Celebrity Media Addiction: Guest Post on "Like a Warm Cup of Coffee"

Today, the lovely Sarah Mae over at Like a Warm Cup of Coffee has featured an article I wrote about our toxic addiction to celebrity media.  Won't you pop over and chime in on the discussion? It's an issue we each face on a daily basis, whether in the checkout line, on the web, on the tube...but mostly in our hearts.

Join me there!

Yours,
Katherine
(image by Like A Warm Cup of Coffee)

Family News

I hope everyone is having a beautiful 2010. 

I realize you haven't heard from me by way of this blog since before Christmas,

so there is a bit of catching up to do...

Dean's new ornament to me this Christmas...

(pickles and ice cream!)

Yes, we are going to be parents!  We are thrilled about welcoming a little one into our family in June! I am now 18 weeks along and feeling good.  Pray for us as we prepare our hearts, home, and lives for the new arrival!

In the meantime, you can find me curled up on the couch with one of these...

Shining Light on the Twilight Saga

Last night, while at the movie theatre with my husband, we were nearly overcome by the crowd of young teenage girls and adult women (!) who were there to indulge their latest fiction fantasy: the new Twilight movie, New Moon.

"`New Moon' wolfs down $140.7M in opening weekend," boasts the Associated Press headline today.  Twilight is an insanely popular book series by Stephanie Meyer based on a teenage girl, Bella, who falls in love with Edward, a vampire. The second book in the series, New Moon, deals with, not only her vampire sweetheart, but a competing interest, a boy named Jacob who is actually a werewolf.

The intrigue has swept the nation. Last Christmas, I sat with my book in Barnes and Noble in an oversized chair that happened to be in front of the Twilight book table. In the hour I was there, I watched no less than 6 adult women, some with young children in tow, excitedly retrieve their new read from in front of me. Since then, many friends have fallen prey to the phenomenon, and I admit, I am at a loss: not for why they are interested--everyone loves a good read.  I am at a loss as to how, as Christians, we are willing to open ourselves up to what amounts to many aspects of the occult.

Carrol L. Fry, author of Cinema of the Occult: New Age, Satanism, Wicca, and Spiritualism in Film said, "The occult is by nature sensational, and sensationalism sells. Filmmakers have target audiences, but they want to reach a broad spectrum of customers. And you have to remember that a lot of films that adapt occult paths are part of the horror genre, and that audience demands sensationalism."

1. Bitten by darkness

Let's start with vampires.

vampire: 1. a preternatural being, commonly believed to be a reanimated corpse, that is said to suck the blood of sleeping persons at night.  2. (in Eastern European folklore) a corpse, animated by an undeparted soul or demon, that periodically leaves the grave and disturbs the living, until it is exhumed and impaled or burned.

Uplifting, isn't it?  In Scripture, when someone is "animated by a demon", they are referred to as "demon-possessed."  The concept does not just exist in romance novels.  Demon-possession is real and so is the presence of many invisible dark forces.   

"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. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand."  Ephesians 6:12-13

Yes, evil powers are real, and they are not here to romance us in a field of wildflowers.

2. The seduction of the dark side - and Stephanie Meyer

I can hear many of you now:  It is just for fun.  A light read.  I don't believe in vampires, werewolves and all the rest. 

Let's take a look at the origins of this "light" story.  

"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. She says she couldn’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.


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 a dream. She says she had an additional 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.” - Taken from an article by well-known expert on world religions and the occult, Caryl Matrisciana

Chilling, isn't it?  Consider the warning of the Lord to the Israelites before they inherited the Promised Land.

"When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there.  Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. You must be blameless before the Lord your God. The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so." (Deuteronomy 18:9-14)

3. Symbolism is oh, so important

Another concern with Twilight is the concept of blood.  In the movie, blood is depicted as a magnet for vampires, "the undead".  If bitten, Bella will be lost forever and sentenced to become a vampire, as well; the drawing of blood represents eternal lostness. She even expresses her soul is worth nothing to her if she cannot be with the man vampire she loves.

To Christians, blood is most sacred to us. "God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood." "Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins."  (Rom. 3:25; Heb. 9:22)  Apart from his blood, we would be lost forever!  This truth is so real to me; it is our foremost reality as Christians.  And it is just the beautiful antithesis of the picture portrayed in the Twilight saga.

I write primarily for believers.  Many do not know this Jesus who gave his precious blood for us, and I do not fault them for being attracted to these books.  The series is seductive, enticing, and other-worldly.  But to us, who do know Him, may we hold the purity of our faith so dear.  The blood of the Lamb, spilled for us.  The price of our souls that cost Him his life. 

In the name of entertainment, do you open your mind up to dark themes and characters?  Do you subject your emotions to them?  We must be set apart from these things.

2 Kings 9:22 says, "When Joram saw Jehu he asked, "Have you come in peace, Jehu?" "How can there be peace," Jehu replied, "as long as all the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?"

Bust Your Clutter, Free Your Life

I am on a cleaning spree. Not traditional cleaning with the Windex and Swiffer; I am cleaning OUT our house... and with it, our lives.

Tomorrow I am making my second donation drop in one week to a local charity. Let me clarify.

My second CARLOAD this week.


It is amazing how much stuff we Americans collect that just fills our homes with clutter. We (I) love yard sales, TJ Maxx, estate sales, the mall, and before you know it, your house is full of...stuff. (But it was on sale!, we say.)

"If you love trendy decor, it can be expensive to keep up with what is hot and what’s not! Just when you get all the latest stuff and start feeling all trendy, you open up a new magazine to realize your things are already hopelessly out of style. Or worse, they have fallen apart and it is time to reinvest in what is new. You don’t have to be a slave to trends dictated by someone else." - Melissa Michaels, The Inspired Room

And it doesn't have to be decor. Maybe it is clothes. Or toys. Or souvenirs picked up on vacations through the years. Or documents from the 1990's that are taking over your office.

(yes, that is a George Foreman grill that hasn't been used since college.)

Lately I am coming to realize that the accumulation of things is not only costing money. It is taking up our sacred space in our homes. Our homes are to be our sanctuary from a long hard day out, a place of peace and calm. But our habits of accumulation are defeating the life-giving purpose of those four walls. A cluttered space steals our peace of mind. Just think about it: which is more calming? A clear kitchen counter or one piled high with bills, books, and knickknacks?

A house full of stuff not only saps our peace of mind, but it robs our time. Which would you rather do on your Saturday? Go to the pool with your family or spend the day inside cleaning all your stuff? The more we have, the longer it definitely takes. (Again, compare the time it takes to clean a clear counter top versus one covered with objects.)

I don't consider myself a pack rat, but I am now finding myself on the fast track toward simplifying our home and life. In the evenings, I am going through our house room by room, closet by closet, drawer by drawer, and pulling out items that we don't use regularly or love. I am either tossing them out or donating them. Some donations have gone to the Salvation Army and others to the local Wellspring store, a ministry who supports women in crisis. {Another benefit to purging the excess: helping those in need!}

I got so excited on Saturday when several of the dresser drawers in our guest room were EMPTY. And the others were no more than half-full. No more drawers that get stuck because there are too many old shirts or picture frames crammed in.

I have listed several benefits above to decluttering our home -- money, time, and peace of mind. But there is higher purpose for streamlining and simplifying our life. I want to be free from concern.

"What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not;

those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep;

those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them.

For this world in its present form is passing away.
I would like you to be free from concern."
I Corinthians 7:29-32

Yes, we buy things. We use the things of the world but"as if not engrossed in them." "Engrossed" is a powerful word. It means, "to occupy completely, as the mind or attention; absorb." We live in this world, and therefore we use the physical things of the world - a home, a car or bus, clothing, food, phone, internet, furniture, gifts, television, etc. But we aren't to be ENGROSSED by them, completely absorbed by them. They can't be the focus of our lives!

Paul reminds us in these verses that the time is short. We have one short life here on earth. We must make the most of every day, not for our own pleasure and enjoyment, but for Christ and His kingdom. "This world is fading away, along with everything it craves. But if you do the will of God, you will live forever. "{I John 2:17, NLT}

To live this way is to live a life free from concern. To fly above the circumstances, above the noise, above the stuff. To be free of heart and mind to focus on WHAT REALLY MATTERS.

Dean and I have a growing desire to capture each day for this higher purpose. To have time to devote to our friends and our family. To have energy and money to invest in the hurting, the broken, the weak, and the needy. To have quiet in which to hear the Father speaking and guiding us. "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.' " Isaiah 30:21b

I want to be free to hear that voice. Free from the love of things. Free from concern.

Our dear friends April and Matt just moved their family to Hong Kong to reach college students with God's love. The flats in Hong Kong are very small, and in preparation to move, they went through a downsizing process that took months. Many yard sales. Many items sold on Craigslist. Many carloads of donations.

Luke was not a donation :)

As they purged their belongings to the bare minimum, April challenged me to go against the flow of materialism that is prevalent in America. Although she was the one moving to a foreign country, she said, "We are being forced to downsize and keep it simple. It will be harder for you...harder to stay here in America and fight against materialism to put His kingdom first."

She is right. But no matter where we live, whether we have a big house with plenty of room for lots of stuff or reside in a small Hong Kong apartment, we have the same calling. We as Christians MUST put His kingdom first.

"A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." - Luke 12:15

Resources:
Stuff. A great article.

Becoming Minimalist: "A family of four in the suburbs becomes minimalists and so can you." Read about their story, starting with the first blog entry. Inspiring!
The FlyLady recommends the 27-Fling Boogie among other tips to beat the clutter.