Goodnight, Travel Well

*There's nothing I can say...
There's nothing I can do now...
The universe is standing still...
Goodnight, travel well.*
- "Goodnight, Travel Well", The Killers

I had been thinking about writing a new entry for Christmas. In fact, I said I would.

I was on facebook, and I was trying to figure out what to put as my status. I put way too much thought into my statuses.

I thought about putting in some Christmas lyrics...

Or some Bible verses from the Nativity story...

And I was thinking about doing the opening verse from the hymn 'Silent Night'. You know:

"Silent Night,
Holy Night,
All Is Calm,
All Is Bright.
Round Yon Virgin,
Mother and Child.
Holy Infant
So Tender And Mild.
Sleep In Heavenly Peace.
Sleep In Heavenly Peace."

And it felt trite. It felt cheesy. Like it was just a sweet, mushy Christmas song. I chose not to use it.

So, I kept thinking. I thought about the song "Better Days" by The Goo Goo Dolls. That song always makes me think about the REAL meaning of Christmas. (Here's a link if you haven't heard it before: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIFhst3DwPE)

But that still didn't feel quite right.

The reason we fall into materialism during Christmas, I think, is because we can't put the true meaning of Christmas into words that accurately convey the message.

Sometimes things get close to capturing it. Humans have trouble lumping profound things and child-like joy together.

Some people say stuff with a big grin, like, "Merry Christmas! Jesus is born!" and the profound-types roll their eyes at the simplicity of the statement.

But then, the profound-types say, "This isn't just 'Merry Christmas', we're talking about one of the biggest events in history!" and there's no joy in their words. No joy or happiness. Just quite reverence.

When Jesus was in the manger, surrounded by Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and barn animals, we get this impression that it was silent. We just have this instinctual inclination telling us that it was peaceful and quiet.

I think it was peaceful and quiet in an incredible, supernatural way. If you're in a barn, animals are going to make noise. Cows 'moo', donkeys 'hee-haw', chickens cluck. Etc. There's noise.

But we've got a silent night.

And nowadays, because we can't wrap our heads around the idea of 100% joy and 100% solemnity and peace, we bury ourselves in materialism.

Because who wants to have a major headache of confusion when you can just live in shallow bliss?

Finally, I just gave up on my Facebook status and said:

"Every Christmas at this time, I start thinking about the true meaning of Christmas and I just can't wrap my head around it. It's God's birthday. Mind-bogglingly powerful and confusing message..."

I just admitted I was confused. I think that it's very rare in life for us to have moments of true clarity when it comes to spiritual matters. Since the Fall, we've cut ourselves off from God. Meaning all things spiritual will make little sense to us. Every once in a while, you get that sudden spark during a sermon/worship service/prayer where you REALLY feel genuinely connected. It lasts for mere seconds. And then it's gone. And that's because of our Fallen nature.

Here's the other side of that coin:

God upholds the Covenant between Himself and man entirely. God does ALL of the work in upholding His promises. Christmas is a day to commemorate that God is active. God upheld his end of the Covenant and took action- He sent His Son Jesus, whom was fully God and fully human, down into a broken world in the form of a baby.

There aren't enough words. The true meaning of Christmas is similar to the true nature of God: indescribable. Because every time you try to describe it, it comes out trite and cliche.

You hear stuff that's either like:

"Come on, let's remember the REAL meaning of Christmas, guys. This is a serious matter."

OR

"Yay! It's Jesus' birthday! Praise God! :D"

And both are true, but both fall short of actually describing Christmas. Humans won't understand the true nature of spiritual things until the Second Coming. We're incapable. But as Christians, we try. We're truth-seekers. We WANT to know and to understand.

The point is, we can't describe Christmas because words will always fall short. So, just think about that as you're opening presents and eating with your families. You think OUR Christmas is fun? Wait until a REAL Christmas in a perfect world, where we understand the true meaning. That will be one of the most phenomenal things EVER. Understand that OUR interpretation of Christmas is broken, but it's important because we WANT to commemorate this incredible event.

