Clear Warning Signs

With my dad’s blessing I used $350 of paper route savings to buy a used sailboat. It was small—barely big enough for two—and really cool! I was probably fourteen. The previous year I had spent an hour or two learning to sail a similar boat at summer camp, so I thought I knew everything there was to know about sailing.

Dale Mason, Publisher

When family vacation time came, we loaded my little boat on top of the station wagon and headed north to a campground on a really big lake. Dad seemed happy enough to let me take the rudder. However, both of us soon learned a couple important lessons. First, I didn’t know everything about sailing. Second, we should have watched for warning signs!

The water was deep and clear, and we were soon moving at quite a clip. It was great.

As we skimmed across the calm lake, we soon relaxed. But to our horror the pristine water suddenly darkened and a mountain of rocks seemed to explode upward beneath our hull. Too late, we realized the rocks were actually a submerged island. We did not react quickly enough. The boat’s centerboard, which extended a couple feet below the surface, rammed into the top of the rocks, throwing us overboard. Dad was upset with himself (and me) for not being on the lookout for the sunken island. After all, it was on the park map.

As I was searching for a word picture to illustrate the cover theme of this issue, it was our “sunken island” incident that came to mind.

Parents, the world may appear calm on the surface, but warning signs are all around us. The Bible instructs us to be on guard—to watch out for the faith-destroying dangers ahead.

Some warning signs are especially troubling. See Ken Ham’s insights in “Gone in Only One Generation” for a few of the most disquieting developments. Then for encouraging, practical ways to prepare and protect your family, read “The Church—Training Ground for Truth” by Nate Loper and “Victory Begins at Home” by Eric Hovind. Together these three articles provide tools that can make a difference starting today!

Thankfully, God gives us help to see the warning signs and directions on how to avoid the dangers. But we have to stay alert and stop fooling ourselves into thinking we already know everything.

All for Him,

Dale T. Mason, Publisher