Song of the Day by Winans Phase II - Let Him In

How do We teach our children that Violence does not Solve Problems?

11-year-old girl Joanna Ramos dies after fight with fifth grader over a boy 

She was rushed to the hospital after complaining of a headache

By Meena Hart Duerson / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

A fight over a boy may have turned fatal for an 11-year-old California girl, who died after an altercation with a classmate on Friday.

Fifth grader Joanna Ramos was rushed to the hospital where she died of unknown causes hours after fighting with another girl in an alley next to their elementary school.

"They were fighting just for a boy," Ramos' friend Stephanie Soltero told KABC. "It's just stupid."

Seven other students from the elementary school flocked to the alley to watch the fight, which police said was planned in advance. The confrontation lasted roughly a minute and Ramos didn't have any visible injuries, according to police.

"We believe nobody was knocked to the ground," Deputy Chief Robert Luna said, according to the Los Angeles Times.

After the fight, Ramos went back to her after school program where she complained she wasn't feeling well and was taken home.

Her family brought her to the hospital just before 6 p.m., where police said she arrived unconscious and not breathing. She was rushed to surgery, but died just before 9 p.m.

"My sister-in-law rushed her to the ER, and two hours later she's gone. It's just sad. Very sad," her aunt Celina Cervantes told KTLA.

Luna told the Los Angeles Times the cause of her death remains "undetermined."

"There are still many questions, many questions that cannot be answered,” he said.

KABC reported Ramos had an ongoing issue with the other girl, and that they had also fought on Thursday and again on Friday over the same issue.

The other student in the fight has been identified and interviewed by police, according to KTLA. No arrests have been made.

"It is hard to understand how this could ever happen," Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster said at a press conference Saturday. "All of us are anxious to get answers from the investigation in hopes that they will help us make some sense of this heartbreak."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/11-year-old-girl-joanna-ramos-dies-fight-grader-a-boy-article-1.1028760#ixzz1njzMKbtJ

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'Heaven Is for Real' - 4 Year Old Has Glimpse of Afterlife [Video]

What do you think about this little boy's story?

'Heaven Is for Real' - 4 Year Old Has Glimpse of Afterlife from ourprecioussavior on GodTube.

Are You Kidding? Children Banned Because Pastor Is Sex Offender

posted by elev8.com

There are moments when you want to ask: Just what God do you serve? This is one of those moments.

The Christ Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church is not your typical black Southern Baptist gathering spot. Most churches don’t knowingly keep convicted child molesters in the pulpit, but this church seems to feel that it’s OK to break with tradition. The church’s pastor, Darrell Gilyard, is a registered sex offender who was just three years ago, pleaded guilty of lewd conduct and molestation of two underage girls.

The incidents took place while Gilyard was the pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church. Gilyard admitted to molesting a 15-year old girl and sending lewd text messages to another. The plea agreement says that Gilyard cannot have “unsupervised contact with children under 18 years old.”

Gilyard’s new church is not only sympathetic to his “condition,” it has also taken extraordinary steps to protect its new pastor from his temptations. Children of all ages have been banned from Gilyard’s church so he can remain in the pulpit. After being released from prison just two months ago, Gilyard is now leading another flock in the quest to praise the “lawud.”

Make sure to read the rest of the story here.

Dear Lord!!!!!

Black History: Russell Simmons

posted by elev8.com

Michael Buckner/WireImage

Russell Simmons is best known for being the Co-founder of Def Jam Records, and was a force behind the hip-hop revolution and launching the careers of such acts as the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, LL Cool J and Run-DMC.

The entrepreneur and philanthropist was born in 1957 in New York City. Simmons left college to pursue his passion in promoting upcoming hip hop artists and in 1984, he and partner Rick Rubin founded Def Jam Records. Def Jam signed the forerunners of the hip hop movement including the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, LL Cool J and Run-DMC.

Simmons saw this as the beginning of building a hip hop empire. Rush Communications firm was comprised of Baby Phat clothing company, television shows, a magazine, advertising company and a management company. His production company produced films including The Nutty Professor and Krush Groove.

Simmons helped to found the Hip Hop Summit Action Network, the Rush Philanthropic Organization and the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding. He actively supports PETA and was named Goodwill Ambassador to fight war, poverty and HIV/AIDS. Simmons also authored a book, Do You! 12 Laws To Access The Power In You To Achieve Happiness And Success.

Simmons married model Kimora Lee Simmons in 1998 for ten years. Daughters Ming and Aoki resulted from that union.

Ways Parents Can Teach Children To Care About Others

posted by elev8.com

In a world where violence and cruelty seem to be common and almost acceptable, many parents wonder what they can do to help their children to become kinder and gentler—to develop a sense of caring and compassion for others. Raising kids who care isn’t a solution to violence by itself, but it’s reasonable to worry that being exposed to a lot of violence—whether it’s on television or on the streets —could make your children hard and uncaring. People sometimes think that children don’t really see the outside world—or other people—the way adults do, that they only view the world from their own eyes and in their own way.

The most important thing you as a parent can do is to let your children know how much it means to you that they behave with kindness and responsibility. When you see your child doing something that you think is thoughtless or cruel, you should let them know right away that you don’t want them doing that. Speak to your child firmly and honestly, and keep your focus on the act, not on the child personally—something along the lines of ‘What you did is not very nice’ rather than ‘YOU are not very nice.’

Be frank, honest and upfront with your kids about what kind of behavior you do and don’t like. Keep your comments short and to the point; the idea is to teach them, not to make them feel guilty. In other words, our actions speak louder than words. If you are consistently caring and compassionate, it’s more likely that your children will be, too. Children watch their parents, and other adults, for clues on how to behave.

Are Rihanna & Chris Brown A Slap In The Face To Abuse?

posted by elev8.com

Rihanna and Chris Brown have been the topic of conversation for domestic violence professionals and pastors who are speaking out about their alleged romantic reconciliation.

After the release of two songs on which Rihanna and Brown collaborated were released, rumors circulated about the musicians reconnecting romantically. However, a domestic violence incident in 2009 that resulted in legal trouble for Brown and a battered Rihanna has caused some domestic violence professionals to speak out about the possible reunion.

Rita Smith, executive director of National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, warned Rihanna that Brown’s violent temper may not have changed since he assaulted her three years ago. After winning a Grammy Award on Feb. 12, Brown tweeted, “Hate all you want because I got a Grammy now! That’s the ultimate **** Off!”

According to Smith, the tweet was an indication of Brown’s mental state. “The response was fairly belligerent and didn’t really indicate that he had changed much in the several years since the assault,” Smith said in a statement on NME.com.

Still, Smith said the two could possibly be friends if Brown treats Rihanna with respect.

What do you think?

Daily Bread: Not My Kind

February 27, 2012 — by Joe Stowell on odb.org

In the Star Wars trilogy there’s a scene that reminds me of some church people I know. At an establishment somewhere in a remote corner of the galaxy, grotesque-looking creatures socialize over food and music. When Luke Skywalker enters with his two droids, C3PO and R2D2 (who are more “normal” than anyone else there), he is surprisingly turned away with a curt rebuff: “We don’t serve their kind here!”

That strange scene captures the malady that we all struggle with in our relationships here on planet Earth. We are always more comfortable with people who are just like us. But think of where you would be if Jesus had felt that way. He was divine, perfect in every way, which makes Him far different from us. Yet He came to dwell among us and to die for us.

Those of us who follow Christ shouldn’t have “they’re not my kind” in our vocabulary. As Paul reminds us, in Him “there is neither Jew nor Greek, . . . slave nor free, . . . male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). So, whether others are different in attitude, perspective, race, class, political slant, or social standing, it should make no difference to those of us who call ourselves by Jesus’ name.

Find someone who is not your kind and share Jesus’ love with them today!

I pray, O Lord, reveal to me If I have caused disunity, For You would have Your children one In praise and love for Your dear Son. —Branon

Love your neighbor— even if they aren’t your kind!

Song of the Day by John P. Kee - KARAMU

PBN News2 26 12

Song of the Day- Go Get It(New Single) by Mary Mary FULL VERSION

Recipe of the Day- 1, 2, 3,4 Cake

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 3 cups sifted self-rising flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease and flour 3 (9-inch) cake pans. Using an electric mixer, cream butter until fluffy. Add sugar and continue to cream well for 6 to 8 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour and milk alternately to creamed mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Add vanilla and continue to beat until just mixed. Divide batter equally among prepared pans. Level batter in each pan by holding pan 3 or 4 inches above counter, then dropping it flat onto counter. Do this several times to release air bubbles and assure you of a more level cake. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until done. Cool in pans 5 to 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto cooling racks. Cool completely and spread cake layers with your favorite frosting to make a 3-layer cake.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/basic-1-2-3-4-cake-recipe/index.html

The Bible is Back in School!!! What do you Think?

Arizona House Committee Passes Bible Course Bill

Updated: Monday, 30 Jan 2012, 7:23 PM MST
Published : Monday, 30 Jan 2012, 7:23 PM MST

MICHELLE L. PRICE, Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) — A House committee on Monday advanced a proposal that would create an elective high school course about the Bible and its role in Western culture.

The bill asks the state Board of Education to design a course called "The Bible and its Influence on Western Culture."

Republican Rep. Terri Proud of Tucson, the measure's sponsor, said the class would not be forced on schools or students, and teachers could face consequences if they violate laws separating church and state.

Proud said students would benefit from the course because biblical references are everywhere. Proud has said teachers in her district told her they have a fear of mentioning Christianity or the Bible in the classroom, and she hopes the law will give them some guidance.

Critics say the proposal is unnecessary and divisive and could be unconstitutional because it "sets aside Christianity as a preferred religion."

Public schools across the country have generally avoided Bible courses, but hundreds offer such classes as electives. At least five other states have passed legislation similar to the Arizona proposal.

In 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court banned ceremonial Bible readings in schools but said "the Bible is worthy of study for its literary and historic qualities" so long as material is "presented objectively as part of a secular program of education."

The Arizona bill stipulates that the course maintain "religious neutrality," and requires a legal review for the course to ensure the curriculum doesn't conflict with the U.S. Constitution.

Proud said any teacher could face consequences if they stray into unconstitutional grounds. But the bill also includes a clause that leaves teachers immune from civil liability or disciplinary action, as long as the teacher was teaching the material from a historical context and "in good faith."

The measure passed 6-2 along party lines, with Republicans in favor.

Critics testified at the House Education Committee hearing that the bill could open the state and schools up to lawsuits and would make it very easy for teachers to stray into an area that violates the First Amendment rights of students.

The bill advances to the rules committee. From there, if it passes, the measure would move to the full House.

Follow this story: State Lawmaker Wants Public Schools to Offer Elective Bible Class

Copyright AP Modified, Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Old School Song of the Day-"God Is" (1979)- Rev. James Cleveland

Black History: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment

The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment

The U.S. government's 40-year experiment on black men with syphilis

"The United States government did something that was wrong—deeply, profoundly, morally wrong. It was an outrage to our commitment to integrity and equality for all our citizens... clearly racist." —President Clinton's apology for the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment to the eight remaining survivors, May 16, 1997

For forty years between 1932 and 1972, the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) conducted an experiment on 399 black men in the late stages of syphilis. These men, for the most part illiterate sharecroppers from one of the poorest counties in Alabama, were never told what disease they were suffering from or of its seriousness. Informed that they were being treated for “bad blood,” their doctors had no intention of curing them of syphilis at all.

The data for the experiment was to be collected from autopsies of the men, and they were thus deliberately left to degenerate under the ravages of tertiary syphilis—which can include tumors, heart disease, paralysis, blindness, insanity, and death. “As I see it,” one of the doctors involved explained, “we have no further interest in these patients until they die.”

Using Human Beings as Laboratory Animals

Taliaferro Clark, Head of the U.S. Public Health Service at the outset of the experiment.

The true nature of the experiment had to be kept from the subjects to ensure their cooperation. The sharecroppers' grossly disadvantaged lot in life made them easy to manipulate. Pleased at the prospect of free medical care—almost none of them had ever seen a doctor before—these unsophisticated and trusting men became the pawns in what James Jones, author of the excellent history on the subject, Bad Blood, identified as “the longest nontherapeutic experiment on human beings in medical history.”

The study was meant to discover how syphilis affected blacks as opposed to whites—the theory being that whites experienced more neurological complications from syphilis, whereas blacks were more susceptible to cardiovascular damage. How this knowledge would have changed clinical treatment of syphilis is uncertain.

Although the PHS touted the study as one of great scientific merit, from the outset its actual benefits were hazy. It took almost forty years before someone involved in the study took a hard and honest look at the end results, reporting that “nothing learned will prevent, find, or cure a single case of infectious syphilis or bring us closer to our basic mission of controlling venereal disease in the United States.”

When the experiment was brought to the attention of the media in 1972, news anchor Harry Reasoner described it as an experiment that “used human beings as laboratory animals in a long and inefficient study of how long it takes syphilis to kill someone.”

A Heavy Price in the Name of Bad Science

To ensure that the men would show up for a painful and potentially dangerous spinal tap, the PHS doctors misled them with a letter full of promotional hype: “Last Chance for Special Free Treatment.” The fact that autopsies would eventually be required was also concealed.

By the end of the experiment, 28 of the men had died directly of syphilis, 100 were dead of related complications, 40 of their wives had been infected, and 19 of their children had been born with congenital syphilis. How had these men been induced to endure a fatal disease in the name of science?

To persuade the community to support the experiment, one of the original doctors admitted it “was necessary to carry on this study under the guise of a demonstration and provide treatment.” At first, the men were prescribed the syphilis remedies of the day—bismuth, neoarsphenamine, and mercury— but in such small amounts that only 3 percent showed any improvement.

These token doses of medicine were good public relations and did not interfere with the true aims of the study. Eventually, all syphilis treatment was replaced with “pink medicine”—aspirin.

To ensure that the men would show up for a painful and potentially dangerous spinal tap, the PHS doctors misled them with a letter full of promotional hype: “Last Chance for Special Free Treatment.” The fact that autopsies would eventually be required was also concealed.

As a doctor explained, “If the colored population becomes aware that accepting free hospital care means a post-mortem, every darky will leave Macon County...” Even the Surgeon General of the United States participated in enticing the men to remain in the experiment, sending them certificates of appreciation after 25 years in the study.

Following Doctors' Orders

It takes little imagination to ascribe racist attitudes to the white government officials who ran the experiment, but what can one make of the numerous African Americans who collaborated with them? The experiment's name comes from the Tuskegee Institute, the black university founded by Booker T. Washington. Its affiliated hospital lent the PHS its medical facilities for the study, and other predominantly black institutions as well as local black doctors also participated. A black nurse, Eunice Rivers, was a central figure in the experiment for most of its forty years.

The Veterans' Administration Hospital in Tuskegee, Alabama. Some of the study's post-mortem exams were conducted here.

The promise of recognition by a prestigious government agency may have obscured the troubling aspects of the study for some. A Tuskegee doctor, for example, praised “the educational advantages offered our interns and nurses as well as the added standing it will give the hospital.” Nurse Rivers explained her role as one of passive obedience: “we were taught that we never diagnosed, we never prescribed; we followed the doctor's instructions!”

It is clear that the men in the experiment trusted her and that she sincerely cared about their well-being, but her unquestioning submission to authority eclipsed her moral judgment. Even after the experiment was exposed to public scrutiny, she genuinely felt nothing ethical had been amiss.

One of the most chilling aspects of the experiment was how zealously the PHS kept these men from receiving treatment. When several nationwide campaigns to eradicate venereal disease came to Macon County, the men were prevented from participating. Even when penicillin—the first real cure for syphilis—was discovered in the 1940s, the Tuskegee men were deliberately denied the medication.

During World War II, 250 of the men registered for the draft and were consequently ordered to get treatment for syphilis, only to have the PHS exempt them. Pleased at their success, the PHS representative announced: “So far, we are keeping the known positive patients from getting treatment.” The experiment continued in spite of the Henderson Act (1943), a public health law requiring testing and treatment for venereal disease, and in spite of the World Health Organization's Declaration of Helsinki (1964), which specified that “informed consent” was needed for experiments involving human beings.

Blowing the Whistle

The PHS did not accept the media's comparison of Tuskegee with the experiments performed by Nazi doctors on Jewish victims during World War II. Yet the PHS offered the same defense offered at the Nuremberg trials — they were just carrying out orders.

The story finally broke in the Washington Star on July 25, 1972, in an article by Jean Heller of the Associated Press. Her source was Peter Buxtun, a former PHS venereal disease interviewer and one of the few whistle blowers over the years. The PHS, however, remained unrepentant, claiming the men had been “volunteers” and “were always happy to see the doctors,” and an Alabama state health officer who had been involved claimed “somebody is trying to make a mountain out of a molehill.”

Under the glare of publicity, the government ended their experiment, and for the first time provided the men with effective medical treatment for syphilis. Fred Gray, a lawyer who had previously defended Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, filed a class action suit that provided a $10 million out-of-court settlement for the men and their families. Gray, however, named only whites and white organizations as defendants in the suit, portraying Tuskegee as a black and white case when it was in fact more complex than that—black doctors and institutions had been involved from beginning to end.

The PHS did not accept the media's comparison of Tuskegee with the appalling experiments performed by Nazi doctors on their Jewish victims during World War II. Yet in addition to the medical and racist parallels, the PHS offered the same morally bankrupt defense offered at the Nuremberg trials: they claimed they were just carrying out orders, mere cogs in the wheel of the PHS bureaucracy, exempt from personal responsibility.

The study's other justification—for the greater good of science—is equally spurious. Scientific protocol had been shoddy from the start. Since the men had in fact received some medication for syphilis in the beginning of the study, however inadequate, it thereby corrupted the outcome of a study of “untreated syphilis.”

The Legacy of Tuskegee

In 1990, a survey found that 10 percent of African Americans believed that the U.S. government created AIDS as a plot to exterminate blacks, and another 20 percent could not rule out the possibility that this might be true. As preposterous and paranoid as this may sound, at one time the Tuskegee experiment must have seemed equally farfetched.

Who could imagine the government, all the way up to the Surgeon General of the United States, deliberately allowing a group of its citizens to die from a terrible disease for the sake of an ill-conceived experiment? In light of this and many other shameful episodes in our history, African Americans' widespread mistrust of the government and white society in general should not be a surprise to anyone.

1. All quotations in the article are from Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, James H. Jones, expanded edition (New York: Free Press, 1993).

Read more: Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment (History, Facts, Bad Blood, Bad Science) — Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmtuskegee1.html#ixzz1n3jbI8qZ



Read more: Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment (History, Facts, Bad Blood, Bad Science) — Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmtuskegee1.html#ixzz1n3jKilkd

Did Friends and Family ignore warning Signs before teen Killed Father?

Friends, Family Defend Teen Accused Of Killing His Father

February 20, 2012 11:25 PM

BEL AIR, Md. (WJZ) — A Harford County teenager killed his father, leaving friends and neighbors with more questions than answers.

Vic Carter investigates the stunning crime and why so many are rushing to the teen’s defense.

Inside one Bel Air Home, something terrible happened. Sixteen-year-old Robert Richardson told police he grabbed a gun and killed his father and it was no accident.

“He didn’t wake up that morning and say `I’m gonna blow my father’s brains out.’ That’s been coming for a long time,” said cousin Mary Jane Richardson. “He was terrorized. He was terrified of his father.”

Robert Richardson’s friends say he wore dirty, worn-out clothes that didn’t fit and was often black and blue.

“He had bruises a couple times,” said Robert’s friend, Hannah Siple. “Sometimes on his face. Most of the time on his arms, like chest, collarbone…just everywhere.”

“I just wish I could have done something for him before,” said Robert’s friend, Josh Eisner.

