The Ten Commandments

What are the Ten Commandments? We see them church walls, bumper stickers, yard signs, Field of the Wood (pictured here) but where are they from? The Bible? Where in the Bible?

Exodus 20:1-18 gives the traditional Ten Commandments. But, as you read, no where in the text is the term “Ten Commandments” used, nor does it talk about the stone tablets in which they were written on. Sure, you Bible’s subtitle might use the term, but that was added in the last 50 years or less.

The stone tablets have yet to be mentioned at this point. They won’t show up until Exodus 24:12 and again in 31:18, but in neither case are the Ten Commandments they bear listed. 32:15-16 describe how God fashioned the tablets, but by v.19 Moses had broken the original tablets, not once listing the Ten Commandments that were on them. Two chapers later, God gives him a second chance. Read Exodus 34:1-28, where it lists them.

Wow! Here the author lists ten laws/commandments, written on stone tablets (v.1) and referred to as “the Ten Commandments” (v.28). I don’t want to destroy anyone’s dreams of trying to get the Ten Commandments back in schools and courthouses or cover hillsides with them, but if you must, get the Ten that the Bible calls the Ten, not a false product of tradition.

So, the real Ten Commandments are not listed in Exodus 20, but rather in Exodus 34. If i’m missing something, please, tell me. During my study, another passage caught my eye. Turn to Dueteronomy 5:1-22. Here the traditional Ten Commmandments (found in Exodus 20) are listed and said to be written on two tablets (v.22). This is kind of confusing to me, since the author(s) of the Torah has already established the real Ten Commandments in Exodus 34. I find restitution that these ten in Dueteronomy are not referred to as the Ten Commandments, they were just on the tablets. Dueteronomy 9-10 gives a recap of Moses’ story of the Ten Commandments. How there were two sets since one was broken. I know what you’re thinking. No, they weren’t different. He records specifically in Deuteronomy 10:2 and in Exodus 34:1 also that the words on the second set were the same as the first.

Yes, the ten laws listed in Exodus 20:1-18 (and Dueteronomy 5:1-22) can be good rules to live by, but they are just 10 of 613 laws of the Torah (aka. Mosaic Law). For that matter, the 10 laws (or Commandments) listed in Exodus 34:1-28 are merely 10 of 613 laws as well. God just chose to put them on the stone tablets and dub the Ten Commandments.

The thing is, we have graduated from the Law. In Matthew 5:17, Jesus told us He came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets, not destroy them. He accually went on to give us just Two Commandments. Matthew 22:34-39 list those two. When you think about it, if you obey those two to their fullest, you can’t be in sin.

Este es mi primero... oh wait... yall don't speak Spanish

Dear faithful few, I'm up to my eyeballs in Spanish and loving it! I'm experimenting with audio updates, so tell me which you prefer. Written or audio? The update for last week is attached as a wav file. Since i made that file, it's been a wonderful weekend. I have a car now. I didn't take me long to get stopped by a cop, though. Friday morning, on the way to my doc appt, i got lost so i made a U-turn right in front of this tunnel that goes under a mountain. The cop stepped out in front of my vehicle, got in the passenger seat and told me to drive. We parked at a convenient spot. He explained that this was a serious offense. He went on and on about something that i didn't understand so i kept telling him it was my first time in Quito and i that i'm sorry but i didn't understand what he was saying. He finally got frustrated and left. No fines. And so, corey reid pendergrass evades the wrath of yet another traffic officer.Saturday i made some friends as a youth group of about 10-15 students came to my house to meet me. I shared a little of my heart for the lost through Eze. 37 and the vision of the dry bones. I asked them who will share Christ with the dry, dead souls walking around them everyday. The response was good. What i thought would be an hour lesson turned into a 2.5 hour discussion! Please pray for these students (photos attached). I was able to make a trip all day Sunday to the community of Pesillo where there is a small congregation about about 20 people, most of which are small children without parents (photos attached). Jose, the pastor there has a vision for the all the surrounding communities to have an evangelical church, which 3 out of about 15 do. I intend to help him make this vision a reality, Lord willing. Please pray for Jose and many others involved in this movement. Love yall, each and every one, †il the whole world hears, corey reid pendergrass

C.T. Studd - I know it's long, but read it.

“Nov. 2 1915. Hugh Jones, mine host, brought in a doctor, who forbade me to go out and speak that evening, and said that I must go home at once. I laughed and spoke for an hour and a half; next day Canarvon two hours; then Bangor three meetings, and then Aberystwyth. Oh, these train journeys! So slow and so cold, but God is always there.

“There are more than twice as many Christians uniformed officers at home among peaceful Britain’s 40 million evangelized inhabitants, than the whole number of Christ’s forces fighting at the front among 1,200 million heathen! And yet such call themselves soldiers of Christ! What do the angels call them, I wonder? The ‘Lets-save-Britain-first’ brigade are in the succession of the ‘I-pray-thee-have-me-excused’ apostles.

“Christ’s call is to feed the hungry, not the full; to save the lost, not the stiff-necked; not to call the scoffers, but sinners to repentance; not to build and furnish comfortable chapels, churches, and cathedrals at home in which to rock the Christian professors to sleep by means of clever essays, stereotyped prayers and artistic musical performances, but to raise living churches of souls among the destitute, to capture men from the devil’s clutches and snatch them from the very jaws of hell, to enlist and train them for Jesus, and make them into and Almighty Army of God. But this can only be accomplished by a red-hot, unconventional, unfettered Holy Ghost religion, where neither Church nor State, neither man nor traditions worshipped or preached, but Christ and Him crucified. Not to confess Christ by fancy collars, clothes, silver crosiers or gold watch-chain crosses, church steeples or richly embroidered altar-cloths, but by reckless sacrifice and heroism in the foremost trenches.

“When in hand-to-hand conflict with the world and the devil, neat little biblical confectionery is like shooting lions with a pea-shooter; one needs a man who will let himself go and deliver blows right and left as hard as he can hit, thrusting in the Holy Ghost. It’s experience, not preaching, that hurts the devil and confounds the world, because unanswerable; the training is not that of the schools, but of the market; it’s the hot, free heart and not the balanced head that knocks the devil out. Nothing but forked-lighting Christians will count. A lost reputation is the best degree for Christ’s service.

“I am more than ever determined that no ring nor limit shall be placed around us, other than that of our Lord Himself, To the uttermost parts,’ ‘To every creature.’ I belong and will ever belong to ‘The Great God’ party. I will have nought to do with ‘The Little God’ party.

“The difficulty is to believe that He can design to use such scallywags as us, but of course He wants Faith and Fools rather than talents and culture. All God wants is a heart, any old turnip will do for a head; so long as we are empty, all is well for then He fills with the Holy Ghost.

“The fiery baptism of the Holy Ghost will change soft, sleek Christians into hot, lively heroes for Christ, who will advance and fight and die, but not mark time. Let us race to heaven; an accident means dashing into the arms of Jesus—such accidents are God’s choicest blessings. Don’t be a luggage train.

“Fools would ‘cut’ the devil, pretending they do not see him; others erect a tablet over his supposed grave. Be wise; don’t cut nor bury him; kill him with the bayonet of evangelism.

“Hugh Latimer was an inextinguishable candle; the devil lit him, and ever since has been kicking himself for his folly. Won’t someone else tempt the devil to make a fool of himself again?

“Nail the colours to the mast! That is the right thing to do, and, therefore, that is what we must do, and do it now. What colours? The colours of Christ, the work He has given us to do—the evangelization of all the unevangelized. Christ wants not nibblers of the possible, but grabbers of the impossible, by faith in the omnipotence, fidelity and wisdom of the Almighty Saviour Who gave the command. Is there a wall in our path? By our God we will leap over it! Are there lions and scorpions in our way? We will trample them under our feet! Does a mountain bar our progress? Saying, ‘Be thou removed and cast into the sea,’ we will march on. Soldiers of Jesus, never surrender! Nail the colours to the mast!

“Such as look to Jesus become grasshoppers in their own sight, but giants in the estimation of the devil.

“‘Follow Me,’ says Jesus. ‘I will,’ we reply, yet somehow forget that Christ pleased not Himself, deliberately made Himself poor to save others and became the first foreign missionary. We all pray to be like Jesus, yet refuse to pay the price. How can Dives be like Jesus?

