Children's toys, books, movies etc.

[Brenda]

Hi all, A friend of mine would like to know, raising his small children, what is the take on super hero's (superman/spiderman etc), harry potter movies etc.  Should he buy these for his children (as all the friends have them) or does the Scriptures condemn these types of things.  What does he tell his children?

[cheekie3]

Brenda -

You raise a very good point:

Hi all, A friend of mine would like to know, raising his small children, what is the take on super hero's (superman/spiderman etc), harry potter movies etc.  Should he buy these for his children (as all the friends have them) or does the Scriptures condemn these types of things.  What does he tell his children?

I learnt English from reading American Comic Books with the pictures and word balloons; from the likes of The Incredible Hulk, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Mighty Thor and The Mighty Avengers, to name a few.

The heart of the matter is one of worship - and whether we worship Him (and Truth) or we have idols of the heart.

It is the parents responsibility to teach their children right and wrong.

It is the responsibility of those in Christ Jesus, to teach their children about sin and death - and salvation that is only in Jesus Christ.

Not one of us can make a decision or a choice for someone else - but we all influence each other, each and every day.

Our Heavenly Father looks at our hearts to determine what our desires are.

Ray explained that true worship is to Obey His Commandments - and these were summed up as 'love Yah-Weh with all that we are, and Love our neighbours as ourselves'.

We are all in His Hands; and it is His Choice when anyone of us is Dragged to Him to learn of His Love and His Truths.

The best we can all do, is practice and live our 'Worship'.

Warmest Regards.

George

   

[Brenda]

  Thank you George...... exactly what I was thinking. God bless.

[lilitalienboi16]

Id say relax and enjoy the movies. You think Harry potter can stop the saving power of God Almighty? Hah. Please. These things are all nothing to Him. He converted a man who slaughtered His church and WASTED it into His greatest champion in the blink of an eye. Harry Potter and the likes, all thise sillly rituals that bind people hand and feet, they are but ignorance and don't stand a chance! Have a little more faith in Him than that . As George said, Love is the fullfilment of the law, upon these two hang ALL the laws and prophets.

[indianabob]

Dear friend Brenda,

As I'm sure you already believe, the most important thing to be with your own children is truthful and honest. They need to learn and come to know that you can be trusted in all of your relationships with them. That applies equally with all the traditions of men and cute fairy tales or myths that kids learn as they grow up.

One example that I used, comes to mind.
When they ask about the Bible story of "baby Jesus"  which they will hear from friends and relatives and TV, be sure to explain in the same story telling that Jesus grew up and became a responsible man, son of Joseph and Mary and of His father God. Then later when they are old enough and ready to take an interest in Jesus' older experiences, your children will recall that you told them that there was much more to the story.

Children may not be ready to learn all about God at a young age, so I didn't overburden them with details of his ministry and death, but what my wife and I did share was true according to scripture and with nothing to explain away later as imagination or myth.

The Bible contains many difficult to believe stories and when we finally get to the death and resurrection of Jesus as the precursor to our own resurrection and life in God's family, we don't want to have our children thinking that Harry Potter was the same type of story.
So I would separate fact and bible beliefs from fairy tales very early on in their training.

It is much better for you to be the person telling them that there is no Santa Claus rather than some older neighbor kid who is just being mean.

Being parents is the most fun and rewarding experience we can have, but it is also one of the most difficult because we have to learn on the job and be willing to admit our mistakes (before the sun sets), especially to our little children as we live each day. They have short memories so make sure to FIX misunderstandings quickly.

Eph 4:26  Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:

Kindly offered, Indiana Bob

[Dave in Tenn]

For some people, scripture condemns everything except what they do.  Very convenient.     Did you know that when the wicked plow, it is sin?  I'll bet there are those out there condemning non-christian farmers right this very minute.

I concur with Bob on this.  Don't overburden children with notions of alleged "holiness".  Never lie, but don't preach above their heads and hearts.  Answer questions truthfully--they are full of them--remembering that "I don't really understand that myself" is a truthful answer, when it is.  So is, "we can talk about that when you get a little older."

I don't think it's "wrong" to not allow certain things in your house.  But there are genuine "dangers" and "influences" that make fantasy figures nothing by comparison.  What you forbid "irrationally" is what will be most appealing.  At least that's the way it worked with THIS kid.

The only thing I'd add is that every kid is different.  (Some kids more different than others, if I am an example).  If you listen well, they'll teach you far more about "parenting" than any grown-up can.

[lostANDfound]

Hmm, I think I might be guilty of overburdening my kids.  Perhaps because they all were so verbal so early, we have been quite frank with them about pretty much everything.  "That's a penis",  "Everyone dies", "Santa isn't real (but we did explain that it isn't our job to ruin the game for others), we've explained a lot of what the Church teaches and a lot about the depths of God.  My boys are 7 & 9 and they recently learned about what sex is (thanks to our rabbits!)  The last time I was pregnant they knew that the baby could die before it was born.  We do gloss over some harder things, like rape, etc. until they are older but we may have assumed too much and burdened too much with our explanations about the evils of the world.  I don't know.

My son stopped reading Harry Potter on his own because it was right around Oct 31 and we had had family discussions about what Halloween is about and he connected the two and stopped reading even though he was thoroughly enjoying it.  It seemed like a good thing at the time, he is becoming his own peculiar person. But then again, I really enjoyed reading Harry Potter and I don't think it negatively influenced me.  In the past and even recently I have stopped reading books if I realize that I am being negatively influenced by it, but that is a mature act I can't expect my kids to do. 

As I type this I am feeling convicted that my focus needs to switch. I spend a lot of time and energy controlling their environment instead of fully dedicating myself to exhibit true Godly patience, kindness, love.  I know the right priority but I am failing to live it.  Please pray for God to do a mighty work in my heart.



 

[Joel]

The way I see it, the Truth in Love is good, being holier-than-thou and all that goes along with that is never good.

Joel