1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice evermore.Pray without ceasing In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Maybe that means keeping a deer from running out in front of your vehicle. It might mean keeping any uncontrolled cell growth which commonly exists within each of our bodies from becoming cancerous.

Recently, it was the job I didn’t get that I’m thankful for!

I had applied for an over the road driving job with a smaller company who ran regional freight. During the ensuing interview which seemed to go very well I remember the owner telling me that because of how junky his equipment was I would have to drive around scales and that I would be paid on a percentage of what the load paid. Despite both of those pieces of really bad news I filled out the application he gave me and faxed it back to him ready to work if and when he called!

But he never did…

So I called another company that I had been considering who I knew ran first class equipment but who also ran a much bigger territory. I was hesitant about my ability to meet their expectations because it had been over four years since I drove on that level. The thing is,God didn’t really leave me any other options! Getting back into the transportation industry with no recent experience is difficult so I was ready to take anything…

but I was also well…afraid!

I struggle with anxiety and fear quite a bit, it’s one of the biggest areas my Heavenly Father is helping me to grow in! Mostly by protecting me from things that would overwhelm me totally, other times by just being close to me in the midst of any circumstances that I feel threatened by. What faith is to me is knowing that God had control of my circumstances yesterday, and so therefore also has my today and tomorrow under control as well!

That’s what this verse means to me…It’s also why I’m so thankful! There’s nothing as empowering and fear squashing as knowing that the omnipotent God who created the heavens, the earth, and all that is,is with you and that He cares about YOU!

Does that mean nothing bad ever happens to me?

We all know that “Stuff Happens” don’t we…

The question most people have is when does the “stuff” STOP happening?

It stops when GRACE happens! When we come to the place where we can truly say,

“Father, not my will but yours be done”

and mean it…

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Long before the first wisp of chimney smoke makes it’s way up the flue and is carried along on the chilly November breeze to our olfactory senses, the preparations have already begun. With the passing of the oppressive summer heat and the previous vocational opportunities it afforded me I made new plans. It’s fall,and so it’s time for me to shift gears once again…

Literally!

Working in the logging woods is one of the cornerstones of the local economy where I live employing perhaps half of the local people in various capacities. In the past six years my involvement has been in nearly every aspect of it at one time or another.I’ve operated sawmills,skidded logs,hauled logs and sawed out products such as railroad ties and “cants”. However,one thing I’d never done before was haul bulk logs on a “pole trailer” which is basically a very long piece of steel pipe with log stakes attached.

                                     looks like fun doesn’t it?

Well let me tell you it’s not…At least not for me it wasn’t!

The reality of the dangerous nature of the work I was doing combined with the questionable mechanical integrity of the equipment I was operating was the source of much anxiety for me. Hauling the massive loads of logs to the local mills was also problematic in that I was sure any DOT officer worth his salt would certainly shut me down and ticket me based on the numerous safety compliance violations of said vehicle.

But what a blessing…I immediately made a renewed commitment to praying!

I did it before leaving,quite often during the trip,and then I thanked God after and despite all of the aforementioned complications I was able to be quite successful. From my perspective God was faithful to me in so many ways during this time. A specific example of Gods favor toward me was that despite the fact that I was carrying very heavy loads on some very thin trailer tires over roads full of sharp rocks I only had one flat tire! If I’d of had that flat on the state highway instead of on the gravel road where it did happen it definitely would’ve been a much bigger deal! It happened right in front of this old country church which gave me the opportunity to check it out and take some really neat pictures of it’s interior! I’ve had people tell me it’s a symptom of being delusional to place unwarranted significance upon chance occurrences or to read too much into what is most likely just coincidence and I understand that…but when you’re hauling a load of logs down a two lane hilly,curvy road and you experience a sudden loss of power due to a lack of fuel and then at the last moment before you stall out in the road you see a perfect place to pull over it’s hard to just brush it off as luck…over and over again

I wonder if they understand that?

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What else can I say?

He loves me!

It’s the only way I can begin to understand how my family has once again very comfortably “made it” through another year! Especially a year like this past one in which so many were negatively affected. As it draws to a close and I look back on the many ways Gods cared for us I feel many emotions. First of all I’m humbled,and then I’m bewildered at His love for me. It’s hard to truly understand what I mean unless you’re someone like myself who is at times perhaps a bit more “human” than most in that I have a history of making more than my share of mistakes and bad choices. Most people find it pretty easy to explain away the “near miss” or disregard what could’ve happened under slightly different circumstances but I can’t. I suppose that’s because I’ve seen it happen so many times or perhaps it’s because I’ve been “blessed” to see myself so clearly for who and what I really am without Him.

It’s been quite a year for me, the job I had at the beginning of the year ended when the teenage girl I was working as support staff for flipped out one day and took an overdose of her prescription drugs. It was quite traumatic for everyone involved, afterwards everyone was put under investigation by the department of mental health. I was cleared of any charges of neglect,which is a very big deal and I was extremely relieved. I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong but I also know that people get wrongly blamed for stuff all the time.

Thank You God!

My next job was a blessing in it’s self. I worked over the summer for the Eleven Point River canoe rental outfitter in my hometown shuttling people down to the river to go on float trips!

It was a great experience for me to meet so many interesting people and to be able to play a part in their summer fun! Where I live is such a beautiful place and I never grew tired of introducing others to it’s wonders. Oh,and on top of all that I got paid for it!

God…You’re my rock,and you ROCK!

Among the things I’m most thankful for this year I have to include being invited to join a small study/worship group which meets at a friend’s home nearby. For a while prior to that I had stopped going to church. I soon found the groups emphasis on study and open discussion as well as the great time of fellowship we shared to be just what was missing!

It’s wonderful to come together with other Christian’s and really be the church to those in need in your own community. That’s what attracted me to become involved with an organization called One Hope Outreach located in my hometown of Springfield, Mo. They’re focus is helping homeless people find permanent housing and empowering them to make positive changes in their lives. This photo was taken at a fundraiser which was held at a local restaurant.

Thank You Father for meeting ALL of my needs, both physical and spiritual! Thank You for giving my life meaning and purpose!

Today,as I reclined in my chair, lost in the serenity of the view outside my window I had one of those disoriented moments…It happened as I was making the transition. It was a moment in which the perceived insanity of this world seemed so clearly juxtaposed against the peace and tranquility of the world I had drifted off into,and like going from hot to cold the effects were magnified.

My next thoughts were analytical and seemed to question the authenticity of what I was experiencing and it’s relevance to anyone besides myself but the case was quickly lost. I knew it was more than just my own egocentric flattery… No,the observance of this familiar topography was a product of months,perhaps even years, of subversive confoundment at the perfect storm of circumstances that seemed to not only be following me but hanging over the whole world as well!

One very dark cloud that’s predominant characteristic or quality lies in the inability of anyone to put their finger directly upon it

I’ve noticed that everyday the water seems to get muddier. That with each new shocking headline or catastrophe I become a little more jaded. With the advent of each new previously unthinkable event we’re forced to redefine what is reality.Have you ever wondered “What next?” And then,wanting to turn directly towards that roaring sound you hear creeping up on you, you begin to move only to be halted by your sternest inner parental tone barking out for you to do an about face back towards “reality”? Often it’s accompanied or supported by another inner voice espousing the convincing logic of continuity, the notion that what has happened will always continue on and on,and to think otherwise is well…foolish

2 Peter 3:3-4

Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,⁴And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

To me it’s no mere coincidence that this is also the concept science bases much of what it espouses to be true upon. That this is the threshold of truth used as a platform for hypothesis and theory to explain practically everything. Be it carbon dating or that most sacred of scientific cow’s “the speed of light” both of which have faced a re-examination in recent years. The crisis then becomes a cliche, it’s almost like saying,

“What if everything you know is wrong?”

Am I being overly abstract even for me, painfully esoteric and annoyingly cryptic?

All apologies…

I’ve chosen to write this primarily for myself, if someone else gets it then great. It’s simply a situation that’s increasingly difficult for me to abide with and so my hope is that by exploring it here I can perhaps put a finger on it or give it a name. In the past I’ve railed against what I perceive as the hypocrisy of institutionalized religion that’s become an “I’ve got mine” Christian social club or the pridefully motivated law keeping that would do the Pharisee’s proud! But that’s not really it. It’s so much broader, and yet it can take the form of small annoying things that seem out of balance or somehow just wrong in your life…like living someplace where flies seem to outnumber humans by 10,000 to 1 or too much month left at the end of the money…

My annoyances and inconveniences seem petty when I look around and see the interminable struggle just to live that’s faced by so many here on this blue and green spinning ball. Reconciling those realities is like trying to ignore some 800lb existential gorilla in the room or not be shocked at an emperor without any clothes. It’s an out of whack reality that can unexpectedly slap you in the face even in your favorite chair or anywhere that the illusion is strong enough, accepted as the norm or thought of as just the way it is…

I’m simply trying to relate how in one moment

I was startled to see through the illusion.

To some who read this what I’m saying will make little sense. Others may relate,acknowledging the new status quo of confusion and deception. It’s probably not any revelation to many that this world is going to pot,

but what I’m pointing at is how, on a very personal level,

I feel the effects of what’s happening!

How sometimes it still takes me by surprise.

 like the frog in a pot eventually looking around as if to say,

 “Isn’t it getting hot in here?”

What in the world am I talking about?

It’s really no great matter unless it leaves you different than you were before

Different in what way?

I think you know…

You should always maintain control over a horse…once they get the idea in their head that they have the control they’re just no good to be ridden anymore!

A horse is an extremely strong animal, much stronger than any man! Despite this obvious physical superiority they can be trained to do various tasks using a small “bit” in their mouth that’s attached to a set of leather reins. Many horse trainers also use a whip or some similar instrument to terrorize the animal,seizing upon it’s natural fear of man to bring it under submission.

There are only a few animals that seem to have no natural fear of man! One such animal is a Cottonmouth snake also known as a “Water Moccasin”.

Another is the particularly aggressive Salt Water Crocodile.

Include Grizzly bears,Great White Sharks,and Elephants! What most of these animals have in common is their extreme territorial nature. They own their domain and take any challenge either real or imagined very,very seriously…

Fear is extremely powerful. To this day I still don’t care to swim in the ocean because the movie Jaws scared me so much! And snakes? forget about it! Especially a Cottonmouth,they scare me to death!

Consider the role fear plays in each of our lives, are we like the horse? Do we let ourselves be “ridden” by a much less powerful creature who subdues us with fear and uses a bit of some kind to steer us? What would happen if we understood how powerful we are and decided to take control of our situations?

We wouldn’t be any good to be ridden anymore would we?

Are you sick of your life being one bad thing after another? Of being depressed or anxious because your life is just an endless stream of disappointments and failures? Do you worry about things that might happen, or sometimes just feel hopeless about your situation? Do you ever wonder what’s the point of living if it’s just a pain in the butt that you somehow manage to survive!

You may have someone on your back riding you…

Okay sure, I can relate to some of the symptoms you mentioned and I am sick of it but what can I do about it?

I’m glad you asked but right off the bat I’m going to tell you that whoever or whatever is on your back will not give up without a fight. How do you suppose a horse would go about getting someone off their back? They’d rare up and throw them off that’s how! No mamby pamby pleading with it or half measures here will get the job done. It doesn’t matter what issue it is that’s got you down, they’re all weapons formed against you by the enemy which is attacking you on a spiritual level and so you have to use the much more powerful spiritual weapons available to you to defeat it!

The number one weapon is Gods word!

A book of your rights as a child of the Most High God. A personal love letter to you that’s filled with lifesaving promises which are truth, that when spoken by you to your problems carry His same authority and are guaranteed to scatter the comparatively petty demons that are making your life miserable! You will get immediate relief, but they’ll be back to see if you’re serious or if you really meant what you said so continue to read The Word and hide it in your heart so that you’ll be ready to put another “whoopin” on ‘em when they do!

If, I’m sorry…WHEN you run into trouble, or just aren’t getting the kind of relief you’re seeking you need to find a group of believers and ask them to agree with you in prayer over your needs. Here’s where it can get tricky, first off you’ll have to face your fear of walking into a church and at some point asking to be prayed over. That’s when our enemy will do everything he can to prevent this from happening and you from being helped! Try it, but be ready when our enemy starts to tighten is grip of fear around you and begins to speak lies to you because he most definitely will!

