In these times, when a spirit of fear seems to dominate even our entertainments, we must question the wisdom of subjecting our minds to images of uncontrolled demonic activity and the glorification of evil. The horror genre, with its extreme depictions of graphic violence and demonic influence, preys upon our most basic fears, rendering us weak, vulnerable, and frightened. As we live through what may be mankind's most fearful days, we risk becoming desensitized to wicked thoughts and activities by casually engaging with such dangerous themes. Instead, we are called to pursue activities that stir up the gift of God within us, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.

Fear puts a person into a condition of bondage. The origin of human fear in the Bible is the result of sin and can be traced from the time of Adam. After he ate of the forbidden fruit, he responds to God by saying, I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid. The apostle Paul saw the hopelessness of the pointless life of the world around him and realized that God's people can easily slip into anxiety and even fear. He is anxious to save the Roman Christians from a spirit of discouragement, a spirit of depression; from a spirit of fear. He wants to provide them and us with a solution for this spiritual depression and fear, against the spirit of bondage, the spirit of defeat, the spirit of discouragement that is always threatening us in God's Church and in the Christian life. The cause of the potential discouragement and fear is the challenge of living God's way of life and the problem of dealing with sin. The essence of this problem is a failure on their part to realize certain truths concerning what is possible for us as Christians, and it is ultimately a failure to understand doctrine; it is another failure in the area of faith. People often fail to realize that they have to apply their faith, and others get into trouble because they do not see that they have to continue and persist with this application of faith. If we do not use faith, it will not help us. The result is sin. The spirit of bondage always brings with it a spirit of fear. The spirit that binds is the spirit of a slave, and that produces only fear. The slave attitude generally arises from the tendency to turn God's way of life and living the Christian life into a burden of servile toil. The slave is under constant fear and anxiety. In the former state, under the threat of final punishment under the law, and prior to receiving God's spirit, the Romans who became Christians were in a state of servitude. Servitude often had a persistent tendency to produce anxiety and fear. Every sinner is subject to such fear, because deep down within himself, he knows he is sinful. God has made sure of that; it is deeply embedded in everyone's mind. Whether he wants to or not, he has an inner fear of punishment, especially of God's judgment. God is angry with the person who refuses to obey him, and his conscience troubles him. The Greek for the term of fear is deilia. A Biblical synonym is timidity. In non-Biblical literature it refers to one who flees from battle. It has a strong derogatory sense, referring to cowardice. In stark contrast, a mark of the Holy Spirit is boldness. The spirit of bondage tends to introduce a wrong fear of God. There is also a wrong fear of God, and that is a cowardly fear; a fear that has torment; a fear without perfect love. People with the wrong kind of fear are those who regard God as a taskmaster, as someone who is constantly watching to discover faults and blemishes in them, and to punish them accordingly. Others think of God as a stern law-giver, far away and at a distance. It is also a fear of the greatness of the task. Having outlined the task themselves, they begin to fear it. As a result, it becomes a kind of dread and terror. They are afraid of it, and that is their attitude toward God's way of life. It is a burden to them, and they see no joy in it, because of the gigantic nature of the task. It is something that fills them with a spirit of fear. Another way in which the spirit of fear manifests itself is that people tend to be afraid in the wrong way of the power of Satan. The way to get rid of the spirit of bondage and that false spirit of fear is to realize that the Spirit of God is working in us, and we must look to God; we must seek His help, and we must rely on Him to provide His Spirit to us. It is an issue of faith. The presence of the Holy Spirit in us reminds us of our relationship to God. The presence of the Holy Spirit within us reminds us of our son-ship and our adult son-ship. The clear realization of this gets