The apostle John gives us a sobering warning: "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him (1 Jn. 2:15)."

Rev. Alan Jones, Dean of Grace Cathedral, Episcopal Church in San Francisco declared, "Christianity as a set of beliefs doesn't work for me. At the same time, I acknowledge the need for ritual and celebration in my life and find fulfillment and joy in many traditional practices. I light candles and ask for the prayers of the saints...These disciplines...do not require me to believe literally in angels and the Virgin Birth."

A statement like that should be understood in light of what the Bible says. Rev. Jones talks about celebration, fulfillment, and joy. But those things in his life come from religion. He loves religion but not Christ and those are two very different things. His affections are on this world and not on Christ. The problem is that we can love the world in so many ways that cause us to reject not only salvation but the true joy and peace to be had in a vital relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Love for the world can be obvious or subtle and we must be very careful to examine our hearts in this regard on a regular basis.

We battle Satan, our own flesh, and the world. Note John's further words: "For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world (2:16)." We are deceived into thinking that something is from God when it is not. This is an especially rampant problem in the American church as our culture propagates "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life" as good in so many ways and venues.

The truth is that we must be on our guard because the enemy is aggressively out to deceive us. This issue becomes all the more important when we consider our children and the reality that the enemy wants to deceive them as well. What should we do? On today's edition of "Calling for Truth," we'll talk about just that with Jay Younts, author of Everyday Talk.