Hiro Nakamura is a Japanese office worker who can stop time. Claire Bennet is a high school cheerleader (not so sure if she is still schooling) who can heal herself and is basically quite indestructible, and Sylar, well, he is a killer who takes over his victim's powers, and sometimes become the good guy. And the world is discovering more of these "heroes".

Faceless Void can jump a distance to his enemy and opens up a sphere around him and his enemy and whack them until they are almost dead. And Lion can send spikes up from the ground in front to stun and damage his enemies and turns his enemy into a small animal for up to 4 seconds before finishing it off with a powerful lighting bolt called "finger". And the Sentinels and Scourge will always fight to kill.

Sounds familiar? Probably not unless you are any where between 14-24 years old or have been mixing with friends who are into "hotest and latest" form of entertainment in town.

Ever since the early 80s', when electronic media started on a explosive growth, the entertainment culture has permeated into every urban youth's life.

It is easy to assume that the present generation of young adults and youth have very much associated the concept of a hero as being someone with a superpower. A hero must have superpower, and if a hero does not have any superpower, he is probably human.

The stereotype of a hero is "the guy who saved the world." And he can only do it if he has some kind of superpower. Remember the story of Superman or Spiderman or even Incredible Hulk? Typically, we don't get tired of superhero stories because there is a kid in all of us who always wanted to be the "superhero" who will save the world. And half of these kids probably think that the only way to receive superpower is by radiation exposure. :-(

In the Bible, we can say that both David and Samson were heroes of their time. Nevertheless, David, the youth who slew a giant (~10ft tall warrior with an armor weighing 60kg!) with a sling shot, and Samson, the hairy man with incredible strength will not likely be seen as a superhero by the youth of our time. Why? Because their powers are not cool enough.

To know what is cool, you will have to watch X-men or Heroes (TV series) or play Warcraft/Dota to be able to grasp what the youths today are receiving from all the hero-themed entertainment.

And this standard has continued to rise to a higher level of fantasy and fiction throughout the decades of "brainwashing and media-evolution" - up to a level where heroes are becoming "godlike". Even Superman is no longer cool these days ... there are now superheroes with "excitingly cool" powers that make Superman looks a bit too ordinary.

In essence, a hero is no longer an ordinary folk. He or she has to have "cool" superpowers. Ask any kid and he will tell you that.

"So what is the big fuss or what's the big deal? Come on, give kids a break. All kids will grow up and when they do, they will outgrow all these superhero stuff." These are reasons we give ourselves for not wanting to enter the debate of whether a hero-themed entertainment is okay or not okay for our kid.

Besides, most adults feel sorry for children who are so frustrated with the present-day situation, neglected or feeling too small and insignificant or lost in a world run by adults.

And that is also why more and more youths are turning to superheroes as their idols or some form of indulgence in entertainment where they immerse themselves in a make-believe world where heroes use their superpowers to defeat their enemies. And all this seems to be okay since the world is safer and better when we have superheroes right?

The answer is no.

With the trend that is happening around us, this should be a wake-up call for young Christians as well as Christians parents whose child are hardcore fans of superheroes. The commercial face of entertainment is taking major advantage of our youth's vulnerability by chalking up all sorts of hero-themed entertainment; be it the movies, TV series or computer games, it is all growing at a rate that is not seen before. Don't get me wrong. Stories and tales of good versus evil is not wrong. The Bible is full of hero-themed stories of good guys versus bad guys (aka Satan). The difference is in how the hero-themed entertainment is slowly but surely brainwashing our youths into thinking that justice and salvation will come from heroes with superpowers and not from God or His ordained people. And if you do indulge further, you will realize that the heroes depicted by the world are often with compromised characters.

The reason I can speak so strongly against indulgence in hero-themed entertainment is because I was a strong fan of a few few hero-themed entertainment. Even though I still enjoy hero-themed entertainment I have to caution everyone who thinks that they have an upper hold of their own situation. If you have started on a hero-themed entertainment, you may not think much about it, but be warned, ignorance is not bliss.

If you are still not convinced of its negative effect, here's a fact that you should think about. Warcraft, a online hero-themed game, is holding the present record for the world's most popular game with 21 million subscription members. Would you like to make a guess on how much time an average member spends a day playing??

It took a lot of shaking and awakening before I could lose the chains that was holding me down. By God's grace, I am thankful that I have had this experience so that I can be an encouragement to those who are down this road.

Take courage because you can be a 'superhero' if you have God. :-)

Remember the verse:

John 14:12
I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

You don't need exposure to radiation or an encounter with an alien species who suddenly decided that you will be a savior to your kind to have power. All you need is faith in God.