After all, he wants to continue to ride you…

You may go to a church and the people there seem like they don’t know what you’re talking about or that might even say,

“We don’t do that sort of thing here”

At which point just say “Okay thanks”  and just keep looking until you do find one!

When you do find some other believers and you and them pray together, the only way the Holy Spirit can work is for you to have faith. You’ve got to believe that Gods word and His promises are true, if you doubt that God can fix your problem or that He loves you enough to do it then you close yourself off. If you doubt that God is willing to fix it you’ll do the same thing. God loves you, He can do all things,and He is willing!

Matthew 8:2-3 And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Tragically, our situation as Christians is that even though we may understand that through Christ we’ve been set free from the penalty of sin for all eternity we don’t seem to realize that eternity starts here and now! Someday all of us will stand before the Father and give an accounting of our lives. I’m sure we’ll tell Him about the many struggles we faced and point to our circumstances that kept us down. We may even try to explain that the reason we didn’t grab hold of the plan He had for us and become all He designed us to be is that we were paralyzed with fear.

You know what I think He’ll say?

What did you do with My Son?

In conclusion, I think that this is the whole point I’m trying to make…

If you’re saved by faith in Christ, you’ve been born again to rule over those things that would rule over you.

If I said it was because of the way He so faithfully provides for the physical needs of my family and I, which I believe He does, I wouldn’t be able to explain why it is that God loves everyone but some in this world go without.

I could say that I know God loves me because He sent His Holy Spirit to be a guide and counselor to me who leads me in all things but His Spirit is like the wind. You can’t actually see it…even though you can easily see it’s effects!

Would it be easier for people to understand how I know if they could experience His peace? If instead of feeling anxious about their circumstances,both present and future,they could cast their cares upon Him knowing He cares for them?

 That’s a lot of “If”s” in one sentence…

I used to walk through life carrying heavy burdens that I couldn’t put down! I know Jesus loves me because He took my burden of condemnation and sin and made me free!

What about the way Jesus is working in my life to heal me from all of the wounds I’ve suffered from the weapons formed against me by my enemy, continually transforming me by the renewing of my mind…

Would my testimony be convincing?

Oh I know! It’s the joy I feel in my life which is the fruit of His Spirit! It’s very attractive to others but can be so difficult for them to accept because it’s a gift!

All of us have placed our faith in something. Mostly in the things we can see like science,technology,and of course people! Every time we pay attention to anything we give it tribute and power in our lives. If we place our faith in Christ it can be said of us that though we may be in this world we’re not of it.

Our faith is the only requirement for us to receive our Father’s real love! But have you ever tried to explain what love is to someone? If so,you no doubt know it’s futility.I can tell you how much God loves you, I can show you in His word how He’s shown it, I can let His love shine through me for you to see, I can show you a world of miracles based on His love for you, but would it be enough?

The choice belongs to each of us,to decide what it is we believe.

Of course the responsibility for those choices is ours as well!

“Son, you don’t have to be really smart in this world if you have smart people around you”

His words stung a little then but now serve as a confirmation to me of a blessing that has in may ways characterized my life and that’s helped me to be more comfortable in the many supporting roles I’ve played since.

Genesis 3:22

And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever

Knowledge can actually be a curse, look what happened to Adam after he “got smart” via the fruit of the forbidden tree! I think God is saddened by what’s happened, it’s as if He understands what a burden it is to know, to understand, and that as a result man will now be held responsible to choose good over evil…

Can you not see how much better off Adam was before just being

“dumb and happy” ?

In a recent post I wrote about our freedom in Christ and how Christians have allowed a spirit of fear and deception to keep them from experiencing any possible benefit or blessing from things like yoga,the martial arts, or even performances by theatrical magicians and I still believe that. I understand dancing is now considered “okay” as well…However, when it comes to things like Christians practicing Transcendental Meditation or being involved with any other altered consciousness producing practices I think you’re on very shaky ground and through your own freewill are in danger of coming under their mastery and of being in an idolatrous relationship. It’s more likely to be a person who’s real god is intelligentsia who comes to see themselves as some sort of “mystic” Christian. People who because of their vanity, pride and egocentric perspective have moved out to form a new Christian elite of  super apostles enabled to be our metaphysical snake handlers, qualified by Christ no doubt to handle things that would cause the rest of us to stumble…

After all, they’re the Most Holy People of God!

I write about things that are personal to me and this topic is certainly no exception. I struggle with my own rebellious folly but thankfully I’m not smart or creative enough to come up with the necessary lies and perverted logic which would allow me to continue in it’s pursuit. No, I’m a real amateur compared to people like Thomas Merton who laid the groundwork that “enlightened” generations of free thinking people! People who are, both then and now, spiritually seeking and who because the church was asleep at the wheel or busy organizing a bingo game somewhere were left without a proper challenge to this heresy which seemed to meet that need . I’ve noticed that people refer to him as a spiritual visionary. A so called Christian mystic who sought to bring together all of the worlds major faiths and traditions. Sounds good right but there’s so much more! I believe that in the very near future it’s going to be people such as Merton who will be the new age metaphysical apologists for the anti-christ and his one world religion!

When I first began thinking of writing on this subject I wondered if there were any real or legitimate examples of what could be considered Christian mystics. What about John of Patmos the writer of the final book of the bible Revelation?  St. John of The Cross who’s writings so many Christians find inspiration and comfort in? And in conclusion I think the answer has to be yes! But I don’t think they’re the pretentious, self-important, whack jobs that are attempting to pass themselves off as such today!

But what do I know? I’m just dumb and happy!

If, for you, belief requires “a leap of faith,” you are not yet near God. In his presence, there is no gap to leap over.

The video I posted in my previous blog also spoke about Christian people having a much deeper relationship with our Father through Christ and The Holy Spirit.

I think I’m starting to get the message!

As followers of Christ, as vessels of His Holy Spirit, as heirs through our adoption and with Christ as the firstborn, what I believe God’s wanting us to do is to be His presence, to carry His glory with us in this world, to shine brightly into as many darkened lives as we can and to live lives of victory over sin! In all of the challenges we face, not only in our lives but also in those of people we encounter everyday I think God does simply want us to take authority in Jesus’ name over sin sickness and death!  What’s most important is that we abide in Him and He in us,  all of the stuff in our lives that’s purpose is to distract us from His peace will only continue if we decide to focus on it instead!

I absolutely love what Jesus says here!

If reading that doesn’t leave you feeling empowered you may want to check your “spiritual pulse”

all about the same thing!

It’s just like Bill says in this video, between bites of lunch…It’s a move of the Spirit, a fresh presence of Jesus one can only describe as an “encounter”. Jesus is showing up in miraculous ways and reaching out to His Church, to the people who are truly seeking Him and who are dependent upon His Holy Spirit to empower them for His mission works which are to begin within the church first and move out from there. Some are being healed, others delivered from crippling emotional wounds, still others from stagnant and prideful religiosity, The mission is the same, it’s a great co-mission between Gods Holy Spirit, Jesus and through us to deliver the captives! The miracle is that none of the weapons formed against Gods children can prosper in His Holy presence which is being poured out, He causes the lame to walk and the blind to see!  The manifestation is His Glorious light and His presence that we carry with us into this dark, and dead world!

It’s said that fear is the beginning of wisdom, in that verse to fear means to be in awe of who God is. We’re taught that no sin can come into the presence of a Holy God and I believe that’s true but why? After all, Satan is the father of lies but didn’t Satan come before God to talk to Him about Job? Could it be that our misunderstanding of this is whats keeping us from experiencing a life changing fullness of His presence? When we finally come to a place where we know what we are and seek to repent be forgiven, are we still afraid to come into His presence because of our attention wrongly being placed on the sin’s of our past and those we’re yet to commit, on OUR profound unworthiness instead of His agape love? What if the reason no sin can be in Gods presence is simply because of how much it breaks His heart?  Some don’t believe God has feelings and that the descriptions of such in His word are allegorical and simply for the benefit of our understanding but I don’t agree! All of us love our children, can you imagine having them paraded before you in any condition other than being in perfect health and how that would affect you?

I AM THE GREAT AND POWERFUL OZ!

I think some people’s perception of God and the idea of being in His presence are scary thoughts because they imagine the experience being something similar to that of Dorthy in The Wizard Of Oz!

Surely at some point in your life you’ve encountered a stray dog who’s been severely mistreated by people. Even though it may be starving and you’re holding out food to give to it, it will approach you with fear and almost against it’s own will,with  it’s head down ready to run at the first sign of your displeasure. Sadly,  because of their life experiences that’s how many people feel about love and so consequently they also feel that way about approaching God who actually IS love!

I want a visitation, a personal encounter with Jesus! Like the Israelites I want to pass over the Jordan into the presence of His blessing and rest. Joshua Made two piles of stones that day to mark the significance of what had happened, the first one on the bank from smooth river rocks that were taken out of the Jordan and another in the middle of the river where the ark stood as the entire nation walked past. I believe the stones he used to make the second pile were gathered from the land and were in a much rougher sharper condition than the smooth ones he first used, their roughness symbolizing our present sinful condition. The smoothness of first stones was the result of the influence of the water, placing them in the river represents the Holy Spirit’s work on our hearts of stone and just as it was with the Israelites who did cross over into Canaan it took an act of faith to make the waters part and repentance or the circumcision of their hearts to enter in! Through my experiencing the presence of Jesus and His wondrous love,  I too must leave my own sin or “Egypt” behind before I can cross over into and all He has waiting on the other side for me!

I asked her,

“What if someone cleaned your room when it was so messy that there was no way that you could ever do it yourself! Picked up all your toys, made your bed, vacuumed the rug, we’re talking immaculately clean! And then, after they were finished they leaned against the door frame and just watched you because they love you and enjoy seeing you play in your restored to order room. Would it change how you played? Would you try your best to keep it that way and never let it get dirty like it was before? If you answered yes then know something about what it means to have a relationship with Jesus!”

Since that day I’ve continued to search for answers to my own questions about what it means to live your life in Gods Presence.  The subject of how we are to live as Christians is one that plays out daily in the many details and choices we all face. I know that there will come a time when my simple analogy to my daughter will no longer suffice and so I want to be ready when perhaps she’ll come to me saying,

“I want to honor God in this way but I’m afraid some people might not understand”

I want her to know then as she did before that the reason God always has His eye’s on her isn’t because He’s watching to see if she does wrong, it’s because He loves her so much that He can’t take His eye’s off her!

I also hope she know’s that in her relationship with Jesus there’s an intimacy between her heart and His and that He understands her motives. His judgments are based in a love that not only “thinketh” no evil but one that,

1 Corinthians 13:7

 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

 I don’t want her to live her life as if she’s automatically guilty by association if she should become involved with things that might be thought of as being inappropriate for Christians.

I’ve dug myself quite a hole there, here’s what I mean…

There are some who might see a person being involved with the Martial Arts as such based on it’s links to Eastern philosophies and Buddhism. I just hope they don’t try to sell that to Chuck Norris who’s Kick Start program has helped thousands of kids find their way out of drug’s and gang’s and put their lives on the right track! I can’t imagine a Christian having any objection to other Christians participation in the Olympic’s even though originally they were intended as a competition to honor the Greek god Zeus! And Christmas? Oh come on! Ironically, in the two predominant holidays Christians observe there’s more Pagan symbolism than there is Christian, does that mean we should stop celebrating them? I know at least a few that have for just those reasons…

If, in an effort to maintain the temple of the Holy Spirit which our bodies are to be we decide to employ the stretching exercises used in Hatha Yoga I hope we aren’t shunned or looked down upon by other church members. Also, if your faith is such that you find exercise threatening to it perhaps yoga’s not your real problem. I’m saddened that I can’t tell people the whole story of how God has revealed His plan of redemption in the stars starting with Virgo the Virgin and ending with Leo the Lion of Judah’s return without people thinking I’m a heretic of some kind because of the acceptance of our enemies perversion in our minds of yet another of Gods precious gifts to us!

Romans 12:21

 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Several years ago I attended a revival given by a local church, during the service the kids were entertained down stairs by a Christian magician.  Should I have turned around and left because of not wanting my child to be exposed to the occult? Some Christian’s would say YES! Even though no where in the Bible does it say anything about theatrical magic being forbidden!