Vic Carter met with family, friends and neighbors who have started a Free Robert Richardson Facebook page to raise money for his defense.

“There’s a child that needs somebody’s help and we may be late but we’re here now,” said parent Eileen Siple.

“We know what he did was wrong,” said Crystal Testerman. “We just want him to have a shot at a future. That’s why we’re all here.”

Few knew Richardson’s father better than his cousin Mary Jane, who grew up with him and still lives just a few miles away.

“My first thought was `What the hell did he do to that child to make him like that?’” Mary Jane Richardson said. “‘Cause he was never like that.”

There’s no doubt that Robert Richardson killed his father, but what many in this Bel Air neighborhood are asking is whether there were warning signs that were missed and could authorities have acted before it was too late?

“I know that there were so many signs that something was wrong in that house and too many people looked the other way,” Eileen Siple said.

WJZ obtained documents which show Harford County Sheriff deputies responded to the Richardson’s home 16 times, but never for domestic violence. While people now say the teen was in danger, the Sheriff’s Department never suspected abuse.

Social Services refused to tell WJZ whether they were involved.

“I felt the boy has been so let down and no love and no nurturing since his mother died,” Mary Jane Richardson said.

While rare, children killing parents does happen, including cases in Cockeysville and Towson. Each time, people asked whether something could have been done to prevent it.

“We are all responsible for the children. We all are, every one of us. Every single person who looks the other way is guilty,” Eileen Siple said.

All the Free Richardson supporters can focus on now is seeing that the courts treat Robert as a troubled teen who was pushed into pulling the trigger.

“Justifiable homicide. You’re darn right I believe it,” Mary Jane Richardson said.

Richardson is charged as an adult with murder and is being held without bail. So far, the Free Robert Richardson Facebook page has raised $4,500 for his defense.Di

Today’s Gr8t Eat: How To Make Whole Wheat Waffles

posted by elev8.com

Waffles vary significantly, but are often made from a batter leavened with baking powder and may be round, square, or rectangular in shape. They are usually served as a sweet breakfast food, topped with butter and maple syrup, other fruit syrups, honey, or powdered sugar. They are also found in many different savory dishes, such as fried chicken and waffles or topped with kidney stew.

They may also be served as desserts, topped with ice cream and various other toppings. They are generally denser and thinner than the Belgian waffle. Waffles were first introduced to North America in 1620 by Pilgrims who brought the method from Holland. Thomas Jefferson brought a waffle iron from France, and waffle frolics or parties became popular in the late 18th century.

REa

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, white whole wheat or traditional

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups milk

1/3 cup melted butter or vegetable oil

Directions

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, and butter or oil. Mix together the wet and dry ingredients, stirring just till combined. Cook the waffles as directed in the instructions that came with your waffle iron. Yield: about eight 8″ waffles.

Daily Bread: Slacker?

February 21, 2012 — posted by Cindy Hess Kasper on odb.org

While studying the book of Proverbs in my small-group Bible study, our leader suggested that we change the description of a lazy person from asluggard to a slacker (6:6,9). Ah, now he was speaking my lingo. I immediately started thinking of all the people I consider to be slackers.

Like the men and women who fail to teach and discipline their children. Or that guy who refuses to help around the house. Or those teenagers who neglect their studies and play Internet games day and night.

If we’re honest, we’re all susceptible to this. What about being a “prayer slacker” (1 Thess. 5:17-18), or a “Bible-reading slacker” (Ps. 119:103; 2 Tim. 3:16-17), or a “non-exercising-of-our-spiritual-gift slacker” (Rom. 12:4-8), or a “non-witnessing slacker”? (Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 1:8).

If we are not doing what we know God wants us to do, we are certainly spiritual slackers. In fact, when we refuse to obey God, we are sinning.

Listen to these challenging and convicting words from the book of James: “It is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it” (4:17 NLT). Let’s not be spiritual slackers.

When we know what God wants us to do,
But then we refuse to obey,
We’re ignoring the voice of the Lord,
And sinfully choosing our way. —Sper

We may make excuses for not obeying God,
but He still calls it disobedience.