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God has given us everything necessary to live for him.
Verse 11, And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some,
evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
The only way we are going to be faithful to God is to be a part and to be
active in his local church.
Verse 12, For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Verse 13, Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge
of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the
fulness of Christ:
Verse 14, That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and
carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning
craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Verse 15, But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all
things, which is the head, even Christ:
Verse 16, From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by
that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the
measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself
in love.
II Timothy 3:1-7 – Perilous times are coming (evil books, movies, and
TV.). There is a refuge from the coming storm. Be true to God, read his Bible
(KJV). Teach your children (home school and Bible.)
All around us wickedness abounds. We don’t have to be included. There is
an escape through Jesus Christ, and putting all our energy into the study of
his word, and advancing the kingdom of God through our local church.
The fourth Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – 600,000
prepublication copies ordered. Largest by 3 times over John Grisham’s The
Brethren.
Martin Marty, quoted in Timothy Jones, "Great Awakenings," Christianity
Today, November 8, 1993, 24.
96% believed in God (although their interpretations of "God"
varied.)
89% looked forward to an "eternal life"
81% felt they would be reunited with loved ones after death.
"Belief in the Beyond," USA Today, April 20, 1097, quoted in
Matt Nisbet, "New Poll Points to Increase in Paranormal Belief," Skeptical
Inquirer (vol. 22 no 5, indicated that one out of five persons believed in
reincarnation (John P. Newport, The New Age Movement and the Biblical
Worldview: Conflict and Dialogue [Grand Rapids; Eerdmans, 1998], 46).
Which if any of the following to you believe at least to some
degree?
|
Belief |
1976 |
1997 |
|
Spiritualism (i.e., communication with the dead) |
12% |
52% |
|
Astrology |
17% |
37% |
|
Reincarnation |
9% |
25% |
|
Fortune-Telling |
4% |
14% |
(Margin of error = +/- 3=5%
What kind of people seek wickedness?
The curious, who experiment with demonic forces without having a fully
formed system of religious beliefs. A number of teenagers, for example, get
involved in the occult due to nothing more than curiosity.
The dissatisfied, "whose religious experience has left him
unfulfilled and skeptical."
The bereaved, "whose bereavement inclines him toward anything that
offers knowledge of the dead."
The psychically inclined, "who wants to develop suspected latent
powers."
The rebellious, "who recoils from the status quo in the church and
in society, and seeks a viable alternative elsewhere."
The credulous, who are ready to believe just about anything and
everything.
The conformist, who looks at his or her peers and say, "Everyone
does it," and decides "to be another who ‘does it.’"
The children of practicing occultists, "who are conditioned from
childhood."
There are a lot of people that are strongly disillusioned with religion and
the promises of God. They do not see professing Christians living a victorious
life, but see them cast into the same gloominess of despair when troubles come
upon them. They see them living the same way they do, dressing the same,
believing the same things. They do not see them trusting Almighty God for
anything, but constantly see them trusting everything but God.
They see the multiplicity of religions as confusing, ridiculous and
unnecessary. They see people reading everything but the Bible, and see the
proliferation of Bibles as mystifying.
Television shows are wildly popular, and are leading almost everybody farther
and farther away from God.
Start with The Walton’s where dad doesn’t go to church much,
and the children are pretty much left on their own. They grow up and marry,
then divorce, and move back home.
The Smurf’s is a children’s show about witchcraft, casting
spells, and generally getting what you want.
I Dream of Jeannie is a program about a witch who does cute things
for her master.
Now television programs progressed to main stream witchcraft in the
following:
1) PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal (CBS).
2) Poltergeist: The Legacy (Fox).
3) Millennium (Fox).
4) The X-Files (Fox).
5) Profiler (NBC).
6) Charmed (WB).
7) Sabrina, The Teenage Witch (ABC).
8) Buffy, the Vampire Slayer (WB)
In 1997, AOL offered "TARROT TO GO", promising "Your future is
available today."
Games: Dungeons & Dragons, Magic the Gathering and Vampire: The
Masquerade.
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