Tuesday, June 5, 2007

The Deceived by Bill Myers

Kids today are bored. They have iPods, Wii's, XBox's, and a whole host of toys. Every kind of television channel imaginable. And lots more free time than is healthy for them to have.

They are also curious. With the increasing number of television shows and movies that dabble in the occult, interest among young people in witchcraft, wicca, and other methods of sorcery is rising (and I'm not talking about Harry Potter...that stuff is child's play compared to what I'm referring to).

So a book series geared for young teens that addresses these mysterious things in light of Scripture is nothing to be ignored. Bill Myers has written many adult Christian fiction novels I highly recommend...but "Forbidden Doors" is something I've stumbled across, and I think it's a worthwhile investment.

In "The Deceived", Bill tackles the topic of reincarnation. Before you think "So what?" you need to realize that since 9/11, the discussion of Eastern religions and philosophies has grown rapidly in the American classroom. I myself was shocked at what my nieces and nephews were coming home spouting.

Bill Myers writes about everyday Christian teens who get involved in or become exposed to different aspects of the occult. In this particular novel, Becka gets pushed into an experiment involving hypnosis, leading her to believe that reincarnation is a perfectly believable explanation for the evil in the world today.

But he exposes the lies of satan with both Scripture and the end result of such a belief system. Through a mysterious friend that Scott, Becka's little brother, encouters in a chat room, the family is warned, armed, and prepared to do battle with the forces of evil.

I do NOT think a child, pre-teen or teen should read these books on their own. A parent needs to be reading right along with them, so they can openly discuss the things learned about in the books. But they are easy to read...I knocked this one out in less than 2 hours.

And they are highly informative, well written, and valuable tools in the battle against evil's influence in our children's lives. While they are not as graphic as some of today's movies, they may scare those easily influenced by what they read...so be warned.

The Forbidden Doors series gets 5 bookmarks from me...with a tiny New Testament attached...can't go anywhere without God's Word!!

Happy Reading!

Deena

3 comments:

Julie Carobini said...

Thanks, Deena. We've waded into the public school waters in California for the first time this year with our high schooler. Thankfully there's a healthy group of Christian kids there to balance things out, but I'll tell ya, Teen Son comes home with some doozies from a couple of teachers. I've met Bill (years ago) and think highly of his work. I'll pick this one up, so thanks for the rec.

Denise said...

Thanks, parents really need this book.

Deborah said...

i read these books when i was a teen. oh goodness the first few scared me to death!!! this was around the time when i used to read the RL Stine Fear Street books as well and I found these books to be wayyyyyy better than that junk.

i always found it sad though that they never fully explained who Z (the computer guy?) really was.