So much is happening in our culture today. It seems each day brings another bit of bad news. Whether in politics, pop-culture, the loss of a job, bad health etc… we seem to loose all sense of what used to be normalcy and moral understanding and our positive outlook disappears. However, I love spring because it always brings with it new growth and the season of remembering that no matter how dark our yesterdays are there is bright hope for tomorrow just because of Jesus.
What’s New ~ We’ve added another t-shirt to our product line. I think it’s my favorite so far! It’s maroon and great for both guys and girls. The cross graphic is modern contemporary with a slightly edgy look layered on an orange sunburst. Go to the store page on our website and check out the new design. We’ve also rearranged and updated a few things on our site so be sure and check out the changes.
Old News . . . what’s been happening ~ We had the first two weekends of April off (the first weekend we were going to sing in Nebraska but we had to reschedule because of incoming weather) and we all enjoyed the break in our schedule. Celebrating Jesus’ resurrection with family and friends was awesome. The church service we attended was inspiring and we had a fantastic time worshipping with other believers! We’re headed into another busy weekend and we’re excited about what God will do during the services/concerts that are coming up the rest of this year. We’ve also had great feed back on our mini-movie God Are You There and we’re in contact with www.easyworship.com about adding it to their site as well! It’s officially been two years since the release of our first album, Eternity Focus, and looking back, I can’t believe what God has done and is continuing to do with our ministry. All the glory goes to Him (because we really don’t know how it happened or came together. I’m looking forward to the future!)
Going Deeper . . . into our personal lives ~ With spring finally making a windy and chilly appearance we are all starting to take the initiative and exercise in the great outdoors. We’re trying to be a little healthier (some days are better than others) but all in all we’re enjoying the nicer weather and God’s creation. There is nothing like watching a Kansas sunset (and since none of us choose to get out of bed early enough to see a sunrise, we’re grateful God decides to paint masterpieces in the sky twice a day). Another thing Janika especially is looking forward to is graduation and the end of school! In her words she “can’t wait to be done with English class and never have to take another one for the rest of her life.” Guess that conveys her plans for the fall. All of us are still putting college on hold. We’re actually booking into December of 2009 already so it looks like God is blessing us in this season of our lives with opportunities to minister for Him. We’re loving every moment of it.
Focusing on Eternity . . . Devotional ~ “Whatever is true, whatever is honest, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good report, if there is anything virtuous, if there is anything praiseworthy, think on these things.” Philippians 4:8. That’s a pretty tall order. To take every thought captive and make totally sure that whatever it is you’re thinking about is pure, honest, true… wow, my thought life needs some help. In today’s culture it’s easy to choose the “lesser evils”. By that I mean saying to yourself, well this book isn’t that bad, this movie has less sex than that one so we’ll see this movie… Compromising never leads you closer to God, it always takes you farther away from Him. The Bible is full of verses and passages that challenge us to become more than we are able to be on our own. Only with Christ’s help are we ever able to stand firm in our convictions and truly live lives that are worthy of the calling He has placed in our hearts. We can’t be pure, honest, good etc… on our own. The Bible says that all our righteousness is like filthy rags in the sight of God. Is it hopeless then? Do we just give up and give in? No, we turn to Jesus for help in every area. He is the One who gives us the strength to stand by our convictions and not cave to a compromising situation. The following scripture has become a staple in my everyday life, it’s Colossians 1:10-14. “And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, Who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
A new series of books is sweeping the nation right now and is particularly popular with teenage girls. The Twilight Series includes four books about teenage vampire romance. The Twilight series including novels; Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer has sold over 21 million copies and according to USA Today, all four books have swept the top 4 slots on the Best Seller List of 2008. (Something that not even J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, has done.) Twilight (the first novel and name of the series) has also been made into a blockbuster/box office phenomenon holding viewers interest for several months while in theatres, becoming one of the biggest releases on the big screen. With Twilight the DVD selling 5.6 million copies in its first 8 days after release, we realize that this is something bigger than just a book. The theme in both the blockbuster movie and all of the books in the series is “forbidden love”. These novels featureBella, an average girl with an average life who is attracted to and pursues a relationship with a stunningly handsome seventeen year old vampire named Edward. The series focuses on Bella’s feelings of falling for Edward and her efforts to achieve intimacy with him. In Twilight, obsession overtakes Bella in the form of a love she feels for Edward, the teenage vampire. There is so much going on in these novels on so many different levels. You have the romantic level, the morality level and the spiritual/supernatural and honestly occultic element contained in this series. First let’s talk romance. All girls love a good chick flick, but at what cost. In the books, Bella lies, manipulates, forsakes her father and family and totally tunes out everything but Edward. The purpose of her life becomes as such that she forsakes her human relationships to pursue and experience this death embracing romance (later in the series she does in fact die and is transformed into a vampire herself). She is also wanting to give herself totally to Edward who doesn’t want to have sex with her because he knows that when that act occurs she will die and he wants to give her the chance to live a normal human life. You may argue that this is a positive element, teen abstinence. If we, however, dig deeper into the issue, we find that while abstinence may be maintained in the first novel, purity of mind and heart are not. At one point in Twilight, Bella and Edward sleep together while he is fully clothed. I don’t really think that their minds were on staying pure in those moments and let’s be realistic… if this would happen in the real world outside the context of a novel the temptation would be too great to overcome in nearly every circumstance (check the stats about unwed mothers and abortion if you don’t believe me). Not only that, but we as believers in Jesus Christ are called to have “Not even a hint of sexual immorality or of any kind of impurity…” Ephesians 5:3. These last few sentences have encompassed the moral level of the story line as well. The woman who produced and directed Twilight the film phenomenon, Catherine Hardwicke, is quoted saying “it’s a coming of age story, it’s got dark humor…” She goes on to say, “I hope the film appeals to romantics but it’s a scary movie too… .. Actually, I want someone who’s seen the movie to grab their boyfriend or girlfriend and go and make out, then turn around and go back and see the movie again and then make out again.” Obviously this line of thinking does not promote purity of the heart. Even if the relationship between Bella and Edward is not consummated in the first novel or movie the bigger issue of purity and wanting God’s will in our lives is totally forsaken for the lust of the flesh. We need to look beyond just the physical and analyze how the issues raised in this story will affect us on a personal, emotional, psychological and spiritual level. I’d like to say at this point that morality is not limited to only the topic of sex and therefore calls both Bella and Edward’s character into question as well. Lastly, but maybe most importantly, we come to the supernatural level. Because Edward is a vampire, the context of this novel is no longer just a love story. As the novels are read and the story progresses the sub-contexts become darker and darker. There is also talk about a fifth novel in the works told from Edward’s point of view (the view of a vampire.) Whether you believe that supernatural forces are real or not, they are real as is clearly stated in Ephesians 6:12 ”For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” The supernatural is also a major component in the plot of this series. For example, Edward senses that Bella is in trouble through supernatural messages that he receives from her. If you don’t think that a vampire receiving supernatural messages is dark then how about finding out that Bella seriously considers committing suicide so that her relationship with Edward may be consummated. The supernatural sub-contexts in these books are not just fiction. The spiritual forces in this world are constantly at war with each other, good fighting evil… Some would argue that Edward is a “good vampire”. However, Matthew 12:34-35 tells us to watch out for people that call what is good evil and call what is evil good. 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 tells us that Satan and his servants masquerade as angels of light but really there is no righteousness in them. Just because we label something as being “good” does not automatically make it so. We need to identify true good as good and true evil as evil. There are good spirits and there are bad/evil spirits. The Bible says that Satan and his demons/evil spirits come to steal, kill and destroy (sound familiar? Bella is killed in the process of becoming a vampire). However, God counters that with the hope that Jesus has come to bring life to the fullest. But when we, people who call ourselves Christians, become tangled in evil we ”…fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.” 1 Timothy 6:9 How can God give us life to the fullest when we are constantly feeding the desires of our flesh? Galatians 5:19-21. Our minds are like sponges that soak up whatever we fill it with. What happens when we have a sponge that is sopping wet, soaked in dirty, smelly water? When we squeeze it out, we’re left with a puddle of nasty, rancid liquid. However, when we wash the sponge clean and soak up pure, fresh water… The result is the same with our minds. What we allow it to be saturated in will be what comes pouring out of it. This is why God gives us the following challenge in 2 Corinthians 7:1, ”Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”
In light of what God calls us to as believers in Jesus Christ, I would NOT recommend that you read the Twilight series nor invest your time, money and attention in the film project (and any sequels that follow). While it’s important to expand our minds through reading, it’s more important to know, to truly understand, just what it is we are filling our minds with. Philippians 4:8…