Breaking the Third Commandment
February 11th, 2008Brace yourself for a minute or thirty. I’m about to rant.
Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort have a weekly program. You know Kirk. He was Mike Seaver!
Those two just need to back it down and knock it off until they figure it out. It’s unfortunate.
So here’s an open letter to Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort:
Bring that stupidity at me and I’ll patiently tell you where you’re wrong. Yes, I know about First Corinthians 13. I love you. Right motivations don’t make right tactics.
You’re doing it wrong. Please stop. You’re making atheists as fast as you’re making Christians.
You’re interviewing people on the street and leading them into admitting that they’ve broken some of “The Big Fancy Ten Commandments.”
The ten are dead. There’s only two now. I’ve watched you explain where I’m wrong there and I’m not convinced. YOU are wrong. Pathetically so. You’re not arguing with me on that one, you’re arguing with Jesus.
Please stop beating people over the head with The Law. Read the book of Galatians a couple of more times before you quote Paul to try to tell me that EVEN Paul respected the law. (You should start at the beginning and make sure you get to Chapter 3, verse 1 where he said, “O, foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you?”)
Your intentions are good and pure. I have no problem believing that. But you’re leading people to believe that the Daddy I know personally is willing to send them to eternal punishment in an eternal Hell over a misunderstanding.
I understand that your religion teaches that, but you obviously don’t know Him. You’re also probably going to be quite surprised just about every day for the first couple thousand years when you get home. There’s a lot of people there you’re not expecting to see.
That’s not what He’s like at all.
Getting to the point: His name is not “God” so you don’t have to spell that word out when you ask someone a leading question about whether they have ever “taken” His Name “in vain.”
That’s what YOU are doing. It’s also what you’re doing wrong. He’s not a judge that decides. He’s not a tyrant that demands obedience. He’s not a narcissist that requires you to kiss His ass.
He’s a loving Father. He invented both of those concepts (loving and Father). Speaking of which, have you ever called any man “Father?” I ask because Jesus said (check it - these words are red in your Bible), “Call no man Father.”
Do you consider that breaking a commandment?
Have I ever taken His name in vain? Nope. Not one single time. I’ve said, “My God” many times. In the old days I even used to say “goddamn.” I don’t anymore but even that’s not taking His Name in vain. His Name is not “God.” (I’ve stopped saying “goddamn” because now I’m much more careful about using the word, “damn.”)
Let’s analyze the phrase. What does “in vain,” mean? The word “vain” means:
1) Not yielding the desired outcome; fruitless
2) Lacking substance or worthHow would you go about taking His Name in vain? I would suggest that you check those definitions when considering what it is you do. I think both definitions have application to what you’re doing if you actually believe that His Name is “God.”
It might also be interesting for you to note that He said that to Moses. It just so happens that at that time, Moses was also the only human that had ever lived that actually knew His Name. Re-reading the story of Moses’ life makes it clear that there’s certainly life giving power in That Name.
It’s unlikely that you know His Name. I’m not boasting. I couldn’t possibly boast about that. Many people know His Name. I’m not special. I rarely utter it and when I do I get chills. There’s power in That Name. It’s even more humbling when I realize that He’s my Daddy and He loves me with The Love that invented Love.
And He gave me His Name. I’m a blessed man just to know Him even if I was going to Hell. With Him, all the rest is gravy. The gravy is good. He adopted me and treats me like an only child. He is Love and Perfection and Peace and …. My Daddy.
Until you figure out His Name, I would suggest that you resort to the description He used for Himself in First John: He is Love.
Please stop trying to threaten and scare people into serving Him. I appreciate and understand your zeal, but it’s damaging. I spend much of my time in ministry apologizing for people like you.
You’re misrepresenting him.
He’s not a terrorist. He’s Love.
