What if your only options in life were crime or starvation?

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What if you never thought about your future because chances were, you didn't have one?

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For over 4 million people in the tiny South American country of Honduras, those are the realities of life.

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Our friends, Gary and Cheryl Kuney, have spent nearly a decade investing their lives in the poorest of the poor in a country where lawlessness is rampant and despair, universal. Their daughter Amy, a musician, has made a video available now on YouTube, that brings the mission close to home.

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Take a minute to watch. She's done an excellent job. What does God want you to do about it? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaG6j1s-9h4

Another One Bites the Dust!

If you don't like that picture, I don't either. But that's the world our kids are facing every day. And it's sucking them in like flies to a zapper.

All around us, Christian kids are dropping into the world's vat of goo. Kids who've been raised to know and honor God. Kids who've had every advantage, every opportunity to grow into mighty warriors for God are turning to the dark side at the first hint of freedom.

Does it seem to you that it's happening at an alarming pace? This generation has had more training, more exposure to truth, more advantages than any other in history. And yet too many are saying, "No, thanks" and diving headfirst into the stormy sea of worldliness at the first tug of temptation. The result is epidemic suicides, addictions, and frantic but futile attempts to medicate the pain so much stress causes.

Why is that? What is going on?

It may be the same problem many adults have. In this land of easy-believism, we've somehow gotten the notion that we are doing God a favor by acknowledging him at all. Kids who've known God from infancy have twisted the message in their budding brains and decided that the Creator of the Universe is up there beyond the skies, wringing his hands in hope they will listen to him occasionally.

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They've been told all their lives how special they are to God, how much he loves them, how much he desires fellowship with them, and how happy it makes him when they obey.

Does something sound off here?

We've managed to turn God's greatest gift of unmerited favor into some sort of debt we are owed. I fear the message that our "Jesus Loves Me" generation is receiving has developed into a ME-centered theology. And put that way, who can blame them?

God's calling of holiness pales in comparison to the world's tinsel showering around them.

After all, if it's all about ME and what makes me happy, then go for the gusto! Go for the fun, the party, the excitement. God will still be there when I've had my fun. Remember? He's the guy who has been holding his breath for centuries, just hoping I'd look his way.

Maybe we've been wrong. Maybe we've been stressing the wrong things. The Sunday School Jesus is not the God they'll face when he calls for them. All the pictures on the walls are of the kind and gentle Saviour surrounded by little children. When those children outgrow the pictures, they outgrow the concept.

Maybe we've been wrong to so stress the love of God that we've downplayed his holy wrath against sin. We've plumped up their little self-images to the point they can see nothing but themselves and feel God owes them what they want. If he doesn't deliver, who needs him?

Every time I hear of another of our kids who's leaped headfirst into the sin-pit, my heart grieves. God holds them accountable for their choices, but I have to wonder: Did we have a part in it? Have we misrepresented the truth and in so doing, robbed them of humility?

And are they paying the price?

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You Might Be From Oklahoma

For all my fellow Oklahomans, some observations about our grand state and its people.

You Might Be From Oklahoma if:

• You’re wearing shorts and flip-flops to gather firewood for tonight’s forecasted blizzard.


• You think people from the other 49 states talk with funny accents.


• You hear someone with a northeastern twang and wonder if English is their second language.


• Your safe-room is better furnished and cost more than the rest of your house.


• You see a demolition site and wonder how big the tornado was.


• You don’t find it at all unusual to see a herd of cattle grazing in someone’s front yard.


• Your idea of going to the beach is to wait for the big spring rain and watch the river come to you.


• You have yet to go from one town to another without paying a toll.


• You have or know someone who has experienced a family split over the Ford/Chevy debate.


• You know the proper use and recognize the misuse of the word “ya’ll.”


• The fake accents in the musical Oklahoma grate on your nerves.


• You think California pretty much gets what it deserves.


• You find the term “Bible belt” condescending.


• You’re starting to get a little aggravated about all the illegal Mexicans swarming into your state.


• You think the Second Amendment is part of the Ten Commandments.


• You know people who would walk out of the hospital on two broken legs rather than miss hunting season.


• You consider anyone living north of Kansas a liberal Yankee.


• You’ve ever been asked if people in Oklahoma live in teepees and drive tractors to work.


• You’ve ever been asked if you have an oil well in your backyard.


• You’ve ever HAD an oil well in your backyard or driven a tractor down the highway.

What the World Needs Now...

Love...love...love...

Singers wail about it; teenagers mope around starry-eyed because of it. We use the word to describe our feelings about Rocky Road ice cream, our favorite color, our dog, and the best singer on American Idol. What a handy multi-purpose word!

The problem--as we all know-- is that in the process it loses meaning.

Love is actually God's word. He thought of it first so he should get to define it. And he does an excellent job of defining it in I Corinthians 13. But his definition sounds nothing like ours.

What about when it's applied to the level of commitment between husband and wife?

That's closer, but still a long way off. As humans, we aren't really capable of God's kind of love without God. Even romantic love between spouses is usually rooted in selfishness.