If you want the true meaning of Christmas, well, you won't get it yet. But Christians try. Here's the best explanation of the true meaning of Christmas, from one of the brightest theologians of our times: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKk9rv2hUfA

Hope that wasn't over your head. :)

Anyway, Merry Christmas.

The Day The Earth Stood Still.

*One man, one mission
One plot to save the world
Reclaim all races
And embrace our destiny

Changing history when the colliding comes
Where will you run
Come with us if you want to live

Join us in the army that's arising
The truth invades your mind
Every day the Kingdom is advancing
The earth invasion has just begun.*

-Skillet, Earth Invasion

It's Christmas time! This is the first time I'll be doing some Christmas entries on WASD, and I'm very excited. I'll do at least one more before New Years.

The other day I heard a youth pastor refer to Christmas time as 'the Holy Invasion'. He was saying that when Christmas roles around, the people that only go to church on Christmas and Easter will dust off their nice clothes and head to church. But the term really stuck with me.

'Holy Invasion'.

When we think of Christmas- more specifically, Jesus as a person- we think of peace. We think of the man we see in paintings with brown hair, grinning from ear to ear and holding a small child.

Don't get me wrong: This is Jesus through and through. Jesus is 'shalom'. So the term 'Holy Invasion' almost comes across a little... rude, doesn't it?

But that's exactly what this was.

Let's get a little more specific. The word alien, before it came to mean little green/gray men (whatever suits you), meant 'outsider'. Something FOREIGN.

A holy being outside of everything we know and could possibly understand sends His Son, a being who is also God himself, into a sinful, broken world as a baby.

When Jesus is born, He is a PERFECT human being. He has no sin. 100% clean, all the time. And, He's also fully God. And the son of God.

Pause one second: If you didn't think of it as bizarre and mind boggling at first, try to wrap your head around it- Jesus was the Son of God and God the Father himself. I don't know about you, but that seems pretty 'foreign and strange'.

God has set in motion the perfect plan. He has sent His Son down into the world of sinners, 'fullness of God in helpless babe'. Not only does this prove His intense love for these sinners, he's willing to save them.

He sends His Son Jesus to Earth, knowing full well that Jesus will be persecuted for His entire life, until eventually He is crucified. How could any parent do that? We know that Jesus' death pained God intensely. The loss of a child pains the parent.

So, he sends his son, the PERFECT being, into a world under oppression. Literally, this was a 'Holy Invasion'.

Think to all those images of alien invasions from movies like Independence Day, The Day The Earth Stood Still, etc. This fits the criteria for the title of 'alien invasion'.

Jesus later says in the New Testament, "I come not to bring peace but a sword." Jesus is bringing change to the world. He's invading the culture, changing the way people understand God, saving literally MILLIONS of lives, and totally turning the established order on its head. This DEFINITELY falls in with the archetype of 'alien invasion'.

Rewind: 'Before' Jesus went into action, He was a baby.

Pudgy cheeks. Feet in mouth. Amazed by hands. Those are the images that come to mind when I think about babies. How could JESUS have been a baby?

But he was. So let's take the story to another angle- three wisemen have been tracking the stars, doing their thing, and they see a new star. They saddle up their camels and follow it, until it leads them DIRECTLY to Jesus. A little baby in a feeding box, with a loving mother just after labor and a father seeing to his wife.

If I was one of those wisemen, I would have found that a little anti-climactic. I mean, there's a NEW STAR in the sky, and it leads to a baby in a barn.

They come to the conclusion this baby is not what he seems. It is revealed to them that Jesus is the prophesied King of Kings.

These three wisemen go back to Caesar and talk to him about it. Caesar is ruling an empire right about now. He's happy with his life. He doesn't want some NEW KING coming to take all of this from him. And Satan slides right in and starts pulling the strings on Caesar.

There's a scene in an episode of Smallville (yes, I'm talking about Smallville again) that really fits this moment. In the episode 'Splinter', Clark gets a sliver of silver kryptonite into his blood, and gradually becomes more and more paranoid. He even starts hallucinating. Of course, all of his paranoia is tied to his biggest fear: his secret being discovered by the entire world.

In one scene, when he's hallucinating, he sees Lex holding a press conference. Lex exclaims:

"Clark Kent is an invader from another world, the first of an armada bent on enslaving this planet! But I know his weakness. I know how to stop him."

This is what Satan whispers into Caesar's ear.

Satan never works in complete lies. He deals in half-truths.

He tells Caesar that Jesus is from another world, an alien. (Truth)
He then tells Caesar that Jesus is bent on taking control from Caesar. (Lie)

Caesar tells the wisemen to bring him to the baby, so that he may 'worship him as well'.

The wisemen are like, 'yeah, like that's what you're gonna do.' The wisemen want this child alive- they know He is the Messiah. So they take off. They don't tell Caesar.

I don't know what my real point is, here. I guess I'm just trying to point out that Christmas is something MUCH bigger than we ever acknowledge it to be. It's not 'just' the birth of Christ, it's the BIRTH OF CHRIST. Bold-face. Underline. Exclamation points. It's an invasion about to change the entire world FOREVER.

And, I guess what I'm trying to say is: that's a BIG DEAL.

Alcoholics Anonymous.

"Today at the mall with my family, we passed a wishing fountain. I tossed a coin in and wished for an iTouch for Christmas. My younger brother, trying to impress my parents, said I was being selfish and wished for world peace. He tossed a quarter at the well, it bounced off the rim, and hit him in the head. You can't fool the wishing fountain."- MLIA

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words." -Matthew 6:5-7

Jesus was a man of action, not of words.

In my English class, we just finished reading Tartuffe. Tartuffe is an old play written by Moliere about a bogus priest who has convinced a nobleman that he is truly pious. The nobleman, named Orgon, is in awe of this 'holy prophet'. However, the rest of Orgon's family see Tartuffe for what he really is.

We, as readers, don't meet Tartuffe until quite a ways into the play. But when we meet him, he's truly detestable. He flaunts his prayers out for all to see, purposefully.

Jesus said that we are to be revolutionaries. We are the Elect. We're supposed to evangelize. But, right there in Matthew 5:6-7, he says we should pray in private. Jesus says believers should congregate and worship as a church, but again we look at this verse and notice he is saying worship should be private. So, which one do we do? Anyone else getting some mixed signals?

Well, let's look at the context of the verse, because after all: context is key. This is in the Sermon on the Mount. People followed Jesus, this man they thought was simply a fascinating teacher and philosopher, up onto a mountain and sat, listening intently while he spoke. Hanging on his every word. Jesus main opponents in that culture at the time were the Pharisees. The Pharisees were a council of Jewish religious judicial officials. The word 'pharisee' literally means 'sit together', if I'm remembering my New Testament project correctly.

The Pharisees LOVED to show they were better than anyone else. That they could keep the law the best, that they could be the most 'perfect'. Time and again they try to stump Jesus with questions to trip him up, and it backfires completely on them. Their authority is challenged over and over and over.

All right. So, we've got a call to be active and loud as Christians, but then Jesus tells us we are supposed to pray secretly and discreetly. Jesus says this as a reference to the Pharisees. Like I said, they loved to show they were 'better'. They would pray loudly. For them, prayer was not spiritual. Prayer was about the attention they received. Up until Jesus came, everyone said, "Oh look at those amazing Pharisees!" But Jesus shows up and says, "You guys have it ALL wrong. You've twisted up prayer!"

Look back up at that little story at the beginning of the entry. Go on, it's funny.

When we pray insincerely for things just to gain respect, it backfires. God sees straight into our souls. I know that gets said a lot, but it's true. He sees our nakedness and our true motivations. So when we're fake-praying, when we're hamming it up to look good in front of others, God gets insulted. We aren't praying to him.

We aren't even praying at all.

In Ethics, we just finished watching a great old movie called "The Days Of Wine And Roses" to correspond with our class discussion about addictions. Anyway, before we started watching that, I had been thinking a lot about the idea of 'church'. What is a church?

And when I thought about this verse in Matthew, I thought: "Wow, are we doing this wrong? Get together and singing loudly and acting all good... Is this right?"

See, my definition of church was:

A place for the enlightened man to rise above the sinful nature and to praise God. A place to separate one's self from sin, from the ugliness of the world.

Then I watched "Days Of Wine And Roses". The movie is about a couple that struggle with alcoholism. Joe, the husband, eventually realizes he has a problem and starts trying to sober up. However, his wife Kirsten, whom had not been drinking until she met Joe, continues to drink. And drink. And get drunk. She starts to resent Joe for sobering up, because she thinks he believes himself to be better than her. She runs away and drinks herself into oblivion. On their final confrontation in their apartment, a sober and deeply-pained Kirsten says that when she's drinking, the ugliness of the world goes away.

The way the movie ends is depressing. She leaves, refusing to admit she is an alcoholic. Joe is left with a daughter and the weight of knowing he caused her drinking. But he's sober. He's been working with Alcoholics Anonymous.

And so I had this thought:

The funny thing about the way people-- believers and non-believers alike-- perceive church is skewed and wrong. Christians and athiests see church as the place where those who have 'ascended' past the sin of this world to gather. That's not what it is at all! Church is Alcoholics Anonymous. People who believe are recognizing their problem (sin) and going not to 'rise above' the world but to beg for forgiveness and to try and get away from the addiction. A church is not a place for 'holier-than-thou' people like the Pharisees. A church is a place for the sinners-- the adulterers, the murderers, the liars, the greedy, the gluttonous-- to go to acknowledge they have a problem.

The congregation is the support group! These are all people saying, "I have a problem too, and I want out of it. I need to sober up."

In a nutshell, church isn't a place for people who go 'because they're Christians' (although that's commendable). A church is a place for a sinner to go, showing an entire group of people he is a sinner simply by showing up, and ask for forgiveness with Jesus. A Christian will mess up and slip. We are fallen. Sinful.

And I'm not saying that acknowledging you have a problem is how to fix everything.

Think of it like this.

1) Man wakes up one day, disgusted with himself for his sin. He goes to repent on Sunday.
2) Man sees another 200 people there, who are all there for the same reason: they are disgusted with their sin and need to praise God for his grace.
3) By coming to church, the man is telling everyone else in the congregation he is a sinner and needs help. 'I'm _____ and I'm an alcoholic.'
4) And thus begins the journey. A church is just like AA.

How does this tie into the whole prayer thing? That verse we started with?

Jesus says we shouldn't be Pharisees. Don't go out and pray loudly at restaurants so that people look over and say, 'Wow, he's virtuous'.

Because people aren't going to say that. People are going to say, 'Christians think they're so much better, when they're just as bad as us. What hypocrites.'

People can tell when faith is ingenuine. Especially with Christians. Christianity is a faith all about changing how you act. So by putting on these big pious displays in public, we're setting ourselves up for a fall.

But Jesus says we should pray quietly and discreetly. Because those big, gaudy prayers don't impress humans, and they especially don't impress God. God sees right through them.

In the end of Moliere's play 'Tartuffe', Tartuffe is exposed as a total fraud and brought to justice. All of his false piety backfires like a quarter off the edge of a wishing well, and hits him square in the head. False faith will only get you hit in the head with pocket change.

So, here's the full point: we have to change how we understand churches. Stop saying a church is place for 'Christians to gather'. A church is a place for sinners who want to be made whole, who desparately want to be sober! Going to church says, "I'm a sinner and I have problem! That's why I'm here!" And that means confessing that not only to God, but to an entire congregation. But those people are all there for the same reason you are! They're sinners who want to be made whole, to be sobered.

If you go to church because it's 'what Christians do', your faith is leaning very close towards the Pharisees'.

If you go to church each day to be held accountable and to openly admit you are a sinner, you're living Matthew 5:6-7.

Jesus was a man of action. He walked the walk. Talk was cheap to him.

Teddy Roosevelt said, "Talk softly and carry a big stick."

If we say 'talking softly' means being brief with words and 'carrying a big stick' means walking the walk, we've got Jesus. Jesus, the Son of God, whom set the example for all believers on how to act.

I know some people are going to think this is cheesy, maybe even a little distasteful. But this imagery is far too powerful for me to avoid.

Jesus did indeed talk softly, living through action. In his actions, he LITERALLY carried a big stick. He was crucified on it. And He rose again.

Jesus was a man of action, who is the only person to ever successfully 'walk the walk AND talk the talk'.

Disclosures and Warning Labels

Have you ever seen one of those signs (or at least a picture of one) that's absolutely ridiculous? Or one of those warning labels that seems so blatantly obvious and useless?

Example:

Windex. Warning! Do not spray in eyes!

Nooo, really?!

Alright. And have you ever seen one of those disclosures on DvD boxsets. It's like, those ones that say, "The views expressed in the commentaries and bonus content do not reflect those of the FOX company" etc.

Here's what I'd like to say.

I'm human (I think. Jury's still out.). I'm fallen- A LOT. I'm prejudiced. I'm a jerk. I'm a bad Christian. And I'm doing a 'theology' blog.

When I started WASD, I just wanted to make a blog for me to spout my random thoughts on theology and God. I also wanted to aim it at other teens, so teens could relate to it.

This entry is a disclosure.

First of all, don't spray it in your eyes. Second of all, it has sharp edges.

No, but seriously. One of my favorite quotes is from Rob Bell when he defines theology. He says, "The word theology has roots in two Latin words. Theos means God and Logos means Talk. Theology is God Talk. Anyone can do theology."

Now, in Ecclesiastes 1:9, it says, "There is nothing new under the sun."

So here's my point.

A) I'm biased and fallen. Everything in this blog is me wrestling with scripture, so don't take it as Scripture. 'Cause I know it's not perfect understanding of things. These are just my thoughts. I want YOU GUYS to think a little bit. Get that hamster running on that wheel. I hesitate to say it's my opinion, since I base all my entries on what I know about the Bible and try my best to keep it in the context of Scripture.

B) There's nothing new. I'm not saying NEW stuff. Humans have been around for a while now. There have been dozens of philosophers and theologians over time. But this blog is MY thoughts. This is me trying wrestling with my spiritual questions and posting them in the hopes some discussion will result or some thought will occur.

So keep that in mind when reading my thoughts.

I'd also like to talk about Christian authors. Just as a general set of rules, here are some guidelines to follow when looking at Christian books:

1) Don't give much credence to books with pictures of their author on the front. I'm looking at you, Joel Olsteen.

2) Don't give much credence to books that say stuff like "Five Steps To A Holier You". The book was written by someone who is fallen, just like you. They aren't going to have anything to say that Scripture doesn't say. They can't.

3) Any books that have their author's photo on the cover or back should not be trusted. If there's a small picture in the dust jacket, that's fine. That's totally okay. But not big photos.

4) Cheesy is as cheesy does. 85% of the time, anything with a ridiculously cheesy title is not going to be that great, in my experience. Granted, Rob Bell named one of his books "Jesus Wants To Save Christians", and that was FANTASTIC. So, that's in the 15% category.

Yep. Just some thoughts.

"Jake, how many hamsters do you go through in a day?"- Crim

My Story

*Fear can drive a stick, and it's taking me down this road- a road down which I swore Id' never go. And hear I sit, thinking of God knows what, afraid to admit I might self destruct.*
- Devastation and Reform, Relient K

Early on in my Freshman year, our New Testament class was assigned a project. It was a memoir/brief autobiography of ourselves. You know, one of those things teacher's assign to get to know their students. Basic stuff.

Well, the first line of my paper was, "I'm not interesting."

Okay, this may take a little explanation. See, up to that point, I'd say my life wasn't interesting. I didn't have one of those amazing stories about turning to Christ- I had one of those 'been all my life but really clicked during summer camp on year' conversion stories. Although there had been a few incidents in my life that were semi-interesting stories, other than that, nada.

At least, that's what I thought.

A few months later, something happened.

See, there's a slight history of anxiety in my family. You know, 'worry-wartism'.

During my fifth grade year I had dealt with a form of an anxiety disorder, and after several months, defeated it. I attributed the success to A) God's help, B)My will, C)Medicine.

Anyway, after that, I was normal, save a few eccentricities. But suddenly, something in my mind apparently just snapped- no, not like I went insane. It was like my body had been storing up all my anxiety and worry and fear over the course of four years. And suddenly, it just flooded.

Okay, that's not a good way to describe. But it happened so gradually, so deceivingly slowly, that in retrospect it seems like it just sneaked up on me. (Yes, it's sneaked, not snuck.)

So after Christmas Break, my world fell apart. I developed not only a new anxiety disorder but OCD- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

This doesn't mean I was crazy. In fact, MILLIONS of people suffer from some form or another of OCD. But suddenly, I developed this fear of contamination- not germs, but contamination. It's hard to explain.

Mostly, because to you, and to me NOW, it doesn't make sense. It's not practical. It was just irrational, uncontrollable fear. And it just started eating me up inside.

Suddenly, I was sleeping on an air matress in the living room instead of my room. Suddenly, all the food in the house was contaminated and I had to eat out. I couldn't make myself eat food at home. I wouldn't touch my dog or family. I couldn't touch anything in the house, essentially. And the outside world was similar.

It was soul-crushing. That's the only way to describe it.

In his book "Drops Like Stars", pastor Rob Bell makes a valid point. He says that when suffering strikes people, they always ask the question, "why?".

The 'why' is always the same: we live in a fallen world.

So the logical thought progression is, "Why would God allow it?"

Rob Bell says the question we should ask is, "What now?"

This may sound the same as when people say 'everything happens for a reason', but it's not. Because it's not in our human capacity to accept or truly understand that.

It's the idea that when suffering strikes, we take a step back, no matter how difficult that may be, and we ask:

What now?

Where do I go from here? What is my life now?

This isn't the same as asking "How is God using this to teach me?".

It's more of a step toward that thought. It's like we aren't quite ready to swallow the truth that God IS going to use it, so we take a baby-step. We ask, "What now?''

What are the truths of my life? Where do I go from here?

It's incredibly hard to do while suffering, and incredibly painful to do while in the face of suffering.

The first month into Summer Vacation, after MONTHS of psychological training and 'therapy', the OCD was defeated. Not gone, but defeated so badly that any time it chose to try and make me anxious, I could quell it.

And just recently, I have gotten around to asking, "What now?"

Fear guided my life for months. I know for a fact that nothing will ever be the same with me in light of that experience. It's too powerful.

My friendships suffered from lack of speaking and making contact for months. Never even seeing people. My life socially had changed dramatically.

So, I ask: "What now?"

I've been wondering what God was trying to teach me from this experience, because I'm finally at the point where I can start asking that question.

It's most likely you will say, "God is teaching you that He is always with you and that with His help you can get through anything!"

Or possibly: "God wants you to gain understanding of psychological anxiety disorders so you can move into a career on that subject."

I disagree with both, although they might be totally correct.

I think

He was saying,

"You ARE interesting."

I opened a paper just a few months before with the sentence "I'm not interesting", and within a few months, enter an ordeal that very few can truly say they have been part of. And it's happened before. Twice, I have beaten this.

What kind of kid can say that? Although OCD is common, on a smaller scale, it's semi-rare. I may be the only kid in my grade to ever have dealt with an Anxiety Disorder on this level.

And on a larger scale, many people with OCD just adapt to it. They never defeat it.

So recently I thought about my life.

And I realized, if you don't count those two incidents, I still have had a very unique life. I have stories in my past that make most people go wide-eyed.

I think God was just trying to tell me, "You ARE interesting. You DO matter. And if others don't find you interesting, well...I find you fascinating. Your life is infatuating to me."

God loves me so much. He cares so much about me. About my life.

And that's a concept I know I'll never fully be able to understand. But I sure will try.

I'll try because God is interested in me.

God vs. Fantasy?

Throughout the Bible, witchcraft and dabbling in the dark arts is seen as one of the ultimate taboos.

But what does this mean?

GK Chesterton said, "Fairy tales are more than true, not because they tell us dragons exist, but that they can be BEATEN."

I grew up reading fantasy novels. My dad, a seminary graduate, read Harry Potter to me when I was little, as well as the Chronicles of Narnia. I grew up reading books about magic and wizards and brave knights and heroes.

Then came RPGing. I grew up when parents were scared that Dungeons and Dragons was leading their children into the occult and satanic practices.

Then the Harry Potter controversy.

Then, oh yes, World of Warcraft. The game that has attracted MILLIONS of players all over the world. Warcraft's world is full of monsters, demons, magic, healing, and fighting demonic powers.

I had been raised on fantasy novels and manga. It was no surprise I got into online gaming as well. I started playing Guild Wars, played the demo of World of Warcraft, engaged in ALL of Artix Entertainment's free games. Heck, when I was little, I played the card game Yugioh ENDLESSLY.

Is this wrong? Is this 'dabbling in the occult'?

I've read Harry Potter, Narnia, Lord of the Rings, Artemis Fowl, The Inheritance Cycle (Eragon), Broken Sky, some of the Warcraft novels, R.A. Salvatore's Forgotten Realms, and countless more.

I grew up reading-and continue to read-manga like Shaman King, Naruto, Bleach, Death Note, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, D. Gray Man, Fullmetal Alchemist, and more.

I grew up watching- and continue to watch- Magic Knight Rayearth, Fullmetal Alchemist, the movies of Hayao Miyazaki, and TONS more.

I'm an avid comic book fan. One of my all time favorite superheroes is Hellboy, a demon who refuses to follow his demon heritage and instead spends his time trying to save the world!!

So, I've read tons of fantasy.

I've played RPGS involving magic and supernatural powers.

I've watched anime involving magic and elemental abilities.

So again: Am I sinning?

What are the pros of fantasy?:

1) Fantasy openly acknowledges a struggle between good and evil, often involving supernatural abilities under many names. Jutsu. Kido. Magic. Elemental powers.

2) Fantasy's heroes are often children of no special background rising to become heroes. This mirrors the Christian's call to Christ.

3) Other times, fantasy heroes are children who are long lost children of Kings. These children are often raised in a poor setting with a small family. This mirrors Christ being born as the child of a carpenter.

4) The abilites the heroes use are often a gift from a higher power. This mirrors the Apostles being given great power by the Holy Spirit to do miraculous things.

5) The hero is often called to sacrifice himself in order to save the world.

I could go on and on about lessons fantasy can teach us. But let's look at...

The Cons of Fantasy:

1) The use of magic. While this is solely a story telling element, it can be dangerous. It's hard to say.

2) The decision to ignore the conflicts of the Spiritual War and say life is boring. Thus, we read fantasy. By saying that this life is dull, we are leaving ourselves unaware and unprotected.

3) Possible desensitization to the powers of darkness.

4) The occasional protagonist who believes he must have more power constantly. This is seen in manga fairly often.

5) If Christians that read fantasy are scorned for reading fantasy by other believers, this can potentially push people away from Christianity.

So, I leave the decision to you. That's what this blog is about.

God bless.

Uh-oh....

"Turns out, I don't have as many thoughts as you might think."-Joey, FRIENDS

I've just noticed something. I'm out of spiritual musings right now.

NOT GOOD.

Shouldn't we always have spiritual musings? Isn't that what makes us Christians and truth seekers?

So far, I've minorly covered my musings on good and evil, demons, and a few other things.

Am I already out? Where did my spiritual musings go?

Praying for renewed spiritual vigor...