﻿<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title>TheVoice_of_Reason's Xanga</title><link>http://www.xanga.com/TheVoice_of_Reason</link><description>Latest Xanga weblog from TheVoice_of_Reason</description><language>en-us</language><ttl>60</ttl><image><title>The Weblog Community</title><url>http://s.xanga.com/images/xangalogobutton.gif</url><link>http://www.xanga.com/TheVoice_of_Reason</link></image><item><title>Wednesday, July 16, 2008</title><link>http://www.xanga.com/TheVoice_of_Reason/661703401/item.html</link><guid>http://www.xanga.com/TheVoice_of_Reason/661703401/item.html</guid><pubDate>Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:05:00 GMT</pubDate><description>&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT color=#df2080 size=6&gt;Have &lt;STRONG&gt;nothing&lt;/STRONG&gt; to do with&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/FONT&gt; &lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT color=#ff0000 size=7&gt;Godless Myths&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;FONT size=7&gt;I&lt;/FONT&gt;f &lt;/STRONG&gt;there is only one God, then why are there&lt;BR&gt;so many different Christian churches?&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;FONT size=5&gt;Why&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT size=5&gt; &lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;do we have so &lt;STRONG&gt;many&lt;/STRONG&gt; sects? &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=5&gt;How many versions of Christianity do we need?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=5&gt;Is there &lt;STRONG&gt;something&lt;/STRONG&gt; they all have in common?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;Most of their members are Trinitarians&amp;nbsp;who worship &lt;BR&gt;Lord Nameless, a three-headed god just like the triune &lt;BR&gt;gods pagans worshiped long ago.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;A href="http://xed.xanga.com/767f001a4973350859077/b1831033.jpg" target=xangaphoto&gt;&lt;IMG style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; HEIGHT: 160px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px" alt="" src="http://xed.xanga.com/767f001a4973350859077/z1831033.jpg"&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;FONT face="Century Gothic" color=#df20df size=4&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;Lord Nameless&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;P&gt;To the Trinitarians, Jesus Christ is "&lt;FONT color=#df2020&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;God the Son&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;". To the &lt;BR&gt;Unitarians, he is "&lt;FONT color=#107040&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;the Son of God&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;". At least the Unitarians &lt;BR&gt;are a &lt;STRONG&gt;little &lt;/STRONG&gt;less &lt;STRONG&gt;pagan &lt;/STRONG&gt;than the rest. &lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=5&gt;What does the Bible warn about that?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT face=Arial&gt;&lt;P&gt;"Do not worship the LORD your God in the way these &lt;BR&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;pagan peoples&lt;/STRONG&gt; worship their gods."&lt;BR&gt;(Deuteronomy 12:4) (NLT) &lt;A href="http://www.biblegatewy.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0033cc&gt;Bible Gateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;"Instead, they mingled among the pagans and &lt;BR&gt;adopted their... customs."&lt;BR&gt;(Psalm 106:35) (NLT) &lt;A href="http://www.biblegatewy.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0033cc&gt;Bible Gateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=4&gt;What else do these members of this "Christendom" believe?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;They learn these worthless things from their church ministers:&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;"God&amp;#8217;s name is "Nobody".&lt;BR&gt;"The cross is holy".&lt;BR&gt;"Christmas and Easter are holy days for all Christians".&lt;BR&gt;"Halloween is harmless fun".&lt;BR&gt;"Everybody in our group who dies goes to Heaven. &lt;BR&gt;"Everybody else goes to Hell".&lt;BR&gt;"Once we are saved, we are always saved!"&lt;BR&gt;"Jesus is my good buddy. He loves me no matter what!"&lt;BR&gt;"Jesus is God."&lt;BR&gt;"God loves everybody no matter what they do!"&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT size=5&gt;These beliefs are all &lt;FONT color=#ff0000&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;false&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;. &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT size=5&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;Why do the ministers of Christendom&amp;nbsp;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;promote these&lt;/FONT&gt; &lt;FONT color=#ff0000&gt;false beliefs&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma&gt;&lt;P&gt;3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.&lt;BR&gt;Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great&lt;BR&gt;number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They &lt;BR&gt;will turn their ears away from the truth &lt;STRONG&gt;and turn aside to myths&lt;/STRONG&gt;.&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;(2Timothy 4:3-4) (New International Version) &lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=5&gt;How do we know these beliefs are myths?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT color=#8000ff size=5&gt;Is God&amp;#8217;s name "Nobody"?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma&gt;&lt;P&gt;3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, &lt;BR&gt;by the name of God Almighty, but by my name &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma color=#0000ff&gt;JEHOVAH&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma&gt; was &lt;BR&gt;I not known to them.&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;(Exodus 6:3) (King James Version) &lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=5&gt;&lt;P&gt;Is the cross holy?&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma&gt;&lt;P&gt;4 "You shall &lt;STRONG&gt;not&lt;/STRONG&gt; make for yourself an idol in the form of anything &lt;BR&gt;in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below."&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;(Exodus 20:4) (NIV)&lt;/FONT&gt; &lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=5&gt;&lt;P&gt;Are Christmas and Easter&amp;nbsp;holy days for all Christians?&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma&gt;&lt;P&gt;"&lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;FONT color=#8f308f&gt;Christmas and &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma color=#8f308f&gt;Easter&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma&gt; - These spurious, counterfeit holydays &lt;BR&gt;represent &lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;FONT color=#ff0000&gt;a COMPROMISE with paganism&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/STRONG&gt;, an attempt on the &lt;BR&gt;part of the church to convert the heathen by meeting them halfway. &lt;BR&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;But the Scriptures clearly teach that there must be NO&lt;BR&gt;Compromise &lt;/STRONG&gt;with the evil one on any point. Paul gives the warning: &lt;BR&gt;"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall &lt;BR&gt;depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and &lt;STRONG&gt;doctrines &lt;BR&gt;of devils&lt;/STRONG&gt;; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared &lt;BR&gt;with a hot iron." 1 Timothy 4:1, 2."&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;-HEATHEN CUSTOMS In the Christian Church;&lt;BR&gt;By Murl Vance&lt;/P&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT size=5&gt;But Christmas is Jesus&amp;#8217; "birthday". &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=5&gt;Why can&amp;#8217;t we celebrate that? &lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;BR&gt;"The Jews and early christians - regarded birthday &lt;BR&gt;celebrations as part of &lt;B&gt;idolatrous worship&lt;/B&gt;."&lt;BR&gt;-M'Clintock &amp;amp; Strong's Cyclopedia (Vol. I, p. 817)&lt;SUP&gt; &lt;/P&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SUP&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;P&gt;"The earliest Christians simply were NOT interested &lt;BR&gt;in celebrating the Nativity. They 'viewed birthday &lt;BR&gt;celebrations as heathen'. The third-century church &lt;BR&gt;father - Origen had declared it a sin to even think&lt;BR&gt;of keeping Christ's birthday 'as though he were a &lt;BR&gt;king pharoah'." &lt;BR&gt;- December 23,1996 issue of &lt;BR&gt;&lt;I&gt;US News &amp;amp; World Report&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/I&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=5&gt;What&amp;#8217;s wrong with Easter?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma&gt;&lt;P&gt;"It is interesting that the holiest day of the liturgical Christian &lt;BR&gt;year, &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma color=#df20df&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;Easter&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma&gt; Sunday, bears the name of the &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma color=#ff0000&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;pagan sex goddess&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma&gt; &lt;BR&gt;Eastre and the &lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;FONT color=#ff0000&gt;pagan sun god Solis&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/STRONG&gt;."&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT face=Verdana&gt;-Panati, Charles. Sacred Origins of Profound Things. &lt;BR&gt;New York: Penguin Books USA Inc., 1996. &lt;/P&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=4&gt;A sex goddess? What does Jehovah think about her?&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;SUP&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;3&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SUP&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt; Thou shalt have no other gods before me. &lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;(Exodus 20:3) (KJV)&lt;/FONT&gt; &lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=5&gt;But Halloween is not a religious holiday, is it?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;FONT face=Verdana&gt;&lt;P&gt;"Originally a &lt;FONT color=#ff0000&gt;pagan&lt;/FONT&gt; festival of the dead&lt;/B&gt;, All Saints&amp;#8217; Day &lt;BR&gt;was established by the Catholic Church in the 9th century&lt;BR&gt;to honor Christian saints."&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;From:&lt;/FONT&gt; &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761572079/Halloween.html" target=_new&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0033cc size=2&gt;http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761572079/Halloween.html&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=5&gt;"We do go to Heaven when we die, don't we?"&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;SUP&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma&gt;&lt;P&gt;13 &lt;/SUP&gt;&lt;B&gt;No one has ever gone into heaven&lt;/B&gt; except the one who &lt;BR&gt;came from heaven&amp;#8212;the Son of Man. &lt;SUP&gt;14 &lt;/SUP&gt;Just as Moses lifted up &lt;BR&gt;the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, &lt;BR&gt;&lt;SUP&gt;15 &lt;/SUP&gt;that everyone who believes in him may have &lt;B&gt;eternal life.&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/B&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;(John 3:13-15) (NIV) &lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=5&gt;Where are the dead now?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SUP&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma&gt;28 &lt;/SUP&gt;Don't be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the &lt;BR&gt;dead in their graves will hear the voice of God's Son, &lt;SUP&gt;29 &lt;/SUP&gt;and they &lt;BR&gt;will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to eternal life, &lt;BR&gt;and those who have continued in evil will rise to judgment. &lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;(John 5:28-29) (NLT) &lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#0000ff size=5&gt;And where will they reside?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;"The righteous shall inherit the earth, &lt;BR&gt;And they shall live forever upon it." &lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;(Psalm 37:29) (KJV) &lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-Biblegateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=4&gt;&lt;P&gt;But I know that once we are saved, we are always saved! &lt;BR&gt;Jesus is my good buddy. He loves me no matter what! God &lt;BR&gt;loves everybody no matter what they do!&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT face=Arial&gt;"On that day of judgment," says the LORD, "I will punish the leaders... &lt;BR&gt;and all those &lt;STRONG&gt;following pagan customs&lt;/STRONG&gt;."&lt;BR&gt;(Zephaniah 1:8) (New Living Translation) &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff&gt;-Biblegateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;SUP&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma&gt;&lt;P&gt;46 &lt;/SUP&gt;"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;(Luke 6:46) (NIV) &lt;A href="http://www.biblegatewy.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0033cc&gt;Bible Gateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;SUP&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma&gt;&lt;P&gt;22 &lt;/SUP&gt;Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not&lt;BR&gt;prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons &lt;BR&gt;and perform many miracles?' &lt;SUP&gt;23 &lt;/SUP&gt;Then I will tell them plainly, &lt;BR&gt;'I never knew you. &lt;STRONG&gt;Away from me, you evildoers!&lt;/STRONG&gt;'&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;(Matthew 7:22-23) (NIV) &lt;A href="http://www.biblegatewy.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0033cc&gt;Bible Gateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=5&gt;&lt;P&gt;What would be the wise thing to do now?&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma size=4&gt;&lt;P&gt;7 &lt;FONT color=#ff0000&gt;Have nothing to do with godless myths&lt;/FONT&gt; and old wives' &lt;BR&gt;tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;(1Timothy 4:7) (NIV)&lt;/FONT&gt; &lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=5&gt;Why?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;"...It's important to look at things from God's point of view..." &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;BR&gt;(1Corinthians 4:6) (Message Bible) &lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=5&gt;&lt;P&gt;And what is God&amp;#8217;s viewpoint?&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma&gt;&lt;P&gt;21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; &lt;BR&gt;you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons. &lt;BR&gt;22 Are we trying to arouse the Lord's jealousy? Are we stronger than he?&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;(1Corinthians 10:21-22) (NIV)&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt; -&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma&gt;&lt;P&gt;11 Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; &lt;BR&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;instead, rebuke and expose them. &lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;BR&gt;(Ephesians 5:11) (NIV) &lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma&gt;&lt;P&gt;"Don't team up with those who are unbelievers. How can &lt;BR&gt;light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between &lt;BR&gt;Christ and the Devil ? ...Therefore, come out from them and &lt;BR&gt;separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don't touch &lt;BR&gt;their filthy things..."&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;(2Corinthians 6:14-17) (New Living Translation) &lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;People can believe what they want, but in the end, &lt;STRONG&gt;the truth&lt;/STRONG&gt; is &lt;BR&gt;what matters, not the false beliefs people prefer to cling to. The &lt;BR&gt;very people who proclaim "Jesus loves you and forgives you" &lt;BR&gt;are the very ones about to be destroyed for their error. It will &lt;BR&gt;be a shock to them when it happens but the Bible has many &lt;BR&gt;warnings in it for those who want to really know: &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma&gt;&lt;P&gt;9 I, the LORD, will show no mercy or pity when that time comes. &lt;BR&gt;In my anger I will destroy the &lt;B&gt;earth and every sinner who &lt;BR&gt;lives on it. &lt;BR&gt;&lt;/B&gt;(Isaiah 13:9) (Contemporary English Version) &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma&gt;&lt;P&gt;"In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but &lt;B&gt;now he &lt;BR&gt;commands all people everywhere to repent&lt;/B&gt;. For he &lt;BR&gt;has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by &lt;BR&gt;the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all&lt;BR&gt;men by raising him from the dead."&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;(Acts 17:30,31) (NIV) &lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/A&gt; &lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT size=5&gt;Now is a good time to &lt;STRONG&gt;repent&lt;/STRONG&gt; before it is too late.&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=5&gt;Is there a people who know these things &lt;BR&gt;and actually practice what they preach?