While it’s true Joseph Kony is a vile and contemptuous man who’s illegal and inhumane activities must be stopped, it’s not wise for Christians to give anything beyond prayer to Invisible Children.

As Christians, we’re responsible for using the wisdom God gave us to appropriate our time, talents and finances only to that which promotes and aids the entire well-being of a person; offering tangible help (e.g. providing food, shelter, clothing, etc.) and spiritual restoration through the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Invisible Children is a secular organization that not only misleads the public, but also promotes physical aid without eternal benefit.

Invisible Children (IC) was founded in 2004 and officially became a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization in 2006. IC is located in San Diego, California started by three young filmmakers who traveled to Africa in search of an interesting and compelling story to share. Why they chose Africa and not somewhere here in the United States is not clear, but nonetheless, they traveled, and to their joy, a story was found—the tyranny of Joseph Kony.

Joseph Kony is a self-proclaimed prophet and leader of a band of rebels known as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) who kidnapped, molested, raped, disfigured and murdered in order to grow their army and retain power. The LRA was formed in 1987 supposedly to fight against the Ugandan government’s perceived injustices upon the Acholi people and to establish and maintain a theocratic society based on the Ten Commandments. Disturbingly, Kony’s tactics vehemently oppose the Ten Commandments rather than keep them.

In IC’s “Kony 2012”, they imply that no one was doing anything until their organization came along. This is simply not true. In 2005, the International Criminal Court issued a warrant of arrest for Joseph Kony, prior to IC’s first film and plea for his arrest. In 2008, President George W. Bush signed a directive providing the Ugandan government with finances and 17 military advisers and analysts in order to capture and disassemble the Lord’s Resistance Army. Unfortunately, this was not a successful mission. However, through this effort, the members of the LRA were dispersed, their terror decreased and Joseph Kony was forced into hiding.

Other questionable activities are Invisible Children’s finances and how they’re allocated. Most of the money is used for salaries, media marketing and travel expenses. Despite what’s portrayed in the video, IC has done very little to actually help the Ugandan people from the devastation that was left by the LRA’s reign of terror.

The Better Business Bureau reports that though they have repeatedly made Wise Giving Alliance requests, Invisible Children has failed to respond.

As many of you know, I've had some particularly difficult health challenges these past eight years and though it's finally been discovered what I have, there is no cure and some of the damages done (years prior to diagnosis) are irreversible. One of the things that suffered was my lower back where I had one disc that was herniated and bulging, another just bulging and one slipped. This caused me to have severe back and leg pain for many years. But through it all, God has taught me much about perseverance and what it really means to trust Him and to give thanks to Him, in and for all things (1 Thess 5:16-18).

2 titanium rods and 8 screws view from the back

It takes more than a whimsical “forever after” idea for a marriage to do more than survive; but thrive. A marriage only flourishes if we obey God’s command to love one another with a holy and sacrificial love that puts Christ first and our spouses second.

Most of us know how to handle ourselves when our spouse gets sick with short-lived illness, but what do you do when your spouse is struck with health troubles that last for months, years or a lifetime?...[read full article]

Does it mean we slap a silly smile on our faces and shout "Praise the Lord!" when we receive news that would devastate any normal human being? Certainly not. That's not joy in the Lord, that's plain 'ol lunacy in the flesh; masquerading as a strong and faithful Christian.

A counterfeit joy infused by self-will never produces the good fruit of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm writing this from my hospital bed. I've been here since Tuesday (February 28, 2012). I'm scheduled to have a double discectomy (complete removal and replacement of two discs) and spinal fusion tomorrow at noon. It's a four hour surgery and from what I've been told by my neurosurgeon, a painful and long recovery.

I'll remain in the hospital for three to four days post-op, then be released to go home with pain medications that they said I may need for a few months. I'm hoping to use them only for a couple of weeks...tops. But we shall see.

As I write this, I'm currently in pain, so much so, though my spirits are high and I'm rather cheerful, the blood pressure monitor tells the hospital staff another story—my body is weak and is under a lot stress due to immense pain...thus the pain pump they've given me to be administered every six minutes.

I've been asked by staff why I seem so "cheery" when I'm obviously in pain. And here's where I get to boast in my weaknesses and the power of Christ they are witnessing in spite of it (2 Cor 12:9-10).

Do I hurt? Yes! Am I excited to be here. No! Did I jump for "joy" when I was told I needed surgery? No. Was I honest about it. Yes. So, then, why can I still find peace, comfort and joy in the midst of pain and not-so-good news? Because my strength, my joy is set on the Rock of my salvation, on the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, it is not easily shaken (Psalm 62:2).

I had my moment of tears and fears, but there is truly a time and place for everything. There is a time to weep and there is certainly a time to laugh (Ecclesiastes 3:4).

Laughter doesn't always come because we find something amusing or entertaining; sometimes, like these times, they come because we find things incredible and impossible (like Sarah laughed when God told her she would be pregnant in her old age). The mighty works of our heavenly Father are so beyond our capacity to fully understand His glorious ways, sometimes, all we can do is laugh. We laugh not because we find God amusing, but because we're so amazed and so in awe of what He has done and continues to do in our lives.

I don't find joy in my pain. I find joy in my Savior and what He chooses to use my pain to produce—lasting fruit that will be used by God to exhort and encourage other saints and to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those He came to save.

Our joy comes from knowing that God uses even the painful, "bad" things in our lives to work for our eternal benefit; conforming us more and more into the image of Christ (Rom 8:29). This is why, when we consider our trials a joy, we will lack nothing. For what more could we gain, than to be like our Master?