The Harry Potter mania has been bothering me for a long time, especially since I know of many Christian parents who endorse it.  My kids, who are grown now, accuse me of being too black and white.  I suppose I am, especially when it comes to scripture.  Long ago I had to decide if I believed the Bible was true or not.  You see, I didn’t especially like everything it said. In fact, I would have liked to do my own “cut & paste” job, omitting those things I found uncomfortable and keeping those things that weren’t. But after much study, soul searching and arguing with God, I finally came to the conclusion that the Bible is His inerrant Word. Period.

Regarding Harry Potter, here’s the problem. Parents are accountable to God for what they allow or don’t allow in their homes; and what they allow or don’t allow their children to do.  So my question is this: if God forbids a thing, can a Christian, in good conscience, practice it or endorse its practice without offending God?  I think not.  The Bible makes it perfectly clear, in numerous passages, that witchcraft, sorcery, etc. is forbidden, as in Deuteronomy 18:10-12. “There shall not be anyone found among you who makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.  For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord.” This is just one scripture, but there are others.

Because the Potter books often read like a manual for witchcraft, and because each succeeding book has the potential to draw a child deeper into occultic arts, I can’t view them as harmless entertainment.  Kids, as a rule, go through various stages, often feeling ugly, unloved, unpopular, misunderstood.  Just like Harry Potter!   And when they’re going through this how easily they can be drawn to the Potter books, and through them see a way, via the occult, to empower themselves by manipulating others.  Indeed, the people at the WICCA (white witchcraft) website have claimed that since Harry Potter and TV programs like Sabrina the Teenage Witch, they can’t keep up with all the requests they’re getting for information.

The Bible tells us that we will know them (those things and people that are either good or bad) by their fruits. If something inspires our young people to violate the Word of God, how can it be good?

Just my two cents.

Until next week,

Sylvia

The other day my husband, who wasn’t feeling well, asked me to make chicken soup, because when he’s like that he enjoys nothing better than hot broth. We all have foods that comfort us when our bodies hurt or we are feeling poorly.  But what about the times our hearts or minds hurt?  What do we do then?

I, for one, go straight for the Psalms.  I love them.  Honest and full of raw emotion, they always have a way of speaking to me when I’m at my lowest.  Check this out: “Save me O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters where the floods overflow me.  I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.” (Ps 69:1-3) Wow!

But the Psalms are also uplifting and encouraging, as well as instructional. Take for instance Psalm 27: 1, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?  The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”  You read and meditate on that for awhile and I guarantee your troubles will seem a lot smaller.  And how about this one which is speaking of King David: “Thou hast given him his heart’s desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips”—a golden promise to us “kings and priests” if ever there was one.  Then there’s this: “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord” (Psalm 27:14)—a mini refresher course on how to gain victory. And of course this in Ps 90:12, “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” which is a great reminded that we’re not going to be here forever so don’t waste your time on the silly stuff.

Oh, what wisdom and comfort can be found in the Psalms!  They are my hot broth.  If you’ve never sampled them, maybe you will the next time you’re feeling poorly.

Until next week,

Sylvia

This week an unexpected trip to the dentist to re-glue a temporary cap made me feel a bit like a vintage car in need of some new parts. I suppose that’s common when growing older.  In restaurants, I’ve sat by enough seniors to learn that much of their conversation is filled with ailments and meds.  Not a happy prospect, or is it?

Actually, I’m learning that getting older has many advantages.  The foolishness and impetuous nature of youth is long behind you. The disappointments of middle age where one comes to grips with the fact that he or she will NOT change the world, is forgotten.  What’s left?  Contentment, and hopefully some wisdom:  the contentment to enjoy life for what it is, and the wisdom to separate the extraneous from the vital.

Everyone who comes to this place must decide for themselves what fits under their “vital” column.  For me, it’s God and family and friends.  So simple, isn’t it?  But then, when you strip everything away, life really is simple.

Here’s to getting older!

Until next week,

Sylvia  

This weekend I helped someone paint a room.  It was gratifying to see the space take on a fresh new look.  As marks and scratches were covered over the room actually appeared friendlier, happier, and for some reason, it made me think of how the “rooms” of our minds and hearts get marred and scratched, too, and when they do, how we need to go to God for a fresh touchup. 

It’s then that He applies His brush dipped in love and grace to those dents and bruises, and we, like that room, become friendlier and more loving to others, and happier, too.  I can’t imagine living life without frequent touchups from God, but many people do. They live with cobwebbed and debris-filled rooms, with marred and damaged walls; places hostile to themselves and others, when all they have to do is allow the Carpenter’s hand to repair and refurbish.  And oh, how He delights in doing this! I only pray we allow Him access.

Until next week,

Sylvia

Not too long ago I went to someone’s surprise 50th birthday party.  Trouble is, not too long ago this someone was in his twenties, or so it seems.  Where did the time go?  It feels like it’s just slipped away. And the older I get, the faster it seems to slip.

I’m at the point in my life where I can laugh at all those jokes regarding creaky joints and “early bird” specials. I can laugh because I can relate.  But it’s also sobering, too, because it makes me realize that my time is limited, and so is yours, and we need to be using it wisely.

How often have we promised ourselves that this is the year we are going to completely read through the Bible, or join a Bible study or maybe even start one, or volunteer for that new outreach at the church or . . . .

Though 2010 has already streaked by its midway point, there’s still time to make this the year when we actually accomplish the thing for God He has been gently nudging us to do, because before we know it we’ll be going to our friend’s 60th or 70th or 80th surprise birthday party, and we don’t want to look back and say, “oh, I wish I had done this or that.”

We need to be about the Father’s business; to use our time doing the job He has assigned us. Only God knows the number of our days, and that number will be different for each of us.  Let’s use them wisely. 

Until next week,

Sylvia

Lately, I’ve been struck how the world is changing at an alarming rate.  What was in yesterday is out today.  Up is the new down, and down the new up. The unthinkable has become the thinkable.  Not that many years ago who would have thought that our public schools would want to teach sex ed to first graders?  Or that our government would be bent on spending us into bankruptcy in spite of our objections? Or that a Libyan mass murderer would be released from prison as part of any oil deal? Or that the teachers we entrusted our children to would molest them?  And the list goes on.  It’s enough to make your head spin. 

There are some who’d like us to believe that we are in the enlightened age, that all this change is just part of progress, that the world has become smaller and we just need to get in step and go along for the greater good.  And that if we do, we’ll be marching into a better world. 

Odd how the Bible differs in this.  It says that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  He never changes, and that means neither does His precepts. What He valued yesterday He values today.  What He said was right yesterday, whether concerning finances or morals, is still right today. So why are so many Christians buying into the changes we see? Two words: double mindedness.  Believe me, it’s not an enviable position because the Bible says that a double minded man is unstable in all his ways, that he will be tossed to and fro like a wave by the wind, and that he should not expect to receive anything from God. (James 1: 6-8)

Still, the temptation is great to cleave our minds in two, one half conforming to the world, the other half to the things of God. Even if we don’t want to, we are pressured on every side. And I believe this pressure will only intensify as the world worsens.  And the world is sure to get worse before it gets better.  That means more than ever Christians must remain single minded, and be “not conformed to this world but transformed” if we hope to live lives blessed by God and firmly under His care.

Oh, LORD, that we may be single minded!

Until next week,

Sylvia

This week I had the privilege of watching my grandchildren for a few days.  I wanted to come up with a project to keep them busy so I had them make a puppet theater out of a cardboard box.  My job was the curtains while the kids came up with a script, made paper puppets, props, the crayoned scenery, and 25-cent admissions tickets, as well as the concession stand tickets for 5-cent bowls of popcorn and banana pudding. Of course we did other things too, like play games and swim and watch Disney’s Mary Poppins, but a good deal of time was spent on getting ready for the “big show.”

The kids were excited and busy at their task for the first two days, but by day three they had had enough.  It took some gentle prodding to get them to finish, but they reaped great rewards when their parents came home!  Oh, the excitement then!  The camera snapping, the hugs, the numerous exclamations! And by the look on my grandchildren’s faces, I knew they were glad they had seen the project through.

I came away thinking that in many ways I react the same way when God assigns me a “project” or has me go through something that requires a good deal of effort on my part. At first I’m determined, perhaps even excited that I will encounter God in a new and deeper way.  Then tedium sets in.  I weary of the task.  I yearn to return to that which is easier or more familiar, and all the while there is God prodding me on. And the end is always the same.  If I persevere I reap the rewards—I feel God’s pleasure.

I know at times we all become weary of well doing but the Bible says that we will reap in due season if we faint not (Galatians 6:9).  And that’s worth going the distance.

Until next week,

Sylvia

I love observing my grandchildren’s reactions: sweet wonderment and surprise when learning anything new; so trusting when an adult tells them something; innocent and unaware of the evils of the larger world; and so utterly secure in their belief that they will have a roof over their heads when they lay down at night.

These are the elements of childhood I love best: wonderment, trust, innocence, and faith. But unfortunately life has a way of chipping away at them enroute to adulthood and most of us lose some, if not all, of these elements. 

But the very elements that make childhood so wonderful are also the very things that make for a rich spiritual life.  Jesus himself said we were to “become as little children” if we wished to enter the Kingdom of God. And that means we are to maintain our awe and wonderment about the God who created us; trust in Him; remain “innocent” and do not partake in the corruption of the larger world; and have faith that God can and will do all He promises in His Word.

But as in the physical realm where a child must eventually “grow up”, many Christians think that by replacing their “child-like” faith with a more cynical, sophisticated attitude toward scripture that they have grown up spiritually.  In reality they have only “dried-up.”

Jesus instructed us to remain child-like for a reason.  It was because the things of God are spiritually, not intellectually discerned.  One must approach God humbly, with a heart open to instruction.  One must be willing to lay aside preconceived ideas, pride, and the desire to do things “his” way. But because this is not a popular message in today’s pulpits, and because so much of society worships the intellect, we have a lot of “dried-up” Christians walking around.

One of the most spiritually mature believers I’ve ever read about is Brother Lawrence, a simple man who worked most of his life as a cook and who wrote the practice of the presence OF GOD. I’d dearly love to have even a fraction of his spiritual maturity.  His life illustrated what most believers yearn for, proving it was possible to have. It was a life full and rich, and spent in the company of Jesus.

Oh, Lord, that we might be more child-like!

Until next week,

Sylvia

Yesterday, across America, people celebrated Independence Day.  In essence it was the celebration of freedom.  And oh, what a great thing that is!  And what a great country we live in!  Though in some ways I see our freedoms eroding, I believe we still live in a land where we are free to dream and then make those dreams come true; where we are equal in the eyes of the law regardless of our race or social position; where we are free to practice the religion of our choice. But it all came with a price.  And someone else had to pay it.  It wasn’t free at all.  People died, blood was shed, families were separated, and hardships endured, and on July 4th our nation remembers that.

But there’s another freedom, even more precious, that also was paid by blood and separation and hardship.  It’s the freedom from sin and death that Jesus purchased for us at the cross.  And oh, how costly that freedom was!  But how willingly Jesus paid it!  Those of us who are called by His name know the freedom of which I speak.  It is the freedom that a clear conscience brings after knowing you are forgiven from every wretched thing you’ve ever done; the freedom from fear of the future, for our future is in His hands; the freedom that comes in knowing that our eternal destiny is sealed.

I love my country and value it greatly.  But our life on this planet is so brief—a passing vapor the Bible calls it—so the freedom we should seek, the freedom we should prize about all others is that which is found in Christ, for it is the freedom we will enjoy throughout eternity.

I hope you all had a happy 4th!  God bless America!

Until next week,

Sylvia   

This week I met my hubby for lunch—a nice little Italian place where we each had a bowl of pasta.  While there, two thirty-something women at a nearby table caught my eye. Obviously on a “working lunch” one had her wireless computer open next to her water glass, the other clutched a cell that rarely left her hand even while eating. 

It was hard not noticing them since they constantly jumped up and down from their chairs to go outside and make phone calls.  When they did sit, one texted, the other flailed away at her computer. Interestingly, there was very little interaction between the two of them.

I marveled at this flurry of communication that seemed so void of relationship—this cadre of gadgets that enabled them, and enables us, to communicating more but connect, really connect, less, thus making our relationships anemic.  We have facebook, twitter, emails, and cell texting where we can say more than ever but end up by saying less—less meaningful, less real, less personal. I know.  I’m guilty of this myself.

I think my fear is this: with our culture already addicted to “instant gratification” will this “instant” connecting with others in little snippets, which is so appealing, cause us to find deep, time consuming and demanding efforts at a real relationship a thing of the past? And that includes a relationship with God. I hope not. But I think it’s already trending that way.

Until next week,

Sylvia