ONE DEAD, ONE WOUNDED

I heard some disturbing news the other day that stirred my heart.

In the city of Houston, Texas they are building an “ABORTION SUPER CENTER.” It has been advertised as the second largest such facility in the World second only to one in Beijing, China. It contains 78,000 square feet and its third floor is dedicated solely to late term abortions.

It is no coincidence that this facility is located between the largest concentration of two minority groups living in the city, the black population and the Mexicans.

Let me explain the significance of this location.

An organization called “Planned Parenthood” was founded in 1942 by a woman by the name of Margaret Sanger. In her book entitled Women and the New Race, she writes, “The most merciful thing that a large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it.” In an article she wrote entitled Pivot of civilization, she refers to Blacks and immigrants as “human weeds, reckless breeders, spawning human beings that never should have been born.” In the same article she said that “The genetic makeup of the poor and minorities was inferior.”

Now we see why this Abortuary Super Center is located in the section of town closest to the large Black and Mexican populations.

There are two forces at work here. One is to eradicate those who have been determined by the Eugenicists as those who have no right to LIFE. The other motivating factor is MONEY, huge profits and absolutely no guarantees of the results.

The 37th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision legalizing killing of unborn boys and girls was January 20. Since then over fifty million children have died because their mothers thought them inconvenient.

Another alarming statistic tells us that the abortion rate is around 40%. Statistics are sometimes difficult to understand so let me translate this so even your third grader can understand it. For every ten expectant mothers, four will make the decision that they don’t want their baby to live and will have it killed.

How many of you would get on an airplane if you knew that 40% of all flights crashed and everyone on board dies. Statistically, the most dangerous place in America is not riding in an automobile without seatbelts or even in an airplane, but in the womb of one’s mother.

The high court handed down the order, social workers make the arrangements, and the medical profession then destroys the life of the innocent and helpless. Today it is the unborn; tomorrow it is likely to be the elderly or those who are incurably sick.

Enough statistics and sad news, lets get down to the good news.

I would like to address and offer hope to the wounded causalities of the abortuaries, for you see, two people enter the clinic, one dies and the other walks out wounded. Not so much wounded physically, but wounded emotionally and spiritually.

Is the lie that they are told that killing one’s unborn child will have no long-lasting consequences any different from the lie that the serpent told Eve, “Did God really say?”

Millions of women are lied to when they are told, “You shall not surely die,” when in fact they are wounded for life.

Here is the subtle irony in this lie. In their proclamation, “My life, my body, my choice,” they bring liberty only to the men in their lives because by eliminating the unwanted child, the man is not required to accept any responsibility for that life that the couple has created. Women’s liberation has only liberated men, not women. I like what someone once said, “Real men don’t kill their babies, they raise them.”

One last statistic, I read that 50 % of the women living in the United States have had an abortion. This seems high to my naïve mind, but if it is even remotely close, then there are millions of women who are haunted and tormented by the guilt that they must carry each day by the mistake that they made, five, ten, twenty, or even thirty some years earlier.

They carry a guilt so heavy that they are ashamed to even tell their husbands, children, or friends. Every time they see a newborn baby or stand in front of someone’s refrigerator they are saddened because their baby’s picture will never receive the honor of being displayed on a magnet on her refrigerator.

Where can she find the hope, joy, and peace that can turn her wound into a healed scar?

There is only on hope for her and that is delineated in the Book of Revelation found in the Bible. “They overcame (their accuser) by the blood of the Lamb and the Word of their testimony.” Revelation 17:11

You must see dear ones, that confession is good for your souls because it is the only source of freedom from the bondage of secrecy that has held you captive all of these years.

Here is the sad part of this secret. There are millions of bound women sitting in churches week after week longing for release from their bondage and the church holds the keys to their shackles.

Unless she confesses her sin to Jesus, IJohn 1:9 and to others, Rev. 17:11, she will not receive forgiveness and ultimately be able to forgive herself.

The church must come alongside these women and not ignore them because only Jesus can turn their testing into a testimony.

Every time I drive by a particular church in our town my heart does a little flip when I read the marquee out front. It reads in bold letters, “JESUS IS LORD.”

It is my prayer that every church would proclaim this truth by living it.

Is God even remotely interested in our problems?

Is God even remotely interested in your problems?


We all need to hear a faith building story occasionally to keep us focused on the bigger picture, and that is that God is bigger than our circumstances and He is interested in our individual trials.

While my wife Ruth was teaching Bible school near Nairobi, Kenya she had an interesting student by the name of Samuel. Samuel came from Northern Kenya and was from a Muslim family. His father had four wives with 21 children so far.

One day during break Ruth sat down with him to get his testimony.

Samuel married a girl from his village while he was in the Kenyan Air Force. After his wife delivered their first child she went insane. She had to be tied to her bed with ropes around her wrists and around her neck because she was wild and could not be restrained.

Samuel tried every doctor that was available, both medical and psychiatric doctors, from all over the country of Kenya. He spent a lot of money for doctors. They all told him the same thing, she was insane and there was nothing that could be done for her. She would only get worse and he should abandon her and think of the child.

One day about five months after the birth of his child a man came to his military base and asked for him by name. Samuel found him at the front gate and after a short conversation the stranger asked Samuel if he could go home with him. Samuel wasn’t in the habit of entertaining visitors because of his wife’s condition plus he had never seen this man before and had no idea who he even was.

Samuel gave him a meal and then the man asked Samuel if he would go to church with him the next day, which was Sunday. At that point Samuel said that he was so desperate that he would try anything so he agreed. It was getting late in the day and the man asked if he could spend the night with Samuel and then go to church together tomorrow. The next day they walked to church together and as they approached the church the man left Samuel alone and went somewhere else where Samuel couldn’t see him. Samuel has never seen the man since that morning.

Samuel said that he had no idea what the service was about because he sat there and cried during the whole service.

Samuel went home after the service and as he arrived home and walked into the house he saw his wife sitting on the edge of the bed. He asked the woman who took care of his wife why she was untied. The woman replied that she asked a while ago if she could be untied because she felt better.

Samuel couldn’t wait to get to church the next Sunday. The pastor asked if there were any visitors and Samuel stood and asked for prayer. They told him to come forward and they laid hands on him and prayed for him. Samuel was born again during that service. Samuel went home and when he walked into the house his wife was sitting in front of the mirror combing her hair. She had not done anything to herself since the baby was born five months ago; she had to be taken care of by someone else.

From that time on Samuel’s wife has led a normal life and is completely well. To this day she still has the rope marks around her wrists and neck.

His wife had planned to go to Bible school with Samuel but she got pregnant and has put that idea aside.

Samuel transferred to our Bible school from another school so he could get a four-year degree. He had plans to go back to his village and preach to the Muslim people.

Ruth had a soft spot in her heart for Samuel and from what she told me Samuel had a lot of respect for her as well. He was one of the nicest fellows you could ever meet. He has a very gentle spirit and a very good sense of humor.

Samuel had been dead for 15 years in the eyes of his family. When he had become a Christian his father disowned him as a son and vowed to never speak to him again. In many Muslim families if a member becomes a Christian, they actually hold a funeral service for the member who has defected.

I asked Samuel to contact me when he graduated from Bible school and was ready to go back to his home village to minister. He contacted me one summer and told me that he wanted to start a church in Nairobi and make trips into Muslim territory to minister.

A friend of mine had asked me to recommend someone in Africa who needed some monetary help to set up a ministry. I put the two together and Samuel began to receive support from our friend.

Later that fall I received an e-mail from Samuel telling me that he had recently made a trip to his hometown to hold a weekend seminar to strengthen any Christians who would come and preach the gospel to the non-Christians.

The results of the weekend were nothing short of fantastic. Several Christians came to be ministered to and to rededicate their lives to living for Jesus. During the weekend one-person came forward to receive Jesus as their Savior, you probably guessed it, that person was Samuel’s father. Samuel had not seen his father for 15 years. Can you imagine the high excitement when he saw his Father receive Jesus?

Samuel’s father was a Muslim leader in the village and had over 30 families under him as their leader. Samuel’s father now holds classes in his home on Sundays, but he is not teaching Muslim law, he is teaching them from the Bible.

The following is from a weekly update called “Friday Fax.”

“Africa is more open for the gospel than it has ever been,”

reports DAWN Africa Coordinator Danie Vermeulen. “Thousands

of Muslims are finding Christ, and some of the most exciting

church planting movements are among Muslims. Civil wars, AIDS

and political repression are other factors leading growing numbers to be open for the gospel…”

These are exciting times for us Christians as we are going to see the “Spirit poured out upon all flesh,” (Joel 2:28) as we have never seen it since the days of the “Book of Acts.



The writer of the Book of Hebrews made a comment about this phenomenon when he wrote, “Stay on good terms with each other, held together by love. Be ready with a meal or a bed when it’s needed. Why, some have extended hospitality to angels without even knowing it.” Hebrews 13:1&2



Keep the faith brothers and sisters.

ARE WE GETTING THE PICTURE YET?

Last December Ruth and I stopped into the politically correct “MART” to buy a couple of things. While waiting for my wife to shop, I asked a clerk, while standing in front of a plastic replica of a beautiful green Spruce tree, “Sir, what are you permitted to call this tree?” “It’s a holiday tree,” he responded. And, if I wish you a Merry Christmas, what are you allowed to respond?” His response was, “Happy holidays.”

No big surprise to any of us unless someone has just awakened from a 10 year coma.

What is going on? It seems like there is a conspiracy to destroy Christmas and the conspirators are becoming bolder and more successful with their agenda.

There is one thing though, that we realize all too well. The God haters are NOT out to destroy the 3 P’s of Christmas. They are PROFITS, PRESENTS, and PARTIES. What they seem bent on destroying is the prefix of Christmas, or in plainer language, they want to remove “Christ” from Christmas and everything He stands for.

I predict that before long it will be illegal for a church to display a manger scene on their own property. Does that seem impossible when it is illegal to disparage disgusting behavior inside the church?

In Canada, it is a hate crime punishable by harsh fines and even imprisonment, to criticize homosexuality, abortion, or Islam. In England, you are a “Hate criminal” if you wear a Christian cross in public.

You may be wondering, “Who is behind this assault?”

Is the ACLU who just recently forced a Catholic church to remove their manger scene from the median in from of their church where they had displayed it for over 60 Christmases?

Is it the NEA? In some public schools it is illegal for a student to wear a tee shirt with a Christian logo or inscription. Thankfully, in our local public school those kinds of tee shirts are still OK.

Or, is it the court system that has told us that we must be religion free in this country?

A recent poll in the USA revealed that 25% of our population consider themselves atheist. What is also interesting is that the Supreme Court has ruled that atheism and humanism are religions.

I think that the contention is not IF there will be an established religion in this nation, but WHAT religion or religions will be recognized and endorsed or even tolerated.

The secularists have convinced America that only Christianity should be illegal.

In 1962 Justice Black led the US Supreme Court to declare that prayer in the public schools was unconstitutional.

In 1963, the Bible was declared “Illegal” in the education of our children.

Then in 1980, the court determined that the 10 commandments were no longer permitted to be displayed in “public” buildings, especially our public schools because, (this is interesting) “If the posted copies of the 10 commandments are to have any effect at all, it will be to induce the schoolchildren to read, meditate upon, perhaps to venerate, and obey the commandments.”

We now find that the atheist-humanist religion has blown away the foundation upon which this country was founded and the inmates are in charge of the asylum.

Why do the atheist-humanists hate any semblance to Christianity and why are they singling out just us?

Webster defines religion as “a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith.”

Christianity is an affront to the religion of atheism and humanism. They both worship the same god incidentally, “the god of self.” Christianity puts restrictions on the god they love, themselves.

If you can remove the God of the Bible, there are no more rules, remove the rules and you are free to pursue any lifestyle.

By your own rules, abortion becomes a choice, marriage becomes a meaningless arrangement of convenience, and the god of self does not have to answer to anyone.

This attitude or rebellion goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden where man responded to the Devil’s challenge when he said, “Did God really say, THOU SHALL NOT.”

So now we come down to who is really behind the conspiracy to destroy Christianity?

Jesus had a comment regarding this when He said, “He who is not for me is against me and he who does not gather, scatters.” Mathew 12:30

One more thought in regards to the religion of self.

When one challenges an atheist with this question, “Since you do not believe God created everything, you actually believe that everything that we can see in the Universe was created out of nothing?” How can an intelligent person look you in the eye and say that everything was created out of nothing? The whole purpose of humanism with their promotion of evolution is to discredit the Bible and ultimately discredit the God of the Bible and of course, replace Him with his own god, himself.

With this belief in the humanistic doctrine do you really think that they are intelligent enough to come up with this grandiose conspiracy theme all by themselves? I don’t think so. There is a diabolical intelligence behind these pawns, and that is what they really are, dispensable pawns in the hands and plans of an evil schemer.



MERRY CHRISTMAS

What is the mark of a Christian?

WHAT IS THE MARK OF A CHRISTIAN?






While attending a university in London, Mahatma Gandhi the future leader who would sway the hearts of hundreds of millions of his own people in India, became almost convinced that the Christian religion was the one true, supernatural religion in the world. Upon graduation, and still seeking evidence that would make him a committed Christian, young Gandhi accepted employment in East Africa and for seven months lived in the home of a family who were members of an evangelical Christian church. As soon as he discovered that fact he decided that here would be the place to find the evidence he sought.

But as the months passed and he saw the casualness of their attitude toward the cause of God, heard them complain when they were called upon to make sacrifice for the kingdom of God and sensed their general religious apathy, Gandhi’s interest turned to disappointment. He said in his heart, “No, it is not the one true, supernatural religion I had hoped to find. A good religion, but just one more of the many religions in the world.”

Loving one another is not optional, it is the way that all the world will know that we are Christ's disciples! Gandhi’s conclusion is a sad but shockingly true reminder of the neglected power of a Christian family. This morning in a very real way the way you live, the way you talk, and the way you respond to your brothers and sisters reflects who you really are as a believer. Do you really love your brothers and sisters that God has placed all around your life?

God’s Plan for brothers and sisters is loving one another.

God’s Method for brothers and sisters to love one another is His Spirit.

What does John say God expects from us?

One of the characteristics that usually accompanies affluence is the spirit of independence. I am sorry to say that this same spirit can creep into our churches.

How can I evaluate whether I have succumbed to this spirit? Am I really living the Christian life or am I just living for myself? Many people will quickly say that one cannot and should not judge one’s faith because it is a very private thing.

Many people wear Christian symbols on their clothing such as a cross, but is that the mark of a Christian?

Jesus speaks to this issue and as usual He doesn’t mince words, He cuts to the chase.

As Jesus sees His ministry coming to a close He tells His followers that He will be with them for only a short time. He then gives them a clear definition of the true mark of a Christian.

In John Chapter 13 and verse 34, He tells them, “A new command I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”

The next verse gives us the answer to our leading question. “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

He is giving them a command with a condition. His point is that it is possible to be a Christian without showing the mark, but if we expect the world to know that we are Christians we will show that mark. The mark is our love for our Christian brothers and sisters.

The next paragraph may not be a popular interpretation but none the less, here is what He is saying. “I am giving the world the right to judge whether you and I are real Christians on the basis of how we treat our fellow Christian brothers and sisters.”

Every person’s DNA has been preprogrammed to recognize real love and to gravitate toward it.

When the world sees how Christians from different doctrinal views treat each other, they make an evaluation, and rightly so.

It is not the doctrinal differences that divide true Christians, but it is the lack of love that the world can sense in the Church of Jesus Christ.

He is not asking us to embrace everyone else’s doctrinal position, He is telling us that when we see a brother or sister in need and we have the ability to meet that need we must come alongside of them and love them.

Several years ago Ruth and I were members of a church in Hudson. We were made aware of a need of another church in town. This congregation had a large church building that was in dire need of paint.

Our congregation decided to not only help them paint their building but we also bought the paint. I remember spending a few Saturdays painting that old building alongside their people.

Oh, how sweet the fellowship and unity that act of love and kindness precipitated.

He instructs us in John chapter 15 and verses 13 and 14 with these words. “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.”

According to Jesus’ teaching if we Christians love each other as He has loved us, every church would have to start a new building program because our present buildings wouldn’t hold them.

Some may wonder how that kind of love could be implemented in their churches. When new people visit your church and notice the patches on the knees of your trousers, you will have found the secret.

Can we Pick and Choose?

Many years ago while studying at the University of North Dakota; I had a Physics professor who claimed to be a Christian. I can still

Remember his provocative statement to the class. When you go through a cafeteria, you take only the foods that are agreeable and savory to your palate. The ones that don’t appear appetizing or maybe you have never tasted them before; you pass up and don’t accept.”

Now here is where it got divisive. He went on to say, “The Bible is like that. As you read through it some things are appealing and comforting to you while others repulse you. Accept the things that appeal to you and reject the things that don’t.”

I can still remember the interesting class discussions that transpired while we were supposed to be studying Physics.

Little did I know that within 40 years, that exact philosophy would be the status quo in today’s churches and not the exception as it was in those days.

As one sits in America’s churches today, you have the opportunity to hear the humanistic gospel, the social gospel, the permissive gospel, the prosperity gospel, the emergent gospel, The Purpose Driven Gospel, Your Best Life Now gospel, the church growth gospel, the seeker-sensitive gospel, the who are you to judge gospel (After all, everyone goes to Heaven anyway), the homosexual gospel, as long as you were baptized gospel, the only believe gospel, and the God loves you unconditionally and forgives you unconditionally gospel. Oh, did I mention the politically correct gospel?

My, my, what have we come to? We ask ourselves these days, “Why are people leaving our churches in droves these days?” Every major denomination in loosing people and some are loosing lots of them, and we are asking why?”  According to Christia research, between 65 and 75 churches are closed every week in the US.  Thoses are permanent closings.

Maybe the question that we should be asking is why would people want to attend our churches? What did the church offer in the past that is missing now?

I believe that most people realize that the all the world has to offer is promises that it cannot deliver. They also realize that there is nothing within themselves that can fill the empty void and longing they are feeling as they search for a fulfilling life.

Where do they look? Some people look to the church for the only power that can change an empty life into a full abundant life, and what do they find? They find an array of gospels that I mentioned above and sadly every one of these phony gospels are void of the power that they are searching for. Most of them leave in frustration (and in droves I might add) and return to hopelessness. Many leave to preserve the faith that they do have and have their own devotion time at home on Sunday mornings and others gather a few likeminded believers together and form a home church.

Here is the serious footnote to all of this change that we have seen in today’s churches.

Revelation chapter 21 and 22 is very explicit on the kinds of people who have no hope because as John puts it, “Their place will be in the fiery lake of burning brimstone.”

But this is not the group of folks that I am writing about. What about all of the “Progressive” Christian leaders who have so thoughtlessly pushed for the doctrinal changes that we have mentioned.

John also addresses that issue in Revelation chapter 22 where he says, “And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”

So, the big question on my mind is, “How is it possible to return to the “Gospel of the Kingdom,” that the early apostles preached with power and conviction?

I think that the only answer and it is not a popular one, is tough times and lots of them.

Ruth and I have visited many churches in Africa where finding enough food for today doesn’t leave much time or interest to embrace any other gospel than the one that teaches, “Live for Me, and I will supple all of your needs.” Mathew 6:28-34

How in the World did we get into this mess? You may say, “It is our governmental leaders that we elected.” If the “other party” was in power, they would straighten out this mess. Listen; let me give you a definition of politics that your third grader can understand. Politics is doing what is necessary to keep me and my party in power. It is all about me, my, and I. We all know what power does to a person, it corrupts. So, good luck if you are looking to your political leaders to get us out of this mess.

So, to what do we look for hope? Better to say to WHOM do we look for hope. I believe that it was the churches who got us into this mess when they began to preach the “CAFETERIA GOSPEL” that I mentioned above.

When the CHURCH gets on its knees and repents, things will change, but if that doesn’t happen, like they say in Louisiana, “Ya ain’t seen nuttin yet.”

It’s all about the money

A few years ago Ruth and I had the privilege of teaching in an East African Bible school where we were training pastors. Most of our students were already pastors who were working toward their four year degree.

One of their favorite topics of discussion was to get me to tell them about the church in America.

When I would tell them about the liberal doctrines that have crept into our churches such as discounting the inerrancy of scripture, the neuter gendering of God, the ordination of homosexuals as well as issues that many pastors are afraid to address such as divorce and abortion, my students were appalled.

Their questions always came back to this, “Why won’t American pastors address these issues?”

Here is how I would answer them.

Put yourself in the typical American pastor’s position. He has a nice building or is in the middle of a building program. The church is making big mortgage payments. The pastor is receiving a comfortable salary and he is building up a nice retirement fund.

The money to meet these expenses comes from the offering baskets that are passed each Sunday morning.

If he is bold in his renunciation of these HOT TOPICS, he is going to offend some people and some issues may offend lots of people. In the American church people vote with their feet. If they don’t like the preaching, they leave. He is at risk of loosing his comfortable life style so he tells the people what they want to hear so they will feel good about themselves. The pews stay full and so do the offering baskets.

After that explanation my students all wondered how the churches allowed themselves to get into the position of such compromise.

I too wonder the same thing. In many churches you won’t hear teachings and warnings about how our beloved churches are being hijacked with a powerless gospel.

About 25 years ago a wise old Bible teacher by the name of Dr. Walter Martin warned the mainstream denominations with these words.

“There is a progression that takes place in liberal theology: It begins with a corrupt bibliology, a corrupt view of the nature and inspiration of Scripture. They have a corrupt theology because once you are picking and choosing from the Bible what you want, your theology has to suffer from it because your human reasoning is corrupt. Every major theological seminary that has turned from orthodox Christianity began with disbelief of Biblical doctrine. There wasn’t a single exception.