“The crumbs of Dives are not a dainty dish to set before King Jesus. Try ‘cake’ for a change, and don’t forget to put all you’ve got into it.

“‘But what if C.T. dies?’ This frequent and foolish question must have its answer. Here it is from C.T. himself, ‘We will all shout Hallelujah. The world will have lost its biggest fool, and with one fool less to handicap Him, God will do greater wonders still. There shall be no funeral, no wreaths, crape, nor tears, not even the Dead March. Congratulations all round will take place. “And I, if I be offered up, rejoice and congratulate you; do ye also rejoice and congratulate me.”—Phil. 2:17 and 18 (Lightfoot’s Translation). The Wedding March, by special request. Our God will still be alive and nothing else matters. The first Heart of Africa Mission funeral will take place when God dies, but as that will not be ‘til after eternity, cheer up all. Forward! Every man straight before him. Hallelujah! ‘To die is gain.’

“Some wish to live within the sound

Of Church or Chapel bell,

I want to run a Rescue Shop

Within a yard of hell.”

-C.T. Studd, missionary to China, India, and Africa during the late 1800s and early 1900s, an excerpt from his journal.

Where Ya Headed? Boone? Us too!

If you, like the majority of American Chirstians, think hitchhiking is a bad idea, feel free to read this article i wrote on my old blog, sometime ago.

It was a beautiful Thursday. Lena rolled in from ECU in the early afternoon. We had but one thing on our minds: hitchhiking. It would be my sister's first experience hitchhiking. I was a veteran. Backpacks filled, we set out from the Penderosa, Pfafftown, NC. Our goal: Boone by nightfall.

Walking the 1/2 mile to the stoplight, Jamie and Brad picked us up. They'd remembered us from grade school. Evidently we'd rode the bus together. I had no clue. Nevertheless, they got us to the 421-Lewisville Clemmons Rd. ramp. We figured we'd have more fortune at entrance ramps than on the open highway. Generally we did. There, cars are going slower, drivers have more time to think, and are more willing to stop.

I don't recall all the names of the people who picked us up. I wish i'd kept a better record. No matter. We were on our way, the highway moving under our feet. By Boone, i believe we'd managed 5-6 rides. Most people are just commuting to work. They'll drive you a few miles. I definately appreciate these people, though it's more difficult to engage a meaningful conversation, due to the short allotted time.

Leigh and her two toddlers, Archer and Alex, picked us up in their minivan. She has a sister in Ecuador who is a sort of missionary in Quito of the Epsicopal Church. She was an encouragement. It was obvious her fear was not in men, willing to pick us up. Her loved showed. I praise God for Leigh and her boys.

Sam, an agnostic did carry us up the final leg of the trek to Boone. He was an agnostic, formerly a Methodist, who decided that he had never really believed. We talked a little about how believing is seeing, not the other way around. Pray for Sam.

Getting dropped out on King St. in downtown Boone around 4:30, our mouths were craving some viddels. Murphy's Pub proved to hit the spot. We called up Ian Atwood, my best friend from middle school, and Christin Ziegler, a sister from another mother, to join us. Our waitress, Corey, brought another good conversation. She noticed my haircut and asked why there was a cross in the back of my head. "Are you religious?" I replied, "No. But i'm a follower of Jesus." Surprised, she inquired what i meant. A former Seventh-Day Adventist, she grew up in a strict religious home, forced to pray and read during her childhood. Needless to say, it was obvious that she'd turned the resentment she had for her parents toward God. She said religion was not for her. She was very skeptic. She even asked to see my ID when i told her my name. Pray for Corey.

Marriage (pt. 2)

This is a continuation of a previous post about marriage.

To "fall in love." Now there's a term that gets tossed around a lot. I don't really know when this term was started being used, but i'm willing to bet is was within the last 1000 years or less. Probably for a lack of a better term, we say that we "fall" into this thing called love. It sounds accidental. Hopefully you wouldn't say this is what happened when you started your relationship with Christ by accepting His proposal. It's wasn't a woops-now-i'm-a-Christian thing. You made a concious decision to follow Christ and thus, love Him. So should we in our marriages. We should be the master of our emotions, not the other way around. We should be able to decide and control our emotions saying, "I will (or will not) give my heart to this person." I don't care whether or not people use the term "falling in love," rather i think we should all realize that we shouldn't literally fall in love.

Switching gears: This is just a point i failed to make in my last entry, so it's kinda randomly thrown in here. To advocate premarital romantic relationships is like saying that God would have been ok with us trying out other gods before we accepted His proposal and became betrothed to Him. That's a bold statement. Allow me to explain... To have a spouse that approves of our previous dating relationships is just as crazy as if Jesus, our Husband, said it was ok for the us to worship Baal, or some other false god. Does Jesus say, "Corey, I wasn't offended or jealous when you were worshiping the golden calf before we were betrothed."? No! He hated it. And so should we in our marriages, following His example.

Switching again: Is their ever a justifiable divorce?

Malachi 2:16a "For I hate divorce," says the LORD, the God of Israel..."

Contextually this passage is about Judah's unfaithfulness. She even marries a foreign god in the Lord's sanctuary (v. 11). In spite of that, He states that He hates divorce. In the same way, God could say He hates something, like rape. Because of that, you can't justify it. Can you imagine of God said, "I hate rape, but it's ok if _____."? That's ridiculous. In the same way, if God says He hates divorce, it's not ok, ever.

Matthew 5:31-32 "It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery."

Matthew 19:3-9 "And Pharisees came up to Him and tested Him by asking, 'Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?' He answered, 'Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh"? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.' They said to Him, 'Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?' He said to them, 'Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. and I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.'"

Jesus is not giving an excuse to divorce. He is not saying, "Divorce is wrong unless your spouse cheats on you. Then it's ok." No! He is saying that it is adultery to divorce your spouse except in the case for sexual immorality. In the case of sexual immorality, divorce is still wrong (v. 6b, "...let no man separate.") but it's just not considered adultery.

Really, the issue of divorce and eternal security are directly linked. Does Christ divorce His Bride? Nor should we. Read Hosea. Israel has played the harlot. She has submitted herself as a servant to Baal, having adultery with him. Yes, God condemns it. He is furious. However, He takes her back, speaking kindly to her (v. 2:14). God even has the prophet, Hosea, marry a prostitute so that he can relate to the Lord's position. God is in love with His Bride and always takes her back. So should we. Divorces is wrong, period. There is no justifiable excuse for it. We are secure in Christ. He will never leave us nor forsake us. We didn't do anything to save ourselves. Nor can we do anything to us save ourselves, and thus walk forfeit our Marriage with Him. I feel like there are greater minds on this subject, if you are interested. Charles Stanley answers every verse that people use to sugest we could ever loose our salvation. I recomend his book Eternal Security.

Quito or Bust

Dear fellow heirs with Christ,
I have a date! No, not a candidate for Mrs. Pendergrass. Rather, a date for my departure from my homeland. Yes, i'm going to Quito, Ecuador on the 25th of October @ 7am, less than 2 weeks away.
The ole knee continues to heal through therapy, and i'm really seeing vast improvements week-to-week. Some of you probably have questions as to why the decision was made to leave so soon. Even though my surgion preferred i would stay unitl December, 4 other doctors approved me to leave by the October 20th. My recovery will continue in Quito as i have a doctor's appointment on the 27th. The work load will be physically light in Ecuador as i'll be doing office work and driving to various communities most of the time.
PrayeRequests:

• Opportunities to share the Gospel during my travels. I'll have a 6 hour layover in Miami, so that'll be some good conversations, Lord willing.
• Continued healing on my knee. You're prayers are working wonderfully already. No need to stop now.
• The lost in Ecuador need Jesus. As i mentioned before, i'll mostly be working with Quichua people. Pray for them, as many have never heard the Gospel.
• Opportunities to share the Gospel with drivers this weekend. Lena, my sister, and i will be hitchhiking through the NC mountains, visiting friends, and enjoying God's paintings on the leaves of fall. Hitchhiking has proved to be a wonderful avenue for the Gospel in the past for me, so good conversations are sure to ensue.

Love yall,
†il the whole world hears,
corey reid pendergrass