Fear--it permeates our society. There is so much fear in our media, from paranoia driving the liberal left to proclaim declarations of war against the "Vast Right-Winged Conspiracy." to fears of renewed terrorist attacks, ala September 11th 2001. Never before has so much fear been felt by so many about so much.

During World War II, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt told us we had "Nothing to Fear--But Fear Itself," and from a secular standpoint he was right. He recognized that fear incapacitates, it disables and can ultimately paralyze us to inaction.

Acrophobia, Agoraphobia, Claustrophobia, Triskadekaphobia, there are dozens and dozens of irrational fears and millions of people struggle with them every day. I learned recently that a survey of Americans showed that people claim to fear speaking in public worse thatn they fear death! It is almost unbelievable that anything productive gets done in our society at all with so many people nearly paralyzed with fear.

It's no wonder, then, that fear is one of Satan's favorite weapons. All it takes is for us to listen as he whispers in our ears:

• "You can't witness to her, she'll make you look like a fool!"
  
  
• "You better not talk to him about his drinking problem--he'll get YOU fired for harrassing him about it!"
  
  
• "You can't speak out about the company's Diversity policy--they're just doing what's Politically Correct!! THAT's RIGHT--THEY'll BRAND YOU A BIGOTTED HOMOPHOBE... HAH! GOTCHA!!!"
  
  
• "YOU can't run for office. You're a Christian--the press'll eat you alive. Besides, you're not even a Lawyer!" etc.

As Christians, we need to rely not on a secular viewpoint regarding fear, but rather we need to focus on what God tells us in his Word with regard to fear. Let's take a walk through the Bible and see what it says about fear. As we do that, let's keep in mind the questions "Whom should we fear?" and "Who should be afraid of us?"

Addressing the first question: The wisest man who ever lived, King Solomon, was inspired by God to write in Proverbs 1:7 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction."

Likewise, Jesus said we are to "fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both the soul and body in hell." Matthew 10:28.

Through Paul, God tells us in Second Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind"

This is our motto for Sound Mind Ministries. It is what we believe with every fiber of our being. We are dedicated to using the power and love of God and the use of sound minds performing logically to demonstrate His wisdom in the public square whenever we encounter weakness, strife and irrationality.

It is our prayer that these pages will help you:

1. To develop a fear of God
   
2. To overcome any irrational fears you may have, and
   
3. To become a wise instrument of His Power and Love.
   
   

In His Grip,




--Tom
Thomas P. Milley
Executive Director,
Sound Mind Ministries