We come to the eighth commandment this week where we find a prohibition against stealing. Like the commandment forbidding murder, there is almost universal distain for theft.  I doubt there is anyone reading this article who has not tasted the disgust and feelings of violation that comes when a personal item is stolen.

When I was in seminary, we discovered my wife’s engagement ring had been stolen out of our apartment.  She had taken it off over the kitchen sink while preparing dinner the night before, and when she looked for it the next day, it was gone.  There were other signs in our little home that someone had picked through our stuff.

We are outraged at such offenses. The gnawing feeling inside of us indicates that stealing is not right.  The command found in Exodus 20:15 literally means “to carry something away as if by stealth.” To steal is to take something that doesn’t belong to you, and the application is comprehensive. (more…)

In our last post introducing the Ten Commandments, we established these words were not suggestions.  They were given as merciful words of life, and as authoritative words from the God who is.

The account of Israel’s exodus out of Egypt is amazing. Once this nation of slaves was freed by the hand of God, we find them gathered at the base of Mt. Sinai by God’s direction and appointment.  From this mountain, God speaks to His people and gives to them His Law.

The first commandment is one of priority as God establishes a foundation for His people by declaring, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” (Exodus 20:3)

Before we learn other things about what God demands, we need to know who He is and who we are in relationship to Him.  God goes on record by saying that He refuses to share worship that is rightly to be given to Him. (more…)

I once read of a British fisherman who would troll the North Sea for mackerel. His fishing expeditions would yield abundant catches, but because it was before refrigeration, many of the mackerel would die on his trip back to market.

On one particular trip, the fisherman caught a small shark in one of his nets and had to dump it into the tank along with the other fish. The shark chased the other fish and kept them moving throughout the remainder of his voyage to shore.  When he arrived back, the fisherman discovered to his surprise that there was not a single dead fish in the holding tank. The mackerel had been forced to move around to avoid the shark that they didn’t have time to die!

I will always be amazed at how God places sharks, as it were, into the tank of our lives.  To be a follower of Jesus Christ doesn’t mean that we will be carried to skies on flowery beds of ease. In fact, one of the most unpopular promises given to believers in the New Testament is that sometimes following Christ means trials, persecution, sufferings, and excruciating loss. (more…)

William Ernest Henley was an influential poet, critic, and editor in the late 1800’s. His life was marked by sorrow and struggle. His greatest battle was with tuberculosis which eventually took his life at the age of 53.

Henley was best known for his 1875 poem, Invictus, which I remember reading for the first time in a college dorm room. One of my friends had a large poster on his dorm wall that proclaimed Henley’s humanist creed.

Out of the night that covers me,

 Black as the Pit from pole to pole,      

 I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul. (more…)

Following the invasion of Normandy in World War II, many historians chronicled the Allies progress through Europe as D-Day + (the number of days from June 6^th 1944). For the Christ follower, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was the most important weekend in the history of the world and in reality we are living our lives in a “Resurrection +” mode.

This post comes about a month removed from Resurrection Sunday, and I was reminded this morning of the promised power given to believers because the tomb is empty. This is a tremendous encouragement of hope as we navigate the challenges, demands, and sorrows of this world. (more…)