Why The Family Unit Is So Important

  Did you know that the first institution of God was the family unit. God created Adam, then Eve. They lived in a marital relationship and had babies. Before Eve was tricked into eating the forbidden fruit, her relationship with Adam was beautiful.

  The Bible has a lot to say about families. There are instructions from God for each family member. Women were designed to be help-mates to their husbands. The husband is to lead his family spiritually. He is to provide for the financial needs for the family. If he is lazy, the Bible says that he is worse than an infidel.

   I know there are situations where the man cannot work, or he cannot provide the main income for the family, due to the inability to work. I have seen men who cannot work, take on the role of homeschooling their children. This provides a special bond between the dad and the children that normally would not be there. This is a different kind of situation though, than, let's say a man who leaves his family for another woman, and doesn't give any support to his first wife and his children. We call these men 'Dead-beat Dads'. This is one step toward the breakdown of the family unit.

   How would you feel if you were a child, and your dad left home because he loved another woman? What if you never saw your dad again? What if you needed clothing and a place to sleep, and your dad wasn't interested anymore in taking care of you because you were no longer in his life?

  Moms and dads provide security for their children. God intended men to be gentle with their wives and children. As children grow up and develop, they need to receive love and care from both parents. Even if there was a valid reason why the parents had to separate, they can still love and fully care for their children.

  What are some of the problems that cause the breakdown of the family unit? One of them, is due to the fact that many no longer 'fear the Lord'. Many do not believe God's word, nor do they take Him seriously. As a result, instead of taking the step of marriage, many just live together, without taking marriage vows. That way, if they don't get along, they can just leave. So, what are the problems for us, in all this?

   Today, single women are getting pregnant everywhere. Older single women as well as younger ones find themselves carrying a child, yet, the father does not feel the weight of the responsibility of taking care of his girl friend and his child (or children, if she is carrying more than one baby). In the woman's mind, she has two options, and both of them are dismal. One is, to have the baby murdered through having an abortion. The other is to remain pregnant and give birth to the baby, and either put the baby up for adoption (the best option) or try to raise the baby by herself. Do you see the problem here?

   The answer to women getting pregnant out of wedlock is costly. Do you know why this is such a difficult problem? It is not because we are overpopulated (that is not true. We have a lot of space still on earth for people to inhabit). It is not some fatalistic experience when a woman gets pregnant out of wedlock. God did not design men and women to live together outside of a marriage relationship! That is where the problem lies.

   Throughout the Bible, God addresses the marriage situation. There are boundaries in marriage. There are boundaries all around us, whether we want to acknowledge them or not. A man and woman who are called to be married to each other are commanded to serve each other, respect each other, and love each other. The man (husband) is supposed to love his wife in the same way Jesus loves the church. His love has to be sacrificial for his wife. God did not intend for married people to commit adultery. 

   Ladies, if you are living with a man outside of a marriage relationship, you are in disobedience to God's command. Your man may have been lying to you to get you to live with him. Don't buy it. Any man who chooses to live outside of a marriage relationship is not a man you want to be married to. He is not respectful and will not take care of you the way God intends.

  Now, for a little bit of honesty. Marriage is really hard. It is a lot of hard work. People do not get married and live 'happily ever after' even if the script says they do. Both the bride and the groom will sin against each other in the marriage, once the wedding is over. But there is hope. Our hope is in God.

   We can hope in God, because God loves us enough to have sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, who never sinned while He lived on earth. We sin against each other. We sin against God. We deserve to be punished for our sins. But Jesus took our punishment. He took God's wrath (fierce anger) upon Himself, when He died a terrible, bloody, humiliating death by crucifixion, around 2,000 years ago.

   We can hope in God, and we can love our spouses, because of God's love in our hearts. God designed the marriage relationship to be made of a man (husband) and a woman (wife). This relationship is so serious, that if a husband is not treating his wife properly, God's word says that this man's prayers will be hindered.

   The man and the woman are told to 'multiply' or procreate. In other words, they are to have babies. But they must take care of their babies. Babies grow up into adults, and if they are not trained properly, they will live their lives in ignorance. Children left to themselves do not do well.

   In America today, we prize our happiness. If we are not happy in a situation, we get out of it. We look for ease, entertainment, comfort, convenience and happiness. We have not been trained to do the hard things in life. When a marriage is hard, we get out of it. But what does the Bible say? Does the Bible give us the authority to leave a relationship when it is hard? Does the Bible say it is ok for us to find another marriage partner if we aren't happy in our current marriage?

   The Bible calls us to complete abandonment of ourselves to the Lord. We are not our own. We do not have special 'rights' that get violated and result in our being able to get out of the hard things. We can do the hard things, because God has given us the grace to do them. But if we hold onto our selfishness and pride, God will not help us.

   We do not get to call the shots. God's rules and commandments are for our own good as well as being a mirror for us to look at our own hearts. Jesus tells us that even looking with lustful intent on another person in a sexual way (a person whom we are not married to), is the same as committing adultery.

   Are you going to argue with God? The breakdown of the family unit serves no one well. Generally speaking, when people live in a sexual relationship outside of marriage, people suffer. Mothers have to go to work to provide for their families. Some mothers opt to kill their babies before they are born. Many dads are nowhere to be found. Many men father several children and have no idea. Their sexual relationship with women is casual and self-serving. Children will grow up being 'left to themselves'. No one is there to teach them how to do spiritual warfare. No one is even there to teach them the simple things in life, like how to cross a street safely, or how to tie their shoelaces. No one is there, because the family unit is out of order. Plus, the Bible says that immoral people are under God's wrath.

  In some families, drugs are used on a daily basis. Some parents steal to provide for their families. There are even some people who would sell their children in the Black Market, or use them in Satanic Ritual Abuse.

   The breakdown of the family will eventually cause the society to crumble. Much of this started when the 10 Commandments were removed from our school walls and other governmentally owned buildings. Many today have no idea that immoral people are under God's righteous wrath.

  So, what is the answer? Anything that can be used to build strong, healthy marriages. We need to be envisioned for our marriages. We need to pray for our spouses. We need to be proactive in building our families. We need to realize that we cannot have something just because we want it. God is more concerned with our spiritual development than He is with our need to be 'happy'.

  Of course, it is possible that people do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior yet. They will find that they cannot be free from their selfishness. But if anyone turns to God, and puts their trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior from sin, God will save that person. Not only will their sins be forgiven, but they will receive a new power to be free from sin.

  There are a couple of books that can help us understand our relationships with God and other people. Once we apply the Biblical principles in our lives, we can be changed. We can develop good relationships with other people. We can love our husband or our wives better. We can establish homes that will be permanent and secure.

   Years ago, I was at a conference, and one of the classes being taught was called, When Sinners Say 'I Do'. After this class was taught, people went home and took the teachings from this and marriages were saved. Now this class that was taught is in book format.



   Another book I found interesting is called, When Helping Hurts. Sometimes, we mean well in helping people, but we are actually keeping them from helping themselves by doing for them what they can already do for themselves. This leads to a broken society. People's relationships with God are broken. People's relationships with other people are broken. Even their own relationship with themselves is broken. The whole social structure around them is broken. It all goes back to the breakdown of the family unit again.



One more book I highly recommend is 'Relationships; A Mess Worth Making'. The key is to get our relationship with God right, then as God's love is poured into our hearts, we will love others and will be willing to do the hard work involved in developing good relationships.




Happy Reading!

Were The Nazis Really Christians?

  I have heard this claim, usually by antagonists of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When confronted with an element of truth, this statement will come up many times, by these people.

   Were the Nazis really Christians though? Perhaps that depends upon your definition of Christianity. If you think Christianity means belonging to a Protestant or Catholic church, then your understanding of Christianity would be much like a club member belonging to a club. Only the club is called, 'Church'.

   If your understanding of Christianity is based upon a profession of faith, it could be a little closer, but still not close enough. If a person professed to know or believe something, then that person has to be informed on the object of their faith. In other words, a person who professes to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, yet lives a self-centered life with the belief that God is ok with that, doesn't really understand what Christianity is all about.

   Christianity is about the Gospel (good news), and the Gospel is the crux of the theme of the Bible. In the Beginning, God created man perfectly. Man was tempted to sin, and the whole human race was ruined. The disease of sin entered in. Death was the result. But God intervened by sending His Son, to live a perfect life, and to die in our place, for our sins. Because of that Death, we can go free and be fully forgiven of our sins. When we repent and come to Christ, the Bible says we are born again. We now have the power to live a holy life, because God's Spirit dwells inside those who know and love God.

   Anyone can profess to be anything. People believe what they want to believe. People also think they can twist God's arm and make Him do for them what they want Him to do. We think we can pull the wool over God's eyes, because we rebel against Him, yet He doesn't kill us. We have lost our fear of Him, because of His mercy.

   The Bible says 'By their fruits you will know them'. If God is holy and pure, and if a person is a true Christian, according to the Bible, he or she will become more like Christ. God is love. A person who knows God grows in love for God and for other people. Other people are treated with kindness and respect. Only the proud, hateful people are the ones who bully people around. Pride, hate, trying to control others is not a trait from God. Those who manifest those qualities are not true Christians, according to the Bible. In fact, they are under God's Judgment.

   I am not sure why people say that Hitler or the Nazis were Christians. There is nothing in them that looks like Jesus did. They are not following Jesus in His example. Neither are they bearing any kind of good fruit in their lives or activities.

  Jesus said, 'Not everyone who calls me Lord will enter into the kingdom of heaven'. I don't think Hitler even called Jesus Lord. He was raised in a Catholic church, and went to Catholic school, but his teachers were not impressed with his art work. I don't know that he even stayed with the Catholic church or not.

   The only thing I am aware of that ties Hitler with God would be the belt buckles they wore. Supposedly, engraved on the belt buckles were the words, 'Gott Mit Uns' which means 'God with us'.

  So, tell me how a belt buckle confirms someone as a Christian. Anyone who uses this argument has a very weak argument. It is about as absurd as those who would say that the Holocaust never happened.

   Even if Hitler did profess to be a Christian, his life betrayed him. The real person is shown by his or her actions. Actions manifest what is in the heart. Hitler wanted control. He wanted lots of control. But the Bible says that we are to serve other people instead of trying to be authoritative over them.

   Hitler's life did not show the love of God. Hitler's life was full of hate and pride, the things that God opposes so much.

   You don't have to buy into the lie that says that the Nazis were Christians. We are mature enough (hopefully) to be discerning to know what is real and what is not, what is true and what is false.

  Discerning what Hitler was, is not hard. Don't let anyone trick you into an argument against Christianity using the Nazis as an example of Christianity. It just aint so.

Why Is There Contention With Those Who Have Another Opinion?

  I was thinking today, of how easy it is for us to cut people out of our lives, because of a point of disagreement.

  We like such and such a teacher until we hear him talk about infant baptism. We read someone's book and listen to their sermons until we hear that they believe that the spiritual gifts are for today. Then we chuck everything out about the person we formerly admired.

   What is wrong with this picture? It shows us that we believe a person who is credible has to be perfect (or at least agree with everything we believe in) before we will believe anything he or she says. It's just another example of 'throwing the baby out with the bath water'. We do this all the time without realizing it. We think that by having a different opinion on something makes the other person's beliefs and giftings invalid. But is that true?

   When a person comes to Christ, they are totally justified and cleansed from their sins. They are made perfect in God's sight, not because of anything they have done, but because of what Jesus has done for them. But the process that follows conversion (called sanctification) is a long process that will follow the person the rest of his or her life.

   No one will ever have the corner market on 100% theology accuracy, but every believer can be 'growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ'. We are continually changing. Our ways of thinking change, as we go through the process of sanctification. As we walk and grow in sanctification, we will begin to see sin more clearly, and we will let go of those things that are wrong, which we are presently practicing, as we grow in the Lord. We will see more clearly, as time goes on.

  Judging between a growing believer in Jesus Christ, and a false convert can be difficult, yet there are some telltale signs. One main sign to look for is love. Jesus has a lot to say about the disciples loving one another and other people in our lives. As believers grow in their love for God, their love for other believers will grow. You will not see that in a false convert, unless it is put on.

  Looking back through the History of the church fathers, each one of them had ideas of things that we would consider wrong, yet, each one of them got the Gospel right. There were some who believed in transubstantiation. Many believed in infant baptism. Should we throw away all of their writings since there will be some point of difference between what we believe in and what they believed in?

  So, the point is, it is important for us to not dismiss other believers whom we have learned from and who have ministered to us to aid us in our growth, just because we find out that they believe in something that we see entirely different. It's ok to disagree. We must disagree in love though.

   If we find out those people never believed the Gospel to begin with, then pray for them. See them as lost people and have mercy on them. Why should we become enemies with people because of our disagreements, or because they are not truly believers yet?

  One last thing. A.W. Pink spent the last part of his life looking for the 'perfect' church, which he never found. He spent his last years, with his wife, isolated on some island off the coast of Scotland, I believe.  If we look for the perfect in people in the church, we will be disappointed. If we are looking for a place where we agree with everything that is taught, and everything that the pastor believes in, 100% of the way, we will probably end up like A.W. Pink, isolated somewhere on planet earth.

My Struggle With Sin

I need to write about my struggle with sin because, I tend to write things that are very hard for us to digest, and I don't want people to think that I am some kind of saint sitting on a cloud looking down on everyone because they are sinning! Nothing could be further than the truth!

   The Bible says that we are to look at our own sins before we address the sins of others. See Matthew 7 for this. We can address the sins of others, but we must do heart work on ourselves first.

   Ever since I was small, I had a problem with anger. When I didn't get what I wanted, I threw temper tantrums. One time, my mother said I held my breath, and turned blue, because I was angry about something (I was around 1 1/2). When I was 4 or 5, I would be so angry at my mom because she wouldn't take me to the amusement park or wherever I wanted to go.

  I remember one time, my little brother was invited to eat dinner with some little boys at their house. I was so angry about that. I was angry at the little girl across the street, because she preferred playing with my little brother instead of me! One time, she hurt herself on our swing set. I thought to myself, 'Good. She deserves that'.

   My anger continued and when I got angry, my blood pressure soared. My face turned beet red. Where would I get help?

   One time, I wondered who could deliver me from my anger? But as I got older, the anger took different forms, and I didn't see my anger problem anymore. That is, until I got married and had children!

   The anger came back when something challenging happened with my first daughter. I don't even remember what it was, but I took a brush and threw it across the room. It broke. That was just the beginning of things to come.

   When I had two children, the anger flared up again, only this time, many more episodes of anger occurred. I found myself throwing things again, and breaking items. I could have hurt my children, but God was merciful and protected them from my anger. I began to be afraid of myself. It seemed like anger was bigger than I was. I couldn't control it. Again, I was wondering, 'Who can deliver me?'

   I would listed to our wonderful Bible teachers and pastors in the 80s and 90s. They would teach us on idolatry and worship. We all worship something. I would argue with them in my mind. They would talk about the power of sin, and I, for the life of me, couldn't see my sin. I trusted in Jesus Christ and thought that my life was totally sin free now. My sins were forgiven, but I didn't understand the power of sin still in my life.

   The root of my sin (anger) was idol worship. You are probably thinking, 'Yeah right. We really have totem poles and statues out there to bow down to.' Worship is an issue of the heart. The second commandment says to not make a graven image of God. We are not do design a 'god' that we want to believe in. God already tells us who He is in His word. I was worshiping a 'god' of my own desires. You see, I believed that the death of Jesus Christ reversed the curse of Adam on the earth. I thought that my labor would be painless. God forbid if I would have had to have a C-section. I believed my children would be in perfect health. We would never have to go to doctors because of sickness. I would nurse my babies perfectly and they would be plump and healthy. I really believed Deuteronomy 28 applied to me today, and had those expectations for my life.

   Deuteronomy 28 tells the story of the Israelites, as they were going through the wilderness, and getting ready to establish their own country. During their adventure in the wilderness, God would provide for them whatever they needed. For example, there were no shoemakers available in the desert. God told the Israelites that He would make sure their shoes didn't wear out. There were no hospitals, and maybe no midwives? Women would deliver healthy babies in the desert. If, the Israelites obeyed God, God would take care of everything they needed, because it was necessary for them to reach the Promised Land. That is how God would carry out His plan for redeeming mankind. God saw to it, that every detail was worked out for them. However, they were not removed from the curse that God placed on the earth, when Adam sinned. God's plan was progressive, not instant.

   I totally misunderstood that, and I believed that if my relationship with God was right, then I would experience God fixing everything wrong in my life. But that didn't happen. Now I know why, but I didn't then, and I was angry.

   By the time I had my third child, I knew that my anger had to be dealt with. I could no longer get away with being violent. I could have hurt my children and God was going to hold me accountable. I wanted to represent God in truth. By living in anger, I was dishonoring God. I was making God look like something He wasn't. But I felt so trapped. I couldn't not be angry. Who would deliver me from this anger?

    Now that my belief system is in line with the word of God, I understand why difficulties come my way. It is not God punishing me, or showing His displeasure with me. God's word guarantees hardships will come our way. It is kind of like a jigsaw puzzle we have to put together. Most of us do not want to take the time to put something like that together, but when it is finished, a beautiful picture is depicted. God gives us difficulties each day, for us to work through, which will bring us to the place where we trust God more, and we will become more like Christ.

  I am grateful for my pastors, and many good Bible teachers whom I have listened to on tape. I have learned to look at my own heart and not be afraid of my sin, because there is hope. Now that I know the root of why I was angry, I don't have to deny my anger or pretend it doesn't exist.

   You may be struggling with anger. Or you may be struggling with something else altogether. The devil loves keeping us in bondage with lies. The devil wants us to live in guilt and shame. We fall into sin, then we try to get out, only to slide back in again. Then the devil rubs it in. We feel like trash. But, we don't have to!

   God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, the Messiah, to die for your sins and mine. But not only that. He died so we don't have to be slaves to sin anymore. We don't have to worship false gods. As we learn who God is, from the Bible, we will learn to trust Him more. The lies will fall off, if we don't hold on to them.

For more on the Gospel, go to: http://thegospelconversation.blogspot.com
or
http://test4gp.wordpress.com

The Unfair Cop - The Ticket That I Deserved But Never Got

  You've seen it. You've driven in it. You are only going 8 miles over the speed limit and there are cars buzzing around you everywhere. Where are the cops when you need them?

 Imagine you're driving down the road, going only 53 miles when the sign says Speed Limit 45. The car on the left just raced past you. Cars are going around you because they think you are going too slow. Another car speeds by. Then you realize there is a cop on a motorcycle behind you, wanting to pull you over. You pull over and get a hefty ticket for going 53 miles, 8 miles over the speed limit. What about the other cars? Didn't the cop see them as they were speeding by? You ask him, why didn't they get the ticket. The cop assures you that they did wrong, and should have gotten tickets as well, but his radar gun was aimed at your car, not theirs. Bummer.

  I worked at Eckerd Drugs, many years ago. I was very naive and didn't understand rules very well, but I was learning quickly. When at work, you really need to be doing work, and when there are no customers around to tend to, you need to be doing something else related to your job. A young girl who was a cashier who also worked there, decided she would read a book during work. She was successful in reading the whole book over a period of a couple of days. I wondered why she didn't get into trouble or even if she should have gotten into trouble, so, I decided I would try to read a book and see what would happen. Long story short, I almost lost my job!

   Why do some people get caught while others don't? One thing to remember is that everyone will be caught, One Day, if not here on earth, it will be before the Judgment Seat of God!

  It is an act of God's mercy when we are caught and penalized for wrongdoing. Cops are not omniscient nor are they omnipresent. Their radar guns can only be pointed at one car at a time, and that helps them to get an accurate record of how much the ticket will be, should one need to be given.

   The Bible gives a story of an event recorded in John 21. Prior to this event, Peter denied his Lord. Jesus was asking Peter if he really loved Him. If Peter really loved Jesus, then he would tend to the flock of God's people. Jesus continued the conversation and told Peter what kind of death he would face. Then Peter asked a question. "What about him?" meaning one of the other disciples. Now that Peter knew what would happen to him when he was to die, what about the rest? Shouldn't they have the same thing happen to them? Peter may have been thinking, "Why me, Lord? Why do I have to die like this? What about the others? That doesn't seem fair."

    Jesus response to Peter was basically, that is was none of Peter's concern how the other disciple would die. Peter is only responsible for Peter, not for the other disciple. The man who gets a ticket is only responsible for his own careless driving. I am responsible for what I do at work. If I do a good job, I will be commended. If I goof off, I might lose my job. No one can rescue me if I lose my job. I can't answer the question as to why the other cashier never got caught reading a book.

   One day, I was running late in picking up my son from band camp. I was going down the road and wasn't paying attention to how fast I was going. I saw a cop on the side of the road. He had his radar gun aimed at me. My speedometer said I was going 52 miles when I looked at it. The speed limit was 40 miles per hour. I went past the cop and nothing happened.

  Whenever I go past that spot, I always remember the ticket I never got, but should have. I don't know why I didn't get a ticket, but I am grateful that I didn't.

   So, when you are going down the road, going the speed limit or within reason, and people speed past you and don't get a ticket, keep in mind that they will be fined on That Day. Unless they repent and put their trust in Jesus Christ, they will perish in hell one day. All of us will, unless we come to Christ in repentance and faith.

  God, in His great mercy, doesn't want to have to punish us for our wrongdoing, but He has no choice. God is perfect and holy. His very being demands that He punish sin. So, in His great love for mankind, He sent His only Son, to live on earth for about 33 years, and then to die in our place. He died to take the punishment for our sins. Now we can go free, but only if we turn away from our sin and selfishness, and turn to God, trusting in Jesus Christ and His death on the Cross for our sins.

   Just as I didn't get the ticket that I deserved, you and I don't have to experience the wrath of God, that we deserve. But we must respond to God.

  For more information on the Gospel message, go to http://thegospelconversation.blogspot.com
or http://test4gp.wordpress.com

Judge Not Lest Ye Be Judged and He Who Is Without Sin Cast The First Stone!

   If you found out that you had a terminal disease today, and there was a cure for it that you could take, and it was a definite cure, would you take it?

    Of course you would. If you had access to it, you would take it, knowing that your terminal disease would be gone. Only a foolish person would not take the medicine.

    Then why is it, that when the part of the Gospel that has to do with sin, is presented, many respond with statements like, 'who are you to judge?' or 'let him who is without sin case the first stone.'?

    Whenever a standard is presented (a standard of right and wrong), you will hear these phrases. But why? I can come up with two reasons why.

    One is, because the person who is making this kind of statement, has seen arrogant 'Christians' holding signs up. pronouncing God's judgment on some group of people. Most of these so called Christians are Pelagians, followers of a doctrine that says an individual is completely responsible for their sins. The Bible says we are responsible to repent and turn away from sin, but sin is part of our fabric since the fall of man, and we are so enmeshed with sin, that it takes a powerful Rescuer to help a person be free from sin. Pelagians don't believe that, and neither do they hold an internal view of sin (sin coming from the heart vs. sin being an action, example, lying or committing adultery, which most of us can choose to not break those laws if we really decide not to do them). It is like chopping off the branches of a tree. You can cut all the branches off, but the root of sin is still there. In time, sin will blossom again unless there is a new root given to the tree (new heart).

    The other reason is, people want to hold onto their sin. What happens when a person first hears that lusting sexually after a person whom he or she is not married to, is the same as committing adultery? The person reacts, many times, by saying, 'Judge not, lest ye be judged' (I get a kick out of the KJV language that is often used when people react). Or, they might say, 'He who is without sin, cast the first stone', as if presenting the Law is casting the first stone!

   Telling people what God says is right or wrong is not casting the first stone! No one is claiming (except Pelagians) that they are without sin! The same rules apply to me as they do everyone else. It's not like I can commit adultery, but other people can't.

   Matthew 7 tells us not to judge, at least in the beginning of the paragraph. The whole point of the paragraph is to deal with our own hearts about our own sins, before we do anything else, then we can help other people deal with their sins. We can't give away what we don't have. We can't teach others how to deal with their sins, unless we have dealt with our own sins first.

    The medicine of the Gospel is the cure for our sin sick souls. The Gospel is the only cure for sin. A person would be foolish to not take the medicine of the Gospel, or to believe that the person presenting God's standard hasn't taken the medicine of the Gospel first.

My Experience With The Demonic Realm

   People tend to have overactive imaginations. Combine that with the adrenalin flow that comes while watching a horror movie!
  For those who live in the demonic realm, it is like living in a horror movie, but it is real life, not just a stretch of someone's wild imagination.
  I received a Ouija Board for a present one year. It was something I requested, but after I opened it up and started using it, I wasn't so sure I wanted to continue to use it.
  A friend would come down to my house and we would play on the Ouija Board. He seemed like an expert at it. I more or less sat and watched, but I did participate some in it.
  About this time, I was probably in sixth grade, and I was already scared at night. But there were things that were happening now, that were more than just my imagination. I heard a man's gurgly voice, occasionally during the night. I could never hear what the words were, but whenever I heard the voice, it was always the same one.
  This went on for a long time. Then we moved. The Ouija Board came with us. The voice also came with us. I heard it at night again.
  After a couple of years, there were more voices. They were men's voices, and sometimes they would laugh. They were having a conversation during the night. Just short conversations, some laughter, then it would stop. I was scared.
  I have to inject here, that I was not a Christian at this time in my life. I knew that there were probably ghosts that existed, but didn't really know exactly what they were. No one believed me when I tried to tell them about the voices.
  The final episode came when I was almost 15 years old. One morning, after my dad left for work, and it was still dark, I was lying there in my bed. I heard the voice. This time, it called my name. It sounded like surround sound. Couldn't tell where it was coming from. It called my name again. Not too long after that, I got rid of the Ouija Board and never heard the voices again.
  I write this for a couple of reasons. First, I know there are a lot of young people who take the occult lightly. We don't think much of the demonic realm. We dabble in the Occult fearlessly. We don't fear God, nor do we take the occult seriously. We are asking for trouble when we get involved with Occultic activities.
  Parents need to know that, even if you have a good solid Christian home, there is a good possibility that your child is involved in the Occult. He might not have a Ouija Board, but he might be listening to demonic music. He could be involved with drugs. Don't be surprised when your child does sinful things. He might be keeping it from you and blocking you from his private life, but look for signs of the works of darkness.
  Also, being involved in Satanic activity can be traumatic for a child. Don't ignore his or her fears. Don't pretend things aren't happening or deny the presence of the supernatural. This kind of activity could lead to mental illness if left untouched.
   I have to remember back to a story I read about Jamie Buckingham's son, who listened to questionable music during a period of time in his life. He knew the music he listened to was not good, nor was it based upon truth, but he listened to it anyway. One day, a force held him down and he could not talk (he was on his bed in his bedroom). If I remember back correctly, he was unable to break free. Whatever this demonic hold was, it had to do with the music he was listening to, and something to do with the label cover of the album in question.
   We are not playing games here. This is real life. When we poke at the demonic, there will be consequences. We need to rid ourselves of anything that will open the doors to the demonic realm. We need to be freed from them, not enslaved by them.
" And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.  And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver.  So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily." Acts 19:16-20 ESV