Posts Tagged ‘influence’
Your Influence on the World
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/YourInfluenceOnTheWorld.mp3 by Andrew Long
Read MoreJamaica Patois Wisdom – Influence
by Jefferson David Tant The Jamaican Patois dialect is colorful, unique, and humorous. It is my desire to share some of the philosophy shown in this mix of colorful phrases that are witty as well as thought-provoking. I hope the readers both profit and enjoy. In my quarter-century plus of teaching there, I have come…
Read MoreHow do you live a proper life and stay connected with a diversity of people?
Question: Oh, Minister, I’ve read your answers to so many questions, and they have helped me greatly. I am a college student who has been going through problems of finding meaning in an increasingly secular society where it seems that drinking, doing drugs, and “getting laid” are what get people to like you. I know…
Read MoreAm I ashamed of Christ because it is hard for me to invite strangers to Bible study?
Question: I was hoping to get some clarification on “shame” as far as one’s faith in Jesus goes. I was baptized last year and have been trying to obey Jesus’ teachings, but have fallen short on pretty much everything! In the beginning, I dealt with a lot of worldly sorrow, self-condemnation, and distrust of the…
Read MoreIt’s Dark Out There
by David Diestelkamp via Think on These Things A candle burned anonymously across from where I sat. The unusually bright Chicago winter day flooded the room with light, overwhelming the glow of the candle. The candle was superfluous, unnecessary, and useless, at least as far as giving light was concerned. Had the room been dark with…
Read MoreHow can I truly seek God in a world full of evil and darkness?
Question: How can I truly seek God in a world full of evil and darkness? What will happen when I find Him? What will I feel? Answer: This world has always been full of evil. Today is no different than the past. “Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves…
Read MoreHow to Ruin Our Influence
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/HowToRuinOurInfluence.mp3 by Raymond Warfel
Read MoreIs it sinful to listen to music with bad language and references to sinful acts?
Question: Good afternoon, I was recently in the backseat of my friend’s car when she started playing illicit music on her phone. When I later confronted her about it, she told me that while she doesn’t believe it is recommended, it is not a sin. She said that God may have to reveal something to…
Read MoreI don’t know why I hide what I’m doing from my older brother
Question: Have you ever felt uncomfortable with someone who isn’t a devoted Christian or not a believer at all? This happens to me many times with my brother. Whenever someone tries to correct him, he immediately gets mad and defensive. He says he believes in God, but really he’s not convinced. He’s involved in fornication,…
Read MoreHow do I stop being so involved in my friend’s sinful life?
Question: Here’s the background story: A year ago my friend, whom I’m very close to, dated someone who wasn’t mature enough for a relationship, but she still went out with him. She gave her all to him (including sex), and three months later they broke up. Ever since then they have been messing around, and…
Read MoreShould I attend weddings of those who have been living together or had been divorced?
Question: Hello, My question is about weddings that take place after a couple has been living together for a year or two – sometimes longer. They have a child or maybe are expecting a child, then somewhere along the line decide to get married. They have a big wedding, white dress, bridesmaids all the trimmings…
Read MoreBad Company Corrupts Good Morals
by Doy Moyer Most are familiar with Paul’s argument in I Corinthians 15, that if Jesus was not raised, and there is no resurrection, then our faith is vain, preaching is vain, and we are to be pitied for believing it all. Another argument that we often make has to do with how pointless life…
Read MoreHow can we be lights of the world if we are closeted behind our doors?
Question: Dear Bro. Hamilton, I would like to thank the church there for its great website. I am a Bible school teacher and I think it will be a big help to me when my students have questions about biblical things. I have read the introduction to the La Vista church on your website. While…
Read MoreDo I let my daughter hang out with worldly people in hopes of leading them to God?
Question: I was addicted to alcohol and used drugs from the time I was 11 until about 25. I had a baby at 25 and began thinking strongly about how my parents’ choices and life of sin had shaped me into the person I had been. After feeling something in my life needed to change…
Read MoreIs Dominate Submissive role-playing bad?
Question: What I am doing does not involve sex. I just want to make that part of it clear This is something that brings in fast money, and I’ve been doing it for almost a year. I just don’t want people thinking I’m having sex for money. Everything done is consensual and agreed upon before…
Read MoreHow do I deal with immorality in media?
Question: Hello Mr. Hamilton, I am struggling with a lot right now, but I don’t want to leave you with a massive email. I realize this is still a lot, but, some help would begin to clear things up. I realize a lot of this may just be a matter of personal faith, but any…
Read MoreWe’re living together without sex, so why are brethren saying it is wrong?
Question: Hello, My fiancé and I are planning to marry in June 2014. Until that time, we have made the decision to share a home and other resources with each other. She recently moved from another country and, as young people, we do not make enough money individually to be in comfortable financial situations. Furthermore,…
Read MoreGood balance between seclusion from and immersion in the culture
Question: Good word in “In the World, But Not of the World”! You did a great job of helping us hold that tension that comes between seclusion from and full immersion in the culture. Thanks for emphasizing both our calling to be holy and to be instruments of grace to hurting people. Keep up the good work.…
Read MoreI think my music is giving me bad thoughts
Question: Hello, I have been constantly having bad thoughts and thoughts about things that haven’t happened. I also have been having thoughts about past conversations and events that I don’t want to remember. I know we can sin in our minds, that is why I ask God to forgive me for the bad thoughts. They…
Read MoreI just can’t seem to keep away from sin
Question: Hi, I am 18 years old and I’m really struggling to be a good Christian. I want to change so much, but I just can’t. I read the Bible and pray every night, but I never put the verses into practice. I pray and ask God to help me change, for the Holy Spirit…
Read MoreA Good Testimony
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/GoodTestimony.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: III John I. The book of III John is not very long, but it teaches us many things concerning our example. A. There is the bad example of Diotrephes, but there is the excellent example of Demetrius – III John 11-12 B. People spoke well of him, but John mentions that…
Read MoreDo You Know What Is Following You?
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/DoYouKnowWhatIsFollowingYou.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Timothy 5:24-25 I. I guess my wife and I are reaching another milestone in life. People we’ve known, who are our age, are beginning to pass away. A. It might sound sad, but it really isn’t. I was thinking about the passing of someone recently. He had a few…
Read MoreI teach students about sexual purity, but I fell to sexual sin. What do I do?
Question: I’m glad I came across your website. I am a born-again believer who God has used to become a blessing to many students in the area of sexual purity. I am in a situation that I would require your advice. Last year, I met a female friend while working in a certain organization. After…
Read MoreCan a Christian be friends with an atheist?
Question: Good day sir, I am a woman. I have a friend who has morals and beliefs similar to mine. She is a focused, good person. I have known her for about six months now and, though it’s not long, I feel she is someone I would want to remain friends with. The only thing…
Read MoreHow do I explain why I didn’t attend the wedding of my gay cousin?
Question: How do I respond to my sister regarding not attending my cousin’s gay wedding? I have been in the church for nearly twenty years. This past summer, I was invited to my cousins’ wedding. I choose not to attend. Now my cousin and his side of the family are choosing to not participate in…
Read MoreIs it wrong to read books like Fifty Shades of Grey?
Question: Hello. I have a question about books like Fifty Shades of Grey. Though I have no interest in reading them, I have a few friends and family members who do. I was wondering if reading things like that would be wrong? and if so how could I tell them that it is wrong? Are…
Read MoreA Lesson from History
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/LessonFromHistory.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Peter 1:1-9 I. The year — A.D. 64 A. A major fire breaks out in the city of Rome. Coincidently, the fire centered in the poorer sections of the city. B. Many suspected Nero of ordering the burning to clear space for improvements and to remove untoward elements. However, Nero…
Read MoreWould it be wrong for my girlfriend to move in with me a few months before we get married?
Question: My girlfriend and I have been together for three years. We are engaged and about to be married in four months. We never had sex. We talked about it and the want that we have. But we have decided to live together because she turned 18 and was forced out of her house. She…
Read MoreWould a true Christian make purchases from a company that uses a sinner for its spokesman?
Question: A member of the congregation was told by a friend that she is not a true Christian because she shops at JC Pennys and Ellen DeGeneres is a spokesperson for that company. She was told that a true Christian should not support a company that hires a lesbian to be their spokesperson. The member stated…
Read Morehttps://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Facebook.mp3 by PJ Anderson
Read MoreHow do I deal with the sins of myself and others?
Question: If “obscenity, foolish talk, or coarse joking” are immoral (which I agree with), then how do we as Christians, who encounter these jokes every day, continue to live a pure life, staying away from these things? How do we continue to be kind to those who do such things and steer far away from…
Read MoreWhat if the site I write for also advertises gambling?
Question: I write for a sports website which advertises a betting company on its homepage and also at the bottom of every article (including the ones that I write). I really enjoy my job but am concerned that whether working for a company that promotes gambling (indeed the betting company helps to indirectly pay part…
Read MoreMust I shun my worldly family and friends?
Question: Hello, I was reading one of your Q&A’s and a question came to mind about I Corinthians 5:9-11, “I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or…
Read MoreShady Lane, the Preacher, and the Boy
by Ken McDaniel via Echo of Truth, Vol. 3, No. 29, July 16, 1995 During a recent gospel meeting that I preached, the local evangelist and I went calling on a few individuals in hopes of motivating some to faithfulness and setting up Bible studies with others who have not yet been saved. As is often…
Read MoreAre cartoons dangerous?
Question: Now I have a question concerning cartoons. I know the eye is a window into the soul and you should only do what is just, what is pure, and what is worthy; I know that. My question is if watching cartoons such as Dragonball Z or Pokemon really a sin? There are people who…
Read MoreAm I distracting my girlfriend from being a Christian?
Question: I have a relationship with my girlfriend. We have been dating for more than a year, and we both are 20. We were not like the kind of teens that have God in our past, not even when we started dating. But, well, she comes from some other relationships that didn’t work at all,…
Read MoreInfluence and Evangelism
by Taylor Ladd April 17-20, 2011 God’s Captivated Captives Learning to See Souls The Purpose of Our Calling Jesus Heals the Man Born Blind Tactics for Defending Our Faith
Read MoreWhen Is One Bidding Godspeed to Another’s Error?
by Kenneth E. Thomas One may be prone to say, “Why, that’s a silly question, everyone knows the answer.” Not so fast my good friend and or my brother in Christ; the answer may not be quite as easy as you first thought. I will take a stab at a partial answer by citing some…
Read MoreWhy can’t one teach someone of the opposite gender?
Question: Where did the thought process of men teaching men and women teaching women come into play? Did Jesus ever discern a difference? Shouldn’t the need be met regardless of the person’s gender? I have never understood it when other Christians tell others that they shouldn’t study with someone of the opposite sex (understand you…
Read MoreDoes the curse of Canaan mean we should be saving as many black people as possible?
Question: Can you send me all the information you have on the curse of Canaan? I see Ham had four sons and Canaan was the youngest. So this can’t mean all black people are cursed because it was only the descendants of one of the four children. Yet at the same time, that’s a lot…
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