You can contact their hotline anytime at 466-4000.

They are located at 1323 12th Ave S, Nampa, ID 83651-4666.

If you’d like more information, you can contact them at:

208-459-4779 or 208-459-6279

If you are in a crisis call the Domestic Abuse Hotline at 1-877-459-4779.

Advocates Against Domestic Violence runs Hope’s Door – a shelter for women and children. You can contact them at info@hopesdoor.org or at 208-459-4779 or www.hopesdoor.org.

Lord, I choose to forgive ____PERSON___ for _____ISSUE_____ causing me to feel ____EMOTIONAL PAIN___. I am willing to pay for the emotional pain and consequences that ____PERSON___ has caused me. I ask you to come and fill my heart up for what was taken from me. I ask You, Lord Jesus, to take back the ground I gave to the enemy through my bitterness and I yield that ground to Your control.

Adapted from John Regier.

I got an email a little while ago from someone dealing with jealousy over relationships past. I won’t share all the details as it’s personal. But, the end with this

“I thought if I studied “jealous” in my life application study guide I could figure it out, but the examples I found (mainly Exodus 20:5) confused me even more. …”for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate….” 

Please help me understand why our God is jealous over His relationship with us and why I feel so bad about being jealous.”

I’ve been married to my wife for over 6 years. She’s an awesome wife – and more than that I’ve given my heart and my life to her.  And, yes, I am jealous of her. Not in the “I’m worried every second of my life you might be looking at another guy” high school way, but in the true love is exclusive – and I don’t want to share the intimacy we have with any other guy.

In the same way, God is crazy passionate about you – and He knows that you can only have one God – one ultimate purpose in life. He knows that He is the source of life and love and only in Him will you find perfect satisfaction – so He’s insanely jealous of your affection.

Let’s look at all of the second commandment, from which Exodus 20:5 is taken:

Exodus 20: 4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.

I think it’s that second part, “punishing the children for the sin of the fathers…” that freaks us out. How can God punish people – especially children – for what someone else does?

First of all – this is the law of genetics and cause and effect! My grandfather was an alcoholic. I am more susceptible to alcoholism because of that. My father had an affair and had some relationship challenges – I carry that history into my life.

However, the second part of the promise is what we miss – “but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments!” The blessing is exponentially greater than the curse! A thousand generations of blessing rather than the 3^rd or 4^th generation. You may right now be receiving blessing based on the faithfulness of someone in your family tree from centuries ago!

But why is God jealous at all? Again, as I stated above, it goes down to radical passionate love – and this kind of love is exclusive! God isn’t a petty immature high-school freshman who’s jealous because he’s afraid of being alone, looking silly, or having his heart broken. He’s the lover who has given everything to his bride and wants what is best for her.

So, let me ask you, my blog friend, how does it make you feel to think about God being crazy jealous of YOU?

“Also, I have many friends who are believers and we try to encourage each other. I feel very blessed to have these great friends. I know we’re supposed to share the Good News about Jesus with others. It’s hard to know how/when to share about our faith. I don’t know where many of my extended family is with Jesus. I feel extreme pressure because I claim to be a Christian to be a perfect example of Christ’s love. Obviously, I’m not perfect and I fail a lot. I want to feel at peace about that, but to also live my life so they see the love of Christ.

Sometimes I think we carry too much pressure to “win” people over to Jesus. We feel a little uncomfortable, like maybe we’re not much better than a pushy used car salesman. And when we realize our own imperfections, it seems all the stranger. As a pastor, though, one of the best things people have told me is that because of my imperfections – and my honesty about it – that they feel God can be real in their life too. People can handle our imperfections – they can’ t handle us acting like we don’t!

Instead, we need to enter into relationships with them and then be willing to ask deep questions – and instead of simply waiting to give our answers to them be willing to listen to them and actually dialogue rather than monologue.

I’ve read this quote many times, “Christ’s method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Savior mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, ‘Follow Me.;”

So, to put some of this in practical terms with your family… I would suggest you begin by building your relationship with God and asking Him to give you divine appointments – even them asking you about your life, your relationship with Christ, how you handle stuff in life, etc.

Secondly, spend time each day remembering why you serve God. 1 Peter 3:15 says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…” Part of that means remember why you are in love with God; what He’s done for You. How it’s impacted your life day to day.

I highly recommend the books, “Out of the Saltshaker & Into the World” by Rebecca Manley Pippert and “Just Walk Across the Room” by Bill Hybels. Both are available at Amazon.com as well as through local Christian book stores and I know Hybels book is available at your local library (that’s where I got it!).

“Could you recommend a Bible study plan for me?”

I’m attaching a couple Bible Study plans for you to look over. One is for reading the New Testament and the other is for the whole Bible. Pick one and try it.

New Testament Bible Reading

Plan1 Year Bible Reading Plan

Here are a few things that have been helpful to me in reading the Bible:

1. I write things down when I’m reading. Sometimes this is prayers; sometimes this is response and conversation with God about what I’m reading. This helps me slow down and interact with God and the Word.
2. Don’t read the Bible like a novel. Read it slowly, read your passage more than once. Ask God what He’s saying to you about your life.
3. Don’t try to read too much. It’s about encountering God, not finishing a set amount of chapters.

