Tools for Perfect Service

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.

1. 96% believed in God (although their interpretations of “God” varied.)

2. 89% looked forward to an “eternal life”

3. 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?

(Margin of error = +/- 3=5%

What kind of people seek wickedness?

1. 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.

2. The dissatisfied, “whose religious experience has left him unfulfilled and skeptical.”

3. The bereaved, “whose bereavement inclines him toward anything that offers knowledge of the dead.”

4. The psychically inclined, “who wants to develop suspected latent powers.”

5. The rebellious, “who recoils from the status quo in the church and in society, and seeks a viable alternative elsewhere.”

6. The credulous, who are ready to believe just about anything and everything.

7. The conformist, who looks at his or her peers and say, “Everyone does it,” and decides “to be another who ‘does it.’”

8. The children of practicing occultists, “who are conditioned from childhood.”¹

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.

1. 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.

2. The Smurf’s is a children’s show about witchcraft, casting spells, and generally getting what you want.

3. I Dream of Jeannie is a program about a witch who does cute things for her master.

4. 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.