The good news is there are some ways we can prepare in advance of temptation so that we can resist and, thus, not fall away. The purpose of our new book, A Way of Escape: Experiencing God's Victory Over Temptation (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1999) is to better prepare us to resist temptation by looking at the seven deadly sins and their spiritual counterparts. The seven deadly sins is a helpful concept because it deals with ROOT sins that lay at the root of so many other sins.
Fourteen of the eighteen chapters focus on one sin at a time and then its opposite virtue:
*PRIDE is the chief of the deadly sins. As C. S. Lewis points out, it was through pride that the devil became the devil. If people weren't so proud and arrogant, we would become more accountable to each other and thus avoid so many of the scandals currently rocking the Church. HUMILITY is great, but rather elusive. If you think you've achieved it, you haven't.
*GREED is endemic in our time. But he who loves money can never get enough money. Godliness with CONTENTMENT is great gain; here are reminders of that for a materialistic age.
*Do you ENVY Bill Gates, who earns more than $500 a second? If you're in the ministry, do you envy Billy Graham? Envy icily grips the hearts of many today, even in the Church. CHARITY is the spiritual counterpart to envy. But how do we live it day by day?
*ANGER manifests itself in the workplace, in road rage, in school shootings, and so on. FORGIVENESS is the better way, but how do we learn to forgive and does that mean we must forget?
*LUST feeds a multi-billion dollar industry. Lust is broadcast from coast to coast in living color. It also finds its way into our homes through the Internet and dial-a-porn. How can we break the compulsion to lust? How can we find PURITY in an impure world? Hint: regular accountability to a trust-worthy brother in Christ is a key to being free from giving in to lust.
*GLUTTONY is becoming a serious problem in our age. Most Americans are overweight and know it, but they don't necessarily view gluttony as sin. SELF-CONTROL is a Christian virtue. Which diet plans work and why?
*Americans watch TV more than any other activity but sleep. This is one of the many manifestations of SLOTH in our time. In contrast, how can we cultivate DILIGENCE?
These are some of the key issues we look at in this book with the goal of preparing ourselves BEFORE temptation comes knocking, so we find the WAY OF ESCAPE that God has promised in each temptation that we experience (1 Cor. 10:13).
### A Way of Escape is endorsed by Os Guinness, Bev LaHaye, Michael Youssef, Ted Baehr, Don Wildmon and Cal Thomas. Dr. D. James Kennedy wrote the foreword. "I hope you take the time to read this book and master its content," he states, and then adds, "It could help preserve your Christian testimony before a watching world. I recommend it highly."
To ORDER THE BOOK at a special Internet discount, click here.