On December 7, 2007 the United States will be the site of another sneak attack.  This time it will not be in the form of an air attack on a naval installation, but rather an attack to win the hearts and minds of children and adults.  We are discussing the movie from New Line Cinema called The Golden Compass.  Fortunately for Christians everywhere, and anyone else who wants to know, the author of the trilogy on which the movie is based has been clearly and boldly stating his intentions for years.  Maybe we just don’t pay attention anymore, having been lulled into a false sense of security by Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings, but this time, there is no possibility of a gray area. On December 7, 2007 the United States will be the site of another sneak attack.  This time it will not be in the form of an air attack on a naval installation, but rather an attack to win the hearts and minds of children and adults.  We are discussing the movie from New Line Cinema called The Golden Compass.  Fortunately for Christians everywhere, and anyone else who wants to know, the author of the trilogy on which the movie is based has been clearly and boldly stating his intentions for years.  Maybe we just don’t pay attention anymore, having been lulled into a false sense of security by Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings, but this time, there is no possibility of a gray area. “My books are about killing god”, [2] says the author, William Pullman.  How much more direct need an enemy

Recently, a sister in Christ asked why members of the church do not recite Matthew 6:9-13: After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. In the religious world, this is referred to as the “Lord’s Prayer.” In answer to this question, a few observations appear below. First, the prayer taught by Jesus was given as an example of how to pray, not a verbatim list of what to pray. In the parallel passage of Luke 11:1, Jesus is asked to teach his disciples to pray. He then gives them the classic example that the New KJV of the Bible calls the model prayer. It is called this because it represents a pattern of things to pray. These things are best summed up by the acronym ACTS: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. What Jesus was teaching is that when we pray, we should express our love for God, confess our sins to him, give thanks to him and make our requests to him. Second, Jesus himself warned us against mindlessly repeating any prayer in Matthew 6:7 “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen

Introduction The need to overcome evil with good is just as pressing today as it was when these words were first written. We live in a time of great anger, when revenge is sought by many, if not all. Yet still, the words of the inspired writer command us, as Christians, to do good. We’re not only to do good to those who are kind to us, but also to those who have wronged us! The text for this lesson is Romans 12:19-21. “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” The emphasis of this lesson will be on the need to overcome evil with good. The meaning of the passage is best stated as, be not so overcome by evil that you do evil in return. As with many things that we read in Scripture, the question isn’t so much, “What does this passage mean,” as it is, “How does one carry out this passage.” This writer would like to offer some suggestions on the meaning of this Scripture and an application to our lives on three levels. We will examine how to overcome evil with good in the world, in the congregation and in the family. Overcoming Evil in the World Jesus told

The Parable of the Three Fathers Once there were three Fathers. The first one believed that love demanded he always allow his children to do whatever they wanted. Consequently, his children became unruly, ruled the house and grew up to be reprobates. The second father believed that love demanded harsh punishment for any infraction. Thus, he spanked his children for every lack of perfection he detected. As a result, his children grew up to be twisted and hated him until their deaths. The third father was a man who followed Christ. Therefore, he believed that discipline begins with training, continues with explaining, and only the failure of training and explaining leads to punishment. He taught his children the Way of God, explained to them why they must do what they were told and corrected them (if needed with the rod of correction) even when it hurt him–to the end that they would be upright before God. For these reasons, the children grew up to respect the father, to believe in God and to discipline themselves. Which one of these fathers was an elder in the church of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? We all obviously choose the third father, but does this personification accurately represent the elders of the church today? What are elders today doing to train members in God’s Word, to explain why it is necessary to obey God and to correct and protect the Family of God? How are growth and leadership tied to church discipline?

