The Greatest Temptation I Overcame

So... when I was manic/psychotic some... I think it seven or eight years ago, I took my car for a journey to California.  After a lot of driving and following directions in my head, and after having gone as far south as Los Angeles, I eventually ended up in Death Valley.

I parked my car off the side of the road.  The voice I thought was God (whether it was or not is very debatable... I honestly don't know) told me to rest.  I slept for multiple hours in my car.  I woke up and was cold, and God told me to get out of my car and walk down this highway.  This became one of the toughest temptations I ever faced.  Being 700 miles from home, with no cell phone and very little money, the temptation is to stick out a thumb and hitchhike.  But God wouldn't let me.  He told me NOT to stick out my thumb and to just keep walking.  I did stumble across a small convenience store in this very small village along the road I was on, and I believe I went in, and using the little amount of funds I had left I bought something to eat or drink, I don't remember what.  Then I kept walking.  In total I walked five miles without sticking out my thumb even one time.

If ever I was at risk, it was on this trip in that situation.  Had I stuck out my thumb, WHO KNOWS how long it would have taken to get home.  I think all manner of evil could have befallen me had I gotten a ride.  And I probably never would have seen my car again.  It would have been terrible.  Because of my obedience, a policeman stopped behind me and picked me up, giving me a ride to a hospital for care.  He contacted my parents, and got them to come down to help me.  Of the possible outcomes for this trip, it could have been worse.  But I am grateful that I was obedient, regardless of what you think of the voice inside my head- had I not listened to the voice, any number of things could have happened.  I might have gotten a ride, taken somewhere else, and dropped off somewhat "closer" to home, yet arguably infinitely further from home, simply because my path home from there on would be hitching rides, and that might take a very long time.  I am grateful that I was obedient.  Thank God for having me trust him and for his deliverance.

Why It's Good For Anyone To Read Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings Books

I think these books get a bad rap among some Christians as being "demonic" because they involve magic.

If I want to... get past someone's defenses and really speak Christian truth to someone without raising any alarm bells or making it obvious that I'm teaching kingdom principles, I've got to find a way to teach the Kingdom without raising the alarm.  That's what Harry Potter and what the various Lord of the Rings books do.  JK Rowling and JR Tolkien both had living faiths in God, and their faiths are conveyed in their writings.  Christianity works best when it's NOT in your face.  

I see video footage of people burning various books and stuff... as a Christian, I can kind of see burning Ouija boards and items that actually pertain to witchcraft, but... Harry Potter?  Any Christian that wants to burn Harry Potter books hasn't actually READ Harry Potter to see what was inside.  We as believers need to be smarter than this.  I can see why someone might burn a Satanic Bible, or something else that could lead someone astray, but Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings books have the Christian faith all over it, and we've got to be better than that.

Honestly, I think... it's better if we don't get publicized when we destroy REALLY demonic stuff either.  Seriously, the world doesn't understand the danger that some of these things pose, and it just looks like we want to burn books.  I think... burning books, at the core, is risky- it may cause the kids there to have an overactive interest in the books being burned.  Why are those books being burned, they ask... so they read them.  And to be fair, there are plenty of books that I think could do real damage to a person that I think we'd be better off NOT burning, and instead invest our time trying to reach the people who love those books.  I dunno.  I think book burning is double edged.  We must be careful about what we do, or the world will become fixated on the things we detest.

I think at the core, we should focus on reaching people with God's love, more than just destroying occultic objects.  Are there objects that should be destroyed?  I can see that.  But try not to make the news while you are destroying them.  I don't think the world gets it, or helps anyone seeing you destroy stuff brings them closer to God.