In the Zone

A few years ago I read the story about a Dairy Queen in Danville, Ky. Apparently, someone came in and ordered $2 worth of ice cream and paid for the order with a fake $200 bill.  The fake currency had a picture of President George W. Bush on the front and an photo of the White House filled with lawn signs on the back.  The cashier accepted the bill and gave the person $198 in change. Obviously, $200 bills do not exist.  President Bush is not on any form of currency.  However, the bill was green and the numbers looked like monetary numbers on U.S. currency.  The cashier got hoodwinked and Dairy Queen was robbed of $198. Sometimes it's hard spotting a fake.  Forgeries have gotten better and better that untrained eyes might be fooled.  It's not just money either.  Knock-off toys, purses and clothes sell for much higher than they are actually worth.  Counterfeit items imitate the real thing, but are not. U. S. Treasury agents memorize the...

In my job, I see lots of pain. I see children hurt by the pain of divorce.  I witness students struggling with parental relationships.  I comfort students who have broken up with a boyfriend or a girlfriend.  I console someone in the death of a loved one. Pain and suffering are very real.  Even believers in Jesus feel pain and suffering, often in great amounts.  However, as believers in Jesus, we rely upon the strength of Christ to get us through the dark, lonely and tough times.  I don't understand how people deal with pain without the presence of Jesus. Buddhists are very different.  Buddhism believes pain and suffering come from desires.  In order to end suffering, a Buddhist seeks to find an existence without desire.  When they finally find this peace, they no longer reincarnate but cease to exist.  Jesus teaches a very different solution.  He tells his followers pain won't decrease.  In fact, he tells them to expec...

"There are many paths to God, choose one." That's the slogan on a barn in Walton, Ky. near where I grew up.  It's written with reflectors so when the headlights hit the barn, the message lights up for all to see.  Every time I passed that barn, I grew angry.  How many souls believe that and end up in Hell? That idea is false.  It started primarily through the Hindu religion.  Hindus worship more than 330 million gods.  They believe people die and are born again in a cycle that only ends once your karma--or bad things you've done--balances out.  In Hinduism, you pick a few gods to worship and through good deeds and suffering, you will eventually find god after enough lifetimes. Scripture, though, teaches a different story. Hebrews tells us we are appointed once to live and then to die and face judgment. Deuteronomy tells us there is only one God. Jesus, in John 14, assures us there is only one way to heaven--through a relationship with him...