Harry Potter is a relatively recent phenomena to be sweeping our world. The amazing success of J.K. ROWLING'S books is nothing less than supernatural. Rowlings success with her books has been compounded exponentially with the great success of several movies. The first movie is said to have grossed over 31 million dollars on the first day. What can be wrong with such success? After all, isn't that how we judge whether something is OK? - NO!!!

Luke 16:15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

Even secular authorities are concerned: "The premiere of Harry Potter the movie will lead to a whole new generation of youngsters discovering witchcraft and wizardry ...Increasing numbers of children are spending hours alone browsing the internet in search of Satanic websites and we are concerned that nobody is monitoring this growing fascination." Peter Smith, general secretary of the British Association of Teachers and Lecturers.

Consider the words of Berit Kjos of Crossroad:
"Harry, like other students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry travels back and forth between two worlds: the mystical world of magic and the mundane world of muggles - those boring, blinded, and biased humans who either don't believe in the world of witches or who despise it as evil. Harry's cruel aunt and uncle fit the last category. And, from Harry's point of view, so would you if you see witchcraft as dangerous and demonic. The skinny, green-eyed kid with glasses and a thunder-bolt scar under a shock of unruly black hair makes a sympathetic hero. Orphaned at age one, Harry mysteriously survived a murderous assault by the wicked wizard Lord Voldemort. This scary villain, whom more timid wizards dare only refer to as "Who Must Not Be Named," killed Harry's parents. When he tried but failed to kill their one-year-old baby, Voldemort lost much of his power. The thunderbolt scar on Harry's forehead marks his peculiar psychic strength and triumph over evil. For the next ten years, Harry lives a miserable muggle life in his uncle's London home, constantly tormented by his cruel guardians and a spoiled bully of a cousin. But on his eleventh birthday everything changes. He discovers that he is a wizard of great fame, someone who once conquered death and crippled a devilish foe. Even better, he receives an acceptance to Hogwarts - a coveted boarding school for aspiring wizards. The haunted grounds of Hogwarts may be out-of-this-world, but with its blend of earthly familiarity and practical magic, it has captivated more than seven million minds. Adults and children alike have, in their imagination, followed Harry through that mystical veil between ordinary reality and occult fantasy. Most find it hard to put the book down once they start it, and when finished, many read it again and again. Immersed in this mystical world of spiritual forces, they feel Harry's struggles and share his fears. They sit with him through his classes on Potions, Spells, Transfiguration ("turning something into something else") and Divination, and, like him, learn some tricks of the old Craft. They sense the pain of his miserable return visits to London, and they soar with him above the earth on a magical and magnificent broomstick. Delightfully gruesome images and scary creatures become part of their memory, for the author, Joanne K. Rowling, knows how to make her characters come alive in a reader's mind. "Oh, but it's just fantasy," you may argue. "We were raised on scary tales. It can't hurt." Actually it's not that simple. The stories and the times have changed, making the new generation of children far more vulnerable to deception than we were."
Scary tales have always been used to condition the human mind to more dangerous activities. Disney and other similar organizations have seemed relatively innocuous to most, but their very subtlety was nothing more than a stepping stone to more serious problems. Harry Potter is just one more step in the slippery slope to demonic destruction. The information on this problem is plentiful and easily available if you are interested in further research. Now we will take a look at seven reasons to stay away from Harry Potter if you are interested in obeying God and His word.

1. It has always and will always be wrong for the people of God, and that is who Christians are today, to have anything to do with the magical world of witches, warlocks, and the likes of them. Deuteronomy 18:9-12 - "When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee." Please don't try to tell me that the Old Testament is not for us today. We don't get to heaven or into the family of God by keeping the Old Testament, but to ignore it is to reject what Jesus said about it's importance and relevance for today. Matthew 5:17-48.
2. That which is evil is to be rejected and abhorred. (Romans 12:9) Harry Potter's world is a world of wizards, witches and a world where wrong is right and good, as defined by God in His word, is evil. Only the world of magic and the paranormal is the right way according to Rowling's Harry Potter. Isaiah 5:20-21 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
3. The principles taught by Harry are not based upon God's word. They are based upon the teachings of witchcraft and Satan. Emotions are the basis for reality. How you "feel" is more important than truth. Jeremiah 7:23-24 "But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward." Children are so immersed in the fantasy world of Hogwarts, thunderbolts, and magical characters that they lose sense of what is real. Not only that but the real world of normal adults and the everyday mundane events that shape our lives becomes evil and something to be avoided by escape from reality.
4. Christians should teach their children to depend upon God's power not the power of the underworld. It is a reversal of roles. In Harry Potter children are conditioned to accept power from the dark world of Satan and his creatures. Galatians 2:20, Psalm 62:11 "God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God." Children are conditioned to believe that wizards, witchcraft and demonic sources are the place to go to get the power to live in this world.
5. Children are to be trained in God's way not the way of darkness and evil. - Proverbs 22:6 By proper training in God's word and His way children will learn to reject the false ways of Satan and his henchmen. Real wisdom to make right choices comes from God's word not from movies and books like Harry Potter. Dueteronomy 6:6-7 "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."
6. Harry Potter teaches moral relativism about such absolutes as lying, cheating, etc. God says that these things are wrong no matter what the reason. The end does not justify the means in God's word. Romans 1:28-32 "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them."
7. Harry Potter's adventures will ultimately end in despair, death and destruction for those who follow his deceptions. They teach children to ignore God which will lead to them spending eternity in hell. 2 Timothy 3:4;
   Job 21:17 "How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger." Harry Potter's cheap, fleeting thrills will not truly satisfy the longing heart of man. God has a much better way. Only salvation through Jesus Christ the LORD can bring lasting comfort to the heart of man. You must trust Jesus Christ as your Saviour. Are you born again? Read John 3:3-7

Written by Dr. Robert E. Bliss

Old Paths Baptist Ministry
1482 N. Ramah Dr.
Pueblo West, CO 81007

A ministry out of:
Lighthouse Baptist Church
4280 Hopeful Dr.
Colorado Springs, CO 80917
Dr. James Carroll, pastor
(719)444-8502

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