2. Are you deficient in devotions?  One sure sign that you are slowly corroding is that your Bible is dustier than Lubbock, Texas in April.  When the heart loves God, real communion with Him and His word is a must, and you don?t need your aunt with a mustache guilt-tripping you into reading the scripture.

3. Do you look like a robot at Church?  Here?s what I mean: Y?know the type ? the person sings, speaks or does anything in God?s name with all the excitement of Sean Hannity carpooling with Jesse Jackson after Jesse has just eaten two bean burritos.  Yes, a robotic, scraped-frontal-lobe, Tin-man-like way of saying and doing spiritual exercises is clearly a result of rote rather than the outflow of one?s heart, and it?s a sign that you need revitalization and a Red Bull. 

4. Do you blow off church for slight reasons?  Listen ? I know some churches are about as inspiring as Richard Lewis reading Lamentations in Latin after drinking six bottles of NyQuil.  But you and I know that there are a great number of Christ-centered churches that are doing a faithful, energetic job for Christ.  Now ? if just one of these gatherings takes place in a home or in a building in your city and you know about it?and you miss it for some lame reason on a regular basis, then you, my friend, are probably not doing as hot as you think you are.

5. Do you avoid spiritual conversations, or is what you do have to say about God inane? Look, when it is easier and more engaging to talk about any and everything other than God and His cause, you might have a problem.  Or if your contribution to a conversation comes to screeching halt when the things of God are mentioned, or your depth of contribution makes Paris Hilton sound like C.S. Lewis, you might need to pull your Christian life to the curb for an oil check.

My ClashPoint is this:  The cold hard reality is that our carnal man wants to take hold of God as much as Ted Nugent wants to soul kiss Janet Reno.  As believers, we naturally will go from bad to worse.  And as the church goes, there goes the culture.  Therefore, it?s incumbent for the believer to be busting his hump to make certain his love toward God, man and that which is holy, just and good never, ever, becomes tepid and tame.

* logon to www.ClashRadio.com to check out Doug?s latest interview with Paul Sperry author of the book Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives have Penetrated Washington.