What would you pay for love? Although it sounds crazy, people try to purchase it every day. Some think it's found in the things this world offers--stuff you can buy at the mall or the car dealership and take home and admire. Of course, that stuff never loves you back. Some think it's found in relationships so they try to purchase it by pretending to be people they aren't so others will "love" them. Again, it's not real love. Genuine love is always given free of charge. Far more think love is found in the arms of a "lover," so they sell their purity and often even their souls to purchase it. But if they ever take the time to inspect it closely they realize it's not real love. When they realize that, they feel more empty and unloved than they ever did before they sought to find it. That kind of love is like one of those wild west towns in the movies--It looks fine from a distance, but it's only the fronts of buildings--nothing's real! Friends, real love is always given free of charge. Ask Jesus and He'll tell you all about it. The price of His love is free to you. He paid for it on the cross. "Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others." 1 Corinthians 10:24 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

If you haven't already said it yourself, you've probably heard your parents recant the old saying, "There are only two things that are for sure: Death and Taxes!" While I can completely agree with the sentiment, there are a few other things, not unlike taxes, that we are required by the Scriptures to pay. Most people understand the whole tax thing, so the Apostle Paul used it to remind us that we also owe other things as well. For most Christians today, taxes are taken right out of our checks, so that doesn't seem to be a problem. But when it comes to paying other things, like respect, for example, it gets much more difficult. I urge you though to remember that one of our best witnesses is not how well we preach or proclaim the gospel to others, but simply how we respect the authorities over us. Teachers, parents, police officers; all of them deserve our respect. Not because they've earned it, but because "all authority" over us is God given and we are commanded to respect it (and them). "Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor." Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

Christ gave freely of everything He had, up to and including His life. As Christians we're simply asked to do the same. Yet, many who know of God's goodness and grace through a personal relationship with Jesus simply will not share the gift with others. Such action (or inaction) shows the believer's heart for what it truly is--selfish. The selfishness is fueled by pride, the one thing our Lord needs us to get over before He can use us for even the smallest thing. Pride has no business in the believer's heart. Ask the Lord to cleanse it and He'll use you to cleanse others before you know it. "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give." Jesus of Nazareth (Matthew 10:8) Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

Somewhere in your adolescent years you probably realized that your life would one day come to an end. It's not a pleasant experience for most, and it certainly wasn't for me! It was scary! I remember that it happened near when my great grandmother died--It was the first time I had to deal with death. The uncertainty of "life after death" and especially that whole being buried in a coffin didn't set well with me. Fortunately, even for the newest Christian, one of the first signs the Spirit of God is in you is a gentle loss of the fear of death. What could death do to us anyway? Sure, I'd rather die in some quiet and peaceful way, but in the end it won't really matter. For the believer, death is simply another beginning! A beginning where we will once and for all be rid of the sin we struggle with--The beginning of an eternity with Christ. "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death." Jesus of Nazareth (Revelation 2:11) Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

When the Lord led the Apostle Paul to write us nearly two whole books dealing with sexual immorality, He no doubt understood this would be one of our major struggles. The Corinthians were not unlike modern day people in that they were given over to all types of sensuality, and especially those of a sexual nature. With our focus being so concentrated on fulfilling our every desire, maybe it doesn't make such an impact on us when Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit is right there with us in our sin when we (as Christians) become involved in lewd acts. If not, then maybe the next time you feel the temptation to fall into something immoral, imagine your actions causing the whip to strike Jesus' back yet again. Or maybe imagine Him, God's only Son, standing there watching you. After all, that's where He is--closer to you than your clothes! "Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature." Romans 13: 13-14 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

We live in crazy times! It seems like vast groups of people want to decide what truth is and then push that truth on everyone else. If it pleases them, they want to do it! Even those who should know the truth, like ministers, teachers, prophets, etc. are spouting all sorts of craziness and calling it "truth". Fortunately for Christians, we have the real Truth to grasp onto, but many of us are deceived into being timid about sharing it--no doubt fearing persecution. But, like a rock in a raging storm, Jesus (Truth) is our only hope. He's also the only hope of a lost and hurting world, listening to the crazy voices around them. Our charge remains the same: "In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry." 2 Timothy 4:1-5 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

Are you cool with the way you relate to God? Are you comfortable that you've done as much as you can to draw near to Him; that the religious things have been taken care of now you just need to coast through life? If so, you might be one of those people who've been blessed to grow up in a home where the Word of Truth was preached to you. Because you've maybe never committed sins that seem as bad as other people's sins, you may also have been lulled into a slumber by the devil! Is it any wonder as you look around you that many who have been so far from God in their previous ways now serve Him harder than you've ever considered serving Him? It may be that you've forgotten that you too were the worst of sinners, and that even the least of your sins caused Jesus to die for you. "For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me." 1 Corinthians 15:9-10 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" Jesus of Nazareth (Matthew 7:9-11) On one of my trips to Israel I noticed that there is probably not anther place on earth with so many rocks! Maybe that's why the Bible writers so often used references to rocks. At any rate, I also noticed that most of the rocks are not huge, but are about the size and shape of a loaf of bread. Do you think there's any connection in the ways the rocks are shaped and when Satan tempted Jesus, he tried to get Him to turn one of those rocks into bread? Hey, it already looked like bread! And that is often how Satan works. He deceives us into thinking we know what we're getting into--Hey, we can see it with our own eyes! Unfortunately for us, not long after we "bite into it" we realize it's all a lie. Maybe that's why Satan's such a terrible "father figure." He actually would give us a rock if we asked for bread! As Christians we need to ask our loving Father for what we need and stop depending on the god of this world (Satan and the world's systems) so much. Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate