Although we often claim to know God and His ways, the way we go about things often prove us wrong. Many believe that God requires them to do all types of good deeds, celebrate certain holidays, fast during special times, go to church, etc., etc... It's not that God does not want those things, but He is more concerned about our motives. Far too often we do them to try to get favor from God, when, if we've given our lives to Jesus, we've already gotten His favor! Then, just when we think we're doing great with the whole "good deed thing," we're sinning like crazy with the way we oppress others, gossip, hate, slander... I think you get the message. What God wants is for us to listen to Him, and to do what He says with the right motives toward Him AND the right motives toward others. It's not our fasting (giving up food or other things) that He wants... it's for us to treat others with justice and mercy. Then the word of the Lord Almighty came to me: "Ask all the people of the land and the priests, 'When you fasted and mourned... was it really for me that you fasted? And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?'... And the world of the Lord came again to Zechariah: "This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other'... But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and stopped up their ears. They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit... So the Lord Almighty was very angry. "'When I called they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,' says the Lord Almighty." Zechariah 7:4-13 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

The Scriptures tell us to love God, and to love others. Often loving God is evidenced by our love for others, and the opposite is also true. Although we may say we love God, if we don't love others (especially other believers), we are proven liars by our actions. In loving new believers we need to be extremely careful that we don't cause them to stumble by our actions, our advice, or our false interpretations of Scripture. To do so not only hurts them, but it hurts all members of the Body of Christ. It is actually a sin against the God we claim to love. "When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ." 1 Corinthians 8:12 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

Although I always get plenty of mail when I broach the subject of horoscopes and other fortune telling disciplines, I simply cannot avoid the issue. Many who write me claim that reading their daily horoscope is "just for fun" and "means nothing to them," but many also quickly admit that they read it more religiously than the Scriptures, and even consult it more often than they pray to God. With a growing fascination with mediums and spiritists in the media, I've also seen a similar growth in young people seeking them for advice. For a Christian there simply is no excuse for having "fun" with the tools of demons and devils. "When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! [basically, to the Bible--the Word of God] If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn." Isaiah 8:19-20 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

For Christians who are growing in the Lord, this world will very quickly become a strange place to live. When the world calls you "crazy" for believing in a God you've never seen, you'll not be angry, but feel prayerfully sorry that they've not had their eyes opened too! When they mock you for your stances on moral issues, you'll feel isolated, but sure that your beliefs are Rock solid. When you spend time reading your Bible, praying, and thanking God others will think you're wasting your time. And when you spend time biting your tongue, loving people that others hate, and keeping yourself pure for the Lord, it will only make sense to other believers. Let's face it brothers and sisters, you don't belong here! BUT, you've been left here to shine Jesus' light into the world for all to see. Get busy, 'cause it won't be long before He brings you home where you DO belong! "Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear." 1 Peter 1:17  Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

There's a lot of radical misconceptions in the world today about heaven, hell and all things spiritual. Modern novels, so-called "intellectuals" and even some leaders of the church try to reinvent Jesus in a light they prefer to see Him in. Many don't like the fact that Jesus was "without sin" or that He spoke of a real hell with fire in it! Some don't like the narrowness of the path He would have us walk, or believe that Jesus actually died, and rose again from the grave. I'm far from being God (really far!), but even I wouldn't appreciate someone taking a pen and reinventing me, what I stand for, or even one single fact about me. Would you? Imagine for a moment how God thinks about those who try to "reinvent" Him. Friends, we must get serious about the reading of the Holy Scriptures. There and only there will we learn exactly who Jesus was (and is), and who we are in light of His Word. Only there will we gain the knowledge we need to beat down lies that war against the faith. These are the Scriptures that present the good news of what Jesus came to earth to do, and the terrible news of what will happen to those who choose to ignore Him, like it or not. Honestly, how long has it been since you spent some time in them? Then he will say to those on his left, '"Depart from me, you who are cursed, in to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." Jesus of Nazareth (Matthew 25:41) Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

The world will tell you that if you want to make a lot of money, you'll either need to take huge risks, have a lot of money in the first place, or go to college and make sure you pick a career that pays well. God tells us that all ability to gain wealth comes from Him, that monetary wealth isn't even important, and that if we do gain wealth and then forget about Him, we'll be worse off than if we never had it! Hmmm.... God's way or man's way? I'll go with God! "You may say to yourself, 'My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.' "But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who give you the ability to produce wealth, and so firms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today." Deuteronomy 8:17-18 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

"But everyone else is doing it!" How many times have you heard that line before? How many times have you said it? I get a ton of mail from teens who tell me they know they want to stay "virgins" but they want to know more clearly where the line is when it comes to making out (is that still a term these days? Ha!). I even had someone recently tell me that they know Jesus wants them not to have sex, but since "everyone else is doing it" wouldn't it be okay anyway? Wow! I rarely get thrown for a loop, but that one did it! First of all, everyone else is NOT doing it. Secondly, sexual purity is just that--purity! When something is pure, it is without "impurity." Look at it this way. How much dog manure do you like in your birthday cake? Right! Now, do you want dog manure to be anywhere near your cake? Do you want it "rubbed up against" your cake? If you pick the same answers I picked, then you also understand purity! Treat your body the same way until you are married. "I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness." Romans 6:19 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

It's not only rare, but a total exception to the rule that I use the same Scripture two days in a row. Still, I just cannot get this one out of my mind. From my childhood I have understood the "cup of cold water in my name" Scripture as a treatise on what I was supposed to be doing for those around me. That even if I did simple things like give a glass of cold water to a thirsty person and I did it in the name (or to further the kingdom of) Jesus, then I was doing God's work. I guess I must have heard fifty sermons exert just that. Frankly and honestly, I have either misread or misunderstood this for far too long. Sure, followers of Jesus are supposed to do gracious and thoughtful things in His name, but this Scripture actually says that Jesus will reward those who help me (and you) along that path. It also acknowledges that such a thing might be a rare occurrence--a miracle of God if you will, and NOT a miracle of our doing! "He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward." Jesus of Nazareth (Matthew 10:40-42)  Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate