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This week at Bethlehem Youth:

 

Wednesday

4:45 PM Youth Band

5:30 PM Youth Choir Rehearsal

6:30 PM Youth Dinner

7 PM Youth Group.  This week we are going to talk about our call and commitment to the church in preparation for Sunday’s Celebration Sunday activities.

 

Friday

Rumors abound of tailgating for the Franklin game.  Email me for more details if interested.

 

Sunday

8:15 and 10:45 Worship services

9:30 Sunday School

6:30 PM Youth Handbells

 

Upcoming:

November 7-9- Harvest is happening.  Holler.

November 16- Bake Sale!

November 22- Servant Saturday 8 AM

November 23- Thanksgiving dinner and Turkey Bowl!

December 13- Youth Christmas Party.  Anyone got some ideas for this year’s shindig?

January 30-February 1- Senior High Warmth in Winter Event

TBD Middle School Retreat

 

YS STUDENT NEWSLETTER #365

October 27, 2008

Contents

1. Something for Your Heart
2. Forgettable Fact
3. Potent Quotables
4. Uh, That’s Funny?

===========our|sponsor===========

DON’T BUY THE LIE

"I’m going to call a psychic." "I want to cast a spell on my boyfriend." "Let’s have a seance tonight." Thousands of people make comments like this every day often thinking they’re just jokes and not knowing it’s all a big trap. TV and movies portray the supernatural as innocent, fun, even cool.

Don’t buy the lie. It’s not all fun and games.

This book shows you how to think for yourself, and not fall for these lies. You’ll learn how to discern what’s real and what’s not. With this book, you’ll be armed and ready to take on the lies that come your way.

Learn more about or purchase "Don’t Buy the Lie" here:
http://www.youthspecialties.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=163

=================================

1. SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

ARE GHOSTS REAL?

Ghosts are a big part of the increase of supernatural themes in movies, TV, and books. The most common worldview presented in stories about ghosts is that they are the spirits of people who died with unfinished business left on earth.

So, in The Sixth Sense, a little boy sees–and helps–dead people who need to fix something before they can leave to the great beyond. In Ghost, a popular movie from the early ’90s, Patrick Swayze sticks around to love and protect Demi Moore after he dies. Nicole Kidman’s The Others shows ghosts who don’t realize they’re the ones doing the haunting.

In the real world, evidence for ghosts is scarce. People who take them seriously talk about psychic energy and show photographs with strange lights or colors. But most of the real research suggests that living people tend to create ghosts, either out of fear, grief, or for profit.

For instance, the strangest ghost stories are rarely told by the people who believe they’ve experienced an encounter with a ghost–unless those people are getting paid. The tellers are almost always people who heard it secondhand.

In addition, people who claim to hear voices or see dead relatives almost always stop experiencing those things when they take antipsychotic medications. That suggests either that ghosts don’t like medication or that people who are having intense emotional and psychological problems are more likely to see things that aren’t there.

The Bible leaves little room for the existence of ghosts. It never, ever talks about the spirits of dead humans lingering here. Paul wrote that for Christians, to be away from the body is to be present with God (2 Corinthians 5:8). And the Bible describes very specific judgments for unbelievers–judgments that do not include becoming a haunting spirit on earth (2 Thessalonians 1:9).

WHAT’S UP WITH VAMPIRES AND WEREWOLVES?

Our current ideas about supernatural creatures called vampires and werewolves come primarily from entertainment sources: the original Dracula movies of the 1930s and dozens of sequels and adaptations since then; the books of Anne Rice; and the world created by the popular shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.

According to the myth, a vampire is a demon who inhabits the body of a human. They need to drink blood to stay alive; they’re very strong; they can live forever; but they can be killed by sunlight, a stake through the heart, or being exposed to religious symbols like crosses or holy water. Oh, and they can turn other people into vampires if they want.

Werewolves are mythical creatures that appear human during the day, yet turn into ferocious and dangerous wolves when the moon is full. A person bitten by a werewolf will become one, and then he or she can only be killed while a wolf by a silver bullet. (They hate garlic, too.)

It’s possible that these monsters of movies, TV, and books got their start in the real world. According to a great book by James Watkins called Death and Beyond (Tyndale, 1993), researchers at the University of British Columbia have studied a rare disease called porphyria. Victims of this illness can’t produce heme, the red pigment in the blood’s hemoglobin.

They believe some early sufferers tried to alleviate their symptoms by drinking blood. In addition, without that substance in their blood, these people are painfully sensitive to light. Sunlight causes sores that deform their hands; the skin of the face gets thin and tight, causing the teeth to stick out. And the body tries to protect itself with increased (wolf-like?) hair growth.

Finally, people with this disease are also violently allergic to garlic. It’s possible that the legends grew out of a real-world illness.

The Bible, of course, teaches that demons are very real and that they can, in fact, possess unbelievers, making them violent and giving them supernatural strength. However, the Bible doesn’t ever talk about these people living unnaturally long lives.

**

Taken from "Don’t Buy the Lie" by Mark Matlock, copyright 2004 Youth Specialties/Zondervan. Used by permission. Order the book here:
http://www.youthspecialties.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=163

 

2. FORGETTABLE FACT

C3PO is the first character to speak in Star Wars (Episode IV).

 

3. POTENT QUOTABLES

"When creativity and passion come in and clean things out, you are able to care about more than yourself."
~ Zach Hunter

 

4. UH, THAT’S FUNNY?

Q: How do you fix a Jack-O-Lantern?

A: Use a pumpkin patch.