What's up with Vampires?

(This is supposed to go under my Faith page, but I can't figure out how to get it there.  Until then, I'll leave it right hear because I really wanted to tell you about it!)

This summer the pastor at our church did a series called "Let's Talk About It."  They took suggestions on what tough issues Christians are faced with, and gave a message about each one of them.  Some of the topics included Hinduism vs. Christianity, can you be a Christian and be gay, what our real purpose is, marriage, and the last one was about Vampires.

I must say that I have not delved into the Twilight series at all...I had no clue of the plot, why people liked it, and really have no interest in watching or reading anything that has to do with vampires.  So, I didn't really think this message would appeal to me.  Well I thought it was just great, so I wanted to share what I learned from it.

First,  the pastor gave some background information.  Where the idea of vampires came from and why, and the story of Twilight.  In a nut shell, there's a girl named Bella who falls in love with a vampire named Edward and is continually trying to get him to sleep with her.  He knows that if he does, he will be tempted to bite her, which will kill her - somehow he has the willpower to always turns her down.

These books are geared toward young women and here are the two main concepts they teach that are untrue about girls, men, and relationships.
1)  It is natural for a young girl to want to sleep with her boyfriend.
This is not natural and young girls who read this are convinced that this is the next logical step to their relationship.  If they weren't considering it before, they are now wondering why they aren't feeling that way and figure they should want to go further. 
2)  Men have the ability to say 'no' repeatedly when tempted by a girl.
The characters in this story are constantly going to the edge without going all the way.  Some parents think the stories are great because Bella and Edward do not have pre-marital sex - really, it teaches kids that it's okay to do everything else, and it is easy to stop when it's getting to far.

The last part of the sermon was the most powerful.  Some parents think these stories are great because Edward is a "Christ-like" figure for Bella.  He is constantly saving her life and taking care of her.  In one of the books, Bella and Edward get married and Bella gets pregnant.  The baby inside of her is half vampire and half human, and is sucking the life from her.  Edward decides to bite Bella so she can become a vampire as well and they can live happily ever after.

Similarity between Jesus and Edward - blood.  Edward sucks the life from Bella in order to benefit himself.  Jesus shed his blood FOR us in order that we might have life =)  He also had the ability to become human and be a living sacrifice for us.  Very powerful.

There were so many other powerful things that were talked about, but these were the ones that stuck out to me.  He finished the sermon by saying that if you're going to allow your daughter to read these books and watch the movies, you need to commit to reading and watching them yourself so you can talk through the books with her.

I'm just super thankful for a church that addresses real issues and reaches out to the youth!