Monday Message

This Monday Message is definitely the one I've spent the most time over. Not because it was long, or hard, but because I feel it touches on areas that could make me seem a little judgemental. So let me first state that my aim with these messages is not to judge, but t process the thoughts I have while reading the Bible and, hopefully, distilling them into a format others enjoy and gain insight from. Today I continue the theme of the Ten Commandments in view of relationships. This commandment focuses on the marriage relationship. Exodus 20:14 You must not commit adultery. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines adultery  as " voluntary sexual intercourse between a married man and someone other than his wife or  between a married woman and someone other than her husband ." The key part, in my opinion is the word voluntary. Adultery is not an accident. Adultery is a choice made by someone to seek physical pleasure from someone with whom they don't share a marria...

Last week had a great response. In fact, the best response I've yet had to a post. Thank you to all who took time to read and consider the post. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. I plan to take time to look into how to make the Sabbath holy in our modern times and hope to post more on my findings at some point in the future. This week we return to our series on the Ten Commandments and the relationship aspect of them. The next two commandments deal with our relationship to society. I'm going to look more closely at verse 14 next week. Exodus 20:13,15 “You must not murder. “You must not steal. All members of a society have a right to feel safe and to be safe. As we read or watch in the news nearly everyday, this safety is not something we can take for granted. Violent death is an unfortunate part of our daily news consumption. And yet this flies in the face of God's will for our lives. Murder first entered the world in Genesis 4 when Cain killed his brother A...

Today in my series on the Commandments, I'm looking at two different aspects of relationship. First is our relationship to ourselves and our time. In the daily hustle and bustle of our lives, it can be very easy to forget to stop and rest. Our phones ensure we're always contactable and, with social media, we always have something to distract us. My wife and I seem to find that we have big plans for evenings and weekends and, when they're finished, we've barely scratched the surface. It's not because we don't have time. It's because of how we spend it. For us a typical Sunday involves a bit of a sleep-in, church, lunch and then some general hanging out. Often TV in the evening then bed and a lot of reading. This sounds great and looks like a nice relaxing time. However, it seldom is. Sure, we may be trying to avoid obvious work, but we fill our time with internet pages, Facebook and, particularly in my case, mobile games on my phone. Exodus 20:8-...

Exodus 20:1-7 Then God gave the people all these instructions: “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. “You must not have any other god but me. “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands. “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name. The Ten Commandments; Those great rules that God gave His people in the wilderness. The rules that Moses carried down from the mountain to find half the p...