TEEN CHALLENGE

And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe  and  to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:   And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. Deuteronomy 28:1-2 15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: Deuteronomy 28:15        2024 is almost gone and 2025 is upon us. As we head into the new year, we ought to consider these passages of Scripture. Do you want to be blessed or do you want to be cursed? If you want to be blessed, "hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord." read the Bible, pray, and listen to what the Holy Spirit is ...

                                                                Merry Christmas everyone! 

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6         Christmas is just 2 days away! We all know that Christmas is all about Jesus, and so is this verse! Isaiah gave Jesus 5 different titles in this verse. They all show us a different aspect of Jesus' character. The first title is "Wonderful". Everything about Jesus is wonderful. His love, His mercy, His kindness, and the list could go on forever.      The secondly is "Counselor". Counselor is defined as 'A person trained to give advice on...' whatever the person gives counsel for. But Jesus is the ultimate counselor- because He didn't have to be trained to give advice on one subject. He just knows everything about everything! He can (and will) give you the wisdom to make good decisions if you ask! (And Jesus does...

 Wow, you're still with me? This the 100th post and you haven't left yet?  For the 100th post I would like to ask all of you who read this for advice- how can this blog be improved? Is there anything that you like to see come onto the blog (or go away...)? Do you know of anyone who might like to write a post? Would you like to write one?      If you read the blog, contact me and let me know (or follow the blog...:) Tell me what you think of it all. I want advice and suggestions for improvement! Email me(my email is in the sidebar in my profile) or comment on this post. Thanks for reading TEEN CHALLENGE! I hope it is an encouragement to you!

      I recently saw a video of a turkey (on one of my brothers hunting shows). The turkey was desperately trying to get on the other side of a fence. It ran back and forth more times than I care to count, and FINALLY! It made it to the other side. And- while the turkey was still reveling in the sweet sense of victory of getting over the fence- BANG! The hunter shoots it. That turkey made me think of some teenagers and young adults that I know and have known. They try so hard and so long to get past the boundaries set up for them, and eventually they make it over. FINALLY! They are "free" to do whatever they please! And- while they are still reveling in the sweet sense of victory of getting their freedom- BANG! The devil gets them into his traps of sin. They ruin their lives, and horrible mistakes are made that can never be undone. Things are taken that can never be replaced, and days are lost that can never be used again. Don't let this be you. Stop trying to hop th...

       Christmas time is getting here very quickly!  In this season we are so busy- you walk into a grocery store and it's noise and confusion! Everywhere you go there's noise- we begin to wonder who thought up the song 'Silent Night' and what world they lived in!      Christmas is supposed to be the time that we remember Jesus coming to earth to become a man- enabling Him to then live on earth for a short while before going to the cross to die for our sins. However, we rush around everywhere without taking the time to think about much more than how much the gift for our mom is on sale for. I'm not saying this is bad, I like the busy Christmas season, buying gifts for people, and spending time with my favorite people! We just need to remember every once in a while, to sit down someplace where it's quiet, say a prayer, and refocus on what the season is really all about. A good time to do this is in the beginning of your church service. Maybe during...

This month's devotional comes from Mr. Josiah Adams from Heritage Baptist Church in Palmyra, N.Y.      While hunting a couple years back I encountered something I would like to share with you. It was the last day of the 2022 gun season. My dad and I were driving in the afternoon trying to decide just where to hunt, when suddenly I said, "Stop!" The reason for my sudden excitement was that I had spotted 3 large bucks accompanied by 4 does. Well, we drove around to where we thought they might pop out of the woods, and they did! Unfortunately, I did not happen to see the bucks- just the very large doe running behind the bucks. I quickly put the crosshairs on the does shoulder and dropped the doe- then happen to notice the very large 10-to-12-point buck standing on a ridge (which unfortunately had several other hunters at the bottom). I'd say I had the wrong focus. It is the same in many ways with our walk with the Lord! Sometimes we get so focused on the wrong thin...