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WHAT IS A PARENT TO DO?

I would encourage parents and their children to avoid seeing, The Golden Compass and to avoid all of Phillip Pullman's Dark Materials. While godly parents will certainly want to protect their precious children from Pullman's satanic diatribe, I personally am a strong believer that God often uses much of what Satan means for evil for good. He does this over and over again and the cross of Christ, which was meant by God's enemy's to destroy Him, is exhibit "A," being the very means by which God saves the lost. Goliath's sword, which David used to sever his head from his body, is yet another powerful example of how God uses to His glory what Satan means for evil. I believe we are wise to point out to our children where Phillip Pullman is coming from and what his objective is.

The Bible warns us to "have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather expose them" (Eph. 5:11; 2 Cor. 2:11). In so doing, we equip our children with the truth which is their greatest weapon against the enemy's lies. By revealing the truth we are able to give greater evidence that we do indeed live in a world filled with dark, demonic forces that seek to overthrow the knowledge of God. Such evidences further confirm the truth of Holy Scripture and can only make children wiser and better able to face the world with the knowledge of God so they can effectively engage in the spiritual warfare to which we are all called. Though we should avoid allowing our children to be bombarded by Pullman's God-hating propaganda, if they are mature enough, we should inform them about the deadly poison in the sweet candy he offers. Many children will be able to use this information as a springboard into the gospel with their friends and hopefully and prayerfully lead them to Christ. Take time to show your children who the true God really is! Read the last three chapters of Revelation to your children and remind them that in the end, the Good and Sovereign God wins!

Thankfully we can teach our children God's truth from Holy Scripture which affirms (as does the witness of creation all around us) that God is not only our creator, the maker of the heavens and the earth (Romans 1:18-32) but that "God is good," and "God is love" (Psalm 100:1-5; 1John 4:8, 16). We who are parents can use this as an opportunity to share truth with our children and spend more time in God's Word with them. We can show them how absurd Pullman's fairy tale really is and how "powerful and convincing" as Pullman admits, Christianity is! It is also imperative that we teach our children the attributes of God from Holy Scripture, including the ones that Pullman denies. The Scriptures repeatedly reveal that the true and living God has no beginning and no end, but is "from everlasting to everlasting."

"Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God" (Psalm 90:1-2).

I hope this article challenges you to do more to get God's truth to our children than Phillip Pullman is doing to spread Satan's lies. The Bible reveals that in the end times God will raise up a body of believers to do mighty exploits that would reveal what the enemy is doing. He also declares that while Satan would be going after our children, He would turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children and the hearts of the children back to the fathers. It is our hope that you will pass this information along so others will be aware of Satan's strategy for their souls and those of their children. Our prayer is that each reader would know that God so loved them that even though they have broken His Holy law and deserve eternal death, in His great love, He became a man, suffered the penalty we deserve upon the cross and rose three days later from the grave to conquer death. If we turn from our sins and put our trust in Him we will be saved and will become children of God. If you haven't already, we hope you make the right decision before it is too late.

For His eternal glory,

Pastor Joe Schimmel

"Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called…"
(1 Timothy 6:12a)