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4 8 b 4 e Youth Culture r They decided they needed a UCO in Hebrew chaplain and recruited one of the Fifty Shades of Sesame Street Early in 2014 three university few Christian professors, a world In August the Youth Culture Newsletter noted to parents and youth students grabbed a guitar and renown research scientist in artificial intelligence. He also workers the importance of getting ahead of the discussion that will began singing pop songs on their happens to be a charismatic Greek campus. The students were from inevitably happen regarding the movie Fifty Shades of Grey. (It is due Catholic priest leading a small the town of Nazareth and the out on Valentine’s Day but trailers are being shown in cinemas now.) community recently associated campus is at Technion University in with the Sword of the Spirit (the As has been noted numerous times in the Youth Culture Newsletter, Haifa, a city of 600,00 people built parent organization of Kairos.) you never know when something is about to get worse in our on the slopes of Mt. Carmel. postmodern culture. However it is predictable that something will. In August they took the next step when over 20 students traveled to Enter Sesame Street. Amman, Jordan to participate in a Bert is sitting on a park Life in the Spirit Seminar that was bench reading Fifty Technion University has 13,000 sponsored by the People of God Shades of Oatmeal and students. It is 80 percent Jewish, community in Beirut. he says: “Oh, hi there. 20 percent Arab, and overwhelm- Not surprisingly, they returned to Welcome to Sesame ingly secular. Classes are taught Haifa full of joy and are beginning Street. I'm Bert. I'm in Hebrew and it is considered to a University Christian Outreach just reading this book: be Israel’s M.I.T. chapter at Technion with the hope Fifty Shades of Students started gathering around of starting an ecumenical Oatmeal. Yeah! One: and one of them asked, “Do you community in their home town, beige. Two: tan. Wow, Nazareth, 25 miles away. know any Christian songs?” They this is steamy stuff. did. They sang. And, to their Three: ecru.” surprise, the other students stayed Is this a problem for and joined in. your three year old As a result they found a room on who watches Sesame campus and to meet each Tuesday Street? Not likely, but it evening to sing Christian songs should reinforce the and a do bit of prayer. More “Behold I am doing something warning that Fifty students came. Soon there were new, do you not perceive it?” Shades of Grey will be a 30 coming weekly. (Isaiah 43:9) topic of discussion. The Talking Board VOCABULARY Writing boards originally had no Worth. The connection to the Planchette: a small triangular or relation to the occult until Pearl occult both fueled the sale of the On July 1, 1891 the businessman, heart-shaped pointer supported on Curran, the American spiritualist, boards and eventually caused Elijah Bond, introduced the first casters that moves when lightly promoted the use of the Ouija many Christians to forbid their use. “talking board” – a flat board touched by the fingers. board, claiming it was the means marked with the letters of the through which she channeled a 17th Ouija: a combination of the French alphabet, the numbers 0–9, the -century woman named Patience and German words for “yes.” words: yes, no, and goodbye. It used a movable planchette for Divination: the art or practice that selecting letters. seeks to foresee or foretell future In 1901 William Fuld produced a events, or discover hidden version called the Ouija board. It knowledge by interpreting omens has been the best selling writing or by seeking the aid of The cover for The Saturday board and is sold today by Hasbro. supernatural powers. Divination is expressly forbidden in the Bible.. Evening Post by Normal Rockwell

Ouija Board: the Movie 60 movies that feature the use of How the times have changed the eponymous board. (Eight films The marketers of the Ouija board The Halloween season is serving its named Ouija or Ouija Board have started with the slogan: “It’s just usual fare of films characterized by been made since 2003.) a game.” They moved on to: “It’s horror, the occult, the paranormal, This film centers on five friends just a game, isn’t it?” Then to: and anything else to provoke fear. who use the board in hopes of “Keep telling yourself, it’s just a game” and “If you play the Last weekend Ouija was a surprise contacting another friend who game, it is already too late.” hit, eclipsing Dracula Untold and hanged herself. As they do so, they Annabelle. It hung on over a weak free an evil spirit that eventually Movies like Ouija create a curiosity Hasbro, Hollywood, and Jesus Halloween weekend, besting Saw kills three of them. They did not agree that the occult has real th about occult powers and those 10 Anniversary and The ABCs of know that it was the board that powers have a way of power to attract. Two of them Death 2. Ouija is the latest of over made their friend kill herself. misrepresenting themselves – have gone on to make a serious either as more powerful than they money off of man’s attraction to really are or as harmless myths. evil spirits. (Think: liar and father of lies.) The other died to set us free from Handling the occult requires what the consequences of giving in to it. the Bible calls the discernment of spirits. Few young Christians can explain what that is, much less ex- Comments welcome: ercise it. It is toying with anthrax. [email protected]