March 1999

Dear Ministry Friends,

It seems like there has never been a time when so many people appear to be deceivers, and so many people are deceived. The Bible tells us in 2nd Timothy 3:13, "Evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." God understands deception and how it works in all its forms, and nothing about our society has taken God by surprise.

Furthermore, God wants His children — you and me — to understand deception, to know when someone is trying to deceive us, and to know if we have become deceived in some area. There are many scriptures on the topic.

The Truth is the most powerful weapon on earth. Men and women who are evil fear the truth. Proverbs 21:15 (NAS) says, "The execution of justice is joy for the righteous, but is terror to the workers of iniquity." Governments have toppled, wars have been won or lost, and living souls have gone into eternal Heaven or Hell simply over whether the truth was known.

One of the unique characteristics of deception is that people are immediately cured of deception the moment they discover they have the "disease". When you discover you have been deceived, you no longer are deceived! Don't you wish every disease was cured simply by discovering you had it?

My opinion is that most Christians don't realize how often they have been deceived. The Bible has many warnings on the topic — because it is such a frequent possibility. We receive communication daily from neighbors, people on the job, salesmen, the media, and politicians. The opportunities to be deceived are almost endless. The following are a few of the scriptures addressing this issue of deception:

"Take heed that no one deceives you." Mark 13:5.

"For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple." Rom. 16:18.

"Let no one deceive himself." 1st Corinthians 3:18.

"Do not be deceived." 1st Corinthians 15:33.

"For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself." Galatians 6:3.

"Do not be deceived." Galatians 6:7.

"For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision." Titus 1:10.

"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." James 1:22.

"If anyone among you thinks he is religious ... but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless." James 1:26.

I don't know about you, but these scriptures were pretty sobering when I first began studying the topic. In the early 1980's, I was trying to be led by the Holy Spirit and wanting to know the right thing to do when the Lord began showing me about deception. The study process eventually produced a six tape teaching series called, How to be Led by the Spirit. I am offering you the fourth tape in the series which is titled, How to Discern and Overcome Deception.

On this teaching tape, I discuss:

Five common symptoms of being deceived, The two primary ways people bring deception onto themselves, and eight steps to cure and prevent deception.

I want to offer this tape to you on overcoming deception at no charge. In the day we live in, one single teaching tape like this could spare a person untold expense, harm, and heartache. Learning these principles might not guarantee you never make mistakes — because we are all human. But wouldn't you like to make fewer mistakes, and avoid being deceived? This has special value with Y2K and a new millennium.

This is what our ministry is all about — bringing the truth to everyone that wants to know more. And as the truth sets us free in more and more ways (spiritually, emotionally, in our health, relationships, finances, career, etc.) we will have a better life, we will be able to do more of God's will, and we will be a better witness for Him.

We invite your prayers, financial offerings, and testimonies as we build this ministry God has called us to. Exciting things are happening, and God wants to do something big through this new channel of ministry.

Sincerely,

Dale Leander

P.S. — I plan to publish our first six books in about the next 30 days based on the transcripts of the six tapes in the How to be Led by the Spirit series. The editing is 95% finished, and we are working on the cover art. If you would like to get messages like this into more lives, this would be a good time to help us.