I’ve read everything I could find on your page concerning worship alone. I know already that communion and singing are out of the question. So where does that leave someone who is in prison for life or far away from anyone or group that teaches and holds to sound doctrine? I’m sure you could have a long list of scenarios but I’ll just use these two.<\/p>\n
Good bless and thanks for all the great material.<\/p>\n\t
First, let’s be clear that exceptions do not make the rules. Difficulties in fulfilling God’s laws do not nullify those laws.<\/p>\n
There can be numerous situations where a person is unable to follow a particular law. A person can become bedridden because of an accident, disease, or old age. Regardless of the situation, a Christian does what he is able to do.<\/p>\n
I knew one man who was converted while in the Navy. When he returned home, the nearest congregation was over 100 miles away. He proceeded to convert his girlfriend, whom he later married. They held Bible studies around their kitchen table and over time built up a church.<\/p>\n
I know another man who ended up in prison. He found another Christian in the same prison. They also got in contact with a local preacher near the prison, who came in to hold Bible classes and worship services. Through their efforts, they taught other prisoners the Bible.<\/p>\n
Another woman I heard of had to enter a nursing home because she became too frail. Brethren came and visited with her and worship with her. But more importantly, she taught her caregivers the gospel, which led to at least one conversion.<\/p>\n
But consider that Paul spent two years in prison in Caesaria and two years in Rome; yet, despite the awkward situation he managed to teach his guards and those who came to visit him.<\/p>\n
Exceptions don’t define the rules, but you don’t stop doing what you can do in whatever situation you find yourself in.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I’ve read everything I could find on your page concerning worship alone. I know already that communion and singing are out of the question. So where does that leave someone who is in prison for life or far away from anyone or group that teaches and holds to sound doctrine? I’m sure you could…<\/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":[448,256,544,84],"class_list":["post-53295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-church","tag-faithful","tag-membership","tag-worship"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":31789,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-be-saved-and-in-a-denomination\/","url_meta":{"origin":53295,"position":0},"title":"Can you be saved and in a denomination?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 16, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I understand that the word \"church,\" as used in scripture, has two meanings: (1) the universal church - consisting of all redeemed souls that have obeyed the authorized steps of hearing the Word of God, believing (that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and our Savior), repenting (change\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":10957,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-i-have-to-work-on-sundays-if-my-boss-demands-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":53295,"position":1},"title":"Do I have to work on Sundays if my boss demands it?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 6, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was wondering, do we Christians have to work Sundays, or are we protected by any kind of laws stating that it is against the law for an employer to make a Christian employee\u00a0work on a Sunday? I have a job where they started a new schedule where they\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":7060,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-should-i-leave-a-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":53295,"position":2},"title":"When should I leave a church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 15, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am looking for guidance on where I should worship in general and more specifically: If there are multiple sound congregations nearby, must I worship with the most local? Am I free (in God's eyes) to change which local congregations I worship with as I please? When must 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":[]},{"id":42067,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-discipline-be-done-when-there-is-only-one-faithful-man\/","url_meta":{"origin":53295,"position":3},"title":"How can discipline be done when there is only one faithful man?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I am a part-time minister of a small congregation of Christians made up mostly of female members. The few male members have dwindled down to three in number due to members relocating and deaths. Currently, the two other male members are unable to take part in the worship\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":20570,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-accept-wrongly-done-worship-if-the-heart-is-right\/","url_meta":{"origin":53295,"position":4},"title":"Does God accept wrongly done worship if the heart is right?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 2, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I understand that God does not accept vain worship (Matthew 15:8-9), that we are to worship the way the Bible teaches (John 4:23-24), and that God punishes those who worship in their own way (Leviticus 10:1-2). But does II Chronicles 30, where the Passover was held not in\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":70999,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-congregation-of-only-women-worship-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":53295,"position":5},"title":"Can a congregation of only women worship God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 11, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Brethren, I hope this message finds you well. I have a question regarding worship gatherings and would appreciate your guidance. There is one congregation in which only female members remain, as the sole male member who served with them had to (compelled) relocate for economic reasons. Given that\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\/53295","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=53295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53295\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}