What can he do for me?

How well does he meet my needs?

Is he living up to my expectations this week?

Or the Ann Landers special: "Ask yourself: Am I better off with him or without him?"

Notice how many times "me" and "my" popped up in there. Whether we like to admit it or not, most of who and what we love is based on how well they meet our needs. And that's the definition of selfishness, not love.

The kind of love God is able to produce in us is a sacrificial love. A love that would take beating and torture in the place of someone who hated you. That's the kind of love He has toward us for absolutely no reason at all except that that's just the way he is.

The love the Spirit of God produces says: I know you don't love me, but I love you because I can't help it. You're more important than I am, so what can I give you that you need?

Oooh! Ouch. How many times have I honestly felt that way about someone who didn't deserve it?

A quick test to see if you're there yet: Picture someone you know that you should love and ask yourself how much you are willing to sacrifice for that person.

Probably nothing, especially if they're after your parking space.

It's not likely that we can produce fruit like this without God's supernatural work inside our lives. Unless you've been feasting at the table of God's love, you don't have it to give away.

We give good imitations every now and then, but look closely. Most likely your loving actions are based on either a response to someone's kindness or have at their heart a selfish motive such as: I want them to like me...OR...I want others to see how nice I am...OR... I've felt bad about myself lately and being loving makes me feel better.

See? When compared side-by-side with the real thing, our version of love looks pretty pathetic. Our man-made imitations are fine if we want peach-flavored gelatin instead of fresh fruit, but who wants that?

God doesn't and deep down, we don't either. We crave ultimate, sacrificial love from others, but it's a lot harder to give.

That's exactly why we can't give it without God's love flowing through us in abundance. It's called the Fruit of the Spirit because without God's Spirit loving through us, we can't do it. Especially when they get our parking space.

The song was right. What the world needs now is love. Fortunately, God agrees and that's why it is number one on his Top Nine Countdown of Greatest Traits of All Time.

He doesn't expect you to do it on your own. He offers to do it through you. Which is a good thing, because the more I study His kind of love, the more I realize I can never do it by myself.

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But what about joy? That's the next fruit on the list. Can't we do that on our own? Next post we'll see about that...

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Are There Demons in Your Closet?

So what do you think about spiritual warfare?

Does it really exist and just how prevalent do you believe it is in our world today?

If you've been a Christian for any length of time, you will no doubt leap right in and declare that you absolutely believe it exists and is actively at work in our lives today.

But do you live like you believe that?

Did you know that the Bible speaks more about the "powers of darkness" and how to overcome them than it does about Heaven? If God took that much time to warn us about it, maybe we should give it a little more thought.

When you think about demonic activity, does your mind go straight to stories you've heard about witchdoctors or occult activity? We're certain Satan and his cohorts are flourishing in deep-dark-Africa, in drug-infested inner cities, and even in some so-called churches in America. But what about in your home?

Kinda creepy to think about, isn't it? We prefer to think of Satan attacking nonbelievers and those outside the will of God. We'll even inch a little closer and acknowledge that he most likely tries to thwart the good work of dedicated Christians and we'll pray for them.

But...get back there to the original question. What about in you? How much of your daily struggle is the work of Satan's fiery darts rather than your own failure?

Some Christians become overly excited about this issue and start calling everything they find unpleasant "demon-inspired." They see a demon behind every sniffle or stock market plummet. All this does is dilute the truth, like the little boy who cried wolf too many times. And we can't blame Satan for our own sinful choices. Scripture says we are tempted when we are "drawn away by our own lusts and enticed."

However, there are times when we need to step up and recognize that something we're facing goes beyond normal human experience. If there is an area in your life in which you are unable to gain victory, there is a good chance you are under attack.

I had been plagued with anxiety attacks and unreasonable worry for the past several years. No amount of prayer or Bible reading seemed to help. I thought it was just me--I was doing something wrong. Granted, this past decade has been a veritable pit of worry-inducing situations for me, but as a dedicated Christian, I should have been able to gain victory over it. And I could not.

Only recently, through fasting and meditation, God showed me the problem. I was under attack and had not realized it. Whenever I was weak, either physically or emotionally, the spirit of Fear attacked me and refused to let go. The more I believed the fear, the stronger it became. Even when the situation resolved, the Fear remained, holding me in such a grip I could not find peace or joy.

"Resist the devil, and he will flee from you," states the Bible. "God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of love and of power and of a sound mind." That phrase popped into my mind as God coached me through it.

I was stunned when I realized the problem. I had not resisted. I had not rebuked. I had not taken command over a power already defeated. I had gone right along with it.

Satan knows that as a child of God, you have power to resist him and he cannot harm you without your consent. He also knows that most of us don't realize that.

Why is it we are so easily captivated when we have the truth right there in Scripture? I believe the strongest weapons Satan uses are doubt and our natural inclination to think anything that pops into our minds is our own thought. So we keep it to ourselves and wrestle with it in our own strength.

You are no match for the devil. But you also do not have to put up with it.

