B (15:25)

No, I think you covered almost everything. What? I mean, the. The main guy, the main demon boy, he actually. It's revealed that he sold his soul just for his own sake. Like, he. He tells her, first it was to provide for my family, and then it's revealed later that it wasn't. It was just for his own benefit, and he cast his own family out for it. And so his whole internal struggle is like, oh, I'm a terrible person for doing that, so I deserve to be soulless or whatever.

A (15:54)

Yeah.

B (15:55)

And so he's trying to earn, like, the. He's trying to get his memories erased so he doesn't have to dwell on that all the time. So.

A (16:03)

Yeah.

B (16:04)

Yeah.

A (16:06)

Because he does feel guilty about it.

B (16:08)

He feels guilty about it, and then in the end, he. He gains his soul back by sacrificing himself for them, and then he gives his soul. It's a little confusing. He gives his soul to Rumi because she's a demon and she needs one.

A (16:23)

I guess she's half demon.

B (16:24)

She's half demon.

A (16:25)

Yeah. Because I guess her dad was a demon and her mom was a person, which is also. Seems to be a theme in a lot of these kind of demonic shows or shows about demons. Yeah. Yeah. It kind of. That exchange right there reminds me a little bit of Beauty and the Beast, because the Beast and Beauty and the Beast was very vain, very selfish. He ends up turning into a beast for many years, and it's like he has to have some kind of act. He has to truly love someone and have sacrifice before all of the petals in the rose, like, fall. And then he does. He falls in love with Belle. He truly sacrifices himself for Belle, and she is saved, but he seems to die. But then she gives true love's kiss, and then he turns back into himself. It's kind of like that. But you never actually. What? Okay, remind me. Because I was, like, also trying to do things. When I was watching the end of this. What happens to Juni at the end?

B (17:22)

They die.

A (17:23)

So that's it. It's not like Beauty and the Beast where he comes back and they're in love and they get married? Yeah.

B (17:27)

He does not come back. They have revealed now that because of the success of this, they're probably gonna make a billion sequels and TV shows and musicals and stuff, but. So he might come back in the future, but at the end of this movie, he doesn't. The idea is that he sacrifices himself and they're all. The whole boy band is gone, along with all the other demons.

A (17:47)

Okay, before we get into the troubling aspects of this and the spiritual aspects. Was there anything that you, like, liked about it that you could say was good?

B (17:57)

I'm gonna be honest. This was a hard watch.

A (18:00)

It was a tough watch.

B (18:03)

It's just a very. I was just telling someone, you know how Coco Melon is, like, over stimulation all the time.

A (18:09)

Yeah.

B (18:09)

That's kind of what it felt like to me. It was like, it's pretty to look at, but it's just, like, color and movement. And, like, there's so much happening the whole time. So I kind of get why kids like it so much, but for me, it was a lot. I thought that the animation was good. You know, I. It's just. It was a hard watch.

A (18:29)

