Happiness

Happiness equals reality minus expectations.
Your amount of happiness in life will be determined by the difference between reality (what is actually happening) and your expectations (what you want to happen or what you think SHOULD happen).

For example, if you make $10/hour and you expect $20/hour, you are going to be unhappy. Your expectations are greater than reality, and your happiness is in negative numbers. If you are making $10/hour and you only expect $5/hour, you will be happy. Your happiness is in the positive. See how that works?

We have a limited ability to affect reality. We can change jobs, improve our lot in life, etc to a limited degree. However, we have total control over our expectations. Those are determined solely by ourselves.

The biggest cause of unhappiness in the world today isn't reality. The biggest cause of unhappiness is unrealistic expectations. Expectations that don't correspond to reality. Expectations that are not possible. That is the biggest cause of unhappiness in the world.

That's why a person making a $1 million per year can be unhappy. That's why a person who married way above their pay grade can be discontent. That's why Americans, who are the wealthiest people in the history of humanity and are in the top 10% of wealthiest people in the world, complain more and whine more than people far worse off. Expectations. Reality is to a large degree set. We can affect it some ways, but what we have total control over is expectations.

Today, take a hard look at your expectations. Take a hard look at what you are expecting from people. Take a hard look at what you are expecting in life. Are they realistic? Do they correspond to reality? Are you capable of changing reality to meet those expectations? Sometimes we are. A person who is miserable in his or her job can start a new business and bring reality up to expectations. Some of us can do that. Most of us can't.

Therefore, we need to adjust our expectations. This is why Abraham Lincoln said, "I have found that people are generally as happy as they make their minds up to be." That's very true. That's because happy people have controlled their expectations to the point that they are close to or actually less than reality.

The happiest marriages are the ones where both believe they got better than they deserved. The happiest people in the world are the ones who can't believe they have what they have. The happiest people I know are the ones who can't believe that God would send His Son to die for us, taking our place and taking our sin.

You are as happy as you make up your mind to be. Happiness is reality minus expectations. Take a hard look at your expectations- if you're unhappy, that's the cause of it. Either change reality or change your expectations if you want to change your level of happiness.

What A Penny Taught Me About Finishing Strong

Pastors are constantly falling, it seems. Every week or month there is a new story about a pastor or church leader who has significant moral failures, whether it is financial dishonesty, substance abuse, marital infidelity, etc.

As people, we all have responsibilities. We are all responsible for things that can get us into trouble. County clerks handle millions of dollars per year- the temptation to embezzle is very high. During my teenage years, several county clerks (in a row) in the city I grew up in were arrested for embezzlement. My youth minister left his wife and married the church secretary when I was in high school. Several years ago, there was a financial scandal at Bluegrass Airport where employees were caught misusing more than $200k of their expense accounts on personal things.

How does this happen? It's easy- we are human. Temptation is the norm. That's not the question to ask. The question to ask is- how do we keep from falling?

How do we avoid the horrific embarrassment to ourselves and our families? How do we avoid the destruction of our lives, our careers, our reputations, and ultimately our faith? Faced with such temptation, how do we walk the straight and narrow for the entirety of our lifetimes?

I was sitting in my office recording the offering from the past Sunday. We receive offerings online, through checks, and through cash. All of it goes into the weekly offering to support the church and the ministries we engage in. Several thousand dollars pass through the church every week. I was logging in checks and cash into our accounting software, and then something happened.

A penny fell on the floor.

Our children's ministry takes up an offering, giving the kids a chance to learn generosity and give to support their church. It's usually coins, and it's awesome. The kids are giving what they can. Beautiful thing.

My office has hardwood floors that closely resemble the color of a penny. It's dark in my office and to find a penny in a dark office on a penny-colored hardwood floor would be a pain. I'd have to get out of my chair, get down underneath my desk, and search for it.

Immediately the rationalization began in my mind. "It's just a penny." "It's not worth the effort." "Who needs a penny?"

