A friend of mine who is a senior pastor shared with me his concern
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about some of the young people in his church. He visited some of
their web sites and blogs and was shocked to read what they were
writing. Their ideas, perception of the world, parents, school,
friends, etc. are of a nature that one would not expect.Really they are good kids, but you would never imagine that they would
ever express themselves in such a shocking manner!What is the problem? Is the internet the villan that destroys our
young people? They certainly have many temptations from friends,
magazines, movies, and numerous other sources. But the internet seems
the most far – reaching and vast of all available media. It gives so
many opportunities for good and evil. James writes: “but each one is
tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.
Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when
it is full grown, gives birth to death” (James 1:14,15). It is clear
from this verse that the ultimate responsibility for our actions lies
with us.Teaching on the 21 irrefutable laws of leadership, John Maxwel quotes
a statement from Bill Perkins’ book, Awaken The Leader Within You:
“When Jesus taught us to ask God not to lead us into temptation, he
was not suggesting that God would ever lead us into sin. Nor did he
mean that temptation can be avoided altogether. Instead, I interpret
his words to mean that we should ask God to prevent us from having the
inclination and opportunity to sin at the same time” What a great
concept. Everyone has the inclination because of the human nature
within us. Although we may not have direct control over it, we can
build up the “inner man” through prayer and meditation on the Word of
God. As we do that, we can first minimize the opportunities for
temptations, and then overcome the effects of the ones that remain.So who is the real villan?
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