I am beginning a series of messages today that I am entitling - fear factor. I would say practically all of us today will remember this picture which has been shown thousands of times and is seared into our memory.

If it is true that, "A picture is worth a thousand words" you will never see a more graphic picture of fear than this one. Psychologists and sociologists agree that since 9/11, fear has been at an all time high in America. Indeed, the entire world at times is paralyzed by fear. There is a word for the fears that literally grip us and rip us. They are called phobias. These fears literally paralyze us.

About a year or so ago, I was in the airport in Atlanta about to fly out. As I was walking to the gate, a young lady grabbed me my the arm and stopped me and said, "You're James M…