Pastor Tom’s message today gives clarity to oath taking in Bible times. Think of today’s court of law. You swear that everything you say is true. It was the same back then. Vows were a way of testifying to the truth. God was even used in these kinds of exchanges as a way to have accountability in what they said. While the Jewish people of the day lost the real reason for doing this, promising started to be an “oh well” kind of thing. James tells us to take no part in such a nonchalant frame of mind concerning this.