Twilight - the phenom...

Recently, an old Bible College friend of mine published a message his Pastor sent out to his congregation - soliciting people's thoughts, Biblical or otherwise... I thought that the Pastor's writing was so spot-on, I asked for permission to re-post it here, for your spiritual edification...

The series, commonly referred to as "Twilight" is about an out of place sophomore teenage girl named Bella who moves to a new town and falls in love with a handsome 108 year old, but frozen at 17, "vampire" named Edward at her school (108? with a 16yr old? would make him a pervert and pedophile but should biblical (or old-fashioned) morality get in the way of "true" love?). The story is about their intoxicating infatuation for each other and the consequences of a lustful vampire/mortal romance.

Edward and his coven of vampire family are vowed good and vegetarian vampires as they only feed on animal blood rather than human blood (read below to see Edward's real feelings about blood). Yet, Edward wants to eat Bella every time the sexual tension gets too high. He avoids having sex with her, not on any moral grounds, but out of fear lest he eat her and cause her to become the un-dead like him. But she loves him regardless and is willing to step into his eternity no matter the cost!

Sounds a trite story, but the shocker is that many Christians are attracted to this spiritually dysfunctional romance and worse, are attempting to give Christian applications to its demonic premise suggesting this be acceptable, Christian discussion. Some Christian reviewers on Christian Internet sites are using the story to initiate Bible "studies" and discussion on so-called Christian principles to be drawn from it. A new Christianized twist on demonic deception is invading Christian vulnerables!

Here would be a good place to examine exactly what a "vampire" is and ask, "can Christians honestly consider it OK for teens (indeed anyone?) to crave a relationship with one?"

For centuries, vampires have been part of folklore and mythology, understood to be ugly, dark creatures of morbid horror, close to the dead, sometimes known as the undead for they claim eternal life and subsist by feeding on human blood, roam in darkness, avoid the light, and are enemies of the human race.

This repulsive concept was changed with the popularization of Bram Stoker's famous 1897 novel about a fictionalized vampire Count Dracula, who was presented as an aristocrat Transylvanian nobleman. He was imbued with supernatural powers, superhuman capabilities and a lustful passion for beautiful ladies whose blood he became addicted to. His blood sucking was two-fold: to maintain his (eternal) life force and eventually befall his victim with the curse of vampirism and ultimate death. No matter how resplendent the vampire is portrayed in mythology and fiction, in Scripture blood drinking and creatures of darkness are judged as despicable by God. Also, Scripture explains fallen spirits ("angels") as those who deliberately chose to follow their leader Satan (Isaiah 14) and deny their Creator God. For this choice, they are damned with eternal separation from God and an eternity in the Lake of Fire (Rev 15).

For centuries, pagan rituals have sought taking human blood to appease the blood-thirsty lust of spirits and forces of darkness who target humans made in the image of God to mock God's handiwork. Distortion of the purpose of blood is a satanic mockery of God's intent for the sacredness blood represents. Scripture teaches,"in the blood is the life" (Deut. 12:23) and in the shedding of blood is the remission of sins. And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. (Heb 9:22)." In the Old Testament, a substitutionary lamb was required to be sacrificed by God's people as an offering for their sin. In the New Testament that Lamb was God's gift in Jesus Christ who offered Himself as the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world!
(John 1:29)

The Bible records that "sin entered the world through one man, Adam, and death through sin came to all men because all have sinned (with sin comes not only physical death but death to the eternal soul separated from the presence of God). How much more did God's grace and the gift (eternal life connected back into the presence of God) that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many (Rom. 5: 12-16)!

To God, eternal life is an important issue. He doesn't desire any to be banished from Him for eternity because of Adam's choice. For His love's sake, He gave us Jesus to redeem back to Him what man can't redeem. Believers can only overcome sin and eternal damnation "by the blood of the Lamb" (Rev. 12:11). There is no other way. Pagan cultures, seduced by myths and lying doctrines of demons have attempted to salvage eternal damnation by ceremony, one of them being vampirism, the sucking of human blood believed to sustain eternal life. Actually the Bible teaches "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor 15:50)."

Such is the story of Twilight, the mortal heroine, young teenager Bella, like so many teenagers today (sadly even Christians), who are naive about the reality of the eternal soul and willing to give all to a demon-possessed blood-sucking young man because they don't value the eternal life Jesus died to give. (In a future movie, Bella succumbs to vampire status and yes they do have sex and an unwanted baby).

The secular reviewers of the Twilight series call it, "A dark romance that seeps into the soul." The original title of Twilight was Corpse, but the publisher changed it to make it more appealing. The content of Twilight is in opposition to many Scriptures: it promotes sorcery, divination and witchcraft . Yet some church youth groups and Christian movie review sites suggest the relationship and sexual tension of two teenagers, one being a demonic vampire, draw parallels with Christian morals with lessons for the Christian to be found within the stories!

A housewife named Stephenie Meyer received the story of Twilight in a dream on June 2, 2003. The vision she had of a vampire and mortal as lovers compelled her to start writing the story immediately (a spiritual demonic dream???). She says she couldn't t resist the drive to write down her dream (a similar scenario to J.K Rowlings, author of Harry Potter). Meyer gives a summary of that first dream:

"I woke up (on that June 2nd) from a very vivid dream. In my dream, two people were having an intense conversation in a meadow in the woods. One of these people was just your average girl. The other person was fantastically beautiful, sparkly, and a vampire. They were discussing the difficulties inherent in the facts that A) they were falling in love with each other while B) the vampire was particularly attracted to the scent of her blood, and was having a difficult time restraining himself from killing her immediately."

Within three months, she had the entire novel written. Within six-months, it had been dreamed, written, and readied for publishing.

She admits she had little to no prior writing experience with only a B.A. degree in English and had to learn from the Internet how to submit a book proposal. She tried a few times and "miraculously" got published with a $750 thousand dollar publishing contract! Miraculous happenings have been known to come from powers of darkness, and in this case, no matter how its sliced, the God of the Bible would not use vampires, sexual tension, lust, boyfriend worship, and teenage romance to spread His Gospel of eternal life and salvation through Yeshua.

Meyer, a Mormon mother of three, states that some of her inspiration in writing her vampire saga came from a band of musicians called Marjorie Fair.

"For New Moon, they were absolutely essential. They can put you into a suicidal state faster than anything I know . . . Their songs really made it beautiful for me."

Also an inspiration for one of her characters was a band called My Chemical Romance. She states,

"Its someone . . . who just wants to go out and blow things up."

Scaringly, Meyer's fictional character Edward took on the "terrifying" form of "real" spirit when it leapt from the pages of her saga and communicated with her in an additional dream. She says she had the second dream after Twilight was finished when her vampire character Edward came to visit and speak to her. The Edward who visited her in the night told her she'd got it all wrong because he DID drink human blood and could not "live" on ONLY animal blood as she wrote in the story. She said, "We had this conversation and he was terrifying."

Conversation with spirits (saying they need human blood to suck!) and frightening dream visitations by spirits are part of occult communication. Meyer's spiritual experiences could well be influenced by her Mormon faith which allows for communication with the so-called "the dead". Indeed "the dead" of former generations are baptized into Mormonism in Mormon Temple ritual. Mormon founder Joseph Smith was "visited" by a communicating "angel" called Moroni, whose statue stands atop all Mormon Temples. This fallen angel of Mormonism gave Smith messages on which he formed his Mormon doctrine about prior civilizations, none of which have been discovered despite endless archeological digs to substantiate Mormons claims.

Others Mormon teachings conflict with biblical Christianity such as Mormonism's claim that Jesus (Yeshua) of the Bible, is the half-brother of Satan. Mormons additionally believe numerous teachings about the spirits that oppose Bible truths and could help embellish Meyer's Twilight series. In 2007, Stephenie Meyer wrote portions of a work titled, "Prom Nights from Hell", which is about supernatural events surrounding evil prom nights.

On May 6, 2008, she released her adult novel, "The Host", which is about invading alien souls that take over a person and get them to do what they want. This behavior is called demonic possession, a state Jesus came to set captives free from. Meyer's so-called fiction crosses over to severe occult philosophy.

Christian youth's involvement in the shocking abandonment of God's authority should be of concern enough, but sadder still is that youth in general are being seduced to embrace Satan's lies and reap eternal damnation. Christians, rather than protecting youth, are feeding them to Satan who is known as the prowling lion (1 Pet. 5:8). Satan deceived Eve with the promise of wisdom (Gen. 3) and suggested God's forbidding was on grounds of meanness - not loving concern. Satan continues his attack on the truth of God's Word and His essential character of love (comparing it to erotic sex) targeting younger and younger Christian youth.

Jesus warned, "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea." (Matt. 18:6)

Christians are duty bound to preach God's Good news of repentance and warn against occult involvement: vampirism, witchcraft et al, uplifting the power of the Word of God and not fanning supernatural disobedience as many Christian organizations are doing. Family is a big part of what nurtures Twilight's love. Edward's coven family of vampires is a loving one. Each member is committed to protecting the others, even Bella when she becomes part of them through her relationship with Edward. This word coven belongs in Wiccan terminology and is a place where Wiccans convene for pagan rituals. Why encourage teenagers to embrace pagan ideology which flies in the face of biblical discernment? The book series and its movie create the pagan illusion that there is a good side to darkness and it is OK to be part of the "white" side.

Paul teaches:"And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works
(2 Cor 11:14-15)."

So, one wonders, how many churches and church youth groups are getting involved in a Bible study based on the Twilight series? And, how many Christians are getting trapped into the new emergent-style deception of Hegelian dialoguing? How many realize this type of dialectic group thinking (conversation) is an attempt to compromise Christian faith based on God's absolute truths with the idea that truth is relative and shifts? God's ways and thoughts are not open to discussion!

Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life." (Jn. 14:6)

Biblical Christianity is under attack as is God's Word, beginning with the wiles of Satan in the Garden who engaged Eve in dialogue about God's truths. She was tempted to understand the unknowable God through her own limited reasoning. Dialectic conversing is designed to bring about collective consensus and is Satan's agenda. God encourages the study of His Word so that we may be approved workmen "rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Tim 2:14-15) Youth (and parents) must come to the things, which are proper for sound doctrine (Titus 2:1), for the sake of their eternal souls.

"For the time will come, Paul warned, when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."
(2 Timothy 4:3-5)

It is deeply disturbing that Christians and youth leaders are undiscerning in biblical doctrine validating Christian youth to participate in vampirism, which is idol worship.

Col 2:18-19 warns, "Do not let anyone who delights in....the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions."

Biblical warnings against tampering in occultism are replete..... "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who
conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD." (Deut.18:10-12)

Unfortunately, many churches and Christian organizations downplay the reality of the supernatural war being waged by "dead" spirits and neglect the reality of abusive spiritual warfare by demonic authorities. If only those who confess Jesus Christ as their Lord would learn to "abide" in His Spirit and "know" Him through HIS word then they would be better equipped to discern error from truth, and get involved in the "good fight" we are called to, and WARN against rather than encourage fads like Twilight.

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As Pastor, I am called not only to comfort but to warn about anything that conflicts with the clear teachings of God's word and the gracious work Jesus has done for us. As a parent, I am responsible to protect my children from such influences and protect the prophetic generation he has called all of us to raise. Prayerfully consider these words and make the appropriate decisions for your home.

We love you,
Pastor Mark and Tiffany

Christ Alive Church, Newton, NC