I just wanted to say thank you for all of your help.\u00a0 Your knowledge has been very helpful to me.\u00a0 May I ask where you have studied?<\/p>\n\t
I and the churches I associate with strictly adhere to the teachings of the Bible. “If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen<\/i>” (I Peter 4:11). The knowledge I have managed to gain has come from over forty years of studying the Bible, both on my own and with various brethren that I have met and worshiped with over the years. “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth<\/i>” (II Timothy 2:15). I have studied under several preachers, but I have not attended any seminary or divinity school. Such didn’t exist in the days of the New Testament and the more conservative churches of Christ do not operate one. Bible knowledge is meant to be passed on from person to person. “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also<\/i>” (II Timothy 2:2).<\/p>\n
I do hold a master’s degree in Computer Science and for over 18 years supported my family while working as a programmer and a part-time preacher. I moved too high in the company I worked for and it began to interfere with my preaching, so I quit to become a full-time preacher. I still dabble in programming and teach programming once in a while at a local community college. The programming background has helped me in analyzing people’s problems and presenting facts in a logical and orderly fashion. Computers are far dumber than people (though they are faster), so I figure if I can explain things to a computer, I certainly should be able to explain things to people.<\/p>\n
I, in turn, try to pass what I know on to others. In the first ten years, I have been at La Vista, there have been at least four men who have left and became preachers in other congregations. Two of our past members are elders in other congregations, though one left before I arrived. It might seem like small numbers, but you have to understand that La Vista is a small congregation in a very transient area.<\/p>\n
I know, it takes all the mystique out of it, doesn’t it? Anyone could do the same, given the same amount of time and study. And that is the point! I’m not unique; I’m just serving God to the best of my ability. My favorite verse says it all:\u00a0 “So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do’<\/i>” (Luke 17:10).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I just wanted to say thank you for all of your help.\u00a0 Your knowledge has been very helpful to me.\u00a0 May I ask where you have studied? Answer: I and the churches I associate with strictly adhere to the teachings of the Bible. “If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God.…<\/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,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[567],"class_list":["post-2629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-about-the-author"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9049,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/have-you-read-the-whole-bible-and-memorized-scriptures\/","url_meta":{"origin":2629,"position":0},"title":"Have you read the whole Bible and memorized Scriptures?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 19, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Ok, that clears up some objections.\u00a0 Thank you very much, dear sir, for\u00a0answering me by showing the Scriptures and not using just your own opinion.\u00a0 My dear sir, I hope that you will continue to be faithful in doing that.\u00a0 And may you be used by God to help\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":37916,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-ask-god-to-give-people-his-complete-knowledge\/","url_meta":{"origin":2629,"position":1},"title":"Should I ask God to give people His complete knowledge?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it worthwhile to ask God in prayer to give confused or unbelieving people His complete knowledge of what is expected of them and a chance to accept it and be saved right before they would otherwise be damned?\u00a0 An example of what I mean by a confused person\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":7494,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-use-a-slogan\/","url_meta":{"origin":2629,"position":2},"title":"Is it wrong to use a slogan?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 25, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a member of the Lord's Church assembling with the saints. The sign out front reads \"Church of Christ.\" I find your website very refreshing in that you say very little about the Restoration Movement, nor do I see you using the slogan \"Speak where the Bible speaks,\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":56027,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-bible-not-recommended-for-mental-health\/","url_meta":{"origin":2629,"position":3},"title":"Is the Bible not recommended for mental health?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Greetings, I was told by a psychologist the Word of God (the Bible) is not recommended for mental health. If this is not true, may I please have some biblical evidence please? Answer: \"See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according 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":24113,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-think-god-would-judge-us-by-our-lives\/","url_meta":{"origin":2629,"position":4},"title":"Do you think God would judge us by our lives?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 21, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: did you really think that god would go by our days? have you takin a look at what was made? Read the bible again if you wan to go by that cause he says no one will life past a day seems to me not on even the oldest\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":27703,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-job-3626-saying-we-can-never-exhaust-the-knowledge-of-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":2629,"position":5},"title":"Is Job 36:26 saying we can never exhaust the knowledge of God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I would like to get your opinion to see if I am interpreting the Bible correctly on this one passage. Job 36:26 American Standard Version: Behold, God is great, and we know him not; The number of his years is unsearchable. Stated this way I believe it is telling\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\/2629","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=2629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2629\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}