Posts Tagged ‘influence’
Good 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…
Read MoreHow do I reach a friend who is sinning?
Question: Hi, I don’t know if these are the kinds of questions you answer, but I might as well ask. I have just started high school, and already I am seeing and hearing about a lot of bad things going on (smoking, drugs, drinking, sex, cursing, etc.). I try as hard as I can to…
Read MoreIs it wrong to listen to rap or hip-hop music if it doesn’t contain anything about killing, drugs, or sex?
Question: I know Christians shouldn’t listen to secular rap or hip hop music, in which I stopped recently, but what if the song doesn’t contain anything about killing, drugs, and sex? Is it okay to listen to it? Answer: There is no prohibition on any particular musical style. The problem is that certain styles of…
Read MoreWhat If Christ Were Not?
by Batsell Barrett Baxter via The Sower, Vol. 54, No. 6, Nov/Dec 2009. Henry Rogers, a brilliant lawyer of a few years ago, wrote a book entitled The Eclipse of Faith, in which he imagined that some powerful hand had wiped the influence of Christ out of our civilization, as a hand wipes the chalk…
Read MoreShe Changed My Life
by Marlon Ruck as told to Wilson Adams via Biblical Insights, Volume 9, Number 6, June 2009 Marlon was a twenty-four-year-old Catholic, home from the military, and living in Toledo, Ohio; Delores was eighteen, beautiful, and a member of the Lord’s church. “I was crazy about her from the beginning and asked her to marry me…
Read MoreEmpty Faith
by Carey Scott “My friends, what good is it to say you have faith, when you don’t do anything to show that you really do have faith? Can that kind of faith save you?” (James 2:14, CEV). There are a lot of people going around and calling themselves a Christians. Yet their actions do not…
Read MoreIs it wrong to buy from a company that uses poor business practices to make money?
Question: Is it wrong for us to buy products from companies that use sweat-shops or may have poor working conditions, poor company reputation, etc.? I’ve been thinking about this recently because I personally feel neglectful about shopping at a popular store because I’ve heard that they have had problems with their company in the past…
Read MoreIs it wrong to make a decision about what is right or wrong based on what you think a cartoon character would do?
Question: Is it sinful to base your life on a cartoon? Let’s say you’re being tempted, but to help you get past your temptation you think about what a hero on a show would do. Would that be sinful? Answer: A lot would depend on the cartoon I would think. Behind every cartoon is a…
Read MoreDo you think a movie with a good storyline but some immorality scattered in should be watched?
Question: I read your comment on a question about movies and video games. I believe you even referred to watching the Lord of the Rings movies if I’m not mistaken. I totally agree that there are movies that Christians should not watch. What do you think of movies, though, that have a very good story or…
Read MoreIs it wrong to work in a Catholic hospital or work for a company that produces sexual themed movies?
Question: In your answer “Is it wrong to have a job that encourages others to sin?” I was wondering if you could give me some examples of this. I got concerned because I have a mother whose employer sends her to work some days in a Catholic hospital. (She is NOT Catholic by the way).…
Read MorePeer Pressure
by Bob Waldron via The Bulletin of the Church of Christ at New Georgia, February 24, 2008 Much of God’s covenant with Israel of old dealt with human relations. Various and sundry laws pointed out how the Jew was to conduct himself among his peers. One of these admonitions was, “Thou shalt not follow a…
Read MoreTake Heed
Text: I Timothy 4:6-16 I. The books of I and II Timothy and Titus are the instruction manuals for preachers A. If you think a moment, there isn’t another role in the church is discussed at such length 1. And this is besides the numerous comments regarding preaching that appears in the other books B. God chose preaching…
Read MoreShould a Christian eat with a non-Christian who is having alcohol with his meal?
Question: First, I want to thank you for explaining in a previous response about why social drinking is sinful. Now, I have for you a short scenario that’s based on that fact. A Christian gets invited to go eat at a steakhouse by his non-Christian work buddy. While ordering his meal, this buddy decides to get an…
Read MoreIs watching movies or making jokes about sinful things really that bad?
Question: What about people who like action movies and stuff like that, or producers who make violent movies. I mean, you can like action movies but that does not mean that you support violence. There is a difference between making a joke about something and claiming that you actually would do it. You can live…
Read MoreIs it wrong to purchase items that help fund a denomination’s missionary efforts?
Question: Not long ago, my husband and I were driving past a Baptist church and noticed that they were having a garage sale. While driving past, I saw some signs that their young people were holding up stating that the sale’s profits would be used to send them on a mission trip. I felt like…
Read MoreI think my girlfriend is making a mistaking in finding a new place to live. What can I do?
Question: I’m curious to hear your two cents on this situation I’m stuck in right now. So here’s the story: Since my girlfriend and her daughter live over two hours away, she’s looking to move closer since it’s very hard for us to see each other. We only do that about once a month, twice if…
Read MoreIs living together, but not sleeping together, a sin?
Question: I’ve just got back from my youth group after having a discussion about living together before getting married. I’ve searched your articles and I don’t think they quite answer the question “Is living together before marriage a sin?” We actually want to know is living together, but not sleeping together, before getting married a…
Read MoreOne Sinner Destroys Much Good
by Ron Daly Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroys much good. Ecclesiates 9:18 The title of this article comes from a statement of the writer of the book of Ecclesiastes in chapter 9, verse 18. It conveys a thought that each of us must consider. It tells us that a…
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