The Prince of Vampires…..
Have you been bitten?
Who is he anyway?
How big is the vampire business?It’s a bona fide cultural phenomenon. Novelist Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series, about the vampire Edward Cullen, has sold 42 million copies since 2005, while the film version has grossed more than $382 million since its release last fall. The HBO vampire series True Blood, based on Charlaine Harris’ best-selling Southern Vampire Mysteries, is one of cable’s biggest hits; sales of first-season DVDs led all other TV titles this summer. Harris’ latest entry, Dead and Gone, debuted in May at the top of the New York Times best-seller list. This fall will see the debut, on the CW network, of The Vampire Diaries, based on L.J. Smith’s young-adult novels. In Los Angeles last month, the first Vampire-Con featured panels, movie screenings, and costume contests attended by devotees wearing capes, white makeup, and plastic fangs. “The undead sure are lively,” says cultural critic Johanna Schneller. “Everywhere you look in entertainment these days, you see vampires.”
That’s the first paragraph of an article you can find here:
http://www.theweek.com/article/index/100059/Bitten_by_a_vampire
Here we go again….….
What in the world? If you read the article (which you can if you want – don’t necessarily recommend it though) you’ll also come across this little tidbit:
…the vampires that populate today’s fiction are far sexier than the musty castle-dwellers of yore. In Twilight and similar offerings, they typically have buff bodies and sharp clothes—and they can be found not just in Transylvania but right in your neighborhood.
Hmmm……right in your own neighborhood?
Oh, and one more morsel:
The tagline for the 1987 teen-vampire movie The Lost Boys says it all: “Sleep all day. Party all night. Never grow old. Never die. It’s fun to be a vampire.”
Fun to be a vampire? Are you kidding me? Are you serious? Are you totally nuts?
Ahhhh, and so we get to the crux of it…..So according to our pop culture Vampires are fun, sexy, good looking, buff, well dressed, and immortal.
Before we totally buy into that though, let’s look at a couple of different definitions for just a second . According to Popular Folklore the definition of a Vampire is: a corpse that rises at night to drink the blood of the living.
How big is the vampire business?It’s a bona fide cultural phenomenon. Novelist Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series, about the vampire Edward Cullen, has sold 42 million copies since 2005, while the film version has grossed more than $382 million since its release last fall. The HBO vampire series True Blood, based on Charlaine Harris’ best-selling Southern Vampire Mysteries, is one of cable’s biggest hits; sales of first-season DVDs led all other TV titles this summer. Harris’ latest entry, Dead and Gone, debuted in May at the top of the New York Times best-seller list. This fall will see the debut, on the CW network, of The Vampire Diaries, based on L.J. Smith’s young-adult novels. In Los Angeles last month, the first Vampire-Con featured panels, movie screenings, and costume contests attended by devotees wearing capes, white makeup, and plastic fangs. “The undead sure are lively,” says cultural critic Johanna Schneller. “Everywhere you look in entertainment these days, you see vampires.”
That’s the first paragraph of an article you can find here:
http://www.theweek.com/article/index/100059/Bitten_by_a_vampire
Here we go again….….
What in the world? If you read the article (which you can if you want – don’t necessarily recommend it though) you’ll also come across this little tidbit:
…the vampires that populate today’s fiction are far sexier than the musty castle-dwellers of yore. In Twilight and similar offerings, they typically have buff bodies and sharp clothes—and they can be found not just in Transylvania but right in your neighborhood.
Hmmm……right in your own neighborhood?
Oh, and one more morsel:
The tagline for the 1987 teen-vampire movie The Lost Boys says it all: “Sleep all day. Party all night. Never grow old. Never die. It’s fun to be a vampire.”
Fun to be a vampire? Are you kidding me? Are you serious? Are you totally nuts?
Ahhhh, and so we get to the crux of it…..So according to our pop culture Vampires are fun, sexy, good looking, buff, well dressed, and immortal.
Before we totally buy into that though, let’s look at a couple of different definitions for just a second . According to Popular Folklore the definition of a Vampire is: a corpse that rises at night to drink the blood of the living.
Wikipedia says: Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence (generally in the form of blood) of living creatures.
Well…that sounds real fun now doesn’t it.
Guess what? The Bible recognizes the existence of vampires too. Did you know that?
Well maybe not exactly, but indirectly, and it has a different name for them. The Bible refers to these undead, immortal, blood sucking beings with the same terminology it refers to all immortal evil beings…..as ”devils,” or in some translations, “demons”. And, oh by the way, they fall under the authority of the Prince of Darkness the Devil himself.
Now lets think about this for just a moment. Most people would acknowledge that the Devil is bad. Most Christians are at least vaguely familiar with the concept that the Devil’s activities are: stealing, killing, and destroying. (Jn 10:10) What most people are not aware of (and most Christians it seems choose not to think about) is what the Apostle Paul told us in Second Corinthians:
And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore [it is] no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. 2 Cor 11:14-15
When you consider that the Devil and his ilk are quite adept at transforming themselves into “angels of light”, it now seems quite natural that demonic, satanic beings, (who for the sake of societal deception), are calling themselves “vampires”, and are carving out an ever bigger place in our mainstream society under the guise of entertainment.
So the question is not, are they harmful or just innocent entertainment? Rest assured they are harmful, they are evil. The question is, what effect has the mainstreaming of vampires and everything vampiric had on you and/or your family. (Surely you are not foolish enough to think you can engage with these beings on a “cultural / entertainment” level and not be effected.)
Well that’s it really, just a public service post to increase your level of awareness about a cultural phenom that’s out there and is harmful to you and yours.
So does a rant against vampires really make any difference? Were the five minutes you took to read this post just a waste of your time? Are they now “cosmically wasted minutes” that you’ll never get back?
Well that depends on you. If you read this and say, “Whatever…. vampires, what’s the big deal….” Then I would say you’ve wasted your time. If, on the other hand, you realize that the “mainstreaming of evil” is a tactic that the devil has used very effectively since the beginning of time against believers (as well as unsuspecting unbelievers) you may be inclined to take action that will undoubtedly save you trouble and suffering later.
What should you do? Well glad you asked. First and foremost you should realize the evil that Vampires and all thing “vampiric” truly represent. You should determine now, that no matter how popular they become in our culture, no matter how, good-looking, sexy, fun, beautiful, or sympathetic they seem, they are really just evil, evil, evil, and nothing more. Then you should do whatever you need to in order to keep their pervasive influence away from you and your family.
Why? Because the whole concept of the current vampire formula is first to intrigue, second to invade (your mind and soul), and third to instill fear. Why fear? Because a ‘spirit of fear’ is the key the devil always uses to access the life of a believer. (This is why the most frequently repeated command in the Bible is – “Do not fear.”)
Though it’s slightly funny….look at this recent exchange from Yahoo answers:
Well…that sounds real fun now doesn’t it.
Guess what? The Bible recognizes the existence of vampires too. Did you know that?
Well maybe not exactly, but indirectly, and it has a different name for them. The Bible refers to these undead, immortal, blood sucking beings with the same terminology it refers to all immortal evil beings…..as ”devils,” or in some translations, “demons”. And, oh by the way, they fall under the authority of the Prince of Darkness the Devil himself.
Now lets think about this for just a moment. Most people would acknowledge that the Devil is bad. Most Christians are at least vaguely familiar with the concept that the Devil’s activities are: stealing, killing, and destroying. (Jn 10:10) What most people are not aware of (and most Christians it seems choose not to think about) is what the Apostle Paul told us in Second Corinthians:
And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore [it is] no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. 2 Cor 11:14-15
When you consider that the Devil and his ilk are quite adept at transforming themselves into “angels of light”, it now seems quite natural that demonic, satanic beings, (who for the sake of societal deception), are calling themselves “vampires”, and are carving out an ever bigger place in our mainstream society under the guise of entertainment.
So the question is not, are they harmful or just innocent entertainment? Rest assured they are harmful, they are evil. The question is, what effect has the mainstreaming of vampires and everything vampiric had on you and/or your family. (Surely you are not foolish enough to think you can engage with these beings on a “cultural / entertainment” level and not be effected.)
Well that’s it really, just a public service post to increase your level of awareness about a cultural phenom that’s out there and is harmful to you and yours.
So does a rant against vampires really make any difference? Were the five minutes you took to read this post just a waste of your time? Are they now “cosmically wasted minutes” that you’ll never get back?
Well that depends on you. If you read this and say, “Whatever…. vampires, what’s the big deal….” Then I would say you’ve wasted your time. If, on the other hand, you realize that the “mainstreaming of evil” is a tactic that the devil has used very effectively since the beginning of time against believers (as well as unsuspecting unbelievers) you may be inclined to take action that will undoubtedly save you trouble and suffering later.
What should you do? Well glad you asked. First and foremost you should realize the evil that Vampires and all thing “vampiric” truly represent. You should determine now, that no matter how popular they become in our culture, no matter how, good-looking, sexy, fun, beautiful, or sympathetic they seem, they are really just evil, evil, evil, and nothing more. Then you should do whatever you need to in order to keep their pervasive influence away from you and your family.
Why? Because the whole concept of the current vampire formula is first to intrigue, second to invade (your mind and soul), and third to instill fear. Why fear? Because a ‘spirit of fear’ is the key the devil always uses to access the life of a believer. (This is why the most frequently repeated command in the Bible is – “Do not fear.”)
Though it’s slightly funny….look at this recent exchange from Yahoo answers:
Question: Do vampires exist, does the Bible talk of vampires, are they fallen angels?
Best Answer - Chosen by Voters
Yes, they do exist. They're hiding in your basement in that dark corner by the freezer and are going to get you when you put the ice cream away. But if you run really fast up the steps they won’t get you.
(While you can read this post and think that’s kind of silly, wait until later on tonight, after everyone in your house goes to sleep, then go down and get the ice cream out of your basement freezer, in the dark, and tell me how you feel – Instilling a spirit of fear into believers is always number 1, 2, or 3 in the Devils play book)
So besides keeping this insidious, fear-causing, phenomena away from your family what else should you do?
Fill the void with something different. (This too is a Biblical principle – Mt 12:43-45) The most obvious alternative is the Word of God itself. After that it depends on your medium. If it’s TV or movies, check out the plethora of uplifting, clean, Christian TV and movie options that are becoming increasingly available. If it’s fiction (remember 42 million copies of the Twilight series have sold since 2006) then you’re in good shape. There are more Christian fiction titles available to day then ever before.
Interested in an uplifting, page-turning, keep-you-reading-all-night, Christian thriller?
Well you know what to do……The “order now” button is right up there on the right. And I’ll promise you this…. read The Second Trumpet and you won’t develop fear about vampires, or anything else for that matter. Rather, I pray you’ll develop a deeper faith in the power of God!
God Bless,
LM
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