary when a person, a couple, or a family move into the area and want to become members of a local congregation of the Lord’s church.  What do you recommend? What do you do? One scripture that comes to mind is II John…

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by Becky Rene It is essential at this point that we understand how our spiritual fellowship is expressed. So we will take the time to examine the noun “fellowship” (koinonia) in all the contexts in which it appears. Some of the verses are difficult to understand because the translators have translated the noun koinonia as if it…

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by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Christians do travel. An obvious statement, but it needs to be pointed out because it raises issues we don’t often think about. A Christian drops in on a congregation while in town for business. It is common for brethren to invite him over for a meal so they can get better…

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Question: What do you say about guilt by association in the fellowship problem? We have some friends who worship in a congregation that had someone at their lectureships, although they do don’t support marriage with intent, and when he speaks they didn’t go to support him. Now we do not believe this person’s doctrine, but…

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