Yes. I know this. Some things, like, in facial expressions, I'm like, okay, that must be an anime thing. Like, how they change the eyes and different things. And, like, it's just so overly expressive. While also not having a whole lot of detail in the drawing of the face. Like, there's just, like, silly things. Like, they're one of the K Pop girls. She sees a guy who has abs. She's, like, falling in love. Her eyes turn into corn cobs. And then as she's heating up, because she thinks he's so attractive, the corn cobs burst into popcorn. Like, that's the kind of humor that is. There were a couple, like, kind of, like, funny parts. Not really my humor, but I could see how, like, a kid would think something like that is funny. I mean, there are some. You could say. Okay, if I were to give a totally positive perspective of this. Like, you could say, well, at least the satanic side. Or Guima is seen as the bad guy. He is the bad guy. He is defeated at the end. The good guys want to protect the souls of people. We do kind of see this biblical theme that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. And that he tempts people with power and with pretty things and he gets people to idolize things that are not God in order to convince them to give him total control. And we see that theme. And so you could say that something similar. There's a theme of, you know, true friendship. As I said, there's no explicit LGBTQ themes, which I think speaks well probably of Korean culture compared to our own. And so that's what I would say about it. Also, I don't know know if I would say it's part of like a very, the very dark trend of trying to get kids into the demonic. You could maybe argue that. I'm not totally sure that I would say that when it comes to this particular movie. However, would I allow my kids, or really any kid, maybe a teenager, but would I allow my kids to watch this? No. Now, a teenager might be able to decipher, okay, fiction, non fiction, obviously not biblical. But I honestly, before the age of like 13, 14, I, I don't, I do not think so. I, I think that it is very spiritually theologically confusing. And so let's get into the spiritual, theological aspects of this that I think are important. Let me go ahead and pause before we get there and tell you about good ranchers. You all know how much I love good ranchers. Let me tell you about their chicken nuggets, because I love chicken nuggets. Chicken nuggets are so good. But even the chicken nuggets in the grocery store, they have seed oils, they have sunflower oil, they have canola oil, even the organic kind that are supposed to be healthy, all the stuff that they say on the front to make you feel like, okay, these are the healthy chicken nuggets. You turn it around, you look at the ingredients, it's got all kinds of crapola in there. But with the chicken nuggets from good ranchers, you don't have to worry about that because it's got avocado oil and it's got all really good ingredients. And you don't have to worry about any of the fake things, stuff. They really care about the quality of all of their food, including the chicken nuggets. I love the non premier chicken. I love the fillets, I love the ground beef. It's all so good. All from American farms and ranches. Go ahead and subscribe. Get you those chicken nuggets every month, as well as the other meat that you and your family will eat on a nightly basis on dry ice in a box to your front door every month. It'll Just make your life easier. Plus, when you use my Code ally, you'll get $40 off good ranchers.com. ally. Code Ally. Breaking news, everyone. Breaking news, everyone. I just heard Bri gasp and I thought. I don't know what I thought happened. I thought that we had. Because we have a guest that I'm about to interview next. I thought that we had a scheduling snafu. No, y', all, Taylor Swift is engaged.

B (22:56)

Big news.

A (22:58)

Really big news.

B (22:59)

It's actually pathetic because she posted one minute ago and I saw it already, so.

A (23:04)

Oh, I thought you were gonna say it's pathetic that you had to wait 60 whole seconds to know that, too. Okay, so she is engaged to Travis. Kelsey.

B (23:17)

Kelsey.

A (23:18)

Okay, now we just gotta pause. We just gotta pause and talk whether this is real or whether this is a marketing scheme to get normies to watch the NFL and vote for Joe Biden.

B (23:31)

Vote for Joe Biden again.

A (23:33)

Yeah.

B (23:33)

Yeah.

A (23:34)

Okay. How do you feel? I feel like we have to pause and talk about this.

B (23:38)

I knew this would happen.

A (23:40)

You knew?

B (23:40)

I knew this would happen.

A (23:41)

Okay.

B (23:42)

And we've all been waiting.

A (23:43)

You thought it would happen before her new album came out?

B (23:47)

No, that's a good point. That's a good point. It could have happened before, though. She could have just been telling people. Now I don't know.

A (23:57)

Oh, yeah, yeah. What does her ring look like?

B (24:02)

We'll put a picture up. It's huge.

A (24:04)

Okay.

B (24:05)

It's gigantic.

A (24:07)

That would be so surprising if she did not have a huge ring.

B (24:11)

I know. A nice, humble ring.

A (24:13)

Yeah. Yes. Okay. Nope. Oh, my gosh. Well, I don't know that my audience cares about. So, like, don't leave any angry comments. Would, like, spend 30 minutes analyzing this. Not because I'm a swifty. Please, please. You guys know that I'm not. That is why I had to fire Brie.

B (24:34)

That is why.

A (24:35)

I'm just kidding. If you missed it, she's leaving to go back to ministry where they definitely won't let her talk about Taylor.

B (24:43)

It's forbidden.

A (24:45)

Okay, but I'm not a swiftie. In fact, I don't think you should allow your daughters to listen to her, idolize her at all. And I think Bri actually agrees with that. But I have so many thoughts right now, and I wish that we could spend the rest of the time analyzing, but I think people will be annoyed.

B (25:01)

Yeah, probably. Sorry for the interruption. Okay, big news in my life.

A (25:06)

We're gonna have to put up, like, a breaking banner and, like, all kinds of stuff. And then the little ticker at the bottom will keep going with what I was going to say about K Pop. Okay, guys, we're back. We are back. If only y' all could have heard that gasp. Wow, it really scared me. Okay, so let's get back into it. Korean shamanism. So I was looking at what religions are dominant in Korea, in South Korea, and it has a lot of Christianity, but it's got a lot of secularism. It's mostly like agnostic, atheistic people, which is very common in a lot of Asian cultures. Not all, but the what Ali Wong calls the fancy Asian cultures. That I would say that it is more secular, like Japan. Very secular. But before Christianity came to South Korea, there was something called shamanism, and it probably still affects Korean culture today. So the film draws heavily on shamanism, which is a folk religion. It is based on this idea that shamans can connect with the spiritual world through ceremonies. They can foresee people's futures using the Chinese calendar. They can assist with tasks like naming children, arranging marriages, or choosing lucky dates for events like weddings, moving home, starting businesses. Very superstitious. Yoon Sun Sun Yang, a Boston University associate professor of Korean and comparative literature, notes that Korea has a long cultural history of female shamans who use music and rituals to drive away evil spirits, which the movie mirrors in Huntrix's A Demon Hunting Song. So there is explicitly a religious motivation and pagan ideology that undergirds this. It's not just, oh, Christians are looking for things and they're taking things too seriously. No, the film is actually based on this pagan idea of shamanism, that there are these mediums that can communicate with the other side and that can fight off evil spirits and really encourage this kind of paranoid superstition that so many people of all different kinds of religions fall into. Maggie King, who directed the film alongside Chris Applehans, drew inspiration for this movie from her Korean heritage. Having grown up in Toronto but spending summers in South Korea. She said, when I first came up with the idea, it felt just purely a super. Like a purely superhero film about Korean women. Once we really grounded the mythology and Korean shamanism, it opened up an opportunity to feature so many different eras of Korea, really show the history of how Korean music evolved through the ages. She saw shamanism as a way to tell a feminist story, noting, I found it interesting that most historically it has been traditional. I think it's progressive and a symbol of feminism. Therefore, naturally, I thought it was appropriate to connect with the Korean shamans that I wanted to address in the women's narrative. So there's feminism Here there's paganism. Here there's witchcraft. Here there is a combination of all of these things. The Saja boys's name in costume design, with their dark outfits and traditional Korean hat. It's supposed to look like Ju Sang Saja, the Korean Grim reaper. A pale faced figure in black robes from folklore who symbolizes death. Okay, so you can see that in the picture there. And we've got lots of themes that are very similar, kind of showing the paganism and the demonic aspects of Korean religion over the years, or parts of Korean religion over the years. So the big concerns that I think Christians should have with the film. So there's a few. One we see that there are demons and the demons are very scary looking. Like that is one reason why I would not allow young children to watch this. Just one of the reasons. They're scary looking, but they're also bumbling idiots. Like if you have watched Anastasia Stasia, it's kind of like Rasputin's, like his little minions. They're almost like minions. And so on the one hand, you get the impression that these are very scary individuals carrying out the task of trying to steal your soul, but also that they are harmless, that they are powerless, and that there is some kind of human figure with the power to stop these demons if we worship them. But the people that are demanding our worship, these Huntrix people, are obviously human beings with supernatural powers. Not the only person who does have the power to defeat demonic activity and Satan himself, Jesus Christ. You see some themes, as we've already talked about, that we do see in scripture of Satan. Tempting, but I would say that the fact that Rumi is part demon and we see that she falls in love with the demon, I believe that this blurs the lines between good and evil. Even if Guima, this satanic figure, is ultimately the enemy, you do start seeing the demonic side of Rumi as being this quirk, as being a part of her personality that she should not be ashamed of. That's my opinion. We do see some temptation from Guima that is very similar to what we see in real life. That he exploits people's insecurities and fears to convince them to take authority of their lives. But of course, the solution that is presented in this movie is not denying yourself and following Jesus Christ, but it is further idolizing this girl band, this Hunt tricks band. You can actually see this in some of the songs. Like one of the competitions has the word idol in it. And that's not supposed to be a bad thing. It's just that we're not supposed to idolize the demons, but we are supposed to idolize the demon hunters. The Sasha boy, sing a song. I'll be your idol. I'm the only one who will love your sins. And even if they are considered the bad guys in this movie, I do think that that is confusing for a child because these guys are also seen as very attractive. And again, the lead singer ends up being almost the Christ, like self sacrificial being, even though he is a demon. So we've got more on the theological aspects of that in just a second. Let me go ahead and pause, tell you better. Next sponsor, it's We Heart Nutrition, y'. All. We Heart Nutrition has another awesome product out. It is called Wholesome Bone Support. It's a comprehensive formula with plant based calcium from red algae. It's got magnesium, vitamin D3 and K2 to promote strong, resilient bones for women and men, specifically aged 40 and older. Vitamin D3 helps keep your helps your body absorb calcium effectively while vitamin K2 directs calcium where it belongs to your bones, not to your arteries. And that is just the amazing thing about all products from We Heart Nutrition is that they are so carefully crafted and formulated to make sure that they are doing exactly what needs to be done for your body. Every ingredient comes in the most bioavailable form so your body can actually absorb and use these nutrients how you need them. And that is exactly why I rely completely on We Heart Nutrition for all of my supplements. I take their postnatal vitamin, I take their Omega 3s, I take their iron supplements, I take their magnesium every single day. I think it's made a big difference in my health as well as my hair, skin and nails. Go to weheartnutrition.com use promo code ALI for 20 off your order. That's weheartnutrition.com code ALLY. So to get into this a little bit more, one big concern is the portrayal of demons in the movie. Demons aren't just evil, they're complex. They're layered. They are people that you can talk to. They are people that you can relate to. They have very similar kind of fears and insecurities as you do. You find yourself being very sympathetic, pathetic, towards this demon who is enslaved to the satanic figure himself. And you can see also that Rumi being half demon, she ends up being the hero. So really the two main heroes of this are either demons or part demons. Now you might say, well, Rumi ends up like getting rid of that part of her identity through her sacrificial act. But it's not ever really clear that being a demon is objectively evil. We can see from the director that there is something that she is actually trying to communicate through this portrayal. It's sought to.

B (34:55)

I read somewhere that the. The solution to shame is empathy, and I find that. How do you manage to bring all of this together into your storyline? Well, thank you. When we were crafting the story, we used to always compare it of Rumi's story as like she's coming out of the closet, coming clean to her parent, who is, you know, is wanting her to be something that she's not. And so, yeah, it was just kind of naturally part of the kind of crafting of it and the storytelling.

A (35:28)

So understand that that is the allegory here. Not only are they purposely drawing upon satanic and pagan themes, but they are also using this as a metaphor for an adolescent coming out of the closet and trying to attain or come into a new sexual or gender identity. This is so common in anime. And I know I said that there's no explicit LGBTQ themes, and that's true. I don't think a child would necessarily see. See this, but just know that this is the message that the director herself is trying to convey. I think that's true of so much anime, even when it's not explicit. The gender bending and the self liberation and self empowerment and superstition. So much of what you're seeing in the culture she's representing is actually woven through so much of anime. And of course, it's not just anime. It is also woven through all kinds of children's entertainment. And while your child may not pick up on it, don't be fooled. Like, these things can plant a seed. This act. The I. The irony is, is that it's almost so on the nose with what Satan does that he can actually use entertainment that looks and sounds fun and sounds innocent to plant seeds of deception in your child. Now, I'm not saying that we have to make sure that our children never watch anything or listen to anything that's not a nursery rhyme or is not explicitly Christian, but I do think that we have to be careful, and I think it's better to go to that direction than to be so naive as to think that cartoons can't be insidious and can't have a negative impact on. On our children. The songwriter behind some of the music that I referenced, like I said, one of the songs, I'll be your idol, I'm the one who will love your sins. There's all different kinds of lyrics that are similar to that. The songwriter behind some of that music said it's about the obsession of fans because the Sasha boys want them to be obsessed, to control them. That sounds like what an idol is. I was raised Christian and remembered it's a sin to idolize something. So it was like a twist of I'll be your idol. It was kind of creepy, like he's writing that about his own song. So the movie also suggests that salvation comes through music and personal strength. Huntress tricks his Gosh, it's so hard to say. Their songs like golden are portrayed as having the power to defeat evil and seal the Han moon, implying humans can overcome spiritual battles on their own. This decenters Jesus who is the true source of victory over evil. There is also a theme of humanism, secular humanism in the film, and this is from Focus on the Family's review, which actually was kind of positive. I I didn't think that this review hit on all of the issues with this movie, but it did say this. The film itself takes a more humanistic approach that we can overcome our sins or at least accept our flaws through self actualizing effort. And so this particular person from Plugged in says that you can use that as like a conversation piece with your kids. I personally don't think that's the wisest thing to do. I think that it's cultivating a lot of confusion personally. And then you've got Christianity today. Obviously lots of takes that Christianity Today has that I don't agree with, but there are some interesting things in this particular article about humanizing demons and the problem with that. So this author says. But what what stands out most in the movie is how demons are portrayed as creatures with conflicting emotions and a desire to do good, instead of the grotesque one dimensional caricatures I watched and read about years ago that were most definitely 100% wicked and therefore deserving of total destruction. The monsters and demons that are capturing our collective consciousness today are relatable and humorous, anthropomorphized or animal like in their expressions, body language and actions. Don't get me started on Derpy Jinu's adorable tiger demon sidekick in K Pop K Pop Demon Hunters. I'd love that plushie, this person said. Unconsciously or otherwise, we have placed ourselves in the center of every battle between good and evil. The narrative du jour is how a human demon or half demon can successfully overcome the darkness within by their own strength. As characters like Rumi and Nezuko exhibit mastery of the Self is the pinnacle of achievement. There's a spillover effect in how we are remaking demons and monsters in our own image as these flawed beings that are capable of building up and tearing down, capable even of saving humanity. These creatures might remain fearsome, but more than that, they are also surprisingly deserving. These movies are portraying of our compassion and empathy. In this atmosphere, spiritual ambivalence thrives. But I am intrigued by our modern day penchant for making monsters and demons safe or cute or attractive or morally ambiguous and how this might be creating a sense of spiritual ambivalence and even worse than that, convincing people in an age where Ouija boards and tarot cards are seen as neutral or good. This is my commentary now that it would convince kids that you can dabble in that without any consequences. When in reality we know that demonic power is real, that there's no such thing as neutral power. There is either God's power or there is demonic power. We read that very clearly as we