"I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it." Ezekiel 17:24b When I was growing up, I learned a valuable lesson from the generation before me. I learned if you shake someone's hand, it's as good as a written contract. You've got to live up to your end of the bargain even if it hurts! That lesson seems lost on the next generation. I've personally been lied to in business dealings on many occasions, and have been outright robbed by people who introduced themselves as followers of Jesus Christ. We need longer and longer contracts just to try and protect ourselves from people who make shady deals. As Christians, I believe our testimony is only as strong as our ability to tell the truth even when it hurts, and to do the right thing regardless of what everyone else is doing. Just like the Word is our rock and our foundation, our word is our bond! "Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one." Matthew 5:37 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

Many people tell me they've just done too many bad things in their life for God to forgive them. They'll insist they don't deserve forgiveness or even have the right to ask for it. Believe it or not, this is not such a bad place to be. The truth is none of us deserve forgiveness and none of us have earned the right to ask for it. Bad deeds or no bad deeds, we're all sinners--eternally separated from our Creator by the evil in our hearts. But that's the central message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Even though we didn't earn it or deserve it, Jesus died as a substitute for us anyway. The only reasonable response to that kind of love is a turning from sin toward the God who loves you. "Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit." Ezekiel 19:30b-31a Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

My oldest son ran one of our ministry's teen centers. One of his staff members came up with a great idea for stopping teenagers from breaking rules. Whenever someone starts acting crazy, one of the leaders starts banging on this huge cymbal with a drum stick and then pointing at the offending teen with the same stick. It's all done in fun of course, but with a serious attempt at keeping things in line. What's cool about the cymbal is that it's really irritating to everyone's ears, and it simply cannot be ignored. Whenever someone starts banging on it, everyone turns to look and see who's "acting the fool!" No doubt there's much lauging and pointing and other teenage fun, but everyone wants the banging to stop! As I was reading through this Scripture about love today, I was reminded that those who claim to do great things for God, but have no love for others are described similarly. These "cymbals" are "symbols" of all that is wrong with the church today. They are impossible to ignore, really irritating and everyone is forced to turn and look who's "acting the fool." What's unfortunate in this scenario is that nothing is done for "fun" or for keeping teenagers in line. It's all about the cymbal (read, fake follower of God) getting attention for his or herself. I'm once again reminded that anything done without love is worthless. "If I [can] speak in the tongues [ Or languages] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal." 1 Corinthians 13:1 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

I ran into a forty-something woman today who told me she believed she had found real truth in a local Christian church a few years ago, but just as she was investigating baptism and such she had to leave the church. When I asked why, she explained that her mother heard about her conversion and said she would "disown her" if she changed her religion. I thought only teenagers and college students were susceptible to this type of extortion, but I guess I was wrong. What's worse, when I told her that she needed to pursue the Truth (Jesus) at any cost, she quickly stopped me and told me that her mother had now passed away--as if to say, "Don't speak ill of the dead." Never being too worried about what dead people think about anything, I simply told her that if her mother was wrong, she's now crying out to God to send someone to tell her daughter the Truth! This Scripture was in my mind as I urged her to reinvestigate the Truth of Jesus! It's actually from the perspective of three dead people, and told by One who was raised from the dead! "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side [paradise, or heaven]. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.' "But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.' "He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.' "Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them.' "'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' "He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'" Jesus of Nazareth (Luke 16:19-31) Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

Remember that guy that Jesus brought back from the dead after he'd been dead for days? His name was Lazarus and I'd bet he didn't come out of the cave with a bad attitude! Sometimes I wonder why so many Christians look like they've been sucking on a lemon all day. Maybe it's because they've forgotten how they felt the day Jesus brought them back from the dead. At any rate, joy should be the immediate and permanent attitude of anyone who's been dead and then finds new life in Christ. If you've not found joy in your heart lately, it's time to get on your knees and ask God to remind you of all He's done on your behalf. "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

I think just about every Christian, and even most non-Christians, would agree that mercy is an absolutely necessary ingredient for us all to live together--especially as a community of believers. Sometimes though, I think we can take mercy too far and actually hurt people. Let me explain. The other day, I had a conversation with a man and his wife who recently had some serious problems with one of their older children. Their child had gotten into some serious debt, and the creditors were beginning to be very unhappy. The parents came up with the money in an effort to help their child... and I must admit, I might have done the same thing. Unfortunately, their child immediately repeated the error, but, this time to the tune of an even larger amount of money. Now what do the parents do? Mercy, in this instance, would be the wrong medicine. Accountability and responsibility were probably more likely to have a positive effect. To go one further, I understand that my real father had quite a drinking problem (although I never really knew him). His disease led to many other problems, like theft, fighting, etc. My God fearing grandmother--probably the kindest woman I've ever met--continually stood up for him and bailed him out of tough situations, and eventually jail. Just a few years after her death, he was found dead on the streets of Los Angeles. He was homeless and had drank himself to death at fifty eight. I believe in my heart that a little more tough-love could have led him to assume more responsibility for his actions when he was young and possibly changed the outcome of his life--and probably mine! The painful truth is, my grandmother's persistent use of mercy may have helped my father become ill-prepared for real life--because the truth is, real life can be merciless! "A man of great wrath will suffer punishment; for if you deliver him, you will have to do it again." Proverbs 19:19 (NKJV) Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

When I was in college I had a professor tell me that the greatest thing I could learn there was how to learn more. He was essentially saying that the process of reading all those books and writing papers to exhaustion was more about teaching me the skills necessary to learn, and less about the things I was learning. To be honest, after being out of college for a decade or so, most of what I learned has been overcome by events. Although the basic foundations for my education were no doubt set in my earlier years, any really valuable knowledge I have has been learned in the last year or two. Unfortunately, a lot of people approach studying the Bible with a similar attitude. In doing so, they miss the whole point of the Bible. Anything God teaches us is ready for application in our lives and will never be updated or overcome by anything. God isn't teaching us how to learn, but teaching us so that we can honor Him and honor His Son--the Word! "When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord" Acts 13:48a Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

"Jesus replied, 'And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?'" Matthew 15:3 There's something about human nature that can make each of us do silly things at times. "Church folks" are no exception to that rule. I'm always stunned and amazed at our ability to burden Christ's sheep with "stuff" they must do (or not do) to be right with God. Clearly, there are commandments that Jesus and the early disciples passed on to us, but many of the things we "command" in churches today have no real Scriptural basis. For example, I once heard someone snottily remark, "You don't go to church on Wednesday night?" to another church member. Sure, getting together in God's house is an awesome thing to do... but is it something to look down on someone else for if they miss a night? Isn't "judging" also condemned by Christ? The way I see it, "human nature" can be easily translated "sin nature." Will we ever understand, that our Lord died to free us from the unyielding bonds of the Law? We are free... free to follow our Lord with all our hearts! "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate