In the name of social justice, some modern scholars say that stealing is okay if it is addressing a social inequity. After all, they contend, people who have gotten “ahead” in this world did so by taking advantage of others. But that is not what God says. Four thousand years ago, God carved in stone […]
More than 3000 years ago, God gave Moses a collection of commandments to help guide the family of Israel as they moved from captivity in Egypt to the promised land comprising present-day Israel and adjacent lands. After commanding the people to serve the one, true God and forsake all idols, God commanded that they should […]
When I was a kid, I thought that if I didn’t curse, I wouldn’t be breaking the third commandment, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” As I have studied scripture and gotten to know God better, I realize that keeping this command is impossible. Yes, we should always […]
While Western society may have moved away from creating physical idols like those worshiped by millions around the world today, the essence of the second commandment—directing worship and devotion to God alone—remains significant. When Moses led the Israelite nation out of captivity from Egypt, he had an encounter with God during which he was directed […]
The first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me,” is a profound declaration of monotheism and a call to exclusive worship. It sets the tone for devotion to one God—the creator of the universe and everything in it including men and women. This commandment calls for a life centered around the worship […]
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). God saw at all he had made and it was very good (Genesis 1:31). Everything was perfect without a blemish anywhere! Think of a park with beautiful trees, manicured lawns and amazing flowers in full bloom with not a single weed to be […]
This question seems to arise more frequently now as global culture and morality continues to deteriorate. Most Bible scholars note that the last significant prophetic event needed to be in place before the Rapture was the founding again of Israel as a nation after its 1900 years of dispersion. Christians do not agree on every […]
Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines belief as “to accept something as true, genuine, or real.” Another of its definitions is “to have a firm or wholehearted religious conviction or persuasion: to regard the existence of God as a fact.” When we, as Christians, use the word believe, we think of the second definition, the idea that we […]
In Matthew’s account of the life of Jesus we read the familiar story of wise men or magi visiting Jesus and his parents in a home in Bethlehem. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one […]
According to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus was born in a manger because there was no room available in the inn. In the story, Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem for a census. They almost certainly traveled in a caravan with others, including members of their extended family. Travel on foot from Nazareth to Bethelem […]
