Posts Tagged ‘liberalism’
Have you been able to convert people from liberal churches?
Question: I was wondering, have you had any luck converting those who use their buildings for recreation? I have a lot of friends who attend liberal churches of christ and I just wondered if you had any advice on how to correct. Thanks. Answer: Several of the current members at La Vista came out of…
Read MoreMy congregation is becoming more unscriptural. Should I find another one?
Question: My home congregation is slowly beginning to make some unscriptural moves. I have been told by another gospel preacher that my home congregation has a bad reputation. Our evangelist holds an erroneous view on marriage, divorce, and remarriage. He believes that Christ’s covenant is for Christians only and that since an alien sinner didn’t…
Read MoreIs it right for a church to have meetings or parties at the church?
Question: Is it right for the church to have devotionals, Leadership Training for Christ, retreats, summer camps for the youth, Trick or Treat at Halloween, or New Year Eve parties at the church? Answer: A church’s duty foremost is to provide the opportunity of its members to gather for worship. “… when you come together…
Read MoreQuestions about the use of funds given to the church
Question: Having read your articles and also was a member of the conservative church for 24 years I have some questions. The conservatives say it is ok to use the Lord’s money for a $20,000 yard but wrong to give a sinner some food from the treasury. Really? It is ok to rent a place to…
Read MoreYou shouldn’t write against having kitchens and fellowship halls since these aren’t important to salvation
Question: I stumbled across your web site and found some very valuable information that may help me in the future. I disagree, however, with one of your beliefs. Having a kitchen or a potluck at the church building is not wrong. The church building is just that — a building. Christians make up the church.…
Read MoreCan those who teach institutionalism or liberalism be called brethren?
Question: Can you please help me? I am a preacher of the gospel who is striving to teach and practice the truth. I respect the God-given work of the church and I do have a problem with churches doing what is not authorized in the Bible as far as using the church funds. Is it…
Read MoreCan the church pay for things pertaining to the upkeep of the church building?
Question: Do you think the church can pay for things that pertain to the church building for things such as repairs or the lawn maintenance and work around the grounds to keep it looking presentable and then accommodations such as nursery items (baby bed, rocking chairs, books, maybe even toys, etc…), things that are simply conveniences…
Read MoreWhat Is the Difference?
by Irven Lee via The Graphic Evangelist, Vol. 21, No. 8, April 19, 1981. An instrument of music was introduced into the worship at Midway, Kentucky, in about 1858. This innovation moved slowly among churches in the North and finally came to the South in about 1900. Of course, the church support of the missionary society…
Read MoreWould it be wrong to use the church’s property for a garden?
Question: Is it OKfor a congregation to allow members to use the property to grow a garden if they are in need? One example may be a guy who is living in an apartment and has no property. Another may be a family who has a nice lawn and doesn’t want to bring down their…
Read MoreWhat is the Social Gospel?
by Richard Thetford Have you ever asked yourself “what is the social gospel?” Most individuals that have been raised in the Lord’s church have come to know and understand what the social gospel is. There are many, many individuals in churches of Christ around the country today that are actively engaged in a social gospel…
Read MoreThe Gospel and the Social Gospel
What is the Difference? by Bob Myhan Many of the Lord’s churches have gone the way of the modernistic denominations, abandoning the gospel for “a different gospel, which is not another” (Galatians 1:6-7). Paul, in the passage just quoted, used the word “gospel” in an accommodative sense. There was but one gospel. What he called “a different…
Read MoreNew Churches
by Gilbert Alexander The number of new churches started by men and based upon a human standard has grown rapidly over the past century in this country. Their creation and continued existence reflect the unbelief and arrogant self-will of their builders, and the gullibility of those who have joined them. Apparently, the church of Jesus…
Read MoreJames 1:27 and the Orphan Home
by Jimmy Mickells When I obeyed the gospel in 1974, the issue of church-supported orphan homes had been debated among brethren for a good number of years. This subject, along with a discussion of colleges being supported from the treasury of the church, had already caused a great division among the Lord’s people. It was…
Read MoreChurch Is Not Like It Used To Be
by Kent Heaton Going to church is not like it used to be. Church services have turned into places of entertainment and frolic and high-pitched computer-generated displays of excitement, energy, and temporal feelings of self-worth. Auditoriums are filled with choral groups arrayed in splashing displays of sparkling gowns with sound systems that generate twenty-seven million…
Read MoreQuotes on the Social Gospel
N. B. Hardeman Hardeman’s Tabernacle Sermons, Volume V, pages 50,53, November 1945. What is the purpose of the church of the Lord? Suppose I discuss the negative side first. I may say some things with which you do not agree, but I bid you hear me regardless. I do not consider it a part of…
Read MoreThe Power of God: The Bible
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/PowerOfGodTheBible.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Romans 1:8-19 I. The Word of God is precious to believers, an object of desire – Psalm 19:7-11 A. O, how I love your law! – Psalm 119:97-100 B. Longing for God’s law – Psalm 119:40 C. Desire it like a new born babe desires milk – I Peter 2:1-3 II. A popular…
Read MoreIndividual-Group Distinctions
by Bryan Sharp I Timothy 5:16 tells us, “If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those who are truly widows.” (ESV) This one verse is a gold mine of practical application because, in this one verse,…
Read MoreWhat do you think about the World Bible School?