This corrupt bibliology then leads them to the next step. Their theology began to be touched by it, their view of the cross and the virgin birth were immediately questioned; then came the miracles of Christ. And finally they had emptied the gospel of all its content: they were simply using the outward shell so that they could go on collecting money from the people and the churches; because they knew that if the people in the pews knew that they were apostate, they would throw them out. So the strategy was, hang on to the trust funds; hang on to the money they’ve got; hang on to the properties they control, and they will gradually educate the laymen into this new approach to theology.

And finally they take control of everything. This gradual process feeds this theological poison until you become immunized enough so that you don’t know what’s happening to you. And when you wake up to what’s happening, it’s too late, they’ve got everything.”
(Taken from his book, The Cult of Liberalism).

Today’s liberal church leaders have learned their lessons well from their evil forefathers. They knew that in order for them to advance their pet projects, one of which is affirming a lifestyle of the unrepentant practice of homosexuality as a viable one for the Christian and even the clergy, they would have to attack the inerrancy of scripture.

If we as Christians will not believe the Word of God, it is clear in its pronouncement of the sinfulness of homosexuality, and stand against it, then we won’t stand at all, we will fall.

In the greatest sermon ever preached, Jesus warned us with these words, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to Hell, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to eternal life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 13:7

In the same sermon He said, “You cannot serve both God and money.”

WHAT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO?

Today I find myself asking the same rhetorical question very frequently, “What is the right thing to do in this situation?”

My frequent prayer is, “Lord, I need wisdom more today more than ever.”

It has been said the one of the wisest men to have ever lived was Solomon. We can find his writings in the book of Proverbs located in the Bible.

It was his desire to pass on his wisdom to the generations to come. It seems from his writings that he was very concerned about the plight of young people and the decisions that they must make while growing up.

Growing up in Solomon’s day was nothing compared to the decisions confronting our young people living early in the 21st century, although his temptations were very similar.

One of the catch phrases that our young people must deal with constantly is, “Let’s do it, it’s the right thing to do.”

So, how does one know what is right?

Solomon gives us some good advice in the 10th chapter and verse 13 in his book of Proverbs. He says, “Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning,”

Then again in Chapter 14, verse 33 he tells us that, “Wisdom reposes in the heart of the discerning.”

Here, he is equating wisdom with discernment. Most people would define discernment as knowing the difference between right and wrong.
There are two different kinds of wisdom, however. As you progress through the education system, you gain more and more wisdom. But that kind of wisdom is worldly wisdom, it will hopefully get you a good job and keep it, but the wisdom that Solomon is talking about is not that kind of wisdom. Here, is instructing us about Spiritual wisdom. This is the kind of wisdom that we all need, for it keeps us on the path of life that is the smoothest, the good life if you will. It keeps us out of the pitfalls of life and ultimately out of the pit for eternity.

I like what a wise old theologian once said. Charles Spurgeon said, “Discernment is not telling the difference between right and wrong, but between what is right and almost right.”

Wow, that’s what I need today. I can easily tell the difference between black and white, but telling the difference between white and almost white is a challenge.

Sorting out the shades of truth is a difficult job, but does it have to be so formidable?

The mortality rate for a young person swimming through the shark infested waters of today’s culture as they grow up is very high, but there is hope.

There is hope for all of us and especially the young person looking for help.

At Christmas time we read the Old Testament prophecies in the book of Isaiah describing the coming Savior. One of His titles is “The Prince of Peace.”

A Christian is one who has asked the Prince of Peace to come and reside in his heart, save him, and then follow His leading.

If we have done that, then we have that help that we so desperately need available to help for those tough decisions.

The Prince of Peace resides in our hearts to give us a quiet check when something is even one shade off of white, as well a giving us real PEACE when something is pure white, but we must listen to that still small voice.

Someone once said that we experience real peace when nothing is missing and nothing is broken.

Isn’t that what we want to feel in our hearts as we sort out the options while making a decision that we will have to live with?

A wise lady once said, “The decisions that we make today are the building blocks of the quality of our life tomorrow.”

If we, as Christians, listen to the Prince of Peace residing in our hearts, nothing will be missing and nothing will be broken after we make that important decision.

Who wants to stand on a shaky foundation that results from a decision that turns out to be almost right?

Now, when I quoted that verse in Proverbs chapter 10, I only gave you the 1st half of the verse. Let me give you the whole verse, “Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning, BUT a rod is for the back of him who lacks judgment.”

WHOA- don’t we know all too well the results of using poor judgment?