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Passion, romance and sacrifice collide with vampires, forbidden love and temptation in the eagerly awaited teen flick Twilight, based on Stephanie Meyer's bestselling book. Not since the dawn of the Harry Potter movies has a teen-book-turned-movie generated so much pre-release buzz.
For those who've remained oblivious to this intriguing vampire phenom, it takes a little explaining...and even then, you might still be left scratching your head. But here's the Horror Romance backstory.
Boy meets girl
Love blossoms. Simple enough, right? But wait...the boy, Edward, is a 108-year-old vampire (frozen at the age of 17) who finds himself madly attracted to his newly arrived 17-year-old classmate, Bella. You think your love life is filled with high drama?? I'm betting it doesn't hold a candle to this. This forbidden love requires Edward and Bella's willingness to embrace a complicated future, if there's to be any hope of surviving the multitude of mega cross-species obstacles. This goes way beyond Arwyn and Aragorn's elf/man sacrifices or Superman and Lois Lane's Kryptonic/human challenges. This involves a totally different level of commitment, like Edward not giving in to his desire to drink Bella's blood and Bella's willingness to relinquish her human soul to become a vampire.Passion, romance and sacrifice collide with vampires, forbidden love and temptation in the eagerly awaited teen flick Twilight, based on Stephanie Meyer's bestselling book. Not since the dawn of the Harry Potter movies has a teen-book-turned-movie generated so much pre-release buzz.
The Apostle Paul has some insights for us about generously giving of ourselves to others, regardless of whether there are romantic feelings involved or not. In Philippians 2: 3-8 he tells us:
Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross (The Message).
Now that's sacrificial love. Setting aside the glories of heaven, Jesus bore the worst the world has to offer - the sins of all mankind, and extended to us totally undeserved grace and mercy through His death on the cross. That incredible gift of forgiveness is news that should burst forth in our lives and our words and overflow to those around us.
So try using the buzz that's swirling from Twilight to turn the conversation toward the real sacrificial love of Jesus. Here are some specific ideas to help you move the conversation toward God-talk:
While the Horror Romance movie genre may be entertaining, the reality of Jesus' sacred romance with humanity is life-changing. The unconditional love of God awaits anyone who's willing to entrust their hearts and lives to Jesus. Get the word out.
Jane Dratz serves as Editor for Dare 2 Share Ministries International (D2S) in Arvada, Colorado, a ministry committed to energizing and equipping teenagers to know, live, share and own their faith in Jesus. For more information about D2S, please visit www.dare2share.org.
I'm sorry, but your theory is full of holes. Following your line of reasoning we shouldn't warn young guys about pornography, or girls about sex filled novels, or anything else for that matter. So would you suggest utilizing these things that God defines as wicked to somehow evangelize the current youth culture? If we can't call sin "sin" then where does conviction which leads to repentance come in?
Bill 12:02:15pm on 2/09/2009
OffensiveAdvise all you want, but they're going to read it. There's nothing we can do about it. You can either stand back and refuse to even try to help out the youth who are being misguided daily through the Twilight series or you can do what Jane says here and turn the conversation back to Jesus. Don't be so naive as to think if we just "advise teens to stay away from it" they'll actually listen. They like you and I make their own decisions based on guidance they receive. Since teenagers are rebellios in naturetelling them not to read it will make them want to read it more.
Will 2:11:05pm on 11/25/2008
OffensiveI don't understand how you can use this and compare it to the love of Christ. The two should not even be in the same sentence together. Vampire's and Christ? Sorry I don't see the similarity here. "What ever is good, right, nobel, pure, if anything is excellent or praise worthy, think about such things. This is evil and darkness. I think we need to advise teens to stay away from it.
robyn 11:11:40am on 11/24/2008
Offensive
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