Third. Safeguarding Against External Threats: A Vital Call to Protect Our Sacred Spaces

To guide our children in maintaining their innocence as children of God, it’s crucial to establish secure boundaries. Unfortunately, many children encounter explicit content like sex, violence, drugs, and gangs at an early age.

Exposure to these themes through various forms of media, such as art, TV programs, and games, begins in childhood. As their bodies develop and become more adult-like, adolescents naturally express various thoughts related to sexuality, verbal abuse, and violence. The transformation in our once obedient and innocent children as they enter adolescence isn’t surprising.

Hence, it’s vital to initiate protective measures while children are still young. I recommend limiting your children’s exposure to most movies, cartoons, and dramas, including popular Disney movies, known for their captivating visuals and songs, to shield them from potentially harmful influences.

Numerous videos, particularly Disney movies, include content that may lead young children to accept sexual promiscuity, either knowingly or unknowingly. In recent years, there has been content that introduces confusion about sexual identity. Some songs targeted at teenagers even contain lyrics that encourage harmful actions like suicide.

The seemingly flawless appearances of many celebrities contribute to distorting our children’s self-image. This distortion not only fuels dissatisfaction with one’s actual appearance but also fosters a desire to excessively use makeup or undergo random plastic surgery. This obsession with external attributes such as beauty, height, or wealth leads to an unhealthy fixation on appearance.

Western Halloween parties are also viewed as potentially perilous. While some people engage in these events for fun and curiosity, understanding the origins of Halloween reveals that it’s more than just a lighthearted cultural activity. It is crucial to explore the roots of Halloween and discern whether participating aligns with your identity as an image of God and contributes to holiness as a child of God. Safeguarding ourselves and our children from the subtle influences of negative forces is imperative. All these aspects constitute a clear spiritual battle.

Despite the world’s views or the misunderstandings from those around us, it’s crucial to have the courage to maintain our thoughts and choices as holy with unwavering perseverance. The challenge lies in the fact that, even if the pastor of your church holds a lenient perspective, or if the pastor’s children imitate the provocative dance moves of K-Pop singers, or if his or her children dress up for Halloween and go trick-or-treating, it’s recommended not to follow such practices. When making decisions, it’s essential to discern whether they align with the holy life advocated in the Bible.

Reflect deeply on whether what you and your children see, hear, and enjoy is in keeping with a holy life before Jehovah God. If there’s any ambiguity, it’s advisable to refrain from engaging in such activities initially. Instead, actively seek safe and beneficial ways to express your Christian identity.

Safeguarding Our Children: Unveiling the Unseen Influences of Disney

You might perceive me as an extremely conservative person, and that’s okay. Being misunderstood is a small price to pay because safeguarding my children takes precedence for me. Initially, I held no aversion to Disney movies. While there were certain aspects that seemed a bit peculiar for children’s films, like unrealistic enlargement of women’s breasts and revealing tops, I overlooked them.

Movies like Aladdin and the Little Mermaid depict characters about to get married falling in love with someone other than their fiancé. Disney, however, portrays this love as pure and beautiful, fostering a desperate hope in everyone that such love can come true, irrespective of whether it involves an affair or not. Despite these elements, I didn’t give it much thought, as similar scenes are present in many famous and revered classics.

Later, I stumbled upon a YouTube video that revealed the hidden side of Disney. To my shock, I found evidence in an Aladdin picture book I had at home. Right at the center of the golden palace illustrated on the cover of the Aladdin storybook was a life-size erect male genitalia. This discovery led me to rethink exposing my kids to Disney movies.

Prior to this, I wasn’t aware of such explicit content until someone pointed it out in a video. The picture book had been in our house for a long time, and it was surprising to find such an inappropriate image in a children’s storybook. Apparently, blasphemous images are hidden in Disney movies, passing by so quickly that we are often not even aware of them.

The more significant issue lies in the fact that our subconscious and spirit perceive scenes or sounds that our conscious mind cannot detect. These images and sounds are deeply stored in our subconscious, and some of them convey lustful or pagan themes, aligning with nature worship or polytheistic beliefs. Certain cartoon movies portray ghosts as cute and friendly, influencing viewers’ perceptions.

Upon learning about these concerns, I couldn’t bear to expose my children to Disney movies, witnessing their souls and spirits absorbing content that doesn’t align with God’s pleasure. Consequently, I made a declaration to my children: ‘You can no longer watch Disney movies or TV shows.’ I also shared my convictions with my husband and mother-in-law.

Despite having already prohibited my children from participating in Halloween, which American children often view as a festive occasion, the addition of these stringent restrictions led to criticism from my children’s friends, labeling me as an ‘inflexible and ruthless mother.’ However, I remained convinced that neither participating in Halloween nor watching Disney movies would contribute to maintaining holiness as a child of God. Given the circumstances, we did our best to establish defenses that we could control.

Pouring Cold Water on the Idea: My Stand Against a K-Pop Dance Club for My Daughter

Upon moving to the Seattle area, my neighborhood was a diverse mix of people from various races. A significant portion of the community was Korean, and this became evident when my daughter entered high school and quickly formed a group of Korean female friends. Given our shared ethnicity, the mothers decided to create a chat group to exchange greetings and connect. Eventually, the mothers decided to meet and get to know each other in person.

During the meeting, the discussion naturally turned to the college entrance requirements for the children.  At that time, my eldest child was getting ready for college application, and I shared insights based on what my son had informed me about the importance of extracurricular activities and leadership for admission to top universities. Despite my naivety in providing information I wasn’t entirely familiar with, I believed it could be helpful to my daughter’s friends.

As the mothers brainstormed activities that would demonstrate leadership and be enjoyable for their daughters, the common interest in K-Pop stars emerged. Many kids in the community were enthusiastic about K-Pop, with some being skilled at memorizing songs and dancing. Unanimously, the mothers praised their daughters’ dancing abilities, particularly to BTS songs, and a unanimous decision was reached to create a K-Pop dance club. However, I expressed my dissent by stating, “I don’t want my daughter to dance to those songs. I won’t allow her to join a K-Pop dance club.”

The Courage to Embrace Disapproval: Living in Alignment with God’s Holiness

There are moments when society views speaking out against the Bible as a courageous and admirable act. Advocates for abortion argue it as a matter of women’s human rights, while calls for legalizing marijuana are driven by the intention to prevent deaths from drug overdoses. Same-sex marriage is endorsed in the name of ensuring universal happiness. The assertion prevails that there is no unchanging truth in this world, no absolute evil or good, and no absolute being.

However, when individuals oppose widely accepted beliefs and norms, their voices are often condemned and criticized. They may even be ostracized, labeled as a peculiar group displaying unconventional behavior. Opposing perspectives can be silenced, sometimes through the manipulation of scientific evidence.

In this social climate, defending the truth becomes a daunting challenge. Expressing a dissenting opinion is burdensome, especially when it goes against the majority. Having conflicting views with those close to you is uncomfortable. Engaging in debates and conflicts during such times can be painful, and enduring misunderstandings can prove to be difficult.

Nevertheless, we as Christians hold firm to the belief in absolute truth and absolute love. We trust in the sovereignty and rule of the Absolute. We believe in His holiness and goodness. Within this unwavering truth, we uncover the purpose and value of our lives, discovering our true ‘self’ and attaining genuine rest and freedom. We recognize that all our thoughts, motivations, words, actions, knowledge, wisdom, experiences, relationships, work, and more are tools and methods for achieving holiness.

As children of the holy God, it is His will for us to lead a holy life. All these efforts to maintain holiness before God serve as evidence, revealing our identity as those who seek God—the source of eternal rest and glory. Living in accordance with our identity naturally leads to being disliked by the world. This animosity arises because the forces of evil aim to obliterate our identity as the image of God.

To be continued.