The Eowiggle

How Christians can read books like Harry Potter in a smart way When the Harry Potter books first came out, I was cautioned by many well-intentioned Christian friends not to have anything to do with them because they promoted witchcraft, which is strictly forbidden in the Bible. They claimed that the books were training manuals for witches and wizards, that they blurred the lines between good and evil, hence confusing children and their ability to decide between right and wrong.  So, naturally, I was skeptical. But I wanted to see for myself. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much from a no name author writing about witches and wizards! Though the books were not of same caliber as the Chronicles of Narnia or The Lord of the Rings , they cannot be dismissed offhand. I was surprised by the deep themes J.K Rowling treated. They are the age-old themes of God’s story: the nature of the universe, good and evil, love, death, sacrifice and resurrection. There are few books written t...

A few months ago, I applied for British passports for myself and the kids. I was already British on two counts: I was born in Liverpool and my father is English. But all my life, I had the same US passport as my mother. Now, living in the EU, I felt it was time to try for a UK passport as the benefits to me and the kids would be many. The process of collecting the necessary paperwork seemed daunting. Sending in stacks of original important documents also seemed a bit scary. Would they arrive? Would I get them back? After months of prepping all the paperwork, I was finally ready to send everything in. A mere 2 weeks (!) later, I received a bundle of 6 passports in the mail. Stunned, I held my precious little burgundy booklet in my hand for a moment then opened   it to the first page to check all the details. My eyes fell on the text in the front page: Her Britannic Majesty 's Secretary of State Requests and requires in the Name of Her Majesty all those whom it may con...