Obedience!

For Saturday, December 14, 2024:

Deuteronomy 5:17 NKJV, God’s words: “You shall not murder.”

It’s nice that we have God’s Commandments written down. But it’s kind of unnecessary. We already know, don’t we? Jesus left us with the New Covenant, whereby God’s Laws are written on our hearts. So we already know right from wrong. God’s value system lives inside each of us!

Murder is the intentional taking of another’s life, and the key is intentional, as in plotting to kill someone. But we’re certainly allowed to defend ourselves if someone is trying to kill us! And we’re allowed to defend our country should another entity attack us. Workplace and recreational accidents can occur, wherein nobody had bad intentions, and yet someone died. Accidents happen.

But Christians do not murder. It’s against the rules, it’s against our nature and it’s disobedience toward our God.

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Hypocrites!

For Tuesday, February 27, 2024:

Mark 14:1b-2 NLT: “The leading priests and the teachers of religious law were still looking for an opportunity to capture Jesus secretly and kill him. ‘But not during the Passover celebration,’ they agreed, ‘or the people may riot.’”

Jesus didn’t get along with the Jewish hierarchy. They suffered from, what I call, “Selective Obedience.” Now killing someone, in this case Jesus, would be a violation of God’s commandments. And yet they choose to honor the Passover.

So which is it, Rabbi? Are we supposed to follow God or not, and are there exceptions? The short answer is that we are to always follow God’s instructions. He is always right; he always wants what’s best for us! There are no exceptions!

Jesus didn’t like people who preached one thing, but then did another, and I believe God didn’t like it either. God and Jesus are always on the same page! The two-faced teachers and priests were secretly plotting Jesus’ demise, while publicly leading the celebration of Passover. Hypocrites!

Signing up for the Holy Family requires total commitment. The wishy-washy won’t make it. Disingenuous souls won’t make it. When following Jesus, you’re either all in, or not in at all. And those who are all in get to see heaven from the inside. Eternally!

Today is the best day to seal your commitment to Jesus!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Peace!

For Saturday, November 20, 2021

Matthew 5:9 NIV, Jesus speaking: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

Jesus is continuing his Sermon on the Mount, starting with the Beatitudes. In a way, they’re encouraging us to have a better attitude, a change from a dour outlook to optimism. That’s not the full definition, but it works for our purposes here.

Let’s stop killing each other! Every day there’s news – one person killed another; one gang attacked another; one race went after another; one country thought they were better than the next. Stop, already! After 5k years of recorded history, you’d think we could do better!

Jesus is telling us that peace is desirable, something for which we should strive. God’s children are the apparent peacemakers! Do your best, but don’t worry if it’s not successful. Jesus also said that there would be wars and rumors of wars until he returns.

Jesus understood human sinfulness!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406

Killing vs. Murder

February 25, 2013 Monday Message:

We’ve been studying the 10 Commandments, and this week it’s #6 - "Do not murder." Ex. 20

There’s not much commentary available on this. It’s a God-thing, one of those things that everyone already knows. Even if there were no Ten Commandments, we would  know that we shouldn’t murder, we shouldn’t steal, and we should stay away from our neighbor’s spouse. Paul says that God has written these things on our hearts.

Some older Bible versions read, “Thou shalt not kill,” while most of our modern translations refer to the prohibition as “murder.” There’s a huge difference between the two words, which we can sort out by understanding the character of God.

We have been commanded to “love our neighbors” so much that we would give our lives for them. That’s what Jesus did for us. Sometimes we may have to defend our neighbors, our families, our property, or ourselves, or we may find our country at war. Unfortunately, these scenarios may involve killing. God’s people need to protect themselves, and while I don’t believe God ever really likes killing, he has called us to mount an appropriate response to whatever sort of evil is coming our way.

What is prohibited in this commandment is the capital crime, maliciously taking the life of another. Murder is what is prohibited.

Next week: Family Values – God’s Master-plan.

Norton Lawellin

We’ll worship this Sunday, March 3, 10:30am, Jesus in the City Fellowship (JICF), in the North end of the Oliver Ministry Building, 27^th Street & Bloomington Avenue, Minneapolis. Jesus lights a lamp, calms a storm, and describes his true family as we continue in Luke Ch. 8.

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