Twilight

She just left her mom and stepdad's house to move in with her dad in the rainiest town in the country. She's new to the high school and doesn't feel like she fits in with all the other kids; if only she could find someone who understands her. He's a 90-year-old "vegetarian" vampire in a handsome 17-year-old body who doesn't want to be bad; he just wants to find true love . . . and have enough self-discipline to not sink his teeth into her neck. And there you have the basic premise of the wildly popular Twilight books and the recently released Twilight movie. Some of you might be wondering, "What's the big deal?" And that's a good question.
 
The Twilight series has captured the imaginations of a lot of teens. Last week I went into a local bookstore and asked the guy at the counter to show me the five best-selling books for teenagers. We walked through the aisles as he pulled the books off the shelves and stacked them in my arms. When I sat down to see what they were, I realized that three of the five most popular books he showed me were supernatural thrillers.
 
Honestly, I'm not surprised. It's fascinating stuff. Drama, young love, humor, danger, power, mystery--a supernatural thriller has all the story ingredients to lure you away from your regular life of homework, zits, and little brothers, and take you to a place where adventure increases with every turn of the page. But, for most of you, that world of adventure has been banned by your parents.
 
I'm sure you already know this, but not everything that is fascinating is good for us. I remember a certain tree with a talking snake wrapped around its branches that had some pretty irresistible fruit on it. The argument was the same, remember? I'll paraphrase: "Oh, brother. It's just fruit. There's nothing wrong with it. The snake ate it and he didn't die. I don't know why God doesn't want us to have any fun." Well, we all know how that story ends.
 
I should probably put in a word for your parents. Try to cut them some slack, even when the only answer they can come up with is, "Because I said so." I can pretty much assure you that parenting is way more scary than slaying vampires. While it may seem like their primary focus is to keep you from having fun, your parents would rather die than see you get hurt.
 
I'll also let you in on a little secret: when Satan has carefully designed something so that it seems irresistible, it's usually because he's trying to distract us from something even cooler, and even more powerful. My suggestion? Leave that fruit on the tree . . . and ask God to open your eyes to the real unfolding mystery. You just might be surprised.