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma&gt;10 Ye are my &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma color=#8020df size=4&gt;witnesses&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma&gt;, saith Jehovah, and my servant whom &lt;BR&gt;I have chosen; that ye may know and believe me, and understand &lt;BR&gt;that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall &lt;BR&gt;there be after me. 11 I, even I, am Jehovah; and besides me there &lt;BR&gt;is no saviour. 12 I have declared, and I have saved, and I have &lt;BR&gt;showed; and there was no strange god among you: therefore ye &lt;BR&gt;are my &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma color=#6018a7 size=4&gt;witnesses&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma&gt;, saith Jehovah, and I am God. &lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;(Isaiah 43:10-12) (American Standard Version) &lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/P&gt;</description><comments>http://www.xanga.com/TheVoice_of_Reason/661703401/item.html#firstcomment</comments></item><item><title>Sunday, July 13, 2008</title><link>http://www.xanga.com/TheVoice_of_Reason/661701275/item.html</link><guid>http://www.xanga.com/TheVoice_of_Reason/661701275/item.html</guid><pubDate>Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:04:00 GMT</pubDate><description>&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 20pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT size=6&gt;The Ten Commandments&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;Part III&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;H1 style="MARGIN: 12pt 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 18pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"&gt;&lt;FONT size=6&gt;Commandment: 9&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/H1&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: blue; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#8000ff&gt;&amp;#8220;Y&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: blue"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#ff0080&gt;&lt;FONT color=#8000ff&gt;ou shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.&amp;#8221;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0&gt;(Exodus 20:16) (New American Standard)&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: red; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;FONT size=5&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;What exactly&lt;/FONT&gt; &lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;does this mean?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;Most people believe that it simply means, &amp;#8220;do not lie&amp;#8221;. Actually, &lt;BR&gt;there is a lot more to this commandment than that. Here is a clearer &lt;BR&gt;translation:&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;"You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. &amp;#8220;&lt;BR&gt;(Exodus 20:16) (New International Version)&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: red; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;BR&gt;As we can see here, this commandment has to do with giving &lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;testimony&lt;/B&gt;.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=5&gt;What is the difference?&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;BR&gt;Centuries ago, disputes were heard by a judge just like today. This &lt;BR&gt;commandment forbids offering false testimony in court by the &lt;BR&gt;witnesses or the people who are in dispute. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;So what does this commandment&lt;/FONT&gt; &lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;have to do with lying in general?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;Not much. But this does not mean that lying, in general, is now okay:&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&amp;#8220;&lt;SUP&gt;21&lt;/SUP&gt; For the upright shall dwell in the land, And the perfect shall &lt;BR&gt;remain in it. &lt;SUP&gt;22&lt;/SUP&gt; But the wicked shall be cut off from the land, And &lt;BR&gt;the &lt;B&gt;treacherous&lt;/B&gt; shall be rooted out of it.&amp;#8221;&lt;BR&gt;(Proverbs 2:21-22) (American Standard Version)&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: red; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;This warning applies to people who wish to do &lt;B&gt;evil&lt;/B&gt;. Most people &lt;BR&gt;will agree that most lying is an evil pastime.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;Is it &lt;B&gt;always&lt;/B&gt; wrong&lt;/FONT&gt; &lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;to lie?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;This deeply controversial matter can be settled easily with the &lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;proper wisdom&lt;/B&gt;. It is &lt;B&gt;not &lt;/B&gt;correct to say &lt;B&gt;all lies are wrong&lt;/B&gt;. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;Example: Before the start of World War II the secret police of &lt;BR&gt;Germany called &amp;#8220;The Gestapo&amp;#8221; was busy searching for Jews to &lt;BR&gt;deport to the death camps. About seven million Jews were tortured &lt;BR&gt;and executed in the death camps. Many Jews survived because &lt;BR&gt;sympathetic neighbors in Germany and surrounding countries &lt;BR&gt;allowed the Jews to hide in their homes. So when a Gestapo agent &lt;BR&gt;asked the non-Jewish neighbor if there were any Jews hiding in his &lt;BR&gt;home the non-Jewish homeowner would lie and say &amp;#8220;no&amp;#8221;.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=4&gt;Which would be better in this case? Tell the truth and &lt;BR&gt;turn the Jews &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=4&gt;over to the Gestapo or lie and protect &lt;BR&gt;the Jewish family from certain death?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;Another example: A woman is wearing a wild, outlandish &lt;BR&gt;hair-do and hat. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;Which would be better in this case? Tell the truth that &lt;BR&gt;her hair and hat are weird and hurt her feelings or lie &lt;BR&gt;and tell &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;her she looks beautiful?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;In both cases, the answer will depend a lot on a person&amp;#8217;s view &lt;BR&gt;of the severity of lying. Many people believe that lying leads to &lt;BR&gt;an &amp;#8220;eternity in Hell&amp;#8221; after death. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=5&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;Is this&lt;/FONT&gt; &lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;true?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&amp;#8220;&lt;SUP&gt;69&lt;/SUP&gt;&amp;nbsp;Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant-&lt;BR&gt;girl came to him and said, "You too were with Jesus the Galilean.&lt;BR&gt;" &lt;SUP&gt;70&lt;/SUP&gt;&amp;nbsp;But he &lt;B&gt;denied&lt;/B&gt; it before them all, saying, "I do not know what &lt;BR&gt;you are talking about." &lt;SUP&gt;71&lt;/SUP&gt;&amp;nbsp;When he had gone out to the gateway, &lt;BR&gt;another servant-girl saw him and said to those who were there, &lt;BR&gt;"This man was with Jesus of Nazareth." &lt;SUP&gt;72&lt;/SUP&gt;&amp;nbsp;And again he &lt;B&gt;denied&lt;/B&gt; &lt;BR&gt;it with an oath, "I do not know the man." &lt;SUP&gt;73&lt;/SUP&gt;&amp;nbsp;A little later the by-&lt;BR&gt;standers came up and said to Peter, "Surely you too are one of &lt;BR&gt;them; for even the way you talk gives you away." &lt;SUP&gt;74&lt;/SUP&gt;&amp;nbsp;Then he began &lt;BR&gt;to curse and swear, "&lt;B&gt;I do not know the man&lt;/B&gt;!" And immediately a &lt;BR&gt;rooster crowed.&amp;#8221; &lt;BR&gt;(Matthew 26:69-74) (New American Standard)&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: red; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#8000ff size=4&gt;The message here is that Peter deliberately lied three &lt;BR&gt;times about knowing Jesus. &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#8000ff size=4&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=5&gt;Did he fall from grace? &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;No. He is indeed in Heaven with Jesus. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=4&gt;The moral of the story is that we can be forgiven for &lt;BR&gt;our lies but does that mean we are &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=4&gt;allowed to lie &lt;BR&gt;constantly about anything?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;Here is what Paul wrote to a congregation whose members&lt;BR&gt;were indulging in many immoralities and teaching that they &lt;BR&gt;would be forgiven indefinitely:&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&amp;#8220;&lt;SUP&gt;3 &lt;/SUP&gt;Dearly loved friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you &lt;BR&gt;about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write &lt;BR&gt;about something else, urging you to defend the truth of the Good &lt;BR&gt;News. God gave this unchanging truth once for all time to his holy &lt;BR&gt;people. &lt;SUP&gt;4 &lt;/SUP&gt;I say this because some godless people have wormed their &lt;BR&gt;way in among you, &lt;B&gt;saying that&lt;/B&gt; &lt;B&gt;God's forgiveness allows us to live &lt;BR&gt;immoral lives&lt;/B&gt;. The fate of such people was determined long ago, &lt;BR&gt;for they have turned against our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.&amp;#8221;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;(Jude 3-4) (New Living Translation)&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: red; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;Many people, in fact, believe that &amp;#8220;once saved always saved.&amp;#8221; &lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=4&gt;Is it wise to constantly sin and pray for forgiveness &lt;BR&gt;without trying to stop being immoral?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&amp;#8220;&lt;SUP&gt;8 &lt;/SUP&gt;But I will tell you what will happen to cowards and to &lt;BR&gt;everyone who is unfaithful or dirty-minded or who murders &lt;BR&gt;or is sexually immoral or uses witchcraft or worships idols &lt;BR&gt;or &lt;STRONG&gt;tells lies&lt;/STRONG&gt;. They will be thrown into that lake of fire and &lt;BR&gt;burning sulfur. This is the second death.&amp;#8221;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;(Revelation 21:8) (Contemporary English Version)&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: red; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;Unlike what other people believe, we cannot constantly indulge &lt;BR&gt;in immoralities without certain consequences. If we choose to lie, &lt;BR&gt;we must be sure of our &lt;B&gt;motivation&lt;/B&gt;. It is &lt;B&gt;not&lt;/B&gt; necessarily the act that &lt;BR&gt;will get us into trouble, but what is in our heart when we act.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&amp;#8220;To carry on righteousness and judgment is more preferable to &lt;BR&gt;Jehovah than sacrifice.&amp;#8221;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;(Proverbs 21:3) (New World Translation) -&lt;A href="http://www.watchtower.org/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;Watchtower.org&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;H1 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 18pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"&gt;&lt;FONT size=6&gt;Commandment: 10&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/H1&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: blue; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;&amp;#8220;Y&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: blue"&gt;ou shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet &lt;BR&gt;your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox &lt;BR&gt;or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." &lt;BR&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0&gt;(Exodus 20:17) (New International Version)&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: red; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;While this is the traditional translation for this commandment, &lt;BR&gt;&amp;#8220;covet&amp;#8221; is not a word that is used much anymore. Here is a &lt;BR&gt;more up-to-date translation:&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&amp;#8220;Thou shalt not &lt;B&gt;desire&lt;/B&gt; thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not &lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;desire &lt;/B&gt;thy neighbour's wife, nor his bondman, nor his handmaid, &lt;BR&gt;nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour's.&amp;#8221;&lt;BR&gt;(Exodus 20:17) (Darby)&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: red; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;Why are we forbidden to have a &lt;B&gt;desire&lt;/B&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt; &lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;for other people&amp;#8217;s belongings? &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;From the desire can come the impulse to steal the desired items. &lt;BR&gt;That used to be a problem long ago when possessions were in &lt;BR&gt;short supply and so was money. Today people can see something, &lt;BR&gt;such as, a neighbor&amp;#8217;s car and go buy one of their own. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;Is this a&lt;/FONT&gt; &lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;bad thing?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;It &lt;STRONG&gt;can&lt;/STRONG&gt; be if it puts a strain on the budget to &amp;#8220;keep up with the &lt;BR&gt;Jonses&amp;#8221;. Even today the commandment has relevance for us. &lt;BR&gt;There is still a possibility of compulsion to steal a neighbor&amp;#8217;s &lt;BR&gt;possession or become deep in debt from acquiring too many &lt;BR&gt;possessions. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;Since Jehovah made us, He knows our weaknesses as well as &lt;BR&gt;what is good and bad for us. That is why we have this commandment.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;The idea here is to try not to be enamored of material possessions, &lt;BR&gt;especially that which belongs to others. The desire for other&amp;#8217;s &lt;BR&gt;possessions can lead to the impulse to steal it and that is a more &lt;BR&gt;serious sin. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;Therefore, this commandment, just like all of the other ones, is &lt;BR&gt;meant to keep us out of trouble and make life harmonious. It is &lt;BR&gt;a fact that, unfortunately, most of the people of the world ignore &lt;BR&gt;these commandments and contribute to the problems of the world &lt;BR&gt;accordingly. This is only a temporary problem. Soon these &lt;BR&gt;disobedient and troublesome people will be gone just as prophesied &lt;BR&gt;long ago:&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&amp;#8220;&lt;SUP&gt;9&lt;/SUP&gt; For evil-doers shall be cut off; But those that wait for Jehovah, &lt;BR&gt;they shall inherit the land. &lt;SUP&gt;10&lt;/SUP&gt; For yet a little while, and the wicked &lt;BR&gt;shall not be: Yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and he &lt;BR&gt;shall not be.&amp;#8221;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;(Psalm 37:9-10) (ASV)&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: red; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;</description><comments>http://www.xanga.com/TheVoice_of_Reason/661701275/item.html#firstcomment</comments></item><item><title>Saturday, July 12, 2008</title><link>http://www.xanga.com/TheVoice_of_Reason/661700700/item.html</link><guid>http://www.xanga.com/TheVoice_of_Reason/661700700/item.html</guid><pubDate>Sat, 12 Jul 2008 00:03:00 GMT</pubDate><description>&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 20pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT size=6&gt;The Ten Commandments&lt;/FONT&gt; &lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;Part II&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 18pt; COLOR: red; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT size=6&gt;Commandment 6:&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/B&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: red; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;FONT size=5&gt;&lt;FONT color=#ff0080&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;&amp;#8220;Y&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;ou shall not murder&amp;#8221;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: blue"&gt;(Exodus 20:13) (English Standard Version)&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: blue"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;There is a subtle distinction between &amp;#8220;killing&amp;#8221; and &amp;#8220;murder&amp;#8221;.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;The King James version: &amp;#8220;Thou shalt not kill&amp;#8221; is sufficiently &lt;BR&gt;vague enough to have caused confusion for centuries. There &lt;BR&gt;are many people who believe that it is a sin to kill &lt;B&gt;anything&lt;/B&gt;. &lt;BR&gt;It is not the intent of this commandment to condemn us for &lt;BR&gt;trivialities such as swatting flies, mosquitoes, etc. Taken to &lt;BR&gt;this extreme, the slaughtering of animals, even fish, for food &lt;BR&gt;would be prohibited. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;Murder or assassination is a different matter. This refers to the &lt;BR&gt;willful, deliberate and sometimes methodical planning and then &lt;BR&gt;taking of a human life. Taking a human life is not our right; it &lt;BR&gt;belongs solely to Jehovah because we do not have the ability to &lt;BR&gt;give life. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;&amp;#8220;&lt;SUP&gt;19&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SUP&gt;Meanwhile, Korah had convinced the rest of the Israelites &lt;BR&gt;to rebel against their two leaders. When that happened, the &lt;BR&gt;LORD appeared in all his glory &lt;SUP&gt;20 &lt;/SUP&gt;and said to Moses and Aaron, &lt;BR&gt;&lt;SUP&gt;21 &lt;/SUP&gt;"Get away from the rest of the Israelites so I can kill them &lt;BR&gt;right now!" &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;(Numbers 16:19-21) (Contemporary English Version)&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt; &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;The Bible has many stories about killing people. When Jehovah &lt;BR&gt;authorized it, his people wiped out whole cities. When Joshua led &lt;BR&gt;the Israelites into the promised land, Jehovah instructed them to &lt;BR&gt;destroy all of the pagan people who inhabited the land before settling &lt;BR&gt;there:&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;&amp;#8220;&lt;SUP&gt;20 &lt;/SUP&gt;When the people heard the sound of the horns, they &lt;BR&gt;shouted as loud as they could. Suddenly, the walls of &lt;BR&gt;Jericho collapsed, and the Israelites charged straight into&lt;BR&gt;the city from every side and captured it. &lt;SUP&gt;21 &lt;/SUP&gt;They completely &lt;BR&gt;destroyed everything in it--men and women, young and old, &lt;BR&gt;cattle, sheep, donkeys--everything.&amp;#8221;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;(Joshua 6:20-21) (New Living Translation)&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;Death was a last resort but often utilized for the enforcement &lt;BR&gt;of Jehovah&amp;#8217;s laws:&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;&amp;#8220;&lt;SUP&gt;12 &lt;/SUP&gt;Death is the punishment for murder.&amp;#8221; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;(Exodus 21:12) (CEV) &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;People today may believe that it is wrong to execute murderers, &lt;BR&gt;but the Bible shows that Jehovah authorized the death penalty &lt;BR&gt;long ago. In fact, murder was not the only capital crime at the time:&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SUP&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;15&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SUP&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;Death&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/B&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt; is the punishment for attacking your father or &lt;BR&gt;mother. &lt;SUP&gt;16&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SUP&gt;&lt;B&gt;Death&lt;/B&gt; is the punishment for kidnapping. If you &lt;BR&gt;sell the person you kidnapped, or if you are caught with that &lt;BR&gt;person, the penalty is &lt;B&gt;death&lt;/B&gt;. &lt;SUP&gt;17&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SUP&gt;&lt;B&gt;Death&lt;/B&gt; is the punishment &lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;for cursing your father or mother.&lt;/B&gt;&amp;#8221; &lt;BR&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;(Exodus 21:15,16,17,) (CEV)&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;There was a provision for people who &lt;B&gt;accidentally&lt;/B&gt; killed someone. &lt;BR&gt;Adam&amp;#8217;s son, Cain, was the first murderer in history who was allowed &lt;BR&gt;to seek refuge in a settlement specifically for protection from vengeance.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;&amp;#8220;&lt;SUP&gt;15&lt;/SUP&gt;&amp;nbsp;And Jehovah said to him, Therefore, whoever slayeth&lt;BR&gt;Cain, it shall be revenged sevenfold. And Jehovah set a mark &lt;BR&gt;on Cain, lest any finding him should smite him. &lt;SUP&gt;16&lt;/SUP&gt;&amp;nbsp;And Cain &lt;BR&gt;went out from the presence of Jehovah, and dwelt in the land &lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;of Nod&lt;/B&gt;, toward the east of Eden.&amp;#8221;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;(Genesis 4:15-16) (Darby)&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;Thus places were set aside for people who accidentally killed &lt;BR&gt;someone and needed to be protected from relatives seeking revenge. &lt;BR&gt;However, if someone tried to seek sanctuary for a &lt;B&gt;non-accidental&lt;/B&gt; &lt;BR&gt;killing, the guilty person could be legally taken away and executed:&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SUP&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;13&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SUP&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;But if you did not intend to kill someone, and I, the LORD, &lt;BR&gt;let it happen anyway, you may run for safety to a place that &lt;BR&gt;I have set aside. &lt;SUP&gt;14&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SUP&gt;If you plan in advance to murder someone, &lt;BR&gt;there's no escape, not even by holding on to my altar. You will &lt;BR&gt;be dragged off and killed.&amp;#8221;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;(Exodus 21:13-14) (CEV)&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=5&gt;What about self-defense?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;FONT size=5&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;Not long after Cain killed his brother Abel, Cain&amp;#8217;s great-grandson, &lt;BR&gt;Lamech, killed in self-defense and wrote a poem about the incident:&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;&amp;#8220;&lt;SUP&gt;23 &lt;/SUP&gt;Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, listen to me; &lt;BR&gt;you wives of Lamech, hear me out: I killed a man for &lt;BR&gt;wounding me, a young man who attacked me. &lt;SUP&gt;24 &lt;/SUP&gt;If Cain is &lt;BR&gt;avenged seven times, for Lamech it's seventy-seven!&amp;#8221;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;(Genesis 4:23-24) (The Message Bible)&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;By researching the Bible, it can be determined that while &lt;BR&gt;premeditated murder is not allowed, there are occasions &lt;BR&gt;where the death sentence is fully justified.&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 18pt; COLOR: red; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;FONT size=6&gt;Commandment Seven:&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/B&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 18pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/B&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT size=5&gt;&amp;#8220;Y&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;&lt;FONT size=5&gt;ou shall not commit adultery. &lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: blue"&gt;(Exodus 20:14) New International Version)&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=5&gt;What constitutes adultery?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;U&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/U&gt;&lt;U&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/U&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;&amp;#8220;&lt;SUP&gt;22&lt;/SUP&gt; If a man is found sleeping with another man's wife, both &lt;BR&gt;the man who slept with her and the woman must &lt;B&gt;die&lt;/B&gt;. You &lt;BR&gt;must purge the evil from Israel. &lt;SUP&gt;23&lt;/SUP&gt; If a man happens to meet &lt;BR&gt;in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, &lt;BR&gt;&lt;SUP&gt;24&lt;/SUP&gt; you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and &lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;stone them to death&lt;/B&gt;-the girl because she was in a town &lt;BR&gt;and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated &lt;BR&gt;another man's wife. You must purge the evil from among you. &lt;BR&gt;&lt;SUP&gt;25&lt;/SUP&gt; But if out in the country a man happens to meet a girl pledged &lt;BR&gt;to be married and rapes her, &lt;B&gt;only the man who has done this &lt;BR&gt;shall die&lt;/B&gt;.&amp;#8221;&lt;U&gt;&lt;/U&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;(Deuteronomy 22:22) (NIV)&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=5&gt;What else constitutes adultery?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;&amp;#8220;&lt;SUP&gt;27 &lt;/SUP&gt;"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit &lt;BR&gt;adultery.'&lt;SUP&gt; 28 &lt;/SUP&gt;But I say to you that everyone who looks at a &lt;BR&gt;woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery &lt;BR&gt;with her in his heart.&amp;#8221;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;(Matthew 5:27,28) (ESV)&lt;SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;&amp;#8220;&lt;SUP&gt;31 &lt;/SUP&gt;It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give &lt;BR&gt;her a certificate of divorce.'