Signed,
Another Undeserving Child of the King
I need to add a footnote because I know I have some very valuable friends that disagree with me on some of this. I respect you because I know you’re showing respect to Him. I’ll never have a problem with that. But when Ray Comfort is ambushing people on the street and asking them, “Have you ever said, “My gee-o-dee,” and then using that to convince them that it means they’ve broken a commandment so thus they need a savior, he’s not only not representing the God I serve, he’s giving me headaches.
Also, His Name is not a secret but it has been hidden. If you don’t know Hebrew, you don’t His Name. If you do know Hebrew, you still might not. It’s worth finding out. If you don’t understand why it matters, read the end of Psalm 91 again.
Thank you for pointing out that the Ten Commandments are no longer Law. I have talked myself blue in the face trying to get people to understand that. They can still stand as guidelines, but not Law.
Cowboy,
I am glad to see you posting again. I know we have had our differences in the past and we will probably have some here as well, but I want to agree with you first. Kirk and friends are doing things the wrong way. Scaring people does nothing but scare them away. I will even agree with you and the third commandment. But where we part company here is on whether or not the ten commandments are now two. I know what you are referencing here and it comes from the Pharisees attempting to trip up Yeshua in asking him what the greatest commandment was. He summed up the ten commandments into two. He did not say that they replaced the ten or that what he said negated them in any was as part of the Law. Yeshua himself said that He came to fulfil the Law not to destroy it. Also by saying the ten are now the two you are in danger of making the claim that He has changed when he has specifically said he is the same past, present, or future.
We are all guilty of trying to put Him into a box that fits our comfort level. I know we have discussed this before and I know where you stand but others may not. There is a great danger when we simply approach Him from one angle and only discuss one aspect of Him. Love is only one aspect, He is Holy, Righteous, and The Great I AM. He has more facets then we as mere mortals could even begin to comprehend. You know there have been times that I needed Him to be Daddy, but I have never forgotten that he is the all-powerful creator of the universe and is more than worthy of my total worshipful adoration.
Hey, I know this is off topic, and I hate to bother you, but I tried to post something in the TIA forum and I can’t seem to log in. Since you’re a moderator? I thought maybe you could help me.
send me an email or something if you can help me. It seems to think I’m already sign up, so my attempts to sign in are met with a response that this name is already used or something to that affect
Oh, and for the record, I disagree with you on the Ten Commandments thing. We are no longer under the Ceremonial/Jewish law, but the natural law, the law which applies to all men for all time is still in effect.
don’t have time to elaborate further right now.
Hey fT,
I’m not just a moderator on the TIA forum, I’m God there.
(Ha-ha. I couldn’t resist. Seriously, though, I own the server.)
There’s an account there with the name farmer Tom that was registered on Feb. 9. I can’t believe that somebody else registered with your name, so I assume it’s you.
There are lost password recovery options at the log-in. The main thing is that you’re trying to LOG IN as opposed to register a new account with the same email. Ya can’t be doin’ that.
If none of that helps with your problem, email me and I’ll be glad to get personally involved and work with you until it’s resolved. (Email link for me is right under my picture near the top of the left sidebar on this site. Or you can also reach me with webmaster at voxday.net.)
I see that Kirk and Ray get under your skin too, huh.
Nice rant.
“Thank you for pointing out that the Ten Commandments are no longer Law. I have talked myself blue in the face trying to get people to understand that. They can still stand as guidelines, but not Law.”
What is sad is that people think they ever were LAW. They are the ten Words. They are foundational to relationships. They are the ketubah between G-d and His treasured bride - His segulah. They also can be understood as the loving teachings of a Father - His directions for our life from His vantage point in what is best for us. The word torah does not mean law, it means teaching and the word mitzvah does not mean commandment but when studying its root meaning, means direction. A really good explanation of it is here.
Because of the christian teaching towards G-d’s Torah, a great disservice has been done Him and His Torah. Because of that teaching, it causes people to dishonor His teachings instead of realizing it is all about relationship and learning to be directed by Him through His Word. Yeshua said those that teach others to dishonor His Word would be least in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Love and shalom,
Serena (commenting on an old post and just taking a little break today)