Genesis

How does "grey area" infect our obedience to the seventh commandment-"you shall not steal"? Burning music, coping computer programs, being wasteful with our time and money? What challenges you about the seventh commandment? Why did God make this one of the commandments? Perhaps because disobeying the seventh command can affect every area of our lives.

We will come back to this topic sometime in the next few weeks. If you weren't there... There just wasn't enough time today to get to everything. I was able to lay some foundational thoughts on God's view of sex and adultery but did not get to dig into a single tough topic. So in review... God created sex and it was good! It is so much more than a physical act, it is emotional, it is spiritual. That is it in it's fullness. We looked at the Hebrew words for love... 1) Raiyah: Companionship- see you, the good and the bad, and love you 2) Ahava: Commitment - Love of the Will - I will never leave you 3) Dod: Intermingling of Souls - This is the sensual one. Only complete when Raiyah and Ahava are active. There is another word for sex when Raiyah and Ahava are not present... Adultery. I won't get into the stats here, other than to say we have a problem. There is an emptiness, an empty hunger that will never be filled when we are left only to the physical act. Soon, I'll let you know as soon as I do we will dig into the topics of Divorce, Pre-marital sex, living together, Homosexuality... etc. I would welcome your thoughts, challenges and anything else you think or wonder about any of these topics. What do you think?

Where to start... I know that this topic today touched on a lot of controversial topics and didn't allow us a lot of time to talk about them.  So, maybe we can get some discussion going here.  I'll give a review of what we talked about and then throw some topics out there that you may want to respond to. 

Review:  In Matthew 5 Jesus tells us that breaking the 5th commandment also includes having anger against another person. In 1 John 3 we find love and hate contrasted.  Even when hated, we are to love. 

Some key phrases:  Anger in the absence of love will grow and consume.  (Look at Cain, Genesis 4)  Love dissapates anger.  We are called to love even the one's whom we have every right to hate.  Not only love in words but in action and in truth.  Why?  Because that is what Jesus did for us.  "While we were yet sinners, Christ laid down His life for us." 

Some other topics for discussion, some we dug into, some we didn't.

Abortion, Euthenasia, War, Suicide

Does God break his own command when he takes a life?

What do you think? 

God's will for our lives begins with our parents. This is where He begins our lives on this eath. Should we say, "God commands us to honor our parents because this will teach us to honor Him?" It is so hard sometimes though. Many time we don't agree with what they say or do. But God doesn't give us an option. He commands we honor them. What does honor mean to you? Is it a behavior? A mindset? An intentional action toward our parents? What is the most difficult part of this command for you? What about those people who never meet their biological parents? How can they obey the fourth command?

Thankfully, Jesus Christ leads us to our heavenly Father. Yahweh loves to meet his people as their father, especially those who don't have a father on this earth. What are your thoughts about this command? Why is it so important?

Who would shirk a command about rest? Who would not want to stop once and a while? This is the command that we not only dismiss more than any other, we simply ignore it. Two main reasons for the Sabbath: 1) The natural and God created need for rest 2) Remember these commands are all about relationship- the natural and God created need for us to intentionally connect with him. "Man was not made for the Sabbath, the Sabbath was made for man." I admitted Sunday and do again, I still don't fully get the Sabbath. What should it look like for us? It is more than just worship... Do you know? Do you have any thoughts? We are praying and thinking hard about how to live this out in our family. I hope that you are doing the same.