Sound familiar?

"It's just a penny."
"It's just a friendly flirting text."
"It's just a one-time expense on my account. Nothing major."
"It's just dinner. It's not like it's a date. My wife wouldn't care."
"It's just a video. It's not like I'm committing adultery."

I realized something. Carelessness with one penny would become carelessness with one dollar. Carelessness with one penny, so insignificant to the overall financial picture, would breach the strong wall I've built against the temptation I face every day as a pastor.

I truly believe it's what we do with the pennies in life that determines whether or not we finish strong. Just like one dandelion in the yard will soon take over the entire yard, disregarding one penny can change my entire attitude towards accountability.

The penny showed me that temptation must be dealt with in the "it's not such a big deal" stage. It's much easier to defeat when it is in its infant stages. The book of James tells us that we are dragged away by sin and enticed when desire turns to temptation which turns to sin which leads to death. That process is much more difficult to overcome when it is full grown.

What are the "pennies" in your life?

I believe we must be vigilant for the beginnings of temptation. Each desire we have is like a single plague bacteria. If we allow even a single plague bacteria into our bodies, it won't be long before we have a full-blown septic infection. But we look at the bacteria, a microscopic organism, and say, "Eh. It's just one bacteria. Not a big deal."

Yes it is.

Instead of waiting until we are knee-deep in sin, we need to be vigilant about the pennies. If we handle the pennies, we'll never have to worry about the dollars. If we handle the one dandelion, we won't have to worry about it taking over the yard. If we handle the desires, we'll never have to worry about the sins.

Be vigilant about the pennies.

Don't allow even a crack in the wall of your integrity.

Otherwise, we will be like the many leaders who don't finish strong, taken down by something that started out as a penny. No big deal. It's just a penny. It's just a text. It's just a video. It's just a meeting, not like it's a date or anything. It's just for fun. It's no big deal. Those people are shell-shocked, wondering how they could have gotten in so deep so quickly.

Every addict I know wishes they would have dealt with the penny instead of the addiction. If they would have dealt with their drug use when it was still a penny, they wouldn't have had to deal with it when it became the hundred-dollar bill of full-blown addiction. Why don't we deal with things we perceive to be pennies?

Very simple- the penny wasn't worth getting out of the chair and searching for. It was just a penny, no need to deal with it.

Be ruthless with the pennies. With the little things. Be utterly ruthless in dealing with the small temptations. Take care of them when they are small, and you won't have to fix them when they are big and have caused catastrophic damage to your life, your faith, your marriage, your reputation, your financial situation, and your family.

Every one of us has things in our lives that we claim are no big deal. That we can handle it. That no one will ever know. Newsflash- yes they will. Everything will be revealed. How many times do we have to see a leader fall before we realize that's exactly what they were saying right before everyone found out?

Tackle them. Stop rationalizing them away. In "The Screwtape Letters," CS Lewis points out that Satan is just as pleased with a small little white lie as he is with murder, provided that both take us away from God. Satan is just as pleased with the pennies as he is with the hundred dollar bills, provided that we lapse in our integrity and we move away from God.

I truly believe that my attitude towards that penny says more about my integrity than my attitude towards a hundred dollar bill. The hundred dollar bill has consequences- everyone looks after that. The penny? It has little monetary value, and therefore not many people care. If I look at a hundred-dollar bill differently than a penny, it means that I have adopted the world's value system instead of living by the integrity that God calls me to live by. How I treat the pennies says more about me than anything else. We aren't called to value what the world values. We are called to live with integrity.

Your attitude towards the pennies, the insignificant things, the "no big deals" in life, say more about your value system than anything else. Take the pennies seriously, because God takes them seriously.

Go after the pennies. Go after them consistently. Refuse to compromise on the little things, and you'll never have to worry about the big things. Finish strong!

From 1789 to 2019, America just can't decide what a "person" is

In January 2019, on the 46th anniversary of Roe V Wade, New York passed a new abortion law that allowed abortions of up to full-term babies. I'm not going to state the specifics of the bill, because that's not the point of this blog. While everyone is focusing on the terms of the bill and the implications, the key to what is going on here is in a simple statement found within the bill.

Section 5, lines 19-20 state the following, ""Person," when referring to the victim of a homicide,  means  a (20) human being who has been born and is alive."

Person.

From the ratification of the Constitution, which originally stated that people could own other people (slaves counted as 3/5th of a person), we've been defining what a person is in order to justify whatever we want to do to them.

During the slave era, a slave fell outside the definition of a "person." Therefore, the nation could justify buying and selling them, keeping them in chains, forcing them to work, because, you see, they weren't "people." Deny people their humanity, and then do whatever you want to them.

Now, states like New York have decided that a "person" is someone who has already been born and is alive. Therefore, the unborn child (even at 39 weeks) is not a person. Therefore, we can justify doing whatever we want to them. Deny the unborn their humanity, and then do whatever you want to them.

I'm not the first person to draw the correlation between abortion and slavery. Many people have. However, the KEY to this bill, the KEY to this line of thinking, is in the definition of a person. New York HAD to make a statement about what the definition of a person is in order to justify this bill. They wanted full unrestricted abortion. They wanted the ability to do whatever they wanted with this life growing inside them.

They knew they couldn't just enable it. They knew that the vast majority of Americans wouldn't put up with a law saying that a full-term baby could be killed at any point. So they had to backtrack and define what a person was. Ah! Let's just state that a person's humanity, a person's real self, the person himself or herself, only happens when the person is outside the mother! Then, because the unborn is not a person, the unborn is not entitled to any protection or rights or even civility or mercy.

The Bible tells us something radically different. The Bible tells us that we are made in God's image. The Bible tells us that we were known by God as people BEFORE we were born, that we had a name, that God spent time "knitting us together" (quite the understatement when you consider God's creation, but I digress) and that we had dignity and personhood while in utero (Jeremiah 1:5, Psalm 139:1-24).

Oh, the arrogance demonstrated by New York yesterday.

See, the biggest problem isn't the enabling of abortion. That's simply the symptom.

The biggest problem is that human beings, from the beginning of our nation, believe they have the right to decide who is a person and who isn't. Slave owners and New York legislators believe that they have the sovereign right to decide who is a human and who isn't, and therefore have the right to decide who has civil rights and who doesn't.

The arrogance.

The outright arrogance to look at another person and say, "You aren't a person."

The outright arrogance of slave owners to look at their slaves and say, "You aren't a person, therefore I can do whatever I want to you."

The outright arrogance of abortionists to look at the unborn and say, "You aren't a person, therefore I can do whatever I want to you."

Why? Why would a person be so arrogant as to do that? The answer to that is simple. It's the answer that's driven humanity from the beginning. It's the answer that drove slavery back in the day and drives abortion now- MONEY.

Slavery was an economic system. It was incredibly profitable. Therefore, in order to make money, people denied the slaves their humanity.

Abortion is an economic system. It is a multi-billion dollar racket. Planned Parenthood gets $500 million in taxpayer subsidies alone. There is so much money to be made in the abortion industry. So, in order to make money, we redefine who is a person and who isn't, and my my my does the money come rolling in.

To put the icing on the cake, to show the absolute ridiculousness of this law and the utter hypocrisy of abortionists in New York (and elsewhere), I leave you with this. In the state of New York (and all over America), the U.S Fish and Wildlife states that:

"The bald eagle will continue to be protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act even though it has been delisted under the Endangered Species Act. This law, originally passed in 1940, provides for the protection of the bald eagle and the golden eagle (as amended in 1962) by prohibiting the take, possession, sale, purchase, barter, offer to sell, purchase or barter, transport, export or import, of any bald or golden eagle, alive or dead, including any part, nest, or egg, unless allowed by permit."

Did you catch that? The Bald Eagle is an endangered species, and it is a crime to kill one. It is ALSO a crime to destroy a Bald Eagle EGG. Why? Simple. The law states that the egg has the potential to become a bald eagle. Therefore, a person who kills a bald eagle and a person who destroys a bald eagle egg receive the same punishment- $5000 fine and one year in jail for first offense.

The utter hypocrisy on display here is astounding. The bald eagle and its eggs have the same protection, because the law doesn't see any difference between a bald eagle and a POTENTIAL bald eagle. However, the law does not extend the same reasoning to human beings.

So which is it, America? If we allow abortion because a person is not a "person" until outside the womb and alive, have at those bald eagle eggs. Cook em up and eat them for breakfast. Throw them against the wall and make them splatter. After all, they aren't REALLY alive until they hatch, right?

At least that's what New York would say. God help us all.

America's Decreasing Ability to Think Critically on Full Display This Past Weekend

This past weekend, a video of a Native American veteran and some boys from Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky went viral. All over Facebook, all over Twitter, all over the MSM was the confrontation showing a Native American man beating a drum face to face with a teenager. You've probably seen the viral picture.

The amount of sharing on Facebook was incredible. Every other person on my news feed had posted it- condemning the teenager wearing the MAGA hat, hating on Covington Catholic, saying, "What's wrong with teenagers today," condemning the hat, asking why they were wearing a MAGA hat and why the school would allow such a symbol, etc. It went on and on.

The kids from Covington Catholic and their families went into hiding. They had death threats. The parents were threatened professionally. Kathy Griffin demanded names, addresses, and locations of the teens, wanting to dox them to her followers. In a period of a few hours, the Covington Catholic teens were the most hated people in America.

How quick the people of this nation were to share it.

Then, something happened.

New video surfaced. New testimonies surfaced. Turns out that things weren't as they first appeared. Video surfaced of the Native American veteran approaching the teens, starting the conflict. Video of another group of protestors surfaced, hurling racial and homophobic slurs at the Covington Catholic teens. New statements from eyewitnesses came forward, showing that America had been lied to, manipulated by the news media pushing a narrative.

The silence on social media the next day was deafening.

People who had called for the heads of the teens were quiet. The outrage subsided. People who had been quick to share the story wrote retractions. As the truth came out, the people who had shared the story looked foolish.

This showed me one incredibly alarming thing. America has increasingly lost its ability to think critically.

Critical thinking has left the building. In its place is emotional reaction. Instead of showing patience, wisdom, maturity in the face of a piece of news, instead of waiting for facts (because they always come out later), instead of thinking of the consequences of sharing a viral story that could possibly destroy the lives of people, America unthinkingly went ballistic.

We have become a people without gravity, without logic, without the ability to think beyond what we are being shown on a screen. Without the ability to think critically about a story or a piece of news, we become a nation that is easily duped. Easily manipulated. Easily deceived. That's what we are now.

Instead of developing the ability to look at pieces of news with skepticism, we instead have developed the ability to jump on the bandwagon and direct our scorn, derision, and hate towards anyone the media tells to direct it towards.

America today reminds me of a bird that lived in my backyard when I was a kid. We had a glassed-in porch, and one day this bird flew smack into the window. It dropped to the ground, floundered around for a minute, and then flew into the window again. Same thing. A few minutes later, it did it again. The stupid bird not only kept flying into the window- it kept flying into the SAME window.

That's exactly what America is today. News story after news story has come out provoking outrage, with stories going viral, people up in arms, calling for the heads of whoever happens to be the whipping boy of the day. Then, the next day, more information comes out and everyone feels sheepish that they got duped so easily. Then the next day or week, it happens again- some news story inflames passions and everyone gets fired up and the internet heats up with shares and likes and debates. Then the next day, new information comes out and everyone retreats. The next day, same thing. WE NEVER LEARN.

I believe this is the most scary thing that can ever happen to a society.

When a society loses the ability to think critically, it becomes one easily controlled. It becomes one easily duped. An easily controlled society is one that is capable of extreme acts of evil. Or, at least will tolerate leaders who will commit acts of extreme evil. All societies in history that have committed horrendous atrocities have leaders who controlled information, duping the people.

America needs to return to a society that looks with skepticism on everything. Whenever the internet is rushing to dogpile on someone or something, back away. Refuse to speak or comment. Withhold judgment until more facts come out. Wait a few days before commenting. Resist the urge to share juicy morsels of breaking news.

The reason people were so quick to share this story is because of a phenomenon psychologists refer to as "confirmation bias." Confirmation bias simply means that we believe stories that go along with what we already believe to be true.

Confirmation bias was seen in this instance because the people sharing this story already believed some things to be true: that people wearing MAGA hats are racist, that pro-life conservatives were bigots, etc. Because of those preconceived notions, when they saw white kids in conflict with a Native American, it was no problem convincing them that the white kids were aggressors, that they were in the wrong, and that their actions were based on racism.

A psychologist could make a career out of what happened Saturday. Confirmation bias is present in anyone and everyone. Everyone has preconceived beliefs and notions, and if we aren't careful, if we don't think critically, we simply go along with any news story or any SLANT to a news story that goes along with what we already believe. That's why critical thinking is so very important. It takes wisdom and gravity and maturity to realize your own confirmation bias and refuse to take that path until all the facts are in. This is what has disappeared from America, and this is why we are so easily duped and controlled.

Confirmation bias can be summed up this way- "People don't want to know what is true. They only want to know that what they ALREADY BELIEVE is true."

I have a policy- I don't believe anything people say. I don't believe anything I read or hear. It's not that I don't trust people or have a problem with people, it's just that people never tell the whole story. I think it's a natural thing to do- we tell stories in a way that makes us look innocent or moral or whatever. We leave out details, we leave out context, and we leave out key things that are usually brought forward by another person, hence the cliche, "There are always two sides to every story."

News stories are the same. Don't believe anything you read or hear. Let that be your default mode when encountering a story. The default mode of an intelligent, critically-thinking individual is "That probably didn't happen, at least in the way that it's being presented." 

Realize that you're never being told the entire story.

Realize that you're being told just enough information to provoke maximum outrage and gain maximum interest. The media's job is to get your attention. They can only do that through likes and shares and outrage, so they give you what will provide the maximum amount of likes and shares and outrage. We are being played, people, and it seems like fewer and fewer people are able to see it.

Stop letting emotions dictate your reaction. Mark Twain said it best- "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect, because very rarely does the majority ever do the right thing."

There are very dark days ahead for America, because we've lost the ability to think critically. Instead, we are a nation dictated by emotion, easily duped, and therefore easily controlled. How foolish America looked this past weekend. How quick America was to believe the story dangled in front of us by the media. How unintelligent we looked. Unless America is able to regain its sense of critical thinking, we won't last long as a nation.

Thoughts on the "I'm Offended" culture we live in

**Note:  This was originally a Facebook post, but due to the amount of sharing and traffic it received, I decided to put it in the blog for those who didn't see it on Facebook.**

Thoughts on the current "I'm offended" culture we live in:

Just because you are offended doesn't mean you are right. Just because someone offended you doesn't mean they are wrong.

People who cannot control their emotions will always try to control the behavior of others. They typically use "I'm offended" as a way to control the actions of others.

People who are constantly offended, or get offended easily, have little to no self-control. They are ruled by their emotions and cannot control them, so they blame others for the way they are feeling. They've found that taking offense is the best way to control others and their opinions, and so they use it to shut down thoughtful discussion, dissenting views, or simply opinions they don't happen to like.

Being offended is a choice. If you see someone who is offended, you are looking at someone who CHOSE to be offended. Treat them accordingly.

If you are a person who is easily offended, don't be surprised if you have no friends. People don't like walking on eggshells, and if they sense that you are that kind of person, they will avoid you like the plague.

You know you have reached a new level of maturity when you are able to take no offense when none is intended. And 99% of the time, there was no offense intended.

Proverbs 29:11- "A fool vents all his feelings, But a wise man holds them back."

Parents, before you discipline your children, make this one important distinction

Discipline is a touchy subject when it comes to children. Most parents don't know that the word "discipline" comes from the Latin word "disciplus" which means "to teach." When we discipline our children, the purpose isn't to punish. The purpose is to teach.

With that in mind, when our children do something wrong, we need to ask this very important question: was it evil or was it stupidity?

Evil is very different than stupidity. I would define evil as something from the heart- lying, bullying, premeditated scheming, violence towards another person, stealing, etc. Stupidity, while still in need of correction, would be something like playing ball and breaking a window, succumbing to peer pressure in the moment, etc. Those things, while wrong, aren't EVIL. They are things that normal kids do because they are, well, kids. And all kids are stupid.

I was stupid. You were stupid. Stupidity is part of childhood. We do dumb things that we know better than because we are not mature enough to do the right thing. It's a necessary learning phase we all go through.

The problem, however, is when parents don't distinguish between the two. Many parents don't ask "was it evil or was it stupidity?" Many parents treat a child breaking a window playing baseball (because he wasn't smart enough to not hit towards the house) and lying to an adult the exact same way. This is wrong. One was stupid, one was evil.

I grew up in a house where the distinction wasn't made. Right was right and wrong was simply wrong. It was black and white. No distinction. You did the crime, you did the time. Looking back on that, I want to do things differently. There were things that I did that were evil. There were things that I did that were stupid. My parents tended to treat them both the same. That's the way their parents were, and so on and so forth.

However, now that I'm a parent, I see that there is a big difference between the two. I believe that they need to be treated differently because they have different causes. Like I said, stupidity is a natural part of being a child. Of not knowing much about life. Of being immature. It's natural. Evil, however, is not natural. It needs to be rooted out, destroyed, punished, and gotten rid of quickly. They are vastly different things and need to be treated as such.

Many parents make the mistake of treating evil like it was stupidity or vice versa. They treat the fact that their child bullies others as just a natural part of growing up. It's not. It's evil. They also treat stupidity as if it were evil and overreact to everything. Both are wrong.

Parents, we must make the distinction between evil and stupidity. Evil is something that needs to be corrected immediately and punished fairly quickly and severely. If your child lies, bullies, talks back to teachers, steals, etc, you have a major problem. Don't laugh it off as part of a natural part of childhood. It's not.

Also, don't treat stupidity as if it were evil. Don't overreact when your child does something stupid that isn't evil. Be wise enough to distinguish between a mistake and genuine sin.

Now, I will say this- stupidity only happens once. If your child is playing baseball in the backyard and hits a ball toward the house and breaks a window ONCE, it's stupidity. If it happens twice, it's evil and needs to be treated as such. If your child succumbs to peer pressure and takes a drink of something ONCE, it's stupidity. If it happens twice, it's evil. The first time was a learning experience, and if it is true stupidity, the child will learn from it and not do it again. If it happens again, we have a major problem. Stupidity has turned into evil and it must be treated as such.

Far too many parents have failed to make this important distinction and have damaged their relationships with their children. When your child messes up (and they all will), before saying anything or doing anything, ask yourself, "Was this evil or was it stupidity?"

The answer to that question should guide you in how you discipline. Not all infractions are the same. Not all bad things our children do are the same. Be wise enough to know the difference. I have found that I am a far more effective parent when I treat evil as evil and stupidity as stupidity.

Remember, the purpose of discipline is to TEACH. Every wrong thing our children do is an opportunity for you as a parent to teach a valuable lesson about life. Make sure your children are learning the right thing.

