The Occult Attack – Protecting our Children
   As never before, fascination with the occult is sweeping the world and is being sold financially and spiritually to our children. Two channels are currently very popular.

Pokémon
   Pokémon or "Pocket monsters" are cute little demon characters that are collected, and made more powerful according to certain game rules. They capture and hurt the pokémon of other kids. This translates to demonic warfare among the kids themselves and the craving for more pokémon cards and more power. I understand that more has been published although Harry Potter seems to have taken over.

Harry Potter
   A popular fictional kid who is mentor to all readers of the books describing his adventures in wizardry. These stories fascinate and teach. Children cast evil spells on each other and enjoy Harry's world view of evil parents who don't like the occult.

Halloween
  We discuss this on another page.

Our reason to live
   We have a Creator who loved us enough to let us choose on our own to love him. This is why evil is still in the world. He taught us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Thus we look forward to the day when all will have made their choice and evil will be ended in the universe.
   So how do we choose God's way for ourselves and our children? * Understand Jesus' victory, * stay away from temptation, * destroy ties to evil, and * earnestly pray. The Bible shows how to do these things.

How Satan attacks his victims
   Satan and his host of evil angels are real and ready to bring us temptation in any way they can. In the current occult appeal, they want to destroy our children and our homes. We discover Satan's approach in the third temptation of Jesus in the desert:    "And again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 'All this I will give you,' he said, 'if you will bow down and worship me.'
   "Jesus said to him, 'Away from me, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God and serve him only."'"
   Satan offered Jesus a way to avoid the terrible experience of the cross. He Promised Him power right then. There would be no need to suffer on the cross. There was only one "minor" requirement: worship Satan. So today the devil offers our kids power! But at a terrible price: yielding to the control of evil angels.

Safety from temptation
   We can understand by looking at the temptation of our first parents. The serpent through which Satan spoke promised Eve knowledge and power like God has.
   "He said to the woman, 'Did God really say, "You must not eat from any tree in the garden"?' The woman said to the serpent, 'We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, "You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden . . . or you will die."' 'You will not surely die,' the serpent said to the woman.'" (Gen. 3:1-4)
   God had provided safety from evil influence. Remember that Satan didn't talk to Eve until she went to the forbidden tree. In the same way, playing with the occult brings us onto Satan's ground. Then he captures our interest until we become like him and no longer have a love for the good things of God. What seems cute and interesting becomes a death trap. We need to make wise decisions involving natural channels of influence: school, television, and friends.

Resources
   More information on Pokémon and Harry Potter is available on the Internet.
   After describing the wild popularity of the Harry Potter stories, author Berit Kjos tells why children these days are more vulnerable to the occult, then he lists the following points in how to resist deception: Know the true God, Shun other gods (Deut. 18:9-13), Remember history's lessons (Deut. 28, 1 Cor. 10), Share God's love with everyone, Don't apologize for your faith, Remember that God is far greater [than the devil] and, Wear God's armor.
   Kjos, however, has missed one key point. Satan lied when he told Eve, "You will not surely die." Through the words of Harry Potter, he repeats his claim to have the keys of death re0114. Through misinformed religion, the soul is thought to be immortal living in either heaven or hell for endless ages. Understanding the clear Bible truth on this point, we and our children can quickly identify  the final deceptions just before us. (See links on death deceptions.)

How to end a relationship with the powers of evil
   To escape, follow the example of the Ephesian believers. "Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas." (Acts 19:19, 20).
   If the door to your heart or the hearts of your children has been open to evil influences, immediately destroy those things that have given evil angels license to control. Help your children renew their promise to follow the Lord who offers us an eternity of joy and happiness.
   Finally pray earnestly and find other activities.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION,
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society.
Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
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