Horror Movies

Psalm 10:17-18 – Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear: To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress. (KJV)

I remember as a Junior High student watching horror movies at the theatre, then having to walk along the highway at night to get home. My senses seemed to be heightened. Every little sound seemed to make my hair stand right on end.

To me, the all-time scary movie was Bram Stoker's Dracula. One time, I watched that movie, and was so scared that I slept with a Bible and a cross. I would have used garlic, if I could have slipped some out the kitchen without my mother knowing about it. Of course you are right, I would have been better off to read the Bible and eat the garlic.

In this movie, Dracula was the most vicious and scary of all the blood-sucking vampires. He was in league with the powers of darkness and lived forever. However, he had weaknesses. Dracula could not be out in daylight, and could not tolerate anything holy like the cross. Dracula's archenemy was Van Helsing, the vampire hunter. Van Helsing tracked the vampire with a cross and a wooden stake, which he intended to drive through the heart of this evil one, to destroy him, once and for all. Eventually Van Helsing did succeed.

These stories are not real life. As I said before, my time could have been better spent doing things more wholesome and reading the Bible, rather than sleeping with it. However we can learn from this.

God has called us to stand in the gap against evil. And the cross does have tremendous power. The cross is the source of our salvation, and is a symbol of hope to a lost world. As Christians, God has called us to hold up the cross in defence of the oppressed of this world, not the cross as some magic talisman, an icon, or a religious relic, but as a symbol of Christ's love. Jesus loved those oppressed by the world and by Satan. We are required to show the same love. We are expected to stand for the weak and defend those oppressed. We are to hold up Christ's love in the gap between those under attack and their tormentors.

Prayer: Father, give us the courage to be your warriors, to stand in the gap in defence of the oppressed. May we have loving hearts like Jesus, and be a blessing for those under attack in a sinful world. Amen.

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