Ever Present Danger (42 page)

I enjoyed writing this first book in the Phantom Hollow Series and hope you’ll join me in book two,
Never Look Back
, where we will meet up again with the Griffiths and the Joneses and also some interesting new characters who will take us through a maze of twists and turns. As always, it promises to be a page-turner!

I love hearing from my readers. You can write to me through my website at [http://www.kathyherman.com] www.kathyherman.com. I read and respond to every e-mail and greatly value your input.

In His love,

1. Do you agree that the propensity to compromise biblical principles is an ever-present danger for believers of all ages? In American culture today, what are some popular beliefs and behaviors that conflict with God’s Word? Do you think many Christians have compromised on these beliefs and behaviors? If so, in what ways?

2. Do you agree with Jake Compton’s comment, “It’s easier to get sucked into the darkness than to walk in the light”? Do you think this can apply even to mature Christians? Can you think of examples of Christian leaders who compromised their values and lost their witness? Do you think they might have avoided the compromise had they remained in close fellowship with other believers who held them accountable?

3. Do you agree that bad company corrupts good character? Do you think a believer can be bad company for another believer? Do you think peer pressure is something only children and teens face, or do you think adults are equally vulnerable? Which generation of Christians do you think is most vulnerable to peer pressure? Do you think males and females are affected differently by peer pressure? If so, explain.

4. How might things have been different for Ivy Griffith if she had made the decision to stand by her Christian convictions
before
she entered into a close relationship with Pete? Do you think Pete was responsible for Ivy’s bad choices? If you think compromising often leads to even more compromising, why do you think that is so?

5. Do you think Elam Griffith compromised 2 Corinthians 6:14 (“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?”) when he gave in to Ivy and allowed her to pursue a steady relationship with an unbeliever? If you had been Ivy’s father or mother, how would you have handled the situation? Do you think parents should ever compromise a scriptural principle to keep from angering or disappointing their children?

6. Have you ever known a believer who acted as Brandon Jones did and used the ideal of winning someone to Christ to justify a relationship he or she knew was unacceptable? Do you think Christians are ever called to go along with someone’s sinful lifestyle in order to win that person to Christ?

7. Have you ever compromised what you knew was right and found a way to justify your wrong behavior? If so, did you feel guilty at the time? Or did the conviction come later?

8. Can you identify some of the subtle moral compromises believers routinely make? Can you identify the more serious compromises? Do you think a lesser compromise is any less offensive to God?

9. In which situations do you find it most difficult to stand firm in your convictions? In these situations, is the difficulty you experience self-inflicted or is it brought on by the conflicting values of someone else? If you could see Jesus standing next to you, would you have the same response?

10. Based on 2 Timothy 3:16—17 (“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work”), would you say that having a thorough knowledge of God’s Word is a valuable weapon for
not succumbing to the lure of compromise? Do you think if Ivy, Elam, Brandon, and Jake had daily put on the full armor of God as outlined in Ephesians 6, they might have been equipped to respond differently in their precarious circumstances? Would you? If your answer is yes, explain why.

11. Since every believer’s commission is to take the Good News to unbelievers, and God clearly does not want us to live our lives isolated from them, can you think of some boundaries that believers should set before they go out into the “world”? In other words, how can we be in the world and yet keep ourselves “unspotted from the world”?

12. Who was your favorite character in this story? If you could meet that person, what would you like to say to him or her?

13. Has what you think and feel been affected by this story? What will you take away from this story?

[http://www.alivecommunications.com]

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Herman, Kathy.

Ever present danger / Kathy Herman.

p. cm. — (Phantom hollow; bk. 1)

eISBN: 978-0-307-56196-1

I. Title.

PS3608.E762E94 2007