“Is mental illness real or is it really demonic possession, I have heard so many times if I had my life right with God I would not have the problems I have and there is no such thing as mental illness.  It gets hard to talk with people about problems when they keep saying it is Satan who is doing it.  Is this scriptural about mental illnesses not being physical?”

First of all, thank you for your question. I can tell this has caused you a lot of pain with well meaning Christians diagnosing your situation.

Let me begin to answer your question with a question… Last week I was in a school cafeteria, carrying a tray, walking out of the cafeteria up some steps to a meeting that was being held in another area. While I was walking up these stone steps, carrying my tray AND texting on my phone, I tripped and fell, with my shins smacking into this rock step.

So, here’s my question: Was my falling a result of demonic oppression or a result of me trying to do too many things at one time and suffering the natural cause and effect of my actions?

The question may not be as easy as yes or no. The Bible gives us this warning: 1 Peter 5:8 a “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” So, did he want me to fall and hurt myself? Well, Satan isn’t able to be everywhere and know everything, so I’m not sure he knew much about it, but his demons were happy to see me in pain. And, maybe they encouraged/arranged circumstances/pushed for me to fall. However, the best thing is to NOT TEXT WHILE WALKING! If I fix the problem, I have closed the door to Satan.

Secondly, there is such a thing as mental illness. There are brain conditions that are physiological in context. A broken arm is a physical thing. A brain can be broken as well.

Now, again, we swing between two extremes on this. One extreme says there is no physical reason for mental illnesses. The other side says everything is physical. However, we are made in the image of God. Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them.” God is a triune being – that means there are three parts of God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the same way we have a mental (Father), physical (Son – God in human flesh) and spiritual side (Holy Spirit). So, all three aspects of our lives interact and impact each other.

We know this reality already. Go smash your toe and see how your emotions are doing. Don’t get sleep and feel how close you feel to God. And if you’re really a glutton for punishment, don’t sleep for a few days THEN smash your toe and see how you’re doing emotionally and spiritually.

I am often frustrated when I hear people “rebuking” Satan for things. There is a time to do this. However, sometimes if we can simply blame someone else for our problems we don’t have to take responsibility for our own actions. I don’t have to recognize I’m a sinner, I can just blame Satan. Paul himself talks in Romans 7 about how he is a sinner and does things he doesn’t want to do!

James 1:14 says, “Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.” I believe that if Satan were to DIE, we wouldn’t know about it for a really long time. We are already deeply wounded, filled with desires inside us. James 4 says, “1 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? 2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. 3 And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.”

This stuff that is hurting inside us, these desires keep us hurting and hurting each other. Satan doesn’t even have to do anything! Instead of focusing on Satan, we should be asking God to heal our desires and hurts! We should dealing with the psychological and spiritual issues of our lives.

And there are things that are spiritual. There was a young boy at a church I was at who was suffering from hearing voices telling him that people wanted to kill him, etc. His psychiatrist said it was all in his head and gave him more medication and it didn’t help. He was prayed over and the voice s left him and never came back.

I’ve heard of stories of people who have been on anti-depressants that when they work with a spiritual counselor who has led them into healing of emotional and spiritual wounds who are no longer need any medication. There is a huge link between emotional and spiritual; as well as physical conditions.

I also want to talk about another component of your question: “Is mental illness real or is it really demonic possession…” Believers in Christ cannot be possessed without their consent. Possession happens as someone turns from God. The Bible says, in John 10:29, “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” Satan can challenge and frustrate and antagonize a believer (Satan asked to temp Peter – Luke 22:31, “’Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat.’”) but he cannot possess!

This is a big question, and I hope you’ve found some answers here. Feel free to reply to this post, or email me at brian@ktsy.org if you’d like some referrals to people who can help you with these issues or if you have questions of your own.

From telling a child they are no good and hopeless (or stupid) to rape and molestation to hitting someone, abuse occurs by men or women. But it comes from a heart that is hurting already – and doesn’t know how to deal with that pain.

If you are abused or abusing, it is impacting your relationships. It’s hurting them deeply. Stop the cycle of pain. Here’s some resources for helping:

Valley Crisis Center – a shelter for women and children – 465-5011; or www2.state.id.us/crimevictim/directory/pr/ValleyCrisis/ValleyCrisis.html

Christian Counseling Center Nampa – 208-463-9450

Christian Counseling Center Boise – 208-343-0441

Cornerstone Psychological Associates – 208-373-0790

Boise WCA Women’s & Children’s Crisis Center 208-343-7025; www.wcaboise.org/HOME.html
Twin Falls Volunteers Against Violence – 208-465-5011

Idaho Care Line – 211

Hay’s Shelter Home – (208) 322-6687

Cook & Tafoya-Fisher Behavioral Health, Corrine Tafoya-Fisher
16 12th Ave. South, Suite 103
Nampa, ID 83651-3962
Phone number: 208-461-3720
Fax number: 208-461-1787

Family Services Center, Hector de Leon
704 Albany Street
Caldwell, ID 83607
Phone number: 208-703-2714

Terry Reilly Health Services
Family Violence Prevention Program, Joseph Morisette
1224 1st Street South, #103
Nampa, ID 83651
Phone number: 208-463-2314
Fax number: 208-467-7684
Email address: sanesol@trhs.org

Remember, it’s time to stop the cycle of pain. You can do it. And remember, we’re here to help you, support you, and pray with you.