Date: Sunday, December 4, 2011, 12:34 AM HARRY POTTER The "Harry Potter" character by author J.K. Rowling has swept the nation by storm, and parents are delighted that their children are turning from television and video games to read the Harry Potter books. But is what they are reading really good for them? And are the parents really aware of the dangers hidden in these books and the movies being created from them? The books are promoted as "pure escapism", where children can lose themselves in a fun fantasy world of magic and adventure. However, Harry Potter books teach witchcraft. The Harry Potter character attends a school called "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" where he learns to use the special powers he apparently inherited from his parents who were killed by an evil wizard. The characters in the books fly about on brooms, cast spells, and contemptuously call non-wizards "Muggles". This may seem harmless enough in itself, as many children are raised on "fairy tales" that involve magic. But children also have active imaginations, and this is where Satan seeks to gain access to them. When Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they lost their innocence and understood the difference between good and evil, and understood that they were now responsible for that knowledge. But what Satan hadn't counted on was that God would use the knowledge of good and evil as a barrier to keep him and his demons from entering and possessing Mankind. This barrier is called the "conscious" mind. The conscious mind acts as a "filter", evaluating thoughts and experiences in terms of good and evil, harmful and harmless, etc. However the subconscious mind can't tell the difference, and believes what it is told. For example if a hypnotized person is given a strong onion and is told that it is a delicious apple, the person will eat it and will believe that they have eaten a delicious apple. The "conscious" mind is "asleep" and cannot reject the deception, and the subconscious believes what it has been told, assuming that the conscious has cleared the issue first. And here is the key to demon possession. In order to possess a person, Satan needs to get past the barrier of the conscious mind. Therefore he "candy-coats" sin to make it appear attractive so that the conscious mind will accept it, appealing to our fallen nature. The conscious mind is the gatekeeper to the soul. When the conscious mind accepts something sinful, the doorway opens slightly. Continued indulgence in this sin will open the door wider, until the conscious mind no longer considers the act as sin. And that is when the door is fully open, and demons have the legal right to enter and possess a person because of the sin. Children are the last vestige of innocence we have on this Earth, and their innocence is far too quickly taken from them. We shield our children from "porn" materials and put warning labels on music, movies and video games to warn parents concerning explicit content. Why? To protect young their minds and imaginations from corruption. Some of the most horrifying crimes we have seen have first been fantasized about by those who committed them. And many criminals report that they were physically and sexually abused as children, causing the psychological problems they have today. Physical and sexual abuse of children gives demons access to them not necessarily through the sin, but through the intense anger and hatred that these children feel toward those who abuse them. Some of Satan's assaults on children's minds are more subtle and devious. And have you noticed that the entertainment industry is putting sex into more and more movies and television shows aimed at younger and younger audiences? How hard it is to see a movie today that doesn't have unnecessary graphic sex in it? How music lyrics are becoming more graphic in their use of foul language and explicit descriptions of violence? How far too many of the female artists in music videos are wearing less and less clothing? The consciences of our children are becoming corrupted and hardened through the media and their role-models are no longer their parents, but movie and music video idols. Children see these people as successful, and want to either emulate them or be with them, and their imaginations (and hormones) are stimulated by these graphic presentations. And yet many parents watch their children's behavioral changes and wonder "where did we go wrong?" If they had paid close attention early on to what their children watch and listen to, and what their friends do, they could have steered their children in the right direction at an early age. Satan has used numerous attempts in the past to try to reach children through something seemingly harmless. Remember "Ouija boards"? This "harmless toy" taught children necromancy, communication with familiar spirits. And remember "Magic '8' balls"? This "harmless toy" taught children divination, the foretelling of the future. Yet they were marketed as being "toys". The "Harry Potter" books don't even bother to disguise their witchcraft content, and yet parents and educators see nothing wrong with them, saying that they are "harmless fantasy". Yet it is but a short step for children to begin imagining themselves as "Harry Potter" and imagining themselves wielding his powers. And newspaper reports have already told of children trying the spells used in the Harry Potter books on their teachers and others. God has put upon parents the task of raising their children to follow after righteousness. He expects us to shield them from harmful influences until they are old enough to make the right decisions for themselves. As He told Moses and Israel; DEUTERONOMY 11:18-21 18 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. 19 And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 20 And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: 21 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth. Some of the Jews took verse 18 literally and created "phylacteries", small boxes containing Scripture that they tie on their hands and place on their foreheads. But the key verse here is verse 19, where God stresses that fathers in Israel were to teach the Scriptures to their children, speaking of them constantly so that the children would have God's Words well-grounded in themselves when they became adults. As the wisdom of Proverbs so simply yet eloquently states; PROVERBS 22:6 6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. This issue holds a special significance to me, as I have been deep into the Occult myself, and I know the terrible bondage of those who are demon-possessed, having been possessed myself. It was curiosity and imagination that led me there, and granted, not all children who read Harry Potter books will enter the Occult. But their minds will be assaulted by dark forces seeking entry, and I guarantee that parents who allow their children to read these books will reap a terrible harvest in their children in the future. Satan is preparing the world for the coming of the Antichrist, whom the Scripture calls; II THESSALONIANS 2:9-12 9 [Even him], whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Verse 9 says he will display power, and signs, and lying wonders, and verse 11 says that God will cause people to believe his lies because they didn't want to receive the truth. Satan wants to get to the children as they are easier to control than adults, and if he can get them at an early age, he can control them into adulthood where they will be ready to do his bidding when the Antichrist appears. BOTTOM LINE: Parents, we will be held accountable before God as to how we raised our children. If we have failed to raise them to understand the differences between right and wrong, He will have a terrible accounting of us. Granted, sometimes children are raised right but still turn out wrong. God will not hold us accountable for that, but He will look closely at what we have taught our children. Fathers, just as God held Adam responsible for his wife's actions in the Garden of Eden, even so will you be held accountable for the actions of your household. He has made you head of the house, and you hold ultimate responsibility before Him for your family's welfare both physically and spiritually! Educators and psychologists have taken the role of teaching our children, and parents have relinquished their duties as educators and shapers of their children's minds to strangers who teach them worldly values. A good example of this is the issue of pre-marital sex. The Scriptures teach abstinence from sex until marriage. Why? Because pre-marital sex is Satan's most efficient method of demon transfer between two people, for they become one flesh. And through their disobedience, Satan has legal right and access to both parties. Yet the philosophy of today says, "They're gonna do it anyway, so we'll teach them how to have 'safe sex'. Self-control is no longer advocated, and those who DO exercise self-control are ridiculed by their peers. And now these same educators and psychologists are telling us that the Harry Potter books are 'safe', and ridicule those who warn of the dangers contained in these books. You be the judge. Will God delight in us as parents for letting our children read books that openly promote witchcraft? desmond -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BETTER PERSONALITY GROUP" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/better_personality?hl=en.
