Questions and answers relating to Christian conduct
I forgive You Have you ever forgiven anyone? Has anyone ever forgiven you? What does it mean to forgive? What are you actually doing, when you forgive someone? To forgive can actually mean a few different things. Today I’d like you to consider three things that forgiveness can mean. Here’s the first thing that forgiving can mean; It can mean, to stop blaming. When you blame someone, aren’t you really…
Genesis 1, Verse 27 The title of this study is taken from Genesis chapter 1, and verse 27; “And God created man in His own image, in the image of God, He created man. Male and female, He created them.” The word “man” in this verse, and in many other verses, is used in a generic sense, and it refers to “mankind”. God created mankind, in His own…
God Requires Faith Hebrews chapter 11, verses 5 & 6 tell us; “By faith, Enoch was taken up, so that he should not see death; And he was not found, because God took him up; For he obtained the witness that before his being taken up, he was pleasing to God. And without faith, it is impossible to please, for he who comes to God, must believe that…
Are We Authorized to Organize Religious Societies? In the previous study on the subject of religious societies, we noted how Alexander Campbell, one of the most influential restorationists from the early 1800’s, was much in favor of the formation of religious organizations and societies, for the purpose of more efficiently evangelizing the world. For the sake of anyone who is not familiar with the term “restorationist”, that…
The Religion of Early America When people came to America from Europe, in the seventeen, and eighteen hundreds, protestant denominations, and religious societies were common-place, just like they are today. However, in the late 1700’s, and the early 1800’s, many men became skeptical about denominations in general. And at about the same time, they also began to question religious societies. Men were trying to restore new testament…
Is It Sinful To Eat In the Same Building That We Worship In? The scriptures say, in 1 Cor 11:22, “What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the assembly of God, and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you.” That is the verse of scripture…
The Worship Service Today’s worship services, are no doubt a little different from the worship services described in the bible. We’ve tried to pattern ourselves as much as we can, after the examples given in the new testament, but there are some things that we just can’t duplicate. For instance; The bible says in 1 Cor 14:26, “What is the outcome then brethren? When you assemble,…
How Should We Use God’s Money? The question that we’ve been examining is; How is a congregation authorized to use it’s money? We have clear examples in the new testament, of congregations sending money to other congregations who are in need, and also of congregations using their money to help members of their own congregation. But the question remains; Do we have the authority from the bible,…
The Narrow Way Jesus said, in Mathew 7:13-14, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow, that leads to life, and few there be who find it.” The apostle John wrote in 2 John, verses 9-11, “Anyone…
The Collection For the Saints In our previous lesson, we talked extensively about 1 Cor 16:1-2. We saw how these verses dealt specifically with the collection of money to send to the needy saints in the Jerusalem congregation. The key phrase being.. “..concerning the collection which is FOR the saints..” And we noted that those verses do authorize two things. First, it authorizes us to have…
The Weekly Collection A question that has divided the church, is that of how we are authorized to use the money collected, through the weekly contribution. The premier verse of scripture that we generally go to, for our authorization to have a weekly contribution, is 1 Cor 16:1-2. Here’s the verse.. “Moreover, concerning the collection which is for the saints, as I have directed the congregations of Galatia, so…
“Study to show thyself approved..” 2 Tim 2:15 How willing are you to study the bible? Not just to read the bible, but to study it? I know how encouraging it can be to just pick up the bible and to read God’s word. But how willing are you to really sit down and study? God wants us all to be willing to go beyond what …
“Perfect love casts out fear”. Those words are part of 1 John 4, verse 18. What does that mean? “Perfect love, casts out fear”. Does that mean that if you could love “perfectly” that you’d never be afraid of anything in your life? Does that mean you won’t be afraid of snakes and spiders, or afraid of the dark, or whatever it is that you might…
Ethics 101 Here’s a question that lies at the very core of both humanity, and religion. What is morality? This is a question that’s inseparable from the very life we live. Our every action and decision is based upon our concept of morality. Even for someone whose actions seem to you, or to me, to be based on a lack of morality, their very actions that we “question”…
What is Religion ? Religion typically involves the belief in a god, doesn’t it? Mono-theism is the belief in ONE god, such as the God of the bible. Poly-theism, is the belief in MANY gods, such as in Hinduism, which is idolatry. And then there is Human-theism (or Humanism for short) which is basically the belief that man is his OWN god, which again is idolatry. …
Do All in the Name Of the Lord You’ve no doubt heard the phrases, “in the name of the Lord”, and “in Jesus’ name”, and “in Christ’s name”, but what exactly do those words mean? You’ve probably also heard of the practice of some people, to end all prayers with the words.. “In Jesus’ name, Amen”. What does that mean? Is that a required method of…
Is There Really any Power in Prayer ? Our lesson today is on the power of prayer. Is there power in prayer? We’re urged by God to pray. As a matter of fact, we’re told in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Pray without ceasing”. So in other words, make prayer such an integral part of your life, that your practice of praying, never ceases. It’s the same as saying.. Don’t “forsake”…
A Secular Christian ? Is there such a thing as a “secular Christian”? That question was posed in an article that I just read concerning whether or not you can be a Christian, and at the same time have doubts about the virgin birth, or the resurrection. Another question in the article was, “What does it mean to be a Christian in the 21st century?” That question alone, let’s you…
That’s not us, is it ? Or is that you in the white shirt? Or maybe that’s you in the high heels? Are we sometimes guilty of being “Willfully Ignorant”? Are we sometimes unaware of, or unwilling to believe, what the bible plainly states? God says some people ARE willfully ignorant. Did you know that we are living in the “last days”? The writer of the book of Hebrews said,…
Is There a Balance Between Sin and Repentance ? One of the questions that I received here on the website was, “How do we balance our repentance with the level of our sin?” I’m sure the thought behind that question is that if you have sinned a lot, you must repent a lot. And vice-versa; If we only sin a little, we only need to repent a…