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“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” Exodus 20:4, 5   Physical idol (statue) worship is not a particularly overt issue these days though we see this in the form of worshiping our achievements (multiple degrees, high powered career, artistic prowess, financial strength, entertainment/celebrity icons, etc.) or acquisitions (homes, cars, art collection, etc.). These self-manufactured idols are eroding our church and the wider society. However, I would like to address another idol formed by all of humanity and worshipped excessively in religious establishm...

  “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” Exodus 20:3   Here is a simple straightforward command; do not elevate anyone or anything above Jehovah. How is having another god manifested in daily life? The scripture states plainly 'we are the servants of the one who we obey' (Romans 6:16). By this measure, the first commandment covers all the others – within the ten commandments and beyond. So, let’s take a practical look at this with certain topics we face in our daily lives, in church and outside of church.   Dress – The way we dress says a lot about who we serve. Are we serving our own self-interests trying to attract/distract the opposite sex or to show we are pious beyond coordination and fit; are we slaves to fashion, needing to have the latest shoes (unable to leave the least smudge on it), hats, ensemble? Do you find yourself buying into the idea of gender fluidity? Ladies, do you find yourself becoming angry when advised not to wear trousers the way men ...

  “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30, 31   God has placed great emphasis on keeping His commandments and overcoming sin, in order to make it through our time in earth’s sinful history (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21; 14:7-12). Therefore, it would do us well to know what they are and what is expected of us. When Jesus was on earth, He was asked “which is the great commandment law”. His response, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. Then He said the second is like the first “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself”. (Matthew 22:36-40)   Whenever Jesus was asked a question, He quoted scripture to answer it – “It is written…” (Matth...

 “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.” Revelation 14:9-11   “The beast and his image”, we learn what the beast is and his image in Revelation 13. Combining descriptions in Daniel and Revelation we learn that the beast is the fourth beast that Daniel saw – the Papal Roman power (Daniel 7:2-8, 15-25). The descriptions of the image point us to the United States of America and its contradictory presentation of itself, preaching personal free...