5 Ways to Avoid the Traps

by Jonas Harley | December 8, 2011

As I wrap up this study on “Avoiding the Traps of the Teen Years” I want to leave you with 5 ways you can avoid the traps…

Trap #1 | Trap #2 | Trap #3 | Trap #4 | Trap #5 | Trap #6 | Trap #7 | Trap #8

1. Daily Walk with God (Col. 2:6) – “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, [so] walk ye in him.” Everything hinges on if you are personally walking with God or not. God will protect and guide you if you are walking with Him. God will steer you around and protect you from the dangerous traps!  Your time with God is your shelter (place of safety) from the traps!

2. Study God’s Word (Psm. 119:110) – “The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy precepts.” Christian teens who don’t study their Bibles are walking around through the teen years in darkness. You won’t know where the traps are! Darkness is no fun! (Just ask your toes!) God’s Word educates you on where not to step, why not to step there, and how to avoid it. God’s Word is a lamp to your feet!

3. Guard Your Words (Prov. 18:6-7) – “A fool’s lips enter into contention, and his mouth calleth for strokes. A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.” Your own words can take you down a path of destruction. Your tongue influences your entire body (See James 3:2-6). Your tongue is the master control of your whole body, directing every aspect of your behavior. Your tongue is the “rudder” that determines the type of life you will have. How you talk determines the type of life you will have!

4. Choose Your Friends Wisely (Prov. 22:24-25) – “Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.” Nobody falls into traps by themselves, rarely does that happen! If you stray from God you will befriend people who are similar in character and will fall into the traps.  Likewise, if you are walking with God you will find people who are walking with God. You will be around the crowd that is avoiding the teen traps! Friend carefully!

5. Submit to Authority (Prov. 3:1-4) – “My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.” The authorities God has placed into your life are there to protect, guide, and watch over you. They want you to avoid the traps! Authority is a good thing!

Psalm 91:1-10 (KJV)

Imagine yourself in the middle of a fierce battlefield, where people all around you are going down, getting slaughtered, etc. and you are indestructible! The psalmist is convinced that there is security in trusting the Most High God, he encouraged himself that he would be delivered from the various attacks of the wicked. This psalm is a beautiful testimony about security in life!

 “1He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. 3Surely he shall deliver thee from the Snare [trap] of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. 4He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy Shield and buckler. 5Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 6Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 7A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. 8Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.  9Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; 10There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.”

 Are you heading towards the traps OR away from the traps?

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Teen Trap #8: Media

by Jonas Harley | December 1, 2011

A few years ago I was in the Verizon store I overheard a conversation between a teen girl and her mom. The teen girl expressed how she wanted a particular expensive phone and her mom stated, “it’s just a phone; I don’t understand why you need this. It’s not like the phone is your life.” Then the teen girl responded, “No mom, my phone is my life!” Then she walked away. This teen girl fell into the trap that I’m hoping you will avoid.

Media is an agency by which a message is conveyed, transmitted, or transferred to someone else. It is a popular avenue for mass communication. Think about it…the smartphone you have in your back pocket can be used to connect with almost anyone in the entire world to receive or deliver a message! With your daily interaction with various sorts of media you are confronted with all kinds of messages, posts, tweets, videos, lyrics, etc that will impact your life in some manner.

The messages that media transmits can defile your thinking! For example, Achan (Joshua 7:1-26) allowed his eyes (what he saw) to affect his meditation (what he thought) which led to sin and deception (what he did). Achan allowed his input to control his output and it resulted in regret and the death penalty.  

If you want to live in a high-tech world undefiled follow these Scripture principles: Don’t submerge yourself into a sinful culture, but find your delight in meditating on God’s Word (Psalm 1:1-3). Choose to allow your words and thoughts to be pleasing to God (Psalm 19:14). Guard your mind from defiling influences and messages (Proverbs 4:23). Tear down meditations (thoughts) that contradict God’s Word (2 Cor. 10:5).

Your mind is the Most Valuable Player in your life. All the decisions you make will flow from your mind. Guard it! 

- 6 Statements about Media -

1. I recognize that I live in a media saturated age and that every wrong thing is screaming for my attention—my meditation. – Remember, media is way to mass communicate messages to other people. Someone somewhere wants you to listen to what they have to say. They are screaming for your attention! If you give them your attention they will start to convince you of their agenda and that will impact the way you live.

2. I acknowledge that media obsession is a huge part of today’s teen culture. *The average teenager spends about 53 hours per week consuming media! – Media is part of American/Worldwide culture and can definitely be used for many godly things and works. However, out of control media usage is dangerous and can really have some generational side-effects. By the way, 53 hours of media consumption is more hours than a full-time job! *Source: According to the Kaiser Family Foundation reporting via the USA Today & L.A. Times

3. I understand that much of modern media is either trying to defile (corrupt, brainwash, pollute) or divert (waste, occupy, squander) me. This can prevent me from preparing for my adult years. – Media that is out of control will do 2 things:

  • Defile – It will corrupt your beliefs, morals, and values about life. It will seek to change the way you think about issues (love, sex, relationships, politics, marriage, children, family, money, church, etc). Be extremely careful that media isn’t polluting you!
  • Divert – It will waste you! Media can be very addicting to the point where you squander away your time, energy, and money and have very little leftover to give to important matters. There is a time and place to enjoy media, but establish some guidelines to assure that you are NOT diverted from preparing for your future and growing spiritually!

4. My connection to cyber-world can cause me to disconnect from more important relationships (i.e. God, parents, pastor, family, etc.). It’s time to start using the OFF button!  Disconnect to reconnect! – As great as media can be, it’s sad that it has and currently is destroying relationships and friendships. We can get so plugged into our media we neglect to cultivate face-to-face, heart-to-heart conversations and genuine interaction with important people God has placed into our lives (parents, family)! It’s time for you to start disconnecting so you can reconnect with your God, your parents, your siblings, your pastor, your family!

5. I must remember that what I text, post, tweet, send, listen to, or watch may become a “digital fingerprint” that could haunt me later in life. – When consuming media keep in mind that what you type, post, view, skype, and listen to can come back to trouble you!! Every time you log on you leave behind some kind of digital fingerprint that can be detected and could bring regret, disappointment, and sorrow.

6. I realize that my media intake will be digested and will come out in the form of values, decisions, beliefs that cause me to do right or wrong.   Input = Output – Once again, your media input will produce a conduct output.  The media that you consume will tinker with your values, decisions, beliefs which will generate a lifestyle!

What I meditate on is what I will become!

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Teen Trap #7: Bitterness

by Jonas Harley | November 18, 2011

Satan would love for you to live an embittered life because it is like a poison that contaminates and pollutes your entire being (thinking, emotions, speech, and actions). It controls you!

Bitterness Defined: “An angry response coupled with an unforgiving spirit towards someone who has violated your justice system.”

[Anger + Unforgiveness = Bitterness]

An example of bitterness is found in 2 Samuel 13-18 in the life of Absalom. His justice system was violated when his sister Tamar was raped by Amnon. He responded bitterly to that unfavorable circumstance and sought revenge. To make a long story short, Absalom’s bitterness festered and it eventually led to a war that ended in his death. A bitter person is one who suffers the unhappiness, frustration, and misery of his own unresolved anger.

An example of forgiveness is found in Luke 22-23 in the life of Jesus Christ! Christ was betrayed by Judas, rejected by Peter, persecuted by the Jews, falsely accused by Roman authorities, and crucified by the people and how did he respond? With forgiveness! Christ is a perfect and tremendous example of how to properly respond when mistreated. Forgiveness must always be given no matter how often the offense occurs.

 7 Statements about Bitterness

1. Bitterness is probably the most common root sin in the average Christian’s life. Everyone is susceptible!

2. I acknowledge that bitterness leads to a warped thought process and causes me to do stupid things! – Bitterness is like cancer/poison it will contaminate and infiltrate your entire being (thinking, emotions, and actions) and cause you to do some pretty stupid things (i.e. divorce your spouse, smear someone’s reputation, reject your parent’s counsel, stop serving in the local church, immorality, materialism, unplanned destination, etc)!

3. I realize that bitterness will cause me to seek revenge on someone who has hurt me. – When you are hurting you want the pain to go away and if you don’t respond with forgiveness you will find ways to “get even” with the person who has hurt you. All in hopes that getting even will make the pain go away and make you feel better, but it doesn’t, it only worsens the situation! For example, if a teen daughter is bitter at her father and she will do the total opposite just to get back (hurt) at her dad!

4. A bitter spirit attracts bitter friends and connections and greatly impacts my future decisions. – Bitter people find bitter people and they hang out! It’s your support group. Your sympathizers! People who will consol and justify your sin. Prov. 22:24-25, “Make no friendships with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: [Why?] Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.”

5. I recognize that the only cure for a bitter spirit is complete forgiveness! I don’t have to become bitter! – God knows that hurt/pain/unfavorable circumstances will enter your life and He has provided the complete cure: Forgiveness! This is the neo-sporran to all hurt! You don’t have to get bitter! You can live bitter-free!

6. I can’t always control my circumstances, but I can control how I respond to those circumstances. – Things are going to take place throughout the course of your life, good things and bad things. Much of this will be out of your control, but how you respond to it is in your control. How will you respond? Bitterness or Forgiveness?

7. To protect myself from responding in bitterness, I must memorize, meditate on, and apply Scripture. Here are some great verses for dealing with a bitter spirit: Prov. 14:29; Lk. 6:27-28; Eph. 4:31-32; Heb. 12:14-15.

When your justice system is violated, when hurt comes, how will you respond? Bitterness or Forgiveness?

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Where Has Oprah Taken Us?

by Jonas Harley | November 9, 2011

Where Has Oprah Taken Us? by author Stephen Mansfield presents an inside look at the life and career of media icon Oprah Winfrey from a uncommon perspective. This New York Times best-selling author begins the book with Oprah’s rising from a poverty stricken town in Mississippi to a famous woman in the world. After this thoroughly researched and highly interesting chapter, Mansfield then superbly uncovers in the rest of the book the reasons for Oprah’s values, morals, and spiritual beliefs, the Oprah you see and know today.

(On a personal note, I have often wondered how Oprah rose to fame and what influenced her to be the woman she is today.)

He clearly shows how Oprah has become a product of the popular culture of her time. In this cultural journey he explains how Oprah’s everyday exposure to things such as music (i.e. The Beatles), current events (i.e. JFK’s assassination), books (i.e. The Secret), personalities (i.e. Anton LeVey) and friends (i.e. Marianne Williamson) greatly shaped her secular and religious worldview. In other words, other than the first chapter, this book isn’t about Oprah Winfrey, it’s about the culture of Oprah Winfrey and how it can shape and influence someone who is searching for something meaningful to believe it.

(As a Pastor, it is my duty and privilege to teach other Christians how to view the secular world through the lens of Scripture and to help them maintain a biblical worldview. This book proves the fact that pop-culture can greatly shape and manipulate your morals and beliefs if you don’t establish and maintain a biblical worldview.)

At the end of each chapter and occasionally in the middle of a chapter Mansfield would interject his own thoughts and perspective. This not only gave the reader a personal connection with the author, but also served as a helpful instructor with the topic at hand.

(Personally, as a firm believer in Jesus Christ, I greatly appreciate Mansfield’s testimony of Christianity and his apologetic questions he presents along the way. Very helpful!)

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 

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