I Would Rather Be With Edward Cullen Than Be With Some Church Person

Fellow Blogger writes... in response to Twilight's Blood Soaked Romance

Are you serious i dont aprove of this article at all no ok first of all twilight is alsome i would read that faster than i wll read the bible please and dont give me a response about your believes ok please you say that kids should be themselves and read now that im reading ALOT your going to tell me to read something more good for my spirit well NO! i agree on every single word that Karen had said ok i would rather be with edward cullen than be with someone thats a church person. thanks for reading..

Jasmin J. Cullen

Bye

Beloved By Him replies...

We’re not surprised that people are offended by the truth of the Word of God, or that you see us as the bad guys trying to take something away from you that you enjoy. It would be easy to flatter people and justify sin in order to be popular, but that would make us enemies of God. We love Him and respect and fear Him and His word too much to compromise how we share His truth. And hopefully you will believe me when I say that we also love you, too, or we wouldn’t be in this ministry. We aren’t here to put you down, or to be critical of your feelings. We want you to have a great life that’s full of joy and happiness! So when we speak out against something that is deceptive, such as the Twilight series, it’s to help our readers understand that even though something comes in a good-looking package, it can still be rotten at its core. I know you don’t like when I say that, but stay with me a little longer, and keep reading…

I can see that you feel really strongly about the character of Edward. It’s awesome to think about having a powerful, handsome guy be totally in love with us. Every woman wants that. God gave us that desire to love and be loved, and He wants it to be permanent. Eccl. 9:9 says that a man is supposed to live joyfully with his wife all the days of his vain life under the sun, because that’s God’s will for him. And God wants our man to be strong, to pursue us, and to make a statement to the world about how much he loves us. He needs to be a one-woman guy, who appreciates our beauty and wants to take care of us. Most importantly, he’s supposed to love us with Christ’s love, a love that comes from God and is centered in His word, so that he can help us draw closer to God in our own lives. All of these qualities are described in the Bible, and they are not fictional. They are real, just as God is real, and I can tell you that because I have blessed to be married to a real flesh-and-blood man who has walked through the fire with me and for me. There is the perfect guy out there for you, too, one who will be willing to lay down his life for you, not the way it happens in some story that was created by people in the world who don’t know the love of Jesus Christ. True love and desire come from God; it’s a love that’s stronger than death, it can’t be bought or bargained for, and it can’t be quenched or drowned out by what comes against it. That’s the kind of love that Jesus has for us, that caused Him to die a gory, bloody death on the cross for us, so that we could live with Him forever in paradise (references from Song of Solomon, John 15, I Corinthians 13, Ephesians 6, Hebrews 9 & 10).

The world wants to put a dark spin on love, to make it more dramatic and more sensual, so that it can pull on our feelings and keep us in turmoil. That way, we stay oblivious to the fact that we can’t find God’s love in what the world has to offer. God is the source of love, and in Him is no darkness at all (I John 1:5, 4:7). If we belong to Christ, and are children of God, we are supposed to walk in the light and have no fellowship with the darkness of sin, including the occult, demonic forces, and vampirism (II Cor. 6:14-18). That means not reading books that don’t accurately portray the love of Christ or the importance of receiving His salvation so that our eternal life will be in heaven with Him. (That’s another important point to make: Eternal life does not begin here on this earth, as it does for the vampires of Twilight; it begins after we die and are judged by God. See Hebrews 9:27)

Don’t allow yourself to be fooled into buying the cheap imitation of love that the world is offering through the Twilight books. Instead, I would challenge you to read and learn about the One Who loves you since before the beginning of this world, Who wants to bring you into His kingdom, and wants to give you real eternal life. The book of Revelation describes what He will look like when we see Him:

“Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords”. (Rev. 19:11-16).

That’s my eternal Beloved, my Savior, and He wants to be yours, too. I truly hope and pray that you will open your heart to Him, and everything He wants to give you. He wants you to hunger and thirst for righteousness, not for blood (Matt. 5:6). He already shed His for you. Think about it.

Sincerely,

Beloved By Him

Are Vampires Real?

Anonymous writes...

Hey I'm a Christian girl and I'm 13 I read Twilight but I wanted to know if vampires were real?

Trophy of Grace replies..

Vampires are not real but demons and evil spirits are real. I personally see vampires and these other creatures as glorified demons on the big screen. The vampire series (Twilight), new moon werewolves, hellboy, witchcraft movies (HarryPotter), and all the other so called ‘good’ evil heros and characters portrayed in Hollywood are all demonically inspired. They are meant to desensitize people making their spirits less sensitive and unaware of the evil influence that truly lies behind the creation of these books and movies. They are meant to open us up to accept the evil as harmless and even good. How can evil be good?

The devil and his demons (fallen angels) want people to think that they do not exist, but they do. They are the influence behind the scenes feeding some novelists, musicians, actors, screen writers, and politician’s with devil inspired visions and dreams that are ultimately destined to keep humans in bondage to sin and rebellion against God. These people are just puppets in the hands of satan.

Satan, the evil one, is the ruler of this present world. The world around us is under his control. (1 John 5:19) He is the father of lies. He is crafty, slanderous, deceitful, vicious, murderous, devious, mighty, conceited, cowardly, and wicked. His demons are fallen angels who oppose God and follow satan, serving the kingdom of darkness. Their goal is to tempt men to curse God’s name, keep men from faith in God, betray Christ, and receive worship. He has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe in Christ Jesus so they are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News that Jesus Christ died for our sins and that we no longer have to be slaves to sin. (2 Corinthians 4:4)

There is a battle raging in the spiritual world for the souls of men. Satan knows that he was defeated when Jesus paid the price for all of our sins by laying his life down for us. He also knows that Jesus will be coming back for His true followers soon and that his time is short. So the devil is going around wreaking havoc all over. That is why there is such an increase in evil. Don’t you see more and more evil around you? Death, cursing of God, abuse, drugs, rap, murder, fornication, perversion, and corruption is every where. We are in the end days and it is only getting worse.

But thank God that believers of Christ Jesus have the Holy Spirit who lives in them and who is more powerful than satan and any of his demons. Followers of Christ have been given authority in Jesus name over the forces of darkness. We are told to put on the armor of God so that we will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil because we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:10-12)

This may be hard to understand if you are not a believer or if you do not know what the Word of God says about spiritual warfare. If you like reading the Twilight series then I believe that you would like fiction books written by Frank Peretti. I just read two of his books called This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness. I really enjoyed them. They are truly interesting and help people better understand how the forces of darkness operate.

Here's a link to his site Frank Peretti

Sorry for the long response..I just couldn’t answer plainly “no there are no vampires” because WeUsed2bu’s mission is to unveil the lies of the enemy. I pray that you have eyes to see the Truth. Many blessing to you sister..

Sincerely,

Trophy of Grace

Twilight's Blood-Soaked Romance

Cross Post from Brio Online
Twilight’s Blood-Soaked Romance
by Melanie M. Cogdill

In the dappled sunlight in the clearing of a meadow on the edge of a forest, 16-year-old Bella Swan’s heart races as GQ-model-handsome Edward Cullen draws near to her. Edward, in love with Bella, musters every ounce of self-control not to kill her. Killing’s his first instinct—because he’s a vampire. This scene, a vivid dream of author Stephenie Meyer, sparked her imagination to write Twilight, the first book of a bestselling young-adult series.

The Phenomenon
From that original dream, Stephenie, a 30-something housewife and mom of three young boys, has birthed a four-novel series that has sent teen girls and women of every age swooning over the star-crossed love story of Bella and Edward. In fact, a movie based on the series, starring Kristen Stewart (Into the Wild) as Bella Swan and Robert Pattinson (two of the “Harry Potter” movies) as Edward Cullen, opens Nov. 21.

The series has certainly appealed to a wide audience, but just because everyone’s reading it, should you? Despite the series’ surface appeal as a romance, it communicates many messages that are contrary to the Christian faith, and that’s not something you should be filling your mind with.


Truth and Relationships
God created us as relational beings, and girls in particular are created to be relational (Genesis 2-3). We tend to focus on relationships, but sometimes we make an idol out of them or fantasize over our desire for a relationship with that “perfect” guy. No guy can ever live up to the way Stephenie portrays Edward. He’s the fantasy creation of a woman writer.

Bella’s obsession with Edward is wrong. She’s even willing to become a vampire herself so she can “live” forever with Edward. But how can a human ever be yoked to or be in a serious relationship with a vampire? And what’s dangerous about Stephenie’s series is that the reader, too, enters into Bella’s obsession with Edward.

If we believe in God and believe the Bible guides how we live our lives, then we know our highest priority is our love for God and our relationship with Him. God should be the driving force of our lives and not a guy, no matter how attentive, respectful, cool and loving he appears to be. The “Twilight” books don’t communicate God’s truth about relationships.

The “Twilight” series also teaches unbiblical attitudes toward authority. Bella doesn’t respect her parents. She loves them, but they come across as clueless and out of touch with what’s going on in her life. Edward sneaks into Bella’s room every night to sleep next to her, and Bella lies to her dad about it.


Talking About God
Every part of culture (books, movies, music, art and fashion) communicates the belief of the writer, musician, designer or director. The “Twilight” series is no different. It conveys specific beliefs about God. Statements about God and salvation are peppered throughout the story in a subtle way. But are they biblical?

Good and evil in Twilight. Edward and his family are supposedly a different kind of vampire. The Cullens think killing humans is wrong. Even though they thirst for human blood, they abstain and instead hunt bears and large game for their blood. Stephenie’s story communicates that even though Edward is technically an evil being—he is, after all, a vampire—he tries to be good by not killing humans for food. But can an evil being ever be “good”? If he repents and reforms his ways—Beauty and the Beast, anyone?—yes, but the vampires in this series do not. They remain vampires.


Good and evil in the Bible. The Bible teaches the opposite of what “Twilight” does about goodness and salvation. Human beings are sinners. We cannot know God apart from faith in Christ’s death on the cross for our sins. Romans 3:22-24 states, “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

Many people believe that when they die, God will allow them into heaven because they tried to live a good life and do good deeds. That is basically what the vampires of this series do; they believe that by doing “good” deeds (e.g., not killing humans), they can be saved.

But the Bible clearly teaches no one can be redeemed by good deeds. It’s only through faith in Christ that we can enter heaven and into the presence of the God. Yes, the “Twilight” story is only fiction. It’s not the Bible, but Christian readers need to be on guard to discern if spiritual statements in books, films or music match the truth of God’s Word.


An Entry to the Occult
The final book in the series, Breaking Dawn, makes a hard turn from romance into horror and the occult. Bella and Edward get married and have sex.

In one extended, very disturbing scene, Bella dies and is transformed into a vampire. She gives birth to a half-human, half-vampire baby, which tears its way out of her belly with torrents of blood.


What Do You Believe?
It’s easy to think it’s no big deal to see the latest hip movie or read the books everyone else is reading and not pay attention to what those media are saying.

We’re to love God with every fiber of our beings, and that includes loving Him with our minds (Matthew 22:36-38). We need to think about what fills our minds. Does it reflect biblical truth? The “Twilight” series does not. Just because the culture loves these books does not mean you should. As Scripture tells us, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2).


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This article appeared in Brio magazine in December 2008. Copyright © 2008 Melanie M. Cogdill. All rights reserved. International copyright secured.

Beware Of Anger!

Cross Post From Consecrated To Him
Written By: Trophy of Grace


BEWARE OF ANGER! When we have been hurt, offended, gossiped on, betrayed, or taken advantage of we must not allow ourselves to be consumed by anger. Anger is determined to take over all of our emotions and hinder our thinking provoking us to meditate on the offense over and over again.

It’s a trap! Don’t meditate on the offense!

By constantly remembering the offense we are feeding the anger and prolonging forgiveness and healing. We need to learn to choose to forgive and leave the offense and the offender in God’s hands. Believe me; I know it is easier said than done especially when it hits close to the heart. However, the Word of God tells us that if we do not forgive our offenders than God will not forgive us either. We are also commanded to get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger in our lives.

“Your heavenly Father will forgive you if you forgive those who have sinned against you; but if you refuse to forgive them, he will not forgive you.” (Matthew 6:15)

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:31-32)

I am not saying don’t get angry. There will be times that we all get angry. We just can not allow the anger to overcome us. So what do we do when we have been hurt? How do we not allow anger not to consume us? Below are just some suggestions:

Ø Be lead by the Spirit. Don’t allow your fleshy emotions to take over your mind. Remember there are principalities in the spiritual realm wanting to agitate the situation more and could even be the influence provoking it. We must keep in mind that we are constantly in a spiritual battle.
Ø Control your tongue. Don’t be loose with the lips saying things that you will regret. I know my first reaction is to want to come out of my mouth and start verbally retaliating. I feel the need to defend myself with my tongue. This is not the answer! It will only help to quickly escalate the conflict.
Ø Do not hesitate, immediately begin to pray! Ask God to help keep a cover over your mouth until the Holy Spirit has helped you get control over your emotions. Then try to resolve the situation amicably, in love and with patience.
Ø If your offender is unreasonable and does not care to resolve the conflict then you have got to let it go and leave it in God’s hands. Remember that God is our vindicator. There is no reason to defend yourself or retaliate in anger, trust our Lord to work on both of your hearts and forgive the person right away for your own good.
Ø Refresh yourself by playing some praise and worship music so that you can get your spirit and mind back on the Lord and off the offense. It’s hard to be angry when you are worshipping God.

Lord, we thank you that through the power of the Holy Spirit we can forgive quickly and not allow anger to have its way with our emotions. We pray that You would have mercy on our offenders and draw them closer to You. In Jesus name…Amen.