By Nancy Tevebaugh, Gilmer, TX

Children today in America are being bombarded with lies from Satan. They have become so accustomed to a humanistic way of thinking that even church-trained children are conforming to this mentality. This should send up a red flag to us as educators and parents. We must teach our children to compare everything in their lives to Truth. We no longer have the luxury as Christians of assuming that godly men and women in this country are influencing our children. We must realize that Satan is taking full advantage of our complacency. He has aimed his fiery darts at our children through the TV, our educational system, their toys, etc. It is my prayer that this material will be used of the Lord to open our spiritual eyes to see what is truth and then to make the commitment to live by that truth.

Bulletin Board: I put a detective on the bulletin board and the words "GMAs Search for Truth." Each week we completed a "case" for a devotional and added it to the board. We added any pictures that went along with the case to the board, also.

On the bulletin board also include an open Bible picture that has been laminated so you can write the case scriptures on it with a dry erase pen. Also include a strip above the Bible with "THE CASE OF___________" that has been laminated so you can write the name of the case each week. Another focal point on the board could be a magnifying glass with Acts 17:11 written above it.

The Case of the Mighty Morphin Power rangers - They say "Remember the importance of teamwork. When you work together, there's nothing you can't do."

Scriptures to search: John 15:5; Phil. 4:13; II Cor. 3:5

The Case of the Unknown - Talk about wanting to know about the future. Who will I marry? Will I have children? How many? Etc. Talk about where the world goes for answers-horoscopes, fortunetellers, Ouija boards, etc. (I cut these from newspapers and catalogs to display on the bulletin board.)

Scriptures to search: Lev. 19:31; Deut. 18:9-13; Psalm 139:4; Jer. 29:11; Isaiah 46:9-10

The Case of Easy Money: For a display-junk mail about credit cards or anything with credit card pictures or logos. (The goal here is to heighten girl's awareness of the credit card "trap," not to teach them that all use of a credit card is evil.) The world tells us that if we don't have the money and we want something--charge it!

Scriptures to search: Rom. 13:8; Prov. 22:7; Neh. 5:4-5, 10; Ex. 22:25; Malachi 3:8-11

The Case of Save the Earth- the problem here is that this earth will be destroyed one day. We need to be far more concerned about saving people than we are about saving the earth. Another point to bring out is that these people (Save the Earth) are opposed to killing any animal, but God gave them to us as food. It is also noteworthy that these same people are often for abortion-killing God's creation that was formed in His image-created for His glory and pleasure. So concerned about Mother Nature--No concern for Father God!

Scriptures to search: II Peter 3:9-13; Rom. 1:25; Deut. 14:4; John 3:16; Psalm 139:13-16; Jer. 1:4-5

The Case of What is a Family? - For display- Barney the dinosaur and maybe even some newspaper articles about homosexuality. Begin with asking girls the words to the Barney song. "I love you, you love me, we're a happy family…" Is that the definition of a family? Help the girls to realize that when they marry, they are "one flesh" in God's eyes. Help them to see that when the "going got tough" for Jesus ("if it be Thy will, let this cup pass…"), He didn't give up-He sought the will of the Father.

The Case of Freebies- For display use a small collage of "Free" words from magazines and newspapers. Open with the question "What is free?" Satan is convincing our children that they don't have to be faithful, they don't have to work for anything! He is telling them that he will give them fulfillment, pleasure, satisfaction, etc. FREE! Nothing is free! Even salvation had a price--Jesus paid it. We must be faithful, endure, preserver (what we sow), to reap His blessings. We will find true happiness, fulfillment, and blessings in staying with God even when times are rough.

The Case of TV, Movies, Books- Does God have anything to say about what we read, what we watch? The school library is full of books about witches, kids who lie to their parents, moms and dads who divorce. Saturday morning TV is bombarding our kids with "powers," evil, deceit, etc. We cannot always be there--we must give them truth and teach them to compare everything to the Word of God.

Scriptures to search: Mark 7:20-23; Matt. 5:29-30; I Cor. 10:5; Phil. 4:8-9; I Peter 1: 14-16

Other Cases- I have given you my ideas, but there may be other Scriptures and ideas that would work better. Please read over these, pray and seek the Lord as you prepare.

I have found for the sake of time, I let a counselor be our "secretary" and record our work on the case sheet as we work.