Robert Robinson, his wife Robin, and their son Robby were driving along, hoping to enjoy a weekend away. "Guess what!" Robin said. "Mimi Klepto next door just loaned me a bunch of computer disks and told me to copy anything I want onto our hard drive. Oh, and Mimi also loaned me some videos to copy. That stuff would cost us a fortune if we had to buy it at the store."

"Sounds great!" smiled Robert. Then he patted his wallet and said, "The Johnsons paid me cash for the work I did on their kitchen. That's another 400 dollars the government won't have to know about when we do our tax forms."

Mention the New Age movement and you're likely to get amused condescension:  "Oh yes, crystals."  "Oh yes, astrology."  To many people, the New Age movement means trendy gimmicks and silly superstitions.  That should concern us.  For the New Age movement is more than a matter of this technique or that gimmick. What underlies all these surface phenomena is a way of looking at life, a philosophy, a world view, a faith.  And it is a faith hostile to Christian faith.

I can think of no better way to explain the New Age world view than by quoting extensively from a children's book I just read.  A classic, I might add. (And you thought you could trust the classics to be harmless?) It's entitled The Secret Garden, by Francis Hodgson Burnett.

Most of you who have children will probably recognize the title.  But how many of you noticed that about two-thirds of the way through the book, the author launches into a straightforward explication of Hindu pantheism? (Do you know what your children are reading?)

Sex is for marriage, and marriage is for life. In adultery you are married but betray your spouse by having an affair, by fantasizing about someone or panting after pornography, or by divorcing a faithful spouse and marrying someone else. In fornication you are single but selfishly seek sex without a lifelong marriage commitment, through impure dating, prostitution, or "living together." In homosexualism you want someone of the same gender to satisfy your romantic and sexual longings. God forbids all such sins. He commands his people to have sexual union only in a faithful marriage to a fellow Christian of the opposite sex, or else to remain single and abstain from sexual relations.

If you are a Christian, Jesus didn't just buy your soul; he bought your body. You body is the Holy Spirit's temple. Indeed, your body is a member of Christ himself. So before doing something with your body, be sure it pleases the Lord within you and not just your sinful nature. Once you unite yourself to the Lord in spirit, you must not unite your body to anyone unless that person is a spouse of the opposite sex who is also united to Jesus in spirit.

Murder horrifies us. We shudder at tyrants who butcher helpless people and at ethnic groups who slaughter each other. We shake our heads at news reports of murder on the streets and in some homes. We ask, "How could anyone do such things?" Meanwhile, the seed of murder may be lying right in our own hearts.

Hatred--the killer instinct--can involve rage or revenge or racism. On the other hand, it can also be a cool disregard for the well-being of others. An armed robber who kills someone doesn't necessarily have strong feelings against his victim; he just couldn't care less. A company that exposes workers to danger instead of paying for a safer work environment isn't angry at workers; it just doesn't care about them. Money matters more. A couple which aborts a baby doesn't have a grudge against the baby; they just care less about that baby than about themselves.

Please complete the following statement: "I love my mother but..."  Think about it. What's your answer? When a survey asked people to do this, many took it as a cue to point out some fault of their mother. There were some, however, who answered something like this: "I love my mother but... I can never repay all she has done for me."

Children owe it to their parents to honor them; and parents owe it to their children to be honorable. Christian parents must accept their God-given authority and take responsibility to introduce their children to God, provide Christian education, show them by teaching and example how to live, instruct them in God's Word, and train them in obedience.

Scripture links the fourth commandment with God's great acts of creation and salvation. In creation God worked for six creative days; then the Creator rested and rejoiced in what he made. We, his creatures, must also rest and rejoice after a week of work (Exodus 20:11).

The Lord's Day is also linked with salvation: "Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there" (Deuteronomy 5:15). The Israelites spent many decades as slaves, decades without a day off. Then God saved them. But why be rescued only to be enslaved by their own schedules rather than by the Egyptians?

I sometimes meet people who misuse God's name. When they learn I'm a preacher, they may blush and say: "I didn't know--sorry if I offended you." They should worry less about what I think and more about what God thinks: "The Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name" (Exodus 20:7).

God's name is misused in many ways. One way is outright contempt for God's name: deliberately mocking or directly attacking the honor and name and reputation of God. Perhaps more common is carelessness with God's name: saying "O my God" or "Good Lord" not as the start of a prayer but as a way of expressing surprise; using "God Almighty" and "Jesus Christ" not to invoke the Lord of heaven and earth but to show emotion; or simply using the word "God" every sentence or two for punctuation, almost like a spoken comma or period. Another way of violating God's name is cursing: using words like "damn" and "hell" casually. We have no business uttering such solemn, dreadful curses; only God can damn someone to the everlasting sorrow of hell.

Moses had been up on the mountain more than a month, and the Israelites were tired of waiting. They wanted to get going. Why trust an invisible God who has his own timing and plans, when you can manufacture a new version of God that will suit your agenda? There's nothing handier than a god you can see and control and push along ahead of you.

Still, people may be reluctant to make their own version of God. They prefer an authority figure to do it for them. A pastor or priest or professor can produce a new version of God with that extra touch of professional quality. So the Israelites wanted Aaron to make their idol for them. Aaron was the chief priest. If Aaron made a new image of God, it would surely be praiseworthy. So Aaron took an offering and gave them what they wanted.