Random Thought about the Twilight Series

Am I the only one who thinks the Twilight series could be a big Mormon evangelism tool? I mean, eternal marriage and all that (sorry if that was a plot spoiler for you). I really enjoyed the series but as soon as I finished it this thought occurred to me. I don't submit this question in an accusatory way. For one thing, if I were a Mormon, I would feel free to evangelize any way I could. For another thing, I don't think it would have to be conscious on the part of the author. It could just be her worldview that is coming through in her writing.

I do, however, think it has strong potential for drawing young people toward Mormonism. After all, it is directed at the youth culture, does a terrific job of selling eternal, blissful marriage and it's written by a Mormon. They are a very evangelistic religion so I don't think this is too far out in left field. In case you have been in a cave recently, teenage girls are going crazy for this book and many of them are passionate about wanting a guy "just like Edward". I wonder if it is designed to cause a young person to long for that, setting them up for the Mormon evangelist to come along and say "we believe in eternal marriage" as part of the pitch.

I talked to my 13 year old daughter about it and her first response was "I think that sounds great!" When I told her that Jesus says that in heaven there will be no marriage or giving in marriage she seemed . . . um . . . disappointed. I think that's a fairly normal reaction for a person her age. I mean, if you find your "soul mate", won't you want it to last forever? Of course, no one but Jesus is perfect for anyone and He will be a great husband! But that's a pretty abstract thought for a teenager and as the child in the sermon illustration says we often want "someone with skin on."

Anyway, I know I lean toward being overly analytical and I may be way off base, but it's just something I wonder about.

A great quote

The future of our nation is not determined by an election, but by the faith of the elect. Francis Frangipane To see the entire article go to

Prayer for the election

I have been thinking about how the church has been praying for the election in the last couple of weeks. When McCain went down in the polls, the church finally started praying. I'm glad to see so many people praying but I wonder what the Lord's reaction to this prayer is. He has been calling us to pray and repent for a long time now but it was a call back to Him, not a call to pray for our circumstances. Yes, He wants us to ask him for what we need and turn to him in times of trouble. But much more than that, he wants our hearts. He is a bridegroom longing for his wedding day. How would any of us feel if the one we had chosen for our spouse had a cursory relationship with us until he/she needed something and then they came to us ardently, declaring their love and devotion and asking for what they wanted.

Recently I was reading in I Samuel 4-7. In that passage Israel loses a battle with the Philistiines so they go back and get the ark of the covenant saying "If we carry it into battle with us, it will save us from our enemies." Well, they not only lost but the Philistines captured the ark. There are a lot of details between that point of the story and this but eventually the ark returns to Israel and the people "lamented after the Lord for twenty years" because it seemed that the Lord had abandoned them.

This reminds me of the church right now. It seems a little to me like we are saying, "Oh no! We're losing the battle! We'd better bring our fasting and praying into the battle with us so we can win!" Read Isaiah 58 to see what God thinks of that kind of fasting.

Back to our story in I Samuel. After twenty years of "lamenting after the Lord" Samuel says to the people, "If you are really serious about returning to the LORD, get rid of your foreign gods . . ." WHAT!!??? How can you 'lament after God' and still have idols in your house? See, they hadn't figured out that God wasn't a little idol you ask for things. He is the Uncreated, Holy One who had chosen them to be His bride!

So Samuel says, " . . . Determine to obey only the LORD; then he will rescue you. . . " So the Israelites destroyed their idols, gathered together, drew water from Mizpah and poured it out before the LORD, fasted, and confessed that they had sinned against the LORD. While they were at this gathering the Philistines saw an opportunity to get them all at one time and headed over to kill them. This time instead of arrogantly just grabbing their 'little ark', they were afraid and cried out "Plead with the LORD our God to save us from the Philistines!" So Samuel made a burnt offering sacrifice and pleaded to the LORD to help them and THE LORD ANSWERED miraculously! He sent a thunderous noise that threw the Philistines into confusion and the Israelistes pursued them, slaughtering them along the way!

I wonder if we will have to "lament after the LORD for twenty years" to realize that he is not an idol or a vending machine. He is passionate, holy, jealous. He wants our hearts. He wants us to live in fellowship with him that grows deeper because of a humble, hungry searching after him. From THAT place of prayer, he will answer with miracles.