7 Deadly Sins and Ray Bradbury

I was sad to see the report that prolific science fiction writer Ray Bradbury passed away last week. I love to read, but science fiction is not one of my favorite genres. I can count on one hand the number of science fiction books I’ve read in my life and three of those are by C.S. Lewis. But I do love a good story and Bradbury was a master story teller.

Oddly enough I read my one and only Bradbury book just last month. The book: Something Wicked This Way Comes. I saw the film based on the book back in the 1980s. I was fascinated by the film and remembered it as I was contemplating doing a sermon series on the “7 Deadly Sins”, so I found a copy of the book to read. This Bradbury book is not a science fiction work, but a strange and haunting story about two 14 year-old boys, one with no father, and the other with a father who thinks he’s too old to be the dad his son needs. It’s also a story about secret desires that burn within the soul, desires and dreams that are seductive, promising unimaginable fulfillment and pleasure. And it’s a story of the devil’s work, making those desires come true, but at an unexpected and devastating price.

Bradbury’s story of two teenage boys seeking adventure and mystery at a bizarre late October carnival that comes to their small town is really about temptation and how it works in all of us. The sinister carnival master, Mr. Dark, seems to know everyone’s secret weakness and intends to exploit to the fullest every single one of them. It’s a page-turner with plenty of close calls, unexpected twists, and a good soul. I think it’s a good read.

As I stated at the beginning, I picked up Something Wicked This Way Comes to read as I was preparing a new sermon series. That new series starts today, June 10. I’ve given it the title “7 Deadly Soul Viruses”. I have two goals for the series; the first is to discover how these soul-viruses lead to destructive thinking & behavior that poisons our relationships, damages our own souls, & pushes us away from God. The second goal is to offer the appropriate remedy to each one, what we might call the spiritual antivirus. What are the 7? This Sunday I’ll introduce them with a somewhat spooky video short. For the next few weeks… 7, to be exact, I’ll be blogging about the upcoming Sunday messages and fishing for some input. If you are not able to be at Pflugerville Community Church on a given Sunday, you can always hear the message on line @ http://www.pc-church.org/media.php . I’m not saying my preaching is as stimulating as Bradbury’s novels, but I try to include a good twist now and then, and even the occasional surprise ending.

You can learn more about Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes @

http://www.amazon.com/Something-Wicked-This-Way-Comes/dp/0380977273/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1339313754&sr=1-1

You can learn more about the church I pastor @ Pflugerville Community Church Website

Here's the assignment given at the conclusion of Sunday's message:
1) Note the biggest and least of the 7… in you. Off the top of your head which of the 7 do you think you struggle with the most, and which of the 7 do you struggle with the least? Write down your answer and save it to reconsider at the conclusion of the series.
2) Memorize 1 John 1:8-9 and meditate on it daily this week.
3) Read my blog @ http://pvillepastor.blogspot.com/
let’s make this series interactive.