I don’t listen to secular radio. I haven’t listened to secular radio on purpose since I was saved and tossed thousands of dollars of secular CDs in the garbage.

As dark as secular music was back then, mainstream music has taken on a whole new level of demonic influence as popular radio songs work to get our youth to confess they are demon-inspired, if not demon possessed.

This revelation came as I was driving across the state of Florida with my teenaged daughter recently and decided to take a listen to what type of music today’s youth finds appealing. I heard the typical Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry hits that were hardly wholesome but not especially wicked. But I also heard tunes from "artists" like Eminem, Rihanna and Imagine Dragons that shocked me.

Recently in the prayer class I lead at our church in Oklahoma City, I was explaining to the new children why we take one Sunday a month from their regular lessons to focus on prayer.

“We want you to know God, not just know about Him, and hear God, not just hear about Him,” I explained.

If we want our children to know God and not just know about Him, we need to teach them to pray and pray with them. Children could do all kinds of worksheets about God and hear stories about Him, but it is when they talk to and listen to God that they begin to know His heart.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) welcomes the launch today of a report by the Campaign to Abolish Torture in Vietnam. 
 
The campaign advocates for humane treatment of detainees and prisoners in Vietnam and the elimination of the practice of torture and other abuses in Vietnamese prisons, jails, police stations, re-education centers, and other places of detention.

The Bible is full of godly single men who served God faithfully. The prophet Jeremiah, the apostle Paul and, of course, the Lord Jesus come to mind first.

However, they suffered difficult lives and died. If they had wives and children, it would have been virtually impossible to both be faithful to their ministry and faithful to their families. In their circumstances, being single was the best life state for what God was asking of them.

So, as a general rule, it seems that men who are called to pastoral ministry and singleness are also called to difficult and possibly even deadly ministry, such as missionary work in a hostile culture where a family would be a liability.

First grader Brynn Williams presentation of her family's Star of Bethlehem was shut down because she's "not allowed to talk about the Bible in school." 

Photo: Brynn Williams with the family's Star of Bethlehem

Brynn's incident at Temecula Valley Unified School District comes on the heels of a candy cane case involving West Covina Unified School District first grader Isaiah Martinez who was told, "Jesus is not allowed in school." A copy of that press release was sent out by Advocates for Faith & Freedom last week and may be found here. 

Uncertainty. It’s part of daily living.

We aren’t certain our alarms will wake us up on time, aren’t certain we’ll have enough gas to get to work, aren’t certain the kids finished all their homework, and aren’t certain we locked the door.

And we aren’t certain we will keep our job another month, aren’t certain we’ll have enough money to pay the rent, aren’t certain our kids will make the right choices when we aren’t around. The list goes on.

Gleaning For The World, a non-profit humanitarian aid organization based in Virginia, is providing 60,000 blankets to U.S. families suffering during extreme winter weather this month. These blankets are being distributed in 10 states, including Colorado, Nevada, Kentucky, Virginia, Florida and Georgia.

"Nearly one-third of the homeless are military veterans," stated Ron Davidson, President of Gleaning For The World. "We are committed to helping those who have faithfully served our country in time of war. It may also surprise you that there is a large group of homeless individuals under the age of 15. They need our help as well."

Respected Christian leader and author James Dobson makes it clear his pro-family ministry puts the issue of life first and foremost – even if it means shutting down. 

Dr. Dobson didn't hold back Thursday during an interview regarding his organization, Family Talk, and its challenge of a federal mandate for employers to cover abortifacients.

CSW has renewed its call for Cuban leader Raul Castro to ensure that significant improvements are made in upholding religious freedom in 2014, after research showed a steady increase in religious freedom violations across Cuba in 2013 as the result of an ongoing government crackdown on religious organisations and individuals.