If I want to get an inbox full of hate mail, all I have to do is write a devotional on any one of about three subjects. Writings about homosexuality, dressing modestly, or submitting to authority always seem to get me blasted equally but have no affect on keeping me quiet. And why won't I stop? Because all the arguments are issued in the same vein--they take exception with the Bible. The question one must ask is whether or not the Bible is God's Word or not? If you don't believe it was inspired by God Almighty and penned by those He alone selected, then why read a Christian devotional at all? Wouldn't spending your time doing something else be more profitable? Doesn't reading the Bible seem a little rIdiculous if it's only a conglomeration of childhood fables? How could it affect anyone's life in any real way? And if you do believe the Bible is God's infallible Word, then your argument is with Him, and not the mailman (so to speak) whether it's me or someone else. If it's His Word, then we must accept ALL of it... picking and choosing is not an option. "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

"Regent" is not a word we use much today, but it has a huge history. For example, before the days of modern travel, when a king would go away for a period of time, he would leave a regent in charge of things in his absence. Today, often universities have "regents" who are left in charge in the chancellor's stead. Webster's uses this as one of it's definitions: Regent: someone who rules during the absence or incapacity or minority of the country's monarch; and Milton uses this one: [someone] Exercising vicarious authority. As it would pertain to the Christian church today, we are all regents of the body of Christ. Sure, you could complain about the church before you were a part of it, but now if the church fails to be all it can be it's somewhat your fault, too. You and I are both here to "exercise vicarious authority" until our Lord and Savior returns. Getting involved in the enemy's business when you're supposed to be on the king's payroll would, in fact, be an act of treason! You've got all the authority and the only "book" you need--fan the Spirit of God that's in you into flames and get busy dear regents! The Church needs you desperately, and a lost world needs a word from your King! "These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority." Titus 2:15a Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

If you're ever tired, afraid, or wondering if you have a friend in the world, have no fear! God is able to give you everything that you need, and that includes sending people into your life at the very moment you need help. Pray, trust in the Lord, and know that even super-apostles like Paul had the very same fears! You are never alone! "For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn--conflicts on the outside, fears within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him." 2 Corinthians 7:5-7a Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

Many people write and tell me how they don't feel like God is working in their lives any longer. They lament the fact that they feel unproductive--that even the most simple attempts at ministering to others are no longer effective. Like so many others, they've been confused about how God works in our lives. God is not some magician who magically makes everything wonderful in our lives. He is the great physician that heals us through the blood of His Only Son. After that, we are supposed to be working. Working includes growing in our faith, and learning all the things that please the Lord and then doing them. Is it any wonder so little is done in the name of Jesus in the lives of people who have even forgotten to talk to Him or read His Word? If you're feeling this way, then don't blame it on God, your pastor, or your parents! It's not their fault--it's yours! Now, accept the fact that you've been lazy and selfish and repent of it. Today is a new day--a productive and effective new day! Oh the things our Lord could do with a servant who has a repentant heart! "For this very reason, make every effort to add to you faith, goodness; and to your goodness, knowledge; and to your knowledge, self control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins." 2 Peter 1:5-9 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

If I notified you this very day that I had zipped $100.00 into your bank account (or piggy bank, as the case may be!) would you feel blessed? But what if I had some type of problem where I had to ask for the money to be returned right away to help someone who I felt was in greater need. Would you feel slighted by me? Would you curse me for being so generous, and then being so rude? Wouldn't it be true that you had not lost anything you'd earned, or that you ever really deserved in the first place? The simple truth about humankind is that we are all continuously blessed by God, and although some of us acknowledge that and revel in His Love, many other's don't even bother to notice His kindness--their very heartbeats coming from His hand. What's more, when our Lord allows things to come into our lives that cause us pain or force us to grow, we often curse Him with the same mouths that once praised Him--The very breath we use to curse Him coming directly from His love! Why are we so fickle? Why are we so shallow? We judge God based on a performance plan that we have worked out in our heads, and then we judge each other similarly. Oh who will save us from this body of death? May we learn to bring glory to God no matter whether He "giveth or taketh away!" At any rate, we'll never lose anything we've earned or even deserved in the first place. "Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked? When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other." Ecclesiastes 7:13-14a  Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

Have you ever played that little game where you stand several yards away from someone, hold your thumb and forefinger up and proclaim, "I'll crush your head" as you look at their head in the expanse between your fingers? On a larger scale, I once had the opportunity to listen to Jim Lovell, the hero astronaut from Apollo 13, talk about how he came around one side of the moon, put his thumb up and covered the entire earth, exclaiming something like, "oh what man can do when he puts his mind to something." For either of these examples to make any sense, you've got to understand the distance from the object gives the observer the perspective that they are larger, and what they're looking at is smaller. If we apply the same logic to our relationship with God, those who feel God is small and disinterested in us may have a proximity problem--they're so far away from God that they look big and He looks small. Like the "I'll crush your head" joke, they might even get to thinking they have more power over life than they really do. Frankly, nothing could be farther from the Truth. Moving away from God simply gives Satan more power over YOU! "She obeys no one, she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the LORD, she does not draw near to her God." Zephaniah 3:2  Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

I’ve noticed my kids take after me in one way that I don't always appreciate. If they are playing, or coloring, or doing whatever, and you ask them to do something they'll do it as quickly (and often as sloppily) as they can so they don't have a delay in what it is they were doing. They simply approach anything that gets in the way of what they were doing in a half-hearted manner. I'm the same way in that I only like to do one thing at a time--and generally the most fun thing will win out! But what happens when we approach God in a similar way? If we just "get it over with" so we can move on to "funner stuff," then we've really sold Him short--and sold ourselves even shorter! If we spend time in church, and in prayer/Bible reading, then we're much more able to appreciate the times when we're enjoying other things, and we're much more able to make God a part of them, too! "Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free." Ephesians 6:7-8  Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15 My take on how the world works requires a simple man's understanding. In a ministry where a lot of people ask me questions and want God's answers, I need to be able to break things down to their root as quickly as possible and without later having to cower before my Lord. Basically, my understanding of the world and our place in it goes something like this. Either people are for themselves, or they are for God (and through Him, for others). When I approach the big questions of ministry, the Bible, the cosmos, etc., I weigh them with simple things I know to be true from God's word. Here's an example from a father just today. Question: Why don't my children want to pray? Answer: They don't believe it's valuable? That answer bears another question: Why don't they believe it's valuable? Answer: Because they are blinded to God's truths? Question: How did they become blind? (Especially, since only someone who says they believe in God would even consider prayer). Answer: they were born blinded by sin, and although they may have a relationship with God on some level, the god of this world (Satan) has blinded them; enticing them with worldly and personal pleasures and comforts so that they can no longer see the truth. Analysis: Someone who does not value prayer is either unsaved, or saved and subsequently led astray by the enemy. I know that was ultra simple, but maybe my simple approach to big questions will help you, too. All you need is a basic understanding of Biblical truths (that comes from reading the Bible, Bible study in church & with others, believing on the Lord Jesus, and praying to Him earnestly). It's also a must to be involved in a solid Bible-believing church where you can learn and serve (and so that you've got someone to bounce things off of when they don't make sense). At any rate, you are needed in the Lord's Army, but He needs you to be in training! I spend far too many hours explaining basic Bible truths to people who've been professing Christians for years upon years--It's time to get moving people! Take it one verse at a time. "In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!" Hebrews 5:12  Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate