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Harry Potter vs. THE Potter
A Fundamental of the Faith We Profess
( All scriptures taken from the Authorized King James version )
( All scripture references are quoted in full at the end of this article )
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I guess the only real way to start this article is to say this... If you are an unbeliever, you might as well not even bother reading this because it is not possible for you to see the spiritual truth in this apart from the assistance of the indwelling Holy Spirit of God which you do not have because you're not a saved Christian in whom the Spirit of God dwells. This article is not written to unsaved, unbelievers of the world.
On the other hand, if you are a professing Christian and you are coming into this with a defensive attitude having already determined in your heart that "there is nothing wrong with Harry Potter," then you also are wasting your time because God cannot speak to one who has a stubborn spirit.
Now that I have offended most of you, let me tell you what I am NOT here to do... I am not here to merely quote scriptures to you concerning witchcraft. I could very well do so and both surprise and amaze most "professing" Christians who are not aware, because they rarely, if ever read their Bibles, that there are indeed many scriptures that address the topic of witchcraft which the Harry Potter series is based on. Yet I will refrain from using these scriptures in this article, and merely list them at the end of the article as references for extra reading for those of you who might actually be interested in knowing God's view (as it is written in the Bible) of witchcraft and anything pertaining to it. There will be scripture references made throughout this article, but they are not directly related to the topic of witchcraft.
So... to the Christians who have chosen to read on, please take a moment to pray and ask the Lord to reveal to you His view on this topic as you read this article. To all others, please feel free to read on. But please... don't bother wasting your time or mine to write in defense of your opposing views. Because just as you are not capable of seeing the spiritual truth in this article due to your not having the Spirit of God, neither are you capable of changing my view which is entirely based on what God's word says, and not merely what I choose to believe.
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A R T I C L E
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IDENTITY CRISIS
I have always said, and I firmly believe that "professing" Christians and "true" Christians are two totally different creatures. Those who merely "profess" Christianity can be found just about anywhere you go and in just about any situation or environment you can imagine. They have not changed anything about the way they live, the way they think, the things they do, the things they believe... you name it. In fact, if they didn't tell you so (and most of them won't), you'd never know they were Christians at all. I like to refer to this type of Christian as "Professors"... the type that want salvation without having to sacrifice the sinful ways they live. Basically - freeloaders.
Yet the Word of God clearly and definitely tells us that Chrisitans are called to be separate from the world and its ways... called out of our old ways of living (2 Cor. 6:14-17) unto a new, Godly way of living. When the Lord walked among us, He most definitely did not conform to the ways of this world. He didn't even conform to Jewish religious customs, and He, Himself was Jewish! And though He was rebuked, criticised, tempted, tested, threatened with death and even eventually crucified for what basically boils down to Him being different from the world, He never gave in to the temptations of the world even for the sake of His own life. Now, you may say, "Well, He was God in the flesh, so he had an advantage over us humans." And though it is true that He was God in the flesh, we must remember that because He was "manifest in the flesh" (1 Tim. 3:16) he was as much a human as He was God. Therefore He was subject unto the same feelings and temptations that we humans are. He got tired and hungry and he suffered just like us. (Heb. 2:18) Yet though He suffered and was tempted, He overcame the temptations to live in the flesh and according to the lusts of men. (1 Peter 4:1-2) He was led by the Spirit and walked in the ways of the spirit, not by or according to the religious traditions and laws and ways of men. (Gal. 5:18, 25)
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TRADITION OF MEN
Now, the "works of the flesh" (Galatians 5:19-25) is where most of us get caught up by the world and its ways. It is so easy for Christians to fall back into our old ways that we hardly even notice we've fallen. Everything seems and feels so natural that there must not be anything wrong with it... right? WRONG!!! In fact that is DEADLY WRONG!!! Though it may seem so, the traditional ways that we once lived and acted (before we got saved) that are so popular with and embraced by the world are NOT the ways for Christians to live! (Proverbs 16:25)
But it is not easy for us to change our ways. And God never promised us that walking with Him would be easy. In fact, He promised us just the opposite. (Matthew 7:13-14) No, we may not always know whether something is or isn't "of God" and whether we should or shouldn't be involved in it, especially when the rest of the world is involved in it up to their necks. But we have been given a command to test (prove) things (1 Thessalonians 5:21, Romans 12:2 ) before we jump into them. This is one of our responsibilities as Christians.
So how are we to know what is or isn't of God? Well, consider this... what generally makes most things seem so harmless is one of two things... either everyone else is involved with it or the fact that nobody is standing against it. Yet if a number of people were to demonstrate to you the ease of diving into an empty swimming pool, would you also do it? I seriously doubt it. So regardless of how many people may be getting into something, can you now see that going with the flow may not be such a good idea after all?
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Yet here we are in the 21st century where just about anything is heralded as "hip," "popular," "the new craze," "choice of a new generation," or what have you. It seems that the more outrageous or outlandish things are the more readily the world accepts them. Yet according to the Word of God, being accepted by and loved by the world is not necessarily a good thing. (James 4:4)
According to the Bible in John 1:1-3 and verse 14, as well as a number of scriptures, Jesus created the world. Yet when He came into the world He was rejected, and ultimately crucified. (John 1:10-11) Why!? Why didn't the world recognise its own creator? I think the answer is actually quite simple... because we are so unlike Him. Jesus was rejected by the world because the doctrine He brought to the world was so different that anything that was traditionally believed and accepted by man. His ways were too contrary to the legalistic ways of men, and His doctrine was too contrary to the man-made laws and religious traditions of that day. Even the great and wonderous miracles which He performed could not turn most people from their traditional ways. They simply could not accept that their ways were wrong, because to accept such a thing would mean that they had to come to terms with the fact that all of their learnings had not only proved to be vain, but also that their greatly respected elders before them had been just as sinful as they were. And that, to them, was offensive. "How dare this Jesus say that our circumcision availeth us not!" (Galatians 6:15) Even Saul (who later became Paul the Apostle) hated Jesus' teachings. And it was only after he came out on the losing end of a face-to-face encounter with God that he came to accept that everything he thought he knew was false. I often wonder if those of us whose conversion experience came nothing close to Paul's have ever truly forsaken all to follow Jesus.
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So the world rejected Jesus because it knew Him not. And according to Matthew 10:22, 24:9, Mark 13:13 and Luke 21:17, those who follow after Him will also be hated and rejected by the world. We're also told in James 4:4 that to be a friend of the world and its ways makes us enemies of God. Paralleling that, we're told that we who are saved are not supposed to walk (live) like unsaved people. (Ephesians 4:17-19) They that live and speak like the world are only understood and accepted by the world. On the flip side, those who know God and live according to His word have been given the spirit of truth and error (to know what is truth and what is error), and will be accepted only by those who also know Him. (1 John 4:5-6)
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HARRY POTTER PARALLEL
So what does all that mean? And how in the world does it apply to Harry Potter? Well, if you'll take a moment to consider the insane popularity of Harry Potter in the world... and not just Harry Potter but most other things, traditions and events that are so popular with and widely accepted by the world... things such as various forms of music, events such as Halloween and traditions such as the Santa Claus myth, the (anatomically incorrect) easter bunny, etc, etc... you should be able to see that the very popularity of these and other things, traditions and events could very well be a red-flag of warning to us! Remember what James 4:4 says - know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. And since friendship and popularity typically go hand-in-hand, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to make the connection. It is no secret that the things of God are NOT popular with man, and never have been. So instead of embracing the things that the God we claim to believe in hates so much, we who are true Christians should stand against these things that are spoken against in the Bible, regardless of their popularity with the world. Those of us who have truly been saved have been bought with a price (1 Cor. 6:19-20, 7:23) and that price was Jesus' blood! And every time we embrace the things that are not of God, we are committing sin, and we crucify Him afresh. Therefore we have no business and no right to be living according to our own will, which usually leads to sin. We only have the right to live according to the will of the God who has bought us with His blood, and when we don't, we put Him to an open shame! (Hebrews 6:6)
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TAKE UP THY CROSS
My Christian brothers and sisters, it is no secret that this Harry Potter craze is based on witchcraft and all sorts of other hocus-pocus. You'd have to be completely brain-dead not to know this. Yet many professing Christians still embrace this obviously satanic craze even more-so than they embrace the word of God which they profess to believe... yet at the same time ignore. But the only relationship that we need to embrace with any kind of potter is the one we have with God, our potter... THE potter (Jeremiah 18:5-6, Isaiah 64:8) who molded us and made us after His will that we might acknowledge and glorify Him in all our ways (Proverbs 3:6). He did not save us from hell expecting us to continue living like hellions. He saved us that we might lead others to Him, not that we might lead others to see some movie that is not only infected with, but based on one of the very things that our God and Savior hates! We cannot possibly hope to fulfill our Christian duty of leading people to God as long as we continue to walk according to the traditions and ways of the unsaved, heathen of the world, thereby never getting recognised as being different.
Understand this truth, dear Christians... this Harry Potter movie is an abomination (Luke 16:15) which does nothing but glorify and glamorize something that is absolutely against God. And since God has taken the time to give us His word in written format that we might know His views on such things as this, we can no longer claim to be ignorant of His views... we can only lay claim to indifference. And this is the very thing that separates professing Christians from true Christians.
So dear Christian, examine yourself and your ways, and turn away from your relationships with the world! Turn away from such things as Harry Potter that have foundations in things hated by God. (1 Samuel 15:23, 2 Chronicles 33:6, and Galatians 5:19-22) Will you heed this call to stand, dear Christian? If so, where will you stand? Will you stand in heed God's call to "come out from among them, and be ye separate" (2 Corinthians 6:14-17) so that you can be of some use to God? And will you come to understand that God did not write in His word about His hate of such things as witchcraft merely take up space in the Bible? Can you understand that everything in the Bible is there for a very specific reason, and that reason is NOT to merely to serve as something for us to just ignore or pretend isn't there? If so, then give heed to the Word of God and turn away, you who are true brothers and sisters in Christ... turn away, lest you be found to be reprobate! (2 Cor. 13:5)
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And lastly... just for the record... to those of you who do not like or agree with the Biblical views expressed in this article... guess what... your dislike and disagreement only proves my point - that that which is highly esteemed by God is abomination in the sight of men, and likewise - "that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God." (Luke 16:15)
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E N D
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Though I have been very straight-forward and blunt in my approach in this article, I believe that it takes a strongly spoken word such as this to reach some people. But no matter what sort you may be, I pray that this article has helped you. If so, go forth with it and call others out from the world and its wicked ways, remembering that Jesus did so much more for you.
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SCRIPTURE REFERENCES : (Article Related)
Proverbs 3:6 --- In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Proverbs 16:25 --- There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
Isaiah 64:8 --- But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
Jeremiah 18:5-6 --- Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
Matthew 7:13-14 --- Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Matthew 10:22 --- And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Matthew 24:9 --- Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
Mark 13:13 --- And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Luke 16:15 --- And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.
Luke 21:17 --- And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.
John 1: 1-3,14 --- In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (14) And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John 1:10-11 --- He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
Romans 12:2 --- And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 --- What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
1 Corinthians 7:23 --- Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.
2 Corinthians 6:14-17 --- Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
2 Corinthians 13:5 --- Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
Galatians 6:15 --- For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
Galatians 5:18-25 --- But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Ephesians 4:17-19 --- This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
1 Thessalonians 5:21 --- Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
1 Timothy 3:16 --- And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
Hebrews 2:18 --- For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.
Hebrews 6:6 --- If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
James 4:4 --- Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
James 4:17 --- Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
1 Peter 4:1-2 --- Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
1 John 4:5-6 --- They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. (See also verses 1-4)
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R E F E R E N C E S
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SCRIPTURE REFERENCES : ("Witchcraft" related)
2 Chronicles 33:6 --- And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
1 Samuel 15:23 --- For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
Galatians 5:19-21 --- Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
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SCRIPTURE REFERENCES : ("Witch" related)
Exodus 22:18 --- Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
Deuteronomy 18:10-14 --- There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God. For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.
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