read about the spiritual armor that we are to put on in Ephesians 6, that our enemy is the spiritual realm of demonic principalities that is run by Satan, who is called in Ephesians to the prince of the power of the air, who is not funny, who is not quirky, who is not bumbling, but is extremely cunning and has it out for your soul and your child's soul. That is, in the realest sense, it is dangerous as hell. Okay, so for us to trivialize that actually does mean something. It actually does have an impact on your home. Here's what. First, Thessalonians 5:22 through 24 says, abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful. He will surely do it. There are other translations of this verse that says, abstain from every appearance of evil. So that's a really important addition there. I would say Isaiah 5:20 says, Woe to those who call evil good and good evil. Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. I think that there is an interesting conversation to be had about what level of fantasy and magic is okay in children's fiction. Because I don't think it's necessarily zero. I mean, I love the Chronicles of Narnia. I think that there's a really good message in, in Lord of the Rings. I think that there is an argument to be made, that there is a redemptive theme and books like Harry Potter. So I think that there is a place for fantasy, a place for fiction. I think it can be really good for the creativity of the mind. We've already read the lion, the Witch in the Wardrobe to our kids in our home. I love C S Lewis. And so I don't think all, all manners of, of. Of magic are bad when it comes to fiction and when it comes to children's entertainment. To me, I think the distinction is between magical themes that show that evil really is evil, that it's not layered, that it's not nuanced, that when you flirt with evil the way that Edward Edmond did with the White Witch and the lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, that really bad things happen, that it's not cute, that it's not funny, we shouldn't be a part of that. So maybe that's the difference there, that evil really is evil in those kinds of books and good really is good. Whereas in these kinds of magical themes it is extremely blurred. And that can be confusing for our kids that we are trying to disciple and catechize. All right, a little bit more about what the Bible has to say about idolatry, necromancy, witchcraft, and this shamanism that glorifies trying to communicate with evil spirits. But let me go ahead and pause, tell you about our necromancy sponsor and that is Constitution Wealth. The question that you gotta ask yourself when you are wondering what kind of financial institution to work with is are you unknowingly funding companies and funding an institution that actually opposes your values with every investment that you make? Do you know if your hard earned dollars are supporting businesses that actively work against the Christian principles that you hold dear? You don't really want to risk that. Where your money is, there your heart will be. Also. How we spend our money is an indication of our hearts, is an indication of our value system. You want to work with the company that knows that, that believes that, that cares about that, that sees every investment as an investment in the kingdom. 2nd Corinthians 6:14 says, don't be yoked together with unbelievers. But what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? Obviously we live in an unbelieving world, but every effort we can make to partner with those who align with our biblical values is a step in the right direction. And that is why you've got to check out Constitution Wealth. They are abiding by those biblical values that we care about. So much. They're a registered investment advisor. You can review Constitution Constitution wealth disclosures@constitutionwealth.com to understand more about them, what their value system is, as well as their services and fees. All investing does involve risk, including the risk of loss. This is a paid endorsement. My opinions are my own and my opinion is that you should give them a call and check them out. This could be one of the best decisions that you make financially. Go to constitutionwealth.comalli for a free consultation. That's constitutionwealth.com ally so obviously we read in the Old Testament and the New that we should flee idolatry. We see it in Exodus 23:5 you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them. That is really important. A lot of people need to hear that. We do not need to make carved images that we are bowing down in front of. But not just carved images. Obviously, people. Anything that is the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever. Amen. That's Romans 1, Deuteronomy, Joshua, First Corinthians 10:14 as we move into the New Testament, therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. Flee from it. Galatians 5:19 21 now the works of the flesh are evident. Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things, all of those things, will not inherit the kingdom of God. Colossians 3:5 but to death. Therefore, what is earthly in you. Sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil, desire, covetousness, which is idolatry. 