The Rebel Witch

What is the best version of an underdog you have ever seen?  There are many examples from all different eras: Malcolm Reynolds in Serenity, Paul Blart in Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Scott Pilgrim, Neville Longbottom in Harry Potter, Hiccup in How to Train Your Dragon.  None of these individuals were necessarily heroes to begin with, nor were they the most popular kid in school.  They did have one thing in common however.  An ideal.  Possibly given to them by a friend, relative, or mentor.  The exhuming of something that was buried deep within them by a hurt or a mistake.  In some cases, it wasn't just one thing but a lifetime of emotional, mental, social, or even physical torture that caused something to snap.  Some inhibited part of their psyche finally had enough and forced its way out of the prison we build around it with other peoples words and thoughts.  There is however a counter-agent to each of these individuals who also may have had the same sort of ascent or rather, descent.   This individual, often comes from the same background whether harder or easier than others.  They many times have the same gifts or talents.  Usually they encounter hardships, happiness, tragedy, fame all in the same ways that the protagonist would, but inside of them an ideal begins to form in the same way as the underdog.  It starts out small and silent but eventually, grows beyond the size of its prison within them.  The difference is its origin.  The underdog's ideals or code of conduct come from within themselves and are conceived by their choice to rebel against what is readily accepted as the status quo.  Now they may have received guidance in their youth or picked up things along the way but they have made this one thing their own and it is a part of them.  In the same way the twisted antagonist was not always this way.  They were respected, possibly even revered before something happened to them not of their own will.  They know it was wrong and they couldn't control it.  They try to move on as though it never happened...but it did.  Nothing can ever change the fact that it did happen and it is then that the abnormality spawns.  It is then that something I call The Rebel Witch Principal takes hold.  It is the rebellion against the overwhelming amount of functionality around the idealist.  They see those that carry on with their lives as a slap in the face and ignorance of how life really is.  They slowly become self absorbed and consumed with what life has done to them and not for them.  They believe that functionality and principal are legalistic and hypocritical.  When they have finally seen enough "perfection" in the lives of others and can no longer bare the company of those who have not been defeated by their environment, it happens.  They give up trying to hold back what has grown inside of them and the worst part is that the ideal was never theirs.  Whatever happened to them that could have been the turning point in their life instead, impregnated them involuntarily with something not of their own body, mind, or spirit.  They allowed it to live and grow little by little in the fertile soil of other people's dysfunction around them until eventually, they couldn't even distinguish themselves from the twisted root of this dysfunction.  To describe it in short, it is the rape of our conscience.  Truly, there is a rebel within all of us that desires to break the mould and reshape what has become a world in our image, not His.  The norm has become that we must be like the world in order to change the world.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  We are to be light in a dark place and to be more specific, a light leading the way out of the dark, not the way back into it.  You see, in life there are no double-negatives where enough wrong decisions turn us into a person who can "really reach people".  Bologna...(Ba-Lo-Nee) Poor decisions can (not to be confused with will) end up teaching us lessons but there is only one person who has ever claimed to be able to turn an insanely idiotic circumstance into a good one for His glory and that would be God.  The Rebel Witch believes that if they just do enough questionable things to get to peace, everything will be the way they want.  What the Rebel Witch doesn't understand is that no amount of relativistic behavior will ever lead them out of the path of chaos.  The sad part is that they will never see it for themselves until they hit rock bottom and lose it all.  By that point, it is usually too late because they have alienated or destroyed all of the relationships that could have helped them.  Including a relationship with God.
Lord of the Rings summed up this principal quite well in its lengthy tale about a Hobbit who set out to destroy a small ring that had the power to destroy an entire world.  It was long forgotten by those who experienced it's terror until a lack of respect for what it could do caused an immense power to rise and threaten to wipe out all who lived in Middle Earth.  Even the smallest ideal can grow into an unruly monster.  Even the smallest ideal can change the world for the better.  Who are you?  The Rebel Witch or the Underdog?

Friends are Family!

We just got done having an awesome weekend with some really good friends of ours!  I love getting together and just spending good, quality time in fellowship!  When our paths intertwine, we leave little bits of ourselves with eachother, however small they may be.  The coolest part of all that interaction is that through the years, the courses of our lives are changed via the smallest statements, actions or ideals that are passed on perposefully or even inadvertently.

The positive influences that we have on eachother and the times of joy we share create life-long bonds that cannot be broken by distance or time.  Rather, the space between us creates fondness of the heart and time grows the bonds of Love and Friendship that surpass even death.  Best of all, by living our lives in service and loyalty to eachother, our lives become a patchwork of Gods perfect design and a testimony of his love to those who seek belonging.  

I am so thankful that God has blessed my wife, my son, and I with such good companions in such a time as this.  When we live in a world that revolves around self-preservation, the most powerful witness in the world is the ability to Love unconditionally.  I am moved to think that I would be worthy of such kindness but the truth is, I'm not.  That is the beauty of true friendship.  No matter where you go or what you do, true friends will always be there.  Even to the end of days.  That, my friends, is the relationship God wants for us.  The design of true relationship and an example of what he did on the cross for us, thrives in the warm embrace of real, sincere, and unfaultering friendship.  God bless you all and Amen.

Flashcast Youth SOAP

Heroes

So before you have a chance to think it I am just going to throw it out there.  Yes I am a nerd.  Always have been.  Always will be.  God loves me anyway! 

     I was playing a new game recently called City of Heroes and man, is it cool!  I just dove right in!  Made a character!  Gave him abilities!  Made him look like I wanted to!  Well the thought occurred to me that in this virtual world I was playing in all of the characters were designed with a unique purpose.  One is strong and battle-hearty.  One is agile and strikes quickly.  Another defends and aids his companions with his abilities. The point is that our lives here on Earth (minus the capes, spandex, and a painfully awful costume) are not that different.  God designed us all with special talents and abilities meant for the glory of God. 

     Sadly enough, many people don’t realize that God is the one that gifted them in this manner and in turn, they end up using their giftings for their own gratification.  These people would represent the "civilian" or a "villain".  Some have no bad intentions and others are just plain evil.  Either way ignorance is NOT bliss. 

     The big difference between the world of comic books and reality is well... a lot of things.  But one of them is that none of us, and I repeat, NONE of us are civilians.  We are either Heroes or Villains.  Good or Evil.  Not necessarily that we intend to be evil, but Satan can certainly twist our blind, misguided intentions into something that looks like it.

     So are you ready for the next cheesy City of Heroes analogy?  I thought so.  You know that mysterious character or the older wiser person that gives the hero direction?  Well God is kind of like that.  He isn’t that mysterious but he is pretty old and wise!  What I’m trying to say is that God is that voice of reason, a guide in unfamiliar territory, and our hope in a time of tribulation.  At the same time though, Satan will try to trick us into thinking that we are useless and that we have nothing to offer in this fight for the souls of humanity.  On the contrary, we have the only thing that matters and that thing is the hope of Jesus!  God gave each of us different abilities so that we can approach the task at hand in the manner that he created us for!  The real difference between the Hero and the Villain is that the Villain must believe that God and the Hero will fail.  The Hero on the other hand, has a choice to believe or to give in to the lie of the enemy. 

    Romans 8:31 says "If God is for us, who can be against us?"  Later in verse 35-39, Paul talks about how God gave us not only abilities but made us victors despite our circumstance.  As well as the enemy knows the word of God he will always refuse to believe it and that gives us the edge!  We have been made more than conquerors and with God at our side, we cannot fail. 

     Just know this: Next time you go flying out of the Bat Cave into battle remember that old Alfred has your back and that he gave you all the equipment you need to be a true hero.  Amen.