"You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16). When most of us hear the ninth commandment, we think, "Okay, God doesn't want me to lie. So I should be good and tell the tRuth " And this is true! The ninth commandment does show that God calls His people to live honest [...]

What does it mean to “honor” your parents? Following this command looks different depending on your age, but a few things remain consistent. Much like our obedience to God, honoring our parents flows not out of guilt but out of gratitude and trust that they love us and have our best interests at heart. By [...]

Adultery (sex between a married person and someone other than their spouse) causes a world of hurt. It breaks hearts, rips apart relationships, and causes division in families. These are all very good reasons why God forbids adultery, but there's even more to it than that. When God created sex, He designed it to be [...]

There is a lot of debate about what the third commandment actually means, but it all boils down to one thing: because God is so good and so holy and because He chose to reveal Himself to us through His personal name, we should use His name only in ways that reflect His character. There [...]

"You must not have any other god but me” (Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 5:7). To the Israelites, this command was actually kind of crazy. In that time and place in history, it was common and expected to worship more than one god. Do you want your crops to grow? Go sacrifice to the rain god. Want [...]

We fancied ourselves clever, witty explorers roaming the galaxy in search of its most priceless treasures. Our current location was trying our perceptions of ourselves. This planet's underground network of tunnels was dark, steep, and narrow. Sometimes we had to crawl on our bellies; sometimes ropes around our waists were the only threads dangling us [...]

Johnson Oatman Jr. admired his father. Johnson Oatman Sr. was a gifted singer at church and an intelligent businessperson. In many ways, Johnson Jr. followed in his father's footsteps, even working at the family business. But he didn't have all the same gifts as his father. While he loved music, Johnson Jr. wasn't quite as [...]

All of us were created for community. God has wired humans to live in godly relationship with one another (Genesis 2:18; Matthew 22:37-40). As believers, having a reliable group of people around us as we grow is very important for our spiritual journeys. When Christ followers come together to grow in God's Word, encourage one [...]

In the 300s, a controversy erupted throughout the church over the doctrine of the Trinity. The Arian sect claimed Jesus was a lesser deity—since He was begotten of God the Father, there must have been a time when He was not in existence. About that time, a young man named Athanasius entered service to Alexander, [...]

"Lord, why?” Through sobs, I've asked this question many times. I asked it while looking at a baby in her casket. I asked it when a vibrant seventeen-year-old girl from our church died the night after she and my sister graduated from high school. I asked it when an always-healthy childhood friend died of skin [...]