How do I have sex on my wedding night?<\/a>” Another reason I did the questions and answers is that I study better when I have a purpose. The questions get me thinking about subjects I wouldn’t have thought about and force me to consider ways of persuading people to see the reasonableness of God’s teachings. They are making me a better preacher and benefiting the congregation.<\/p>\nOne thing that I knew is that if one person had a question, there would likely be thousands of other people with the same question searching for an answer. I treat questions from teenagers and young adults particularly seriously. There are so many young people without guidance, and if they are reaching out for an answer, then they deserve the best I can give. I also know that, especially for young people, blunt answers are better received than indirect answers. Vague or indirect answers, even when accurate, are seen as avoidance of the truth. What surprised me were the times I had to come down hard on someone because of the sins they were justifying. I frequently sent out blunt answers, thinking, “They’ll never talk to me again.” Instead, I, more often than not, got appreciative responses. I’ve come to realize that often people know they are in the wrong, they just needed someone to help them get it clear in their mind as to why it is wrong.<\/p>\n
I still continue the practice of answering almost every question I receive. At the moment, I’m running about 20 to 30 questions per week. Some only require pointing to a previously answered question, and those I don’t often post. Some just want to push their doctrines and really don’t contain any questions. I don’t post those because I’m not interested in giving them a platform for false teaching. There are also some that I’m quite certain are fakes about made-up situations. I found, to my horror, that there are people who get thrills out of describing made-up stories about punishing children. I’ve finally had enough of it, and I don’t respond to these made-up scenarios anymore.<\/p>\n
I’m really glad when someone writes to say that the answers were helpful. I do appreciate the encouragement. And when someone tells me that they stopped sinning because they understood that God’s way is better, well, that is the highlight of my week.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I am a regular follower of your site and have learned a lot by seeing how you answer the questions. If you don’t mind me asking, what prompted you to start such a question and answer format? I’ve never run across anything quite like it. Answer: The question and answer section began when I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[127],"class_list":["post-23230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-about-this-site"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":43953,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-like-the-clear-and-concise-replies-in-your-questions-and-answers-section\/","url_meta":{"origin":23230,"position":0},"title":"I like the clear and concise replies in your Questions and Answers section","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Sir, Thank you for your excellent website. I only found it a few days ago quite by accident. You certainly present a wealth of information. I especially like the clear and concise replies you give in the \"question and answer\"\u00a0section. Respectfully, Answer: Thank you for the encouragement.","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37276,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-am-very-impressed-with-your-question-and-answer-section\/","url_meta":{"origin":23230,"position":1},"title":"I am very impressed with your Question and Answer section","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Minister, I came across your website. I am very impressed with your \"Question and Answer\"\u00a0section. I truly appreciate the advice that you give! I hope to include the Q & A from your site as part of my daily mediation on the \"Word.\" I can only imagine how\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49650,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-always-enjoy-reading-the-question-and-answer-section\/","url_meta":{"origin":23230,"position":2},"title":"I always enjoy reading the question and answer section","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 26, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I want to say thank you for your website and your diligent work in providing sound doctrine for everyone in search of it. I found your website a couple of years ago and still look at the sermons and articles posted today. I always enjoy reading the question and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51520,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/your-answers-are-simply-excellent\/","url_meta":{"origin":23230,"position":3},"title":"Your answers are simply excellent","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I've been reading your Questions and Answers section for several years now. I wanted to finally take the time to thank you for all the work that goes into it. Your answers are simply excellent. Devotion to the truth of God's word is always in evidence. You do not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11380,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-im-struggling-with-a-topic-la-vistas-web-site-is-where-i-head\/","url_meta":{"origin":23230,"position":4},"title":"When I’m struggling with a topic, La Vista’s web site is where I head","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 3, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I've been wanting, needing, and meaning to send this email to you for a really long time. Thank you for your website and all that you have written in the questions and answers section. I pray that the Lord gives you many more years of wisdom and time to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32536,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-love-the-spectrum-of-issues-that-you-address-on-your-site\/","url_meta":{"origin":23230,"position":5},"title":"I love the spectrum of issues that you address on your site","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 16, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I want to express my gratitude for your wonderful and informative website. Now I haven't surveyed the Internet and compared it in any comprehensive way whether your site is the most in-depth or not, but I will say it is by far the most comprehensive I have used. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23230\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}