Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

“You shall not murder.“

• Exodus 20:12

“Q. 55. Which is the Sixth Commandment?
“A. The Sixth Commandment is, ‘Thou shalt not kill.’  ”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, Spurgeon’s Catechism (Scripture proofs in bold above)

“Q. 67. Which is the Sixth Commandment?
“A. The Sixth Commandment is, ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ ”

• The Shorter Catechism (Westminster Assembly)

“Q. 134. Which is the Sixth Commandment?
“A. The Sixth Commandment is, ‘Thou shalt not kill.’”

• The Larger Catechism (Westminster Assembly)

The Larger Catechism, Shorter Catechism and the Spurgeon Catechism are identical in wording.

Of the Commandments versus the secular moral code (or lack thereof) this is one of the commandments where everyone seems to agree.  But do they?

The NIV, quoted above says “murder” instead of “kill.”  Thus, the arguments start.

The secular world says we should let the UN take over to make silly border disagreements moot and all war would end.  We will simply have civil unrest and civil war, but wars between countries would be renamed as other forms of violence.

But then, many people are against capital punishment, but they support abortion.  The abortion issue should never be an issue, but abstinence is so outdated in the secular world that it is unthinkable as a solution.  And the supporters of abortion know that the fetus can feel pain and has a separate heartbeat.  There are signs that the child is a separate being.  Science proves it, but they argue a false narrative that the child is not a real person until after birth.  But then many states are proposing abortion after birth in some circumstances.

We could expand the discussion to killing animals, which many secular groups, even with scattered Christian support, are supporting bans on all animal killing and everyone becoming vegetarian, but then to lower carbon emissions vast numbers of animals are being slaughtered, not for meat, but to reduce the number of animals passing gas into the atmosphere.  Both sides on the secular agenda, not killing any animal and then mass killing of animals.

But to keep this clean, let’s stick to taking human life.

At what point do we not believe in the sixth commandment at all?  If we can kill a child for being inconvenient, what happens when the neighbor’s party is too loud, and we cannot sleep?  Is blowing up the house with everyone in it an option?  Their party is inconvenient to our sleep.  When does it stop?

Some may think my last paragraph is argumentum absurdum, but I think we are heading in that direction.  People are angry.  People seem to only mildly respect others who agree with them, hating the rest.  People are scared enough to shoot first without knowing that the person at the door simply went to the wrong address.  What if they really wanted to enter and do harm?

We need God.  We need to repent.  We need God’s Love.

We need to show love to others.

And now let us sing.

The following song is I’ve Got Peace Like a River as sung by Listener Kids.  .  It can really be that simple.  We need peace, love, and joy.

“I’ve got peace like a river
I’ve got peace like a river
I’ve got peace like a river in my soul
I’ve got peace like a river
I’ve got peace like a river
I’ve got peace like a river in my soul

I’ve got love like an ocean
I’ve got love like an ocean
I’ve got love like an ocean in my soul
I’ve got love like an ocean
I’ve got love like an ocean
I’ve got love like an ocean in my soul

I’ve got joy like a fountain
I’ve got joy like a fountain
I’ve got joy like a fountain in my soul
I’ve got joy like a fountain
I’ve got joy like a fountain
I’ve got joy like a fountain in my soul

I’ve got peace, love and joy like a river
I’ve got peace, love and joy like a river
I’ve got peace, love and joy like a river in my soul
I’ve got peace, love and joy like a river
I’ve got peace, love and joy like a river
I’ve got peace, love and joy like a river in my soul ”

• traditional, I’ve Got Peace Like a River

Closing Prayer

Dear Lord,
We need You.  We need Your Peace.  We need Your Love. We need Your Joy.
In thy Name we pray.
Amen

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.