&lt;SUP&gt; 32&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SUP&gt;But I say to you that everyone &lt;BR&gt;who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, &lt;BR&gt;makes her commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced &lt;BR&gt;woman commits adultery.&amp;#8221;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoBodyText2 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;(Matthew 5:31-32) (ESV)&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;FONT size=5&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;Is adultery a serious matter today?&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;&lt;SUP&gt;9 "&lt;/SUP&gt;Don't you know that those who do wrong will have no &lt;BR&gt;share in the Kingdom of God? Don't fool yourselves. Those &lt;BR&gt;who indulge in &lt;B&gt;sexual sin&lt;/B&gt;, who are idol worshipers, &lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;adulterers&lt;/B&gt;, male prostitutes, homosexuals, &lt;SUP&gt;10 &lt;/SUP&gt;thieves, &lt;BR&gt;greedy people, drunkards, abusers, and swindlers--none of &lt;BR&gt;these will have a share in the Kingdom of God.&amp;#8220;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;(1Corinthians 6:9-10) (NLT)&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;The Kingdom of God is within sight &lt;B&gt;now&lt;/B&gt;. All of the evils of this &lt;BR&gt;world, the governments of the world, the terrorists, the polluters, &lt;BR&gt;the criminals, all of them will all be wiped out along with all of &lt;BR&gt;the rest of the evil in the world and the survivors will live forever &lt;BR&gt;on a paradise earth subject only to the rule of our God, Jehovah. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;Would it not be a great shame to miss out on this wonderful &lt;BR&gt;opportunity to live forever on a paradise earth because of our &lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;rebellion against Jehovah&amp;#8217;s laws?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;There are a large number of people in the world who enjoy gross &lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;immorality, or do they?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;Countless millions of people are sick and dying from sexually &lt;BR&gt;transmitted diseases that could have been avoided by adhering &lt;BR&gt;to Bible moral standards. Many unwanted pregnancies occur daily.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;Are the people indulging in immoral practices truly happy? Is it &lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;worth the price they will pay?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SUP&gt;32&lt;/SUP&gt; But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment; &lt;BR&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;whoever does so destroys himself.&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;(Proverbs 6:32) (NIV) &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;H1 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 18pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;FONT size=6&gt;Commandment Eight:&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/H1&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT size=5&gt;&amp;#8220;T&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;&lt;FONT size=5&gt;hou shalt not steal.&amp;#8221;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: blue"&gt;(Exodus 20:15) (King James Version)&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;Stealing has always been a crime. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=5&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;What does the Bible say about &lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;some of the penalties for theft?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;When Joshua led his people to take the city of Jericho, Jehovah &lt;BR&gt;commanded the people to destroy everything except for valuable &lt;BR&gt;artifacts, which were to go into Jehovah&amp;#8217;s treasury:&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;#8220;&lt;SUP&gt;17&lt;/SUP&gt; The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the &lt;BR&gt;LORD . Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her &lt;BR&gt;in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we &lt;BR&gt;sent. &lt;SUP&gt;18&lt;/SUP&gt; But keep away from the devoted things, so that you &lt;BR&gt;will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of &lt;BR&gt;them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to &lt;BR&gt;destruction and bring trouble on it. &lt;SUP&gt;19&lt;/SUP&gt; All the silver and gold &lt;BR&gt;and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD &lt;BR&gt;and must go into his treasury." &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;(Joshua 6:17-19) (NIV)&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;Unfortunately, there was an individual who thought he could take &lt;BR&gt;for himself a few &amp;#8220;souvenirs&amp;#8221; and hide them without getting caught:&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;&amp;#8220;&lt;SUP&gt;1 &lt;/SUP&gt;But Israel was unfaithful concerning the things set apart &lt;BR&gt;for the LORD. A man named Achan had stolen some of these &lt;BR&gt;things, so the LORD was very angry with the Israelites.&amp;#8221;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;(Joshua 7:1) (NLT)&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;In fact, Achan took many valuable items and hid them in his &lt;BR&gt;tent. He not only disgraced himself but brought the wrath of &lt;BR&gt;Jehovah against the whole colony:&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;&amp;#8220;&lt;SUP&gt;20&lt;/SUP&gt;&amp;nbsp;And Achan answered Joshua and said, Indeed I have &lt;BR&gt;sinned against Jehovah the God of Israel, and thus and &lt;BR&gt;thus have I done. &lt;SUP&gt;21&lt;/SUP&gt;&amp;nbsp;I saw among the spoils a beautiful &lt;BR&gt;mantle of Shinar, and two hundred shekels of silver, and &lt;BR&gt;a golden bar of fifty shekels weight, and I coveted them &lt;BR&gt;and took them; and behold, they are hid in the earth in the &lt;BR&gt;midst of my tent, and the silver under it. &lt;SUP&gt;22&lt;/SUP&gt;&amp;nbsp;And Joshua sent &lt;BR&gt;messengers, and they ran to the tent, and behold, it was hid &lt;BR&gt;in his tent, and the silver under it.&amp;#8221;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;(Joshua 7:20-22) (Darby)&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;Jehovah was rightfully outraged. He gave specific orders not to &lt;BR&gt;keep anything that belonged to the people who lived in Jericho:&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;&amp;#8220;&lt;SUP&gt;11 &lt;/SUP&gt;Israel has sinned and broken my covenant! They have &lt;BR&gt;stolen the things that I commanded to be set apart for me. &lt;BR&gt;And they have not only stolen them; they have also lied &lt;BR&gt;about it and hidden the things among their belongings.&amp;#8220;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;(Joshua 7:11) (NLT)&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;Notice that the work of one man was attributed to the entire &lt;BR&gt;group. In fact, everyone was going to be punished for this &lt;BR&gt;criminal act unless the guilty party was found and dealt with &lt;BR&gt;swiftly. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=5&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;What was the penalty&lt;/FONT&gt; &lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;for this crime?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;&amp;#8221;&lt;SUP&gt; 15&lt;/SUP&gt; And it shall be, that he that is taken with the devoted &lt;BR&gt;thing shall be burnt with fire, &lt;STRONG&gt;he and all that he hath&lt;/STRONG&gt;; &lt;BR&gt;because he hath transgressed the covenant of Jehovah, &lt;BR&gt;and because he hath wrought folly in Israel.&amp;#8221;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;(Joshua 7:15) (ASV)&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;After Joshua obtained a confession from Achan, the man&amp;#8217;s &lt;BR&gt;family and possessions were rounded up and brought together &lt;BR&gt;in front of the whole group to be destroyed:&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;&amp;#8220;&lt;SUP&gt;24&lt;/SUP&gt;&amp;nbsp;Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the &lt;BR&gt;son of Zerah, and the silver, and the mantle, and the bar &lt;BR&gt;of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and &lt;BR&gt;his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had; &lt;BR&gt;and they brought them up into the valley of Achor. &lt;SUP&gt;25&lt;/SUP&gt;&amp;nbsp;And &lt;BR&gt;Joshua said, How hast thou troubled us! Jehovah will trouble &lt;BR&gt;thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones; and they &lt;BR&gt;burned them with fire, and stoned them with stones. &lt;SUP&gt;26&lt;/SUP&gt;&amp;nbsp;And &lt;BR&gt;they raised over him a great heap of stones, [which is there]&lt;BR&gt;to this day. And Jehovah turned from the fierceness of his &lt;BR&gt;anger. Therefore the name of that place was called, The &lt;BR&gt;Valley of Achor, to this day.&amp;#8221;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;(Joshua 7:24-26) (Darby)&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;Thus Achan paid with his life and it cost him his family&amp;#8217;s lives. &lt;BR&gt;All of his possessions were burned and buried as a warning to &lt;BR&gt;anyone who would dare to rebel against Jehovah. It was a very &lt;BR&gt;long time before any of the witnesses to this event tried to attempt &lt;BR&gt;the same act of rebellion. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;Is it acceptable to put a common thief&lt;/FONT&gt; &lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;to death?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;Centuries before, Moses was given the authority to do just that:&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;&amp;#8220;&lt;SUP&gt;2&lt;/SUP&gt;&amp;nbsp;"If the thief is caught while breaking in and is struck so &lt;BR&gt;that he dies, &lt;B&gt;there will be no bloodguiltiness on his &lt;BR&gt;account&lt;/B&gt;.&amp;#8221; &lt;BR&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;(Exodus 22:2) (New American Standard Bible)&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;Here is another example where the criminal can be legally killed &lt;BR&gt;without regard for the commandment: &amp;#8220;You shall not murder&amp;#8221;. &lt;BR&gt;Theft was so reprehensible that the Bible allowed for killing a thief &lt;BR&gt;caught in the act! At present, it is a fact that thieves do get hurt or &lt;BR&gt;killed sometimes while stealing and usually the authorities attempt &lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;to punish their victims&lt;/B&gt;, as if &lt;B&gt;they&lt;/B&gt; committed a crime.&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;There is a &lt;BR&gt;lot to be said sometimes for the circumstances that prompts the &lt;BR&gt;criminal to steal. Perhaps he can be rehabilitated from a life of crime. &lt;BR&gt;But the message here is that &lt;B&gt;crime is not an option&lt;/B&gt;. The Bible has &lt;BR&gt;condemned theft to the extent that &lt;B&gt;death&lt;/B&gt; is a suitable punishment. &lt;BR&gt;Jehovah never intended for us to profit by stealing from helpless victims.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;&amp;#8220;&lt;SUP&gt;1&lt;/SUP&gt; My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my &lt;BR&gt;commands in your heart, &lt;SUP&gt;2&lt;/SUP&gt; for they will &lt;B&gt;prolong your &lt;BR&gt;life &lt;/B&gt;many years and bring you prosperity.&amp;#8221;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;(Proverbs 3:1-2) (NIV)&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;&amp;#8220;&lt;SUP&gt;21&lt;/SUP&gt; My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment, do &lt;BR&gt;not let them out of your sight; &lt;SUP&gt;22&lt;/SUP&gt; they will be &lt;B&gt;life&lt;/B&gt; for you, &lt;BR&gt;an ornament to grace your neck.&amp;#8221; &lt;BR&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;(Proverbs 2:21-22) (NIV)&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;-&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT face=Tahoma&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;</description><comments>http://www.xanga.com/TheVoice_of_Reason/661700700/item.html#firstcomment</comments></item><item><title>Friday, July 11, 2008</title><link>http://www.xanga.com/TheVoice_of_Reason/661699734/item.html</link><guid>http://www.xanga.com/TheVoice_of_Reason/661699734/item.html</guid><pubDate>Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:03:00 GMT</pubDate><description>&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 20pt; COLOR: red; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT size=6&gt;The Ten Commandments&lt;/FONT&gt; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 26pt; COLOR: red; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT size=5&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;Part I&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: red; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT size=6&gt;Commandment 1:&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#8000ff&gt;&amp;#8220;You shall have no other gods before me.&amp;#8221; &lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: blue"&gt;(Exodus 20:3) (New International Version) &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=2&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: blue"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;This Commandment was given to Moses after he led the &lt;BR&gt;Israelites out of Egyptian captivity.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;FONT size=5&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;Were false religions&lt;/FONT&gt; &lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;widespread at that time?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;Many cultures such as the Egyptians worshiped numerous false &lt;BR&gt;gods. In fact, most of the people living anywhere on the earth &lt;BR&gt;back then worshiped many false gods. Ironically, the Pharaoh &lt;BR&gt;of Egypt at the time had never even heard of the real God, Jehovah!&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;&amp;#8220;&lt;SUP&gt;1&lt;/SUP&gt; And afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said unto &lt;BR&gt;Pharaoh, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Let my &lt;BR&gt;people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the &lt;BR&gt;wilderness. &lt;SUP&gt;2&lt;/SUP&gt; And Pharaoh said, Who is Jehovah, that I &lt;BR&gt;should hearken unto his voice to let Israel go? I know&lt;BR&gt;not Jehovah, and moreover I will not let Israel go.&amp;#8221;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;(Exodus 5:1-2) (American Standard Version) &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;Jehovah revealed himself to the people of Egypt and his chosen &lt;BR&gt;people to lead them out of slavery. The book of Exodus describes &lt;BR&gt;numerous miracles designed to reveal Jehovah&amp;#8217;s power. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;&amp;#8220;&lt;SUP&gt;17&lt;/SUP&gt; Thus saith Jehovah, In this thou shalt know that I am &lt;BR&gt;Jehovah: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in my &lt;BR&gt;hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall &lt;BR&gt;be turned to blood. &lt;SUP&gt;18&lt;/SUP&gt; And the fish that are in the river shall &lt;BR&gt;die, and the river shall become foul; and the Egyptians shall &lt;BR&gt;loathe to drink water from the river.&amp;#8221;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;(Exodus 7:17-18) (ASV) &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;Jehovah brought upon the Egyptians ten different plagues, &lt;BR&gt;in all, to demonstrate His power. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=4&gt;Then what? Did the demonstration of His &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=4&gt;power long &lt;BR&gt;ago bring about any respect for Jehovah today? &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;Not much! Today, most of the world prefers to ignore &lt;BR&gt;Jehovah and worship lesser gods, or none at all. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: red; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT size=6&gt;Commandment 2:&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SUP&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: blue"&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SUP&gt;&lt;SUP&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;4&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SUP&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt; Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, &lt;BR&gt;nor any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, &lt;BR&gt;or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water &lt;BR&gt;under the earth. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SUP&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;5&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SUP&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt; Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor &lt;BR&gt;serve them, for I Jehovah thy God am a jealous God, &lt;BR&gt;visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, &lt;BR&gt;upon the third and upon the fourth generation of &lt;BR&gt;them that hate me, &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SUP&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;6&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SUP&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt; and showing lovingkindness unto thousands of &lt;BR&gt;them that love me and keep my commandments.&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;(Exodus 20:4) (ASV)&amp;nbsp;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;The second Commandment should be the easiest one for Christians &lt;BR&gt;to follow. The first one should be easy too. And yet, these two &lt;BR&gt;Commandments are routinely broken, and most of the time the &lt;BR&gt;&amp;#8220;Christian&amp;#8221; people who are breaking them usually do not even &lt;BR&gt;realize it!&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;Why is the second commandment&lt;/FONT&gt; &lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;easy to follow?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;Because people should know what idols are when they see them. &lt;BR&gt;&lt;/STRONG&gt;In order to worship idols it would be necessary to buy or make them. &lt;BR&gt;The Bible has many stories about idol worship and the disastrous &lt;BR&gt;consequences that befell the people who deliberately worshiped idols, &lt;BR&gt;yet today, Christian people see nothing wrong with Christmas trees, &lt;BR&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;crosses and crucifixes&lt;/STRONG&gt;; even statues of saints!&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: red; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: red; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT size=6&gt;Commandment 3:&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: red; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: red; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SUP&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: blue"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SUP&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SUP&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;7&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SUP&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt; Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God &lt;BR&gt;in vain; for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that &lt;BR&gt;taketh his name in vain.&lt;SUP&gt;&lt;/SUP&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;(Exodus 20:7) (NIV) &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;Most people do not understand exactly what this Commandment &lt;BR&gt;means. Another translation includes a footnote:&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 12pt"&gt;&lt;SUP&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;7 &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SUP&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"&gt;Do not &lt;B&gt;misuse&lt;/B&gt; my name.&lt;SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;I am the LORD your God, and I &lt;BR&gt;will punish anyone who misuses my name.&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;(Exodus 20:7) (Contemporary English Version) &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;-&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;H3 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;Footnotes&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/H3&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;1.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 7pt; COLOR: black"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;20.7 &lt;I&gt;misuse my name&lt;/I&gt;: Probably includes breaking promises, &lt;BR&gt;telling lies after swearing to tell the truth, using the &lt;B&gt;LORD's &lt;BR&gt;name&lt;/B&gt; as a curse word or a magic formula, and trying to control &lt;BR&gt;the LORD by using his name. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;The footnote helps to make the Commandment even clearer now. &lt;BR&gt;The main source of confusion stems from the basic problem that &lt;BR&gt;the ministers of Christendom do not teach their congregations that &lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;God has a name&lt;/B&gt;. Since people are generally &lt;STRONG&gt;unaware&lt;/STRONG&gt; that God &lt;BR&gt;has a name, it seems like the word &amp;#8220;God&amp;#8221; or &amp;#8220;Lord&amp;#8221; is a sacred &lt;BR&gt;word. Therefore, people naturally think that swear words involving &lt;BR&gt;&amp;#8220;God&amp;#8221; or &amp;#8220;Lord&amp;#8221; are prohibited. Many people use &amp;#8220;swear words&amp;#8221; &lt;BR&gt;every day. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=4&gt;What consequence is there to using them?&amp;nbsp;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&amp;#8220;&lt;SUP&gt;5&lt;/SUP&gt; Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a &lt;BR&gt;man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of &lt;BR&gt;unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of &lt;BR&gt;hosts. &lt;SUP&gt;6&lt;/SUP&gt; Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a &lt;BR&gt;live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from &lt;BR&gt;off the altar: &lt;SUP&gt;7&lt;/SUP&gt; and he touched my mouth with it, and said, Lo, &lt;BR&gt;this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and &lt;BR&gt;thy sin forgiven. &lt;SUP&gt;8&lt;/SUP&gt; And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, &lt;BR&gt;Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Here &lt;BR&gt;am I; send me.&amp;#8221;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;(Isaiah 6:5-8) (American Standard Version) &lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;Isaiah was clearly aware that he and his friends sometimes say things &lt;BR&gt;that are unacceptable. He then felt unworthy of speaking directly to &lt;BR&gt;Jehovah until his mouth was symbolically cleansed. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=4&gt;Do the things we say really cause us to be literally defiled as a person?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;In fact,&amp;nbsp;Christ once told a group of Pharisees and scribes:&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&amp;#8220;Not what enters into his mouth is what defiles a man; but it &lt;BR&gt;is what &lt;STRONG&gt;proceeds out of his mouth&lt;/STRONG&gt; that defiles a man.&amp;#8221;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;(Matthew 15:11) (NIV) &lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;From this we can conclude that we do indeed defile ourselves when &lt;BR&gt;we use profanity. &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT size=4&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;What, then, really&amp;nbsp;constitutes misusing God&amp;#8217;s name?&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;1.&lt;SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;Swearing by Jehovah&amp;#8217;s sacred name that a lie is the truth.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;2.&lt;SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;Cursing Jehovah, Himself.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;3.&lt;SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;Using Jehovah&amp;#8217;s name in a foul or senseless&amp;nbsp;way.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: red; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT size=6&gt;Commandment 4:&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"&gt;&amp;#8220;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SUP&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;8&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/SUP&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt; Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. &lt;SUP&gt;9&lt;/SUP&gt; Six &lt;BR&gt;days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; &lt;SUP&gt;10&lt;/SUP&gt; but the &lt;BR&gt;seventh day is a sabbath unto Jehovah thy God: in it &lt;BR&gt;thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor &lt;BR&gt;thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant,&lt;BR&gt;nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: &lt;BR&gt;&lt;SUP&gt;11&lt;/SUP&gt; for in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, the &lt;BR&gt;sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: &lt;BR&gt;wherefore Jehovah blessed the sabbath day, and &lt;BR&gt;hallowed it.&amp;#8221;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;(Exodus 20:8-11) (ASV)&amp;nbsp;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;-&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target=_new&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: purple"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;BibleGateway&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;BR&gt;This Commandment seems like an easy one to keep because it is an &lt;BR&gt;order to get some rest. How thoughtful and kind of Jehovah to give &lt;BR&gt;us this commandment! &lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff size=5&gt;Do people abide by it today? &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;Not much.&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'"&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;FONT size=5&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&gt;&lt;SPAN style="COLOR: black"&gt;&lt;FONT color=#0000ff&g