Protected

About three weeks ago, I was riding my motorcycle with a good friend when I had a wreck. Needless to say, motorcycle wrecks can be very serious and people can be badly hurt or killed in them. I was very fortunate to only have some road rash. Really, the only thing REALLY hurt was my pride, because once everyone finds out you are okay, they make fun of you mercilessly. And that has certainly happened.

However, I'm okay only because of one thing. I was wearing protective gear. I had on a closed helmet with face shield, padded jacket, padded pants, gloves, and riding boots. Had I not had the gear on, I would be hurt very badly. Maybe even worse.

Here is a picture of my helmet:

Had I not had the helmet on, well, let's just say my face would look a lot different. There is a well-known saying when you ride motorcycles, "Dress for the slide, not for the ride." In other words, be prepared. When you ride, sooner or later, the slide may happen. Be prepared for it.

Because I was wearing my protective gear, I'm okay. I got some road rash on my right forearm and on my right hand. Quite honestly, I've had worse from skateboarding when I was a kid, and far worse from playing soccer over the years.

But back to the helmet. God showed me something with this picture. One of the most famous passages in the Bible is Ephesians 6:11-17 talking about the "armor of God."

"Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Ephesians 6:11-17

God tells us to put on His armor, because we can get very hurt without it. I would hate to imagine what my body would look like had I not had on the motorcycle armor. However, what do our souls look like when we aren't wearing God's armor?

I would imagine many of our souls are very wounded. Maybe even broken. Not because of the attacks, because everyone is attacked. Everyone is tempted. Everyone has terrible things happen to them. Everyone "wrecks" from time to time spiritually. We sin. We fall short. We mess up. We do things that we know better than. Satan attacks our families, our lives, our professions. He gets at us through our kids, our loved ones, our friends.

The difference isn't in the attack. The difference is in the armor you wear. Are you prepared for the attacks? Is your head protected with the helmet of salvation- knowing that you are saved and that no one can snatch you out of God's hand? Is your heart protected with the breastplate of righteousness? Do you carry your faith like a shield, using it to counter discouragement and depression and indecisiveness and lukewarmness?

Or are you, like so many, open to every attack? I see people riding motorcycles in t-shirts and flip-flops, sometimes at speeds of more than 70 mph. Those are known as "SQUIDS"- Super-Quick, Underdressed, Imminently Dead." They are also known as organ donors. Is that you spiritually? Are you a Christian SQUID? Are you a Christian organ donor? Possibly so. Many of us are. And we are one temptation, one attack, one setback away from being devastated spiritually.

Probably the greatest spiritual attack happened in 2004 when my son died. That just about did me in. That was a motorcycle wreck spiritually. However, my wife and I both had on our armor. We had a knowledge of the truth of our salvation, that our son would be in heaven, and that this earth is temporary. We had faith like a shield that warded off depression and discouragement and anger. We had our hearts protected by the knowledge that we had done the right things and taken the right actions. Therefore we were able to stand. We were able to come out on the other side stronger.

Attacks will happen. "Wrecks" will happen. It's a guarantee. The only question is- will you absorb the attack or will your armor?

All I know is that my head was protected by my motorcycle helmet. It did its job. My torso was protected by the padded jacket. My knees and legs were protected by the padded pants. They did their job well. So does God's armor. God's armor is extremely effective in protecting you from attacks. The question is, are you wearing it?

Because of my motorcycle armor, I am physically okay. Because of God's armor, I am spiritually okay. And just remember- spiritual attacks are far more vicious than any motorcycle wreck ever would be. The body is temporary, but the soul is forever.

As I looked at my scarred up motorcycle helmet, I wonder if one day I will be able to see what my God armor looks like. I think I will be amazed at how dented, scarred, beat-up, and broken it truly is. As I think of what it looks like, I shudder to think that if I didn't have it on, what my soul would look like. Just another reason I am thankful to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Not only did He take my sins, He takes the attacks. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

"Above all, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." Proverbs 4:23