You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents […]

We may have heard that we should not question God because questioning may cause our faith to weaken. I have heard someone say we should never end a prayer with words something like, “If it be your will,” because those words imply we don’t believe we will get what we ask. As new believers what […]

The first three commandments in Exodus 20 set the stage for the latter seven. The first three commandments communicate expectations for how God should be treated and the following commandments (covered in earlier articles) establish expectations for how people should treat one another. This series has looked closely at the commandments in Exodus 20, starting […]

At the age of fifteen, I received a work permit and began applying for various part-time jobs in the small city where I lived. With every potential opportunity, I could taste freedom. There was one section, however, on each job application that seemed to mock me. “Are you available on weekends?” the form asked. Since […]

What we know as the sixth commandment is a verse made up of only two words in its original Hebrew context. Do not murder—an imperative command. We can easily understand the meaning of this phrase as a command that forbids God’s followers from carrying out destructive behaviors against another individual. It is important to recognize […]

When I was younger, I had chronic stomach pains. At one point, the pain lasted for a full week without subsiding, seesawing between a sharp or dull pain. After countless X-rays and tests, doctors could only agree on one diagnosis: inconclusive results. The body is an amazing piece of work, functioning with complexity and beauty, […]