The Ups & Downs…

So what is good with you?  The Ups & Downs.  It is very interesting to see how many or how few folks check out this blog each day and where they come from.  Statistics sure are amazing to me.  Anyhow, this could be a long one so get in, sit down, shut up and hold on!

Life is full of struggles.  You face them.  I face them.  The rich face them.  The poor face them.  All Ages.  All Races.  Both Genders. 

At the age of 25, an old Young Life guy of mine from Calallen is going through a nasty and heart wrenching divorce.  Thay made the unwise decision to live together before they got married and during that process, they found out that they were with child.  Such a beautiful boy the child is.  He is 18 months old now.  Full of life.  The pregnancy forced them into marriage if she was to reap the benefits of health insurance through him.  They visited the JP’s Office.  They got married.  He found out a couple months ago that she had been cheating on him for quite some time.  He wanted to work it out.  He wanted to seek counseling.  She desired none of that.  She is 20 years old.  Has zero support.  This new guy is whacked out and is causing her to become someone that she is not and should not become.  It is very sad.  Hearts are hurting.  The Enemy is Proud of his work.  He has done well. 

For the past few weeks, I have awaken in the morning very in tune with the Spritiual Battle that is going on all around each and every one of us.  Do you sense the Battle?  Remember the cartoons when an angel sits on your right shoulder and the devil sits on your left shoulder?  That’s exactly it!  It’s true.  The Battle is just like this cartoon.  The temptation to do what we know is right and yet the ‘always present’ temptation to do what is wrong.  Paul writes in Romans 7 and says, ‘The good that I ought to do I do not do, but the things that I don’t want to do, those are what I end up doing!‘  Can you relate or what?  I feel like this is my life sometimes.  I lay in bed each morning praying for me, my wife, my family by name and those friends of mine that I know that are struggling or just that I simply care about.  I pray the Armor of God from Ephesians 6 every day.  Why would I dare leave my house unprepared for battle?  Unarmed for Battle?  It goes something like this:  God help me put on the Belt of Truth around my waist.  Do I know the Truth?  What is the Truth?  What role does the Truth play in my life?  I pray for the Breastplate of Righteousness.  What does righteousness look like?  How can I be Righteous?  What does the Breastplate protect?  I pray that my feet would be girded with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of Peace.  Am I ready to go?  Do I know the Gospel?  Is it with Peace?  I pray largely for the Helmet of Salvation.  Most of my battles take place inside my head!  This is where the Enemy targets us!  I pray for my thoughts (2 Cor. 10:5).  I pray for my eyes (Job 31:1).  I pray for my ears.  I pray for my mouth!  I pray for all of my senses.  I pray for the Shield of Faith that stops the flaming arrows of the Enemy!  If you don’t think he is firing at you, you are mistaken!  The Enemy is always working.  Back in the day, the soldiers had leather shields that they would soak in water so that if fired upon by flaming arrows, the soaked leather would extinguish these flames.  I like that.  And then the Bad Boy……I pray for the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God!  Do I know God’s Word?  Do I BELIEVE God’s Word?  Do I trust God’s Word?  Am I reading, following and obeying God’s Word?  A great tactic of the Enemy is to make us think that he does not exist and is not working and certainly is not against.  Please don’t believe that!  Please don’t believe that!  Please don’t believe that…

Issues kids (and people in general) that we are dealing with include:  depression, lack of motivation, cutting themselves, homosexuality, they hate their parents, zero relationship with their parents, many many followers and few leaders in the group, scared to step out on a limb and experience something new for the first time. 

The Enemy is a part of each and every one of these issues.  John 10:10 says, ‘the Thief (that’s the Enemy…his name is satan) comes only to Steal, Kill & Destroy, but I (Jesus, Savior) have come to give you LIFE and LIFE ABUNDANT!  I LOVE THAT!  Are you going to bat for you friends and family?  Are you battling for the souls & hearts of your co-workers?  Engage.  The Battle is taking place now. 

Daily Bible:  I am now reading in 1 Samuel and it is great.  I am learning about King Saul and King David, Jonathan and Samuel the Prophet.  To make this short, King Saul ends up getting Jealous of David because he is one bad dude.  I mean, this guy can whip some butt!  So Saul wants David killed, so he tells him that if he is to marry his daughter, the cost of his daughter is …… are you ready for this?  100 Philistine foreskins!  Serious.  No Joke.  What a price!  That’s a pretty good deal I guess.  But NASTY!  So David goes out and kills 200 Philistines and delivers a hundred of them nasty ‘skins’ to Saul.  What did he do with them?  Saul tries to kill David several times with his spear.  He does not succeed.  then he tries to do the same to his son, Jonathan.  This stuff needs to be in a movie!  David and Goliath.  Ring a Bell?  Now THAT’S a Sweet Story!  Absolutely.  I Love It!  David is just a boy.  He hears this 9 foot dude mocking David’s God and he would have none of it!  It says that (1 Samuel 17) David took his staff in his hand, choose 5 smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.  It later says that DAVID RAN QUICKLY TOWARD THE BATTLE LINE TO MEET HIM!!!!!!!!  I flung the rock.  It sunk into Goliath’s forehead.  He fell backwards and died.  Dead.  David cut off his head!  With a Sword.  Now that’s cool…

Taylor and I went camping this weekend with some old YL leaders of ours.  Tara and Isaac are such cool people.  I didn’t know such cool people could come from Colorado.  Tara is really pregnant.  Both couples had tents and enjoyed sleeping outdoors.  It rained on us Friday night which made for a relaxing nights rest with the pitter patter of the rain on our tents.  That could things down.  We hiked 4 miles round trip on Saturday to the Gorman Waterfall.  It was really beautiful.  Tara was amazed that something so beautiful was in Texas.  I hated her comment.  Have you been camping in awhile?  Taylor and really like to camp.  We have a little 2 man tent and it is really great.  No watches.  No Cell Phones.  Time sure does seem to slow down when one camps.  It is really wonderful.

What else is going on?  We are in the midst of signing kids up for summer camp at Sharptop Cove.  My goal is to raise $10,000 to help kids go to camp.  That is only 20 people to each give just $500!  Very Doable!  20 people have looked at this site today.  Sooooooo, if you are reading this, just plan on helping one kid, Just One!, go to STC this summer.  It will be an Eternal Investment.  I promise you that!  Please pray for kids to sign up for camp!  It really is the Best Week of Their Lives! 

We are watching the Art of Romance tonight for Campaigners.  Things are ‘heating up’ once again in the Scriptures.  The kids are handling this subject and topic very well.  Very Mature.  It’s actually surprising. 

 I guess it is time for me to head home.  I am grilling trout tonight on the grill for Taylor and me.  Gulf of Mexico trout caught over Spring Break.  Yum.  Yum.

Thanks for reading…

Know the Battle.

Know the Enemy!