How to Raise a Juvenile Delinquent

I found this recently and thought it would be good to pass along

1. Begin w/infancy to give the child everything he wants. In this way he will grow up to believe the world owes him a living.

2. When he picks up bad words, laugh at him. This will make him think he's cute.

3. Never give him any spiritual training. Wait until he is twenty-one and then let "him decide for himself."

"Then Came Amalek"

     In Exodus 17, Israel stops in Rephidim and God supplies their need of water.  As their bellies were full in this place of rest, the Bible says "Then came Amalek".  The Amalekites had shown up to fight against Israel while they were resting.  You must understand that Amalek is a picture of our "Natural Man", the flesh.  There are two very important lessons we can learn from this story in our Christian life.

Obedience

     Someone has recently said that rules & regulations really don't matter as long as you have a relationship with the Lord.  Although that sounds spiritual & even non-legalistic, to say that we have no "rules" in the Christian life is ludicrous.  To clarify that statement, I must say that the Bible is clear that following a set of rules or even some man-made traditions has nothing to do with my relationship to Christ concerning salvation.  My salvation is all a work of God's grace, received through faith in what Christ has already completed on Calvary.  But, God loved me so much that He didn't leave me in the state that He found me.  Thank God that I am now "his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works".

Decisions - Part 1

     Have you ever known someone who had everything going for them but when you look at their life 10-20 yrs. down the road it seems that they have ended up in the ditch.  A life that was so promising and had every one's vote for most likely to succeed turns out to be a shipwreck at best.  It will make you scratch your head and say, "How did that happen".

Don't Turn Back

     In Psalm 78, we find the tragic story of Israel turning their back on God.  Three times during this Psalm, the phrase "turned back" appears (vs. 9,41,&57).  As you study what happened as a result of their turning from God, you will see a picture of what I believe is modern day America.
     Three things happened:
 1. They lived in the Punishment of God - vs. 31-33. 
Because of their sin, God allowed their days to consume in vanity & their years were to be full of trouble.  The average person's life is just the same way.  No purpose in life & filled

With Clouds He Covereth the Light

     Job 36:32 says, "With clouds he covereth the light; and commandeth it not to shine by the cloud that cometh betixt".  The sun is consistently shining away but God covers it from our sight, at times, by the use of clouds.  I heard a man give testimony of a trip he took by plane.  As they sat on the runway, there were thick clouds covering the sky which made it dark in the middle of the day but as they took off, they made their way through those clouds and on the other side the sun was still shining as brightly as ever.
     In our lives, there will be times when God covers the SONlight of the Lord by the clouds of circumstance and situation.  Those are trying times that God uses to build our faith in Him.  Just remember that no matter how dark it may get, God is still the same & the SON is always shining brightly.

Why Some Parents Fail - Part 6

Some parents fail because they are - Not Committed
     The story is told about a farmer walking over his farm with a friend.  The friend went on about his healthy & fine flock of sheep.  The friend finally asked the farmer, "How have you succeeded is raising such a flock?"  Farmer simply answered, "I take care of my sheep."  The difference of the sheep was that the farmer was committed to them.