1st John 5:21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. This movie does encourage idolatry. The belief that these people, through their own power, that you, through your own power, can save yourself. Deuteronomy 18:10 through 12 as we look at this theme of shamanism that the creators are explicitly saying is woven into this film. Deuteronomy 18:10 through 12 says, There shall not be found among you anyone who practice divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or a charmer, or a medium, or a necromancer, that someone who talks to the dead, or one who inquires of the dead, or whoever does these things, isn't it? For whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. Leviticus 19:31. Do not turn to mediums or necromancers. Do not seek them out and so make yourselves unclean by them. I am the Lord your God. Acts 19:19 and a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them all in the sight of all. So this was not just an Old Testament command, because the principle is still true today. Practicing these kinds of works, it's idolatry and also Christian. It produces anxiety and paranoia in you. We are so inclined, all people are so inclined to this work, works based empowerment and this works based salvation, that if I do this, then some power will give me favor. Remember Those power beads 90s kids unite. Like 1999, 2000. I remember my mom being very skeptical of power beads because they were some kind of like, Asian mystical thing that you could put on. And it was supposed to, like, speak to your personality and protect you. Like, even though all those good luck charms, like the Little Rabbit Foot and all of that that we had growing up, it creates a lot of anxiety. And God and his grace wants to protect us from that. And he wants to say, look, I'm not fickle, I'm not capricious. I am not telling you that you have to do XYZ in order for me to hear you, listen to you. Because he sent his Son who is unchanging. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews 13:8. To die for us. John 3:16. To take our pain, to take our sin, to take our punishment, to stand in our stead, to advocate for us. And every time God looks to us, he sees Jesus standing in our stead, giving us a blank slate. If we believe in him by grace, through faith, like that is the unconditional favor and love that we have. And because of that, because Jesus has given us his righteousness. And we read that prayer. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. James 5. Like, we can trust that God hears us and that God's great power can work through us. The power of our prayers, how amazing is that? It's so much better than luck. It's so much better than self empowerment. It's so much better than self idolatry. It's so much better than shamanism or necromancy or psychics or mediums or all of this madness that really is just glorifying the demonic and will lead you down a destructive path. So it's Kind of like the conversation we have every year about Santa, how Santa presents like this false, fake, cheap, superficial gospel, legalistic gospel. It's like, why do we point our kids towards the counterfeit of something when the real thing, the real power that is available to them is right there and is so much better? Now, as we get into the fake portrayal, the wrong portrayal of who demons actually are, like, what does the Bible actually say about demons? It's important for us to remember they are real. It's not just fantasy. They are real. So who are they? What are they? What should we think about? Should we think about demons at all? Let me tell you about our last sponsor for the day before we get into that. It's Fellowship Home Loans. If you are looking to refinance, if you are looking to make the major purchase of buying a home, you gotta call my friends at Fellowship Home Loans. Mike and Brian are the real deal. They are doing things by the book, that is the Bible, another company aligned with biblical values. And when you have someone handling your money, talking about these major loans and all of that, like, you want to make sure that they are operating under the values of integrity and honesty, excellence, hard work, because they are trying to glorify God just like you. Now, here's what you need to know. Practically, rates could drop at any moment. When they do, the smart people, the prepared people will move fast. That's why now is the time to talk to Fellowship Home Loans. They'll help you run the numbers, look at the full picture, ask the honest question, what's it going to take to get into the home that you and your family need right now? So start with a free consultation@ Fellowship homeloans.com Alli you can even get a 500 credit at closing terms. Apply C site for details Fellowship Home Loans Mortgage Lending by the Book Nationwide mortgage bankers DBA Fellowship home loans equal housing lender NMLS number 819382 demons are not these layered, complex creatures that we should have any compassion for or who can be convinced to have any compassion for us. Demons are fallen angels who are now under the dominion of Satan. They were cast out of heaven because of their pride, because of Lucifer's pride, because of setting themselves up against the Creator, against God himself. They are now eternally damned and they are bound for destruction, just like Satan himself. Second Peter 2, 4. Part of it says God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment. And just a little bit more about Satan, 2nd Corinthians 4:4. In their case, the God of this world, Satan, has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. So what we need to know about demons, they seek to deceive people by promoting false teachings and idolatry or any teaching that opposes the true gospel of Jesus Christ we read in first Timothy 4:1:3. Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared through the. I just think that's so important. The teachings of demons and deceitful spirits through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know truth. And I actually think it's important the examples that are given there. And obviously the deceitful spirit and the activity of demons goes far beyond just those two things that he had to write, that Paul had to write to Timothy at the time about the congregation that he was leading, but forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created. And so you can see that at this time in this place, that Satan was using things that sounded holy, that sounded good, that sounded like they were going to earn someone righteousness, that he used legalism in order to deceive people and pull people away from Christ. And so I think that Satan can use all kinds of means, but it's not always things that are so blatantly wrong. Like this particular K pop movie. We see demons and demonic activity and oppression and possession a lot in the Gospels. It was something that Jesus and his apostles dealt with. Demons can possess non Christians aiming to destroy them, not only to take their souls in eternity, but to control their bodies. We read that in Mark 5, for example. They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of Gerasinies. That's how I'm going to go with that pronunciation and with G. And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs, a man with an unclean spirit. He lived among the tombs and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound by shackles and chains. But he wrenched the chains apart and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him Night and day, among the tombs and on the mountains, he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. Okay, verse six. And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. And crying out with a loud voice, he said, what have you to do with me, Jesus, son of the Most High God, I adjure you by God, do not torment me so. That's another aspect we see of demons. That they know who Jesus is. They know that he is the son of the Most High God. They know his power. And they actually fear Jesus. They fear his power. They fear his name. For he was saying to him, come out of the man, you unclean spirit. Jesus was saying this to him. And then Jesus asked him, what is your name? He replied, my name is Legion, for we are many. And he begged him earnestly not to send him out of the country. Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. Send us to the pigs, let us enter them, this demon said. So he gave them permission and the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs. And the herd numbered about 2,000, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea. Sin makes you stupid. Demonic oppression makes you stupid. It leads you to death in so many different ways. Jesus has the power over these. And that is why Christians cannot be possessed by demons due to the presence of the Holy Spirit. We read, for example, in First John 4, four little children, you are from God and have overcome them. For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. The Holy Spirit is indwells us and whatever fills us controls us. And because we are filled by the authority and the power and the goodness of the Holy Spirit, we cannot be filled and possessed by a demon. Romans 8, 9, 11. You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the spirit. If in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. If the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you. So it's important to remember that demons are real, that they have real power, that Satan really uses them to tempt you, to try to deceive you. But they do not have ultimate power over you, because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. The the Prince of the power of the air. So understand that that Jesus has already conquered, that we are living as people who are powerful, are victorious in Christ, but not because of our own self liberation, not because we do this like dance with the demonic. Not because we, like, have compassion for them, not all of these demonic and satanic tropes that we are seeing in movies like this one, but because of Christ, because of his power, because we rely on him completely. I would just encourage you not to watch anything, not to allow your child to read anything that blurs the lines of good and evil, of light and darkness, of the satanic and the godly. Because those distinctions are real and they matter. They matter for how we live our lives today. They matter for the peace and the calm, the serenity that we can have in Christ, knowing that we are on the winning side. But they also matter eternally. We as parents have every responsibility to disciple our kids, to steward their hearts and their minds. The time that we have here on earth is fleeting. It goes by like that. But the time that you have with your children in your home is even shorter. And I am not opting for legalism. I am not saying that you have to pretend that the world doesn't exist. I'm saying be careful. I'm saying that we should be a lot more careful than even Christians tell us that we should be. We will be demonized and we will be made fun of for being Christians who take things seriously and who really care about protecting the hearts and the minds of our children and properly discipling them. You will be told by people at your Christian school, in your Christian community, among your Christian friend group, in your Christian homeschooling co op and in your church that you care too much about what your child consumes. And let me just remind you, Christians are supposed to be weird. Christians are supposed to be set apart. We're supposed to be different. We're not supposed to be consuming all of the same things that other kids do that other people people do. And it is normal. It is a normal part of Christian life to be called different and to be made fun of for being different. Now be weird for the right reasons. Not the wrong reasons, but the right reason is the pursuit of holiness. And I do not think this movie is in line with helping our children on that path. All right, that's all we've got time for today. We will be back here tomorrow. Sa.