Previously, I wrote an article titled “Are There Idols to Kill?” and since people commented about wanting more clarity on the subject please read that article before this one.

Unfortunately, in our modern culture we don’t recognize idols when they are present do in part to stereotyping them as statues in old movies or in books depicting ancient culture statues. Secondly, we miss identifying idols because we think it’s an Old Testament concept that doesn’t relate to the time of Jesus onward, which is far from the truth. It’s similar for many Christians to assume demons no longer torment people’s lives nor control certain behaviors. That they don’t typify the behavior of the man in the New Testament with the legion of demons. Satan is smart enough to mask his activities and warfare to fool the simple-minded and cover his deception.

Early in our lives, we don’t know our limitations. Experience has a way of teaching us what we can’t do as well as what we can if we strive for understanding. If we are fortunate, when we are young, we have people cheering us on, though some have struggles from the beginning. The point is that we all have to determine whether to let life’s ups and downs control our future or whether we will reach for the understanding that will unlock the potential and purpose that we were created for.

The problem with humanity is that we have a very small perspective on greatness. We get so captivated by the latest tech gear. I remember when the first iPhone came out. I was there, waiting in line for hours, something I have never done for anything else. All to buy a phone that became obsolete within a few short years.

Reading through the Psalms, I find great encouragement in discovering how King David related to God. We need to read and investigate how others have followed God, and even more importantly, how God defined their relationship.

The cover picture for this article is from a new movie release about some men who decided to take the opportunity to do the courageous thing and challenge a terrorist on a french high-speed train. The possibilities of them dying was more than real, but the opportunity to make a difference was theirs to use or throw away.

While attending the recent “Strong Men’s Conferences”, one of the first messages brought forth was about men needing to see themselves differently. I believe women have the same problem, although it may affect them in a different areas. The area we all seem to struggle in from time to time, to different degrees, is FEAR. We all seem to struggle with this area in different ways, but the end result is still the same. We live less than God designed us to live, which leads to less than we hoped for in life.

This weekend I had the opportunity to attend a “Strong Men’s Conference” at my church in Charlotte, North Carolina that was both inspiring and challenging. Men in particular need the challenge to rise above the day-to-day things of life and focus on one key question……Are they acting like men or lambs?

Growing up in grammar school, grades 5-8th, I had a favorite book I would always check out of the library which was, “Air War Over Hitlers Germany”. It had tons of picture of B-17 bombers fighting during WWII. My reading skills were pretty poor back then, but I could look at those pictures all day long and dream of being a pilot or door-way gunner fighting against the evil of Hitler and the Nazi’s.

Even growing up in a non-religious family, I knew you have to confront evil or evil will overtake all that is good. At every school I attended before high school, which were five, there would be one bully that would terrorize all the other boys. One particular bully ruled for two years at one school, until we all graduated to high school. He would always pick a fight with a guy smaller than himself to prove he was the toughest. This time, now in high school, he picked a fight with a kid that was trained in boxing and the smaller kid cleaned his clock! The bully lost his reputation and transferred to another school because of shame and embarrassment.