Question: I am currently taking an introductory lesson from the World Bible School. Can you tell me what your opinion is regarding their lessons, if you have encountered them, or you can tell me what you think of the World Bible School itself? Do you find them helpful? If not, why not? Thank you, sir.…
Read MoreThe Truth About Error
by Kenneth E. Thomas Often one will read an article or hear a sermon and immediately think or say, “I wish I had written or preached that.” When this is the case I often do a lesson with the same title or a modified one with some of the same points, giving it my style…
Read MoreWhat is this business about “anti,” “liberal,” and “sound?”
Question: Mr. Hamilton, in the last day or so, you received a question concerning congregations. The writer spoke about ‘anti’ and ‘liberal’ congregations. What does this mean? What is meant by a sound church? I find all this to be very confusing. Jesus didn’t want us to be divided, so what is this anti, and liberal,…
Read MoreIf there are no sound churches in my area, should I worship with a liberal one?
Question: I am disabled and would like to attend an anti-church but there are none nearby and I was wondering if it would be okay to take communion at a liberal church instead of missing communion with the Lord? Answer: All Christians are required to partake of the communion and to attend services. Most of…
Read MoreThe Letter and the Spirit
by Edward O. Bragwell, Sr. via Guardian of Truth XXXIII: 3, pp. 67-68, February 2, 1989 Earl Irvin West, in Volume 2 of his The Search For The Ancient Order (p. 250), introduces a chapter called “Prophets of Liberalism,” with an astute observation about what he calls “seeds of liberalism”: “Whether in the halcyon days of the restoration…
Read More“When the Lord Opens the Door You Have to Seize the Opportunity…”
by Bob Lovelace For some reason. perhaps because it is beneficial to be reminded how apostasy works, or better yet because apostasy does indeed “work” and presents itself in order to perpetuate its working of error, I keep meeting those who say they really do not see anything wrong with instrumental music in worship. Conversation…
Read MoreQuestion and Answer About Church Socials
by Leslie Diestelkamp Two questions have been asked: (1) Why doesn’t the church have more socials? and (2) Why can’t we have parties in the basement of the church building? The New Testament authorizes every act and activity of the church. It provides us with all that pertains to life and godliness (II Peter 1:3).…
Read MoreFellowship Halls
Adapted from an article by James P. Miller via Stand, March 1981. It is with regret that we learn that one of the congregations is now building a “fellowship hall” to advance their understanding of the gospel of Christ. We regret more for it widens the gulf between them and all brethren who seek to stand…
Read MoreWhat About Church Socials?
by Leslie Diestelkamp Two questions have been asked: Why doesn’t the church have more socials? and Why can’t we have parties in the basement of the church building? The New Testament authorizes every act and activity of the church. It provides us with all that pertains to life and godliness (II Peter 1:3). It completely…
Read MoreVoices from the Past
by Keith Sharp Mainstream Churches of Christ are far along in a falling away that began around the time I was born, and I’ll soon be eligible for Medicare! The drift has taken place so slowly that most brethren think the modern innovations from the divine pattern for the church have always been practiced. You…
Read MoreAre you “anti” or “liberal”?
Question: Wow! I am so happy to see a site that holds to sound doctrine. There is only one thing that I don’t see much written on Institutionalism. I do see the article on church spending which is correct. I was wondering though if you all were “anti” or “liberal” as many like to say…
Read MoreThe People of God: Their Attitude Toward the Social Order
by Ed Harrell Throughout history, in relating themselves to the world, the two options which Christians have most often pursued were to vigorously strive to control the world or to disdainfully withdraw from it. Some have dreamed that they would make their society “Christian,” necessarily defined in cultural and nationalistic terms, and have passed laws,…
Read MoreIf you can have fellowship with people who differ in one area, why can’t you have fellowship with those who have kitchens and fellowship halls?
Question: Do you believe that weddings and/or funerals may take place in the church auditorium? Do you think that you can maintain fellowship with those who differ with you on this question? Do you think that you can maintain fellowship with those who differ with you about having a kitchen or fellowship hall in the…
Read MoreWhat do you think about my thesis on biblical codes?
Question: I co-wrote this thesis, currently circulating on the Internet. It is a very compelling four-year examination into the genders of Bible characters, based on word cases used in the original languages, that aid the reader to determine gender. I consider it another unveiled, hidden mystery that is being revealed as knowledge is increased, similar…
Read MoreThe Autonomy of the Local Church
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I. One area that sharply distinguishes the Lord’s church from the various denominations is its organization A. The church is the organization through which God’s wisdom is made known – Eph 3:9-11 1. It is a product of that wisdom and is organized by God. B. The head of the church is Jesus – Ephesians…
Read MoreSlip-Sliding Away
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton When changes occur, it is common for those who bring in new ideas to reinterpret past events to prove that their ideas are really what people thought and wanted all along. Even when the changes are recent and people still remember what life was like before the changes, they just…
Read MoreCan the Greek word translated “himself” in James 1:27 also be translated “themselves”?
Question: While reading a book by Basil Overton, I ran across this argument, “Some have argued that the church cannot help orphans but the individual Christians must do this. They say James 1:27 is addressed to the ‘individual. James 1:27 is not addressed to the individual. “Himself” of the text is a third person pronoun.…
Read MoreThe Lord’s Church: Means or Result of Salvation?
by Robert F. Turner via Plain Talk About God’s Church, pages 77-80 When followers of Christ are likened to a physical body, Christ is the head and the saints are the members of that body, the church (Ephesians 1:22-23). All who are in Christ are, by this figure, considered members of His body. We ignore priorities…
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