NEW TRAILER!!!

I am SUPER PUMPED!  The ending is my favorite!

Finding God in the Ugly

If you listened to our first podcast (because you are SO awesome) then you heard the brief interlude where we discussed seeing God not only in what is beautiful, but also in the ugly parts of the world. This is such a fascinating topic, and if you are interested in hearing more about it I truly hope you will click on the link below:
http://experimentaltheology.blogspot.com/2008/03/ugly-part-1-ugly-as-theological.html
The author of this blog, Dr Richard Beck, is a psychiatry professor at Abilene Christian University. He is a BRILLIANT man, and he has a seven-blog-series on finding God in the ugliness in the world, although much of his focus is on art.
These blogs will really cause you to question some things, which is a great tool for growth. Enjoy.

Our First Podcast!

Please check us out:

http://ourmedia.org/node/461018

Mission Statement

Mission Statement: To use Christian eyes to explore the fictional world of Harry Potter along with other popular literary characters.

Hello, and welcome to Messiah's Muggles!  We are your hosts, Grags and Mags.

We wanted to start this blog to use our Christianity as a window in the the amazing world of popular fiction.  We are both fascinated (and on some days, nearly obessed) with the world of Harry Potter, and it has on several occasions been an icebreaker for a conversation about right and wrong, good and evil, and therefore the presence of Christ (and Satan) in our world.  We want to use Harry Potter, Twilight, Narnia, His Dark Materials and other popular literature as a gateway to discussing Jesus with our society.

Our Christianity is a constant part of us and so while it will not always be the focus, it will color our discussions.

And now, please get to know us!

Hello All!  I'm Grags!  I grew up in the Church of Christ and am now a Youth Minister at a church in the Dallas/Fort Worth area!  I have a huge passion for teenagers and an even bigger passion of guiding them to know Christ and grow in Christ.  I also love Harry Potter.  A lot.  Is that an understatement, Mags?  I first started reading HP in high school.  I fell in love with the story and the characters and the incredible imagination of JK Rowling (her imagination is such a precious gift from the Lord!).  I have made t-shirts, stood in lines for books (and was the first to receive both Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows!), I've been in the newspaper, been on the news, and was even asked to make a video for ABCNews.com.  It's been an incredibly fun part of my life.  Everytime I do something Potter-ish, I am taken back to my wonderful childhood and am able to remind myself not to take life to seriously.  Jesus calls us to be like the little children, and I believe that my life is a true testament to that!  

I have also maintained amazing friendships because of HP.  My friendship with Mags is a testament to that!  As well as our friend Ashs, who we like to refer to as our "silent partner."  It's great to share in something you love with great friends!

I'm Mags!

I grew up in the Church of Christ.  I am being somewhat literal, as the majority of my childhood memories took place in our fellowship hall.  We had lots of showers and potlucks, andmy mother helped with those a lot.  I attended at Christian university (ACU) where I met the amazing Grags.  We majored in theatre together.  We often shared our love of Harry Potter, though at the time it was much more important to her than it was to me.

I have always loved to read, so it was only a matter of time before I got into these books.  My first memory that involved HP was in my senior year of high school  We were driving up to Abilene (to see my brother in a show) and we had to find a Hastings to buy the fourth book.  I remember my parents and I passing it around all weekend.  It was wonderful, the story as well as the experience of sharing it.  From that moment, if not before, I was hooked.  I was not introduced to the marvelous world of fanfiction until after the seventh book was long released.  Grags got me hooked on it with an amazing story called After the End.  Anyone who knows HP fanfiction has probably read and loved it.  From there, Grags and I kept semi-constant correspondence concerning fanfics, canon, movies, and whatever else came up.  She decided we ought to create a podcast to share our perspective with the PotterVerse and so here we are!  Wish us luck!