We stand, at this time, on the brink of a great abyss, a chasm that yawns before us deeper and wider than the Grand Canyon. We teeter on the brink of this place, not knowing the consequences of our actions. If we were to look and find a sign somewhere near the edge of this canyon, we would find one bordered in black with scarlet letters that would bear the inscription “There Is No Christ.” Kyle Butt spoke of this same place: …Jesus Christ has had an enormous impact — more than anybody else — on history. Had He never come, the hole would be a canyon about the size of a continent. Christ’s influence on the world is immeasurable… Whatever Jesus touched or whatever He did transformed that aspect of human life. Many people will read about the innumerable small incidents in the life of Christ while never dreaming that those casually mentioned “little” things were to transform the history of mankind. (Butt, Kyle and Bert Thompson, “Jesus Christ — Unique Savior or Average Fraud? Part II,” Reason and Revelation, 21(3), 22) Influence is defined as, “The power to produce effects, especially indirectly or through an intermediary; the condition of being affected; one exercising indirect power to sway or affect; to modify” (Kauffman, Liz, ed., Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus, 144). We live in a time when people in general are denying Jesus Christ, not just those who deny him with their mouths, but also those who deny him with their words and with their deeds. There are

Temptation is the process by which man is lured away from godly behavior. In the world in which we live, temptation is absolutely everywhere. We are tempted by inappropriate dress, inappropriate use of our time and inappropriate feelings. In short, we are tempted by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. How then does temptation actually work? The Bible tells us in James 1:13 that God does not tempt man. If this is the case, then why are we tempted? Why do we seek to do that which is contrary to the will of God? To put it simply, man is tempted by his own desires (James 1:14). The Bible also tells us that sin is pleasurable for a season (Hebrews 11:25). Like many things in our world, the temptation to sin is usually accompanied by a denial of its eventual cost. The Bible says that sin leads to death (James 1:15). How much easier it would be to resist temptation if every time we were in danger of sinning, a little warning would go off “Danger, danger, death ahead!” While this is an amusing imagination, the truth is we must train ourselves to have this very reaction. We need to understand how we are tempted to sin so we can better resist it. James 4:7 says that the devil will flee from us when we resist him. This promise from God is very precious in that it shows us that not

Friendship with the world is a danger that most Christians ignore. God warns us in the Bible, in James 4:4, that friendship with the world makes one an enemy of God. We are to be in the world, but not of the world (John 17:15-16). It seems that fewer Christians each year are willing to accept this. When one comes to the worship assembly, one is immediately struck by the casual nature of the dress of many Christians. There are sisters in Christ wearing skirts that are too short and brothers in Christ in shorts. These men and women are showing their friendship with the world in the way they dress. When someone has a job interview, he or she takes the time to dress to impress. He or she wants to be hired. That person dresses in a professional manner suitable to the job for which he is applying. Often, we forget that our attitude is reflected in the clothing we wear. Are we a friend of the world or of Christ? We should ask ourselves, “What is going wrong when a Christian comes to worship on Sunday morning and then on Sunday afternoon watches an R-rated movie?” Usually an R-rating on a film means it is full of sex, violence, nudity and other things that the Christian should not want to see. Members of the church of our Lord should carefully investigate anything that they are going to view. If a Christian is seen attending this type of

Reconciliation is a doctrine taught by the Bible that is often misunderstood. Each month, many persons reconcile their checkbooks with their bank statements with little or no thought. The purpose of doing this, of course, is to make sure that they agree. Unlike that kind of reconciliation, human reconciliation involves checking against a perfect measurement — the will of God for man. Reconciliation is defined as: “to win over to friendliness; cause to become amicable . . . to compose or settle (a quarrel, dispute, etc.), to bring into agreement or harmony . . .”1  God began his purpose to reconcile man to him in the prophecy of Genesis 3:15. “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” At the dawn of time, God promised man a Savior that we might be reconciled to him. The question remains however, why did Jesus have to come to earth for us to be reconciled to God? The Bible tells us that all men have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). The punishment for sin is death (Romans 6:23). This being the case, how can mankind have hope? Simply put, our Savior understands our struggles perfectly: “Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation