I am disturbed by the comments, posts and tweets regarding these books or movies. Everything from loving a fantasy to a fantasy heaven, these books replace the truth with a lie. I understand fantasy literature and its intended purpose. My concern is that Satan takes what is good, in this case literature, and uses it to deceive. The word of God says our enemy, Satan, is on the prowl like a lion to kill, steal and destroy.
The truth is that heaven is real. And God has revealed to us all we need to know and all He wants us to know in His word. John 3:13 says, “No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.” John 1:18 says, “No one has seen God at any time.” And Hebrews 9:27: "And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment."
In Scripture, there are 4 occurrences when God gave a human a glimpse of heaven. These are not near death experiences, they are Holy Spirit inspired visions. While Paul felt he could not speak of what he experienced, the other men: Isaiah, Ezekiel, and John, all give a God exalting description in scripture that included, I might add their own powerful fear and trembling at God’s holiness. These accounts are found in Isaiah 6:1–4; Ezekiel 1, 10; and Revelation 4–6.
First of all, I do not know what Colton Burpo experienced. And I am certain he is accurately describing what he thought he experienced. All I know for sure is that his description of heaven does not square with the Bible's description. Bible trumps man, in my book, every single time.
What makes this book dangerous is that it replaces the truth with a lie. We get a warped and unbiblical picture of heaven that not only is bad doctrine that leads to confusion. It gives a false hope that leads to disappointment. And when a believer prefers a glossy, pie-in-the-sky account of heaven instead of biblical accuracy, they are walking on thin ice.
The Twilight books made me feel unsettled since the beginning. And I couldn't quite put my finger on it until I picked up the first book and began to read it. I have heard it said that I have missed the whole point of the story. That there are many redeeming elements of the books....it represents good vs. evil; moral vs. immoral; and the themes of abstinence, marriage, and family overcome.
I found the story to be intensely sensual where the main character tells lies and where it is ok for a man to stalk a woman, abuse her and control her. What really disturbs me is the how deeply steeped in the occult these stories are. And the Bible clearly warns us about flirting with Satan.
Both the Old and the New Testaments forbid us to have anything to do with the occult. The occult springs from Satan’s desire to usurp God’s power and authority. Deuteronomy teaches us God’s opinion of occult practices, and He is quite clear: they are detestable to him. See Deuteronomy 18.
God is also quite clear regarding the drinking of blood. Leviticus 17:11 says, “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.” Jesus fulfills our need for atonement when He pours out His sacred blood to pay for our sins. We were bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20).
The Twilight books are dangerous because they replace the truth with a lie. Resonating with Satan’s lie to Eve to become “like God,” Bella eventually becomes a god-like vampire, perfect in beauty, she escapes her humanity and becomes a goddess. The message of these books is clear. The way to have immortality or eternal life is to become a vampire. It eliminates a relationship with Jesus Christ. It ignores our huge sin problem. And it completely overlooks our need for forgiveness. The most dangerous part of this message is that it belittles and degrades the work of Christ.
I remember back in the 70’s when out of the women’s rights movement “Playgirl Magazine” was published. And I remember thinking “I don’t want a naked man, I want a knight in shining armor.”
And it is not a secret, the way to a woman’s heart is romance. Romance novels generate over a billion dollars in sales per year with over 7,000 published books annually in the US alone.
50 Shades of Grey would fall into the category of a romance novel. I call it pornography. It is not necessary to enumerate the dangers of pornography as related to men. It is epidemic in our society. The bottom line: pornography destroys lives, families, and marriages. And now it is about to spread like a wildfire into a whole new population: women.
1 Corinthians 6:18, “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.”
1 Thessalonians 4:3-5, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God;
Matthew 5:28, “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman [OR MAN] with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
This book is dangerous because it replaces the truth with a lie. The book is written to appeal to a women’s sexual appetites. And just like a real wife cannot live up to a photo shopped centerfold, neither can a real husband live up to the make believe world of a romance hero. Just like pornography in a man’s world leaves him discontent at home, so do books like 50 shades of Grey leave a woman emotionally discontent. It is finding sexual pleasure outside of your marriage. This is true of both married and unmarried women.
If you have read any of my blog postings, you are aware of how much I admire Daniel of the Old Testament. Daniel was taken captive by a hostile and culturally very different country. He went from living in a God-honoring environment to one not unlike America today. The picture of Babylon is that it was indulgent and permissive, in every way. It was an extravagant and extreme philosophy, not just a city. And to live there was to follow this path. Except for Daniel and his three friends.
And so, my friends in Christ, we are called to be the Daniel’s of our day. To be resolved not to be defiled by the ways of “Babylon.” We are commanded to live by a higher standard. Leviticus 11:45 says, “I am the LORD, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.” And it is repeated in 1 Peter 1:15-16 “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” I do not want to be “holier than thou.” I want to be a Daniel….set apart to impact a nation or maybe just one person. But to do all that I do because I have a heart like His.
Let’s be determined to influence Babylon and not let Babylon influence us.
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