When, with God's authority, I spoke aloud to the demon of Fear and refused its thoughts, its ideas, its lies, and quoted God's truth--it was gone. Just like that! Not a trace left of it! No anxiety when I wake up now. No gripping, unnamed fear haunting the shadows of my mind. Just the peaceful presence of God.

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Now I know to be on guard and resist the first fiery dart of fear that pelts my mind. When we resist those thoughts and replace them with truth, they leave. They don't have to take root.

Maybe your weakness is low self-worth. Or a sense of failure. Or confusion. Wherever you are weak, Satan finds you. You don't have to put up with it either. You do have the responsibility to get yourself in the best possible spiritual shape first, or Satan knows you don't have God's power in your life and without that, you can't resist him.

But with a heart totally dedicated to God's service, you can command the forces of darkness to leave you alone and they will. You have such overcoming power at your command. Don't waste it!

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How to Improve Your Life for Free!

Do you ever have the sneaking suspicion that your life isn't working like you think it should?

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Even as a Christian, do you wonder if there is more you should understand about living a victorious life the way God intended for you to live?

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I'm going to do you a favor today and put in a plug for a great site I've discovered.

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As a supplement to my training in lay counseling, I'm taking an online program from Word of Life Counseling center in Wichita, Kansas. Because of distance, I will earn my certification from another place, but the extra training is great and the video lessons are FREE!

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Dr. Troy Reiner is a licenced psychologist as well as a Bible scholar and much of the course is deep Scriptural truth from which any believer could benefit. The section of training I'm linking you to is called Principles, Here Dr. Reiner explores 44 basic principles given in the Bible---from salvation to walking in the Spirit---and what each means for you, what happens in your life when these principles are being violated, and how to apply them.

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I'm coming to understand that there is so much more than I realized to living life the way God intends us to live, and unfortunately most Christians never fully experience all that God has for them because they miss the truth of these principles.

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If you have a little extra time each day, I highly recommend these classes. You can view them on your own schedule. The training will not only help you wherever you are in your spiritual walk, but you can better help others God brings across your path.

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Check it out! Click here.

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Knowledge and More Knowledge...

There is SO much to learn !

From infancy, we are so focused on education and gaining knowledge that sometimes we forget that's not the real goal of life. Many people even think that learning more and more about God is the highest goal on earth.

IT'S NOT????

Surprise!

We are tempted to think that. After we receive Christ and God's wonders are unveiled to us little by little, we hungrily go after truth like a starving dog with a food wrapper. There is so much to learn, so many marvelous truths and promises and commands to get our minds around that fervor for them can become consuming.

This is all good. For a while. Knowledge is one of the vital steps of spiritual growth outlined in 2 Peter 1: "...add to your faith virtue, and to your virtue knowledge..."

The problem comes when we stay there. I Corinthians 8 warns us that "knowledge puffs up, but love builds others up." Nothing is more annoying than a know-it-all. Especially a spiritual know-it-all. But the knowledge step is one where many Christians choose to live, because it seems so right.

Learn those rules, memorize those commands, develop God-honoring convictions---and then look around for everyone else who needs to know what I know and "lovingly" set them straight. OR...I'll just live it around them until they see where they are in error.

Funny thing is, the list doesn't stop with knowledge. If knowledge was the goal, you'd think God would have put it at the end. Instead, the building blocks keep going up. "...and to your knowledge, add self-control, and to your self-control, endurance, and to your endurance, godliness, and to your godliness, brotherly kindness, and to your brotherly kindness, love."

If we don't move on past the knowledge step, we run the risk of becoming legalistic without even knowing it. Pharisees in the New Testament were great little legalists. They had the rules down pat. Couldn't stump them on Bible Jeopardy. And the rules became their god, rather than God Himself.

Are you in danger of staying in the Land of Knowledge?

Here are some handy little questions to ask if you're wondering:

• Do I believe God accepts me more when I'm doing what I should?


• Do I study all the do's and don'ts so nothing catches me off guard?


• Do I have a mental list of what a "good" (Christian, church, family) looks like that isn't clearly stipulated in Scripture?


• Do I consider myself more spiritual than others who don't have my same convictions?


• Do I tend to be more accepting of other Christians who think like me?


• Do my convictions ever get in the way of connecting with and loving new Christians?


• Am I ever afraid to be my real self around certain people for fear they would not think me spiritual enough?

If you had to answer yes to any of those, you might be stuck in the knowledge step without realizing it.

God doesn't want us to stay there. Notice what he puts at the end. What he considers the ultimate goals: compassion for our Christian brothers, and then when we get that down, Agape love. The kind God has. The kind that would die on a cross for people who were spitting on him.

It's easy to settle in on the knowledge step and plan to stay, but God doesn't want us to stay there. It's really not much fun. It's exhausting trying to be perfect in your own strength, criticizing everyone who is not like you, being right all the time...

I should know. I was great at it!

Thankfully, God didn't let me stay there and with his help, I've moved on to the greater steps. You can too. Gaining knowledge is important, just don't get comfortable there. "...add to your knowledge..."

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