Day 149: What Are The Kids Consuming These Days?

What are kids consuming these days indeed. Not the liquid or chemical consumption, but the entertainment kind of consumption. Since most children look to their parents for money, through chores or just money given, I would say that the parents are either oblivious to what their kids are buying with that money or they just don't care.

The picture shows the shelves prominently on display in the Barnes and Noble bookstore in the Cape Girardeau mall. Today was a day trip for us to get out of town for some different scenery. This whole line of shelving was labeled as "Teen Bestsellers" next to the "Top Teen Picks" followed with "Teen Paranormal Romance". Looking at the titles throughout this line of shelving you cannot see the difference from each shelf marker's content. All were "paranormal" in nature, most being occultist. Take a look at the Barnes and Noble Teen Section of their website to see some of the titles lining their shelves.

I am fairly certain that the genre exploded with the success of the Twilight series. Now everyone is trying to cash in on the current wave of books. To non-Christians this is par for the course, take something that is evil and anti-Christ in nature and exploit it. What is really surprising is that a lot of professing Christian parents find nothing wrong with these books or their topics. There are even "Christian Vampire Romance" novels being released. My question to that is "WHY?" Why do people feel the need to equate evil with Christianity? It is unneeded and actually damaging and misleading those of lesser faith.

Where is the line drawn on such things? What topics and genres are unacceptable to be called Christian? We already have subsets "horror" in the fiction aisles, now there will be appearing the "Teen Paranormal" in your local Lifeway Store (if it's not already there). Will the line keep moving until it encompasses "Christian Porn"? How about "Christian Murder" novels? What is the exact point that becoming like the world is the tie severed? If "Christian Vampire" were not bad enough and not causing some issues and concerns to be raised.

These types of fiction are, to the discerning, blatantly anti-Christian. What is more of concern are the books that have a widespread appeal in the Christian bookstores. Books like "The Shack" that gain a following even though they are far from theologically sound, actually blasphemous. Professing Christians gobble this junk up like a Thanksgiving turkey, pandering to their "ideas" of who God is. The ideas presented in the Shack are passed off as "it's just fiction", but whenever God is the subject the fiction better be accurate. God is reduced to 3 less than perfect people, as the Father is portrayed as a older, overweight black woman. Why? To scratch some ears? I'd say more to lead to and in deception.

Satan knows what he is doing. He is taking God and Christianity, using the little that is known by most of the population (yes, even professing Christians) and twisting and distorting those principles and terms into right out blasphemy. These products are then gobbled up by those that have little, if any, true beliefs that are biblical or Christian at all. That is why when someone speaks out against this heresy and blasphemy they are the ones that get slammed and not the books and other things in question. The other things include TV shows, movies and a large portion of "Contemporary Christian Music".

When are the true Christians going to take a stand for God? Being silent is actually condoning what these people are doing. Would you remain silent if someone was lying about your spouse or cursing them? What about your Mom? Would you allow a novel to be written about her that was 180 degrees the opposite of her nature? Of course not. Then why would you about your God? Why would you endorse a song as "Christian" because it has the name of Jesus in the title? Kanye West had a hit titled "Jesus Walks" and everyone just accepts that West is a Christian, even though that song and all of his others, his lifestyle and his language says otherwise. There are others that profess Christ throughout every genre of music that live contrary to what scripture says a Christian will live. But forbid anyone say they aren't a Christian or they will be blasted and called a Pharisee.

I'd like to call all true Christians to wake up and take a stand. Rid your homes of junk that professes to be Christian and is not. Take the copies of "The Message" bible and chuck it out, take your copy of the Shack and toss it in the trash. Take your Kerie Underwood CDs and break them in half. Get your U2 CDs and albums and toss them out. True Christians do not need this junk in their lives and actually should be speaking out against it all. Do not be friends with this worldly junk. It causes confusion within the body and to those that may be young in their faith or just starting to explore who Christ is. Do not let these types of things confuse and grab hold to those that have little or no discernment. Tell them to steer clear or you will be held accountable for not telling them.

Stay true to the Word and to God. Flee the evilness of this day and cut the things that are of the world from your life. Ask God to search your heart and show you the things that need to be tossed. If you are a true child of God His Spirit will bare truth to your spirit. You will get convicted of having sinful things that hang on in your life.

I will leave you with a telling verse from Proverbs. Are you either of these people?

Proverbs 17:15 He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the LORD.