Graduation - Why Does it Matter?

It's that time of year again. Graduation. Where the hard working High-Schoolers who started Kindergarten circa 1998 are finishing up their schooling career and making that 'walk' in that silly robe, to get a piece of paper typed up on Microsoft Word in Blackletter BT font with a fancy golden sticker that says 'I spent the last thirteen years of my life learning reading, writing, and arithmetic.'

It all seems rather trivial doesn't it?

Then, there are the folks that say 'It was about more than learning - it was the social experience. Making memories!' True, good friends can come from school, and so can memories. Again, though - the drama, the needless emotional attacks, the negativity of a cynical failing school system make 'talking to people' not nearly worth it.

But again, here we are. Graduation. Sad music. Tears. The whole shabang. Why do we worship this day so much? I mean, for goodness sake, we dress in ceremonial gowns, and listen to a speech or two, and then we achieve a status ("Graduate") and then we listen to an emotional song and then leave - to go on with the rest of our lives.

Sounds to me like what a lot of people complain about churches being like, does it not? Go in. Sit down. Hear a speech. Achieve a status ("Good Christian that Goes to Church"). Listen to an emotional song. Maybe shed a tear. If you're of certain denominations, babble in gibberish. Then go home. This post isn't even about that - let's go back on topic.

Graduation.

I think teens of today ride their emotions and put far too much weight on Graduating, and indeed, High School in general. Because of our painfully failing school systems that still seem to thing glorifying mediocre teachers and winning 'Fuhbawl' games is their purpose, carries much too much emotional weight and hold on the hearts of a lot of teens.

In reality, it's all rather meaningless.

"MATT!." you might be saying, "Why are you telling me not to go to school or get an education!?" I'm not saying that at all. "MATT!," others might think, "Are you telling me that my friends and emotions are meaningless?" No, I'm not. Putting so much weight on school and the social life developed in the failing school system is not worth the money the government pumps into the public school system every year.

I hate to burst the glib ceremonial bubble of graduation, but you are a number to the School System. Mine was #22499 before I left it to pursue my own education (one of the best choices of my life). They want money. They want trophies and plaques saying 'Our School is Best.' They want you to get high test scores so they can make more money, and build idols and temples (Hmm... Trophies and Football stadiums?) so that they can glorify themselves, while shunning individuality, personality, free-thinking and aspiring teenagers.

My children will be homeschooled - end of discussion.

I would never, ever, subject someone I loved (especially my own children) to the emotional tidal waves, cynical spirited, hateful, vile prison that is Public school. People who think I'm wrong about that are either part of the problem, or so used to it, they don't know what a loving learning environment actually is.

The Bible has all this to say.

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom." Proverbs 9:10

Where does wisdom start? In a text book? In a classroom? Nope. It starts with knowing God.

"The first step of education is to have ones' eyes opened and be turned from darkness to light." Acts 26:18

Not only wisdom, but education, in it's purest form, must start, again, with God. You could now be saying that school is important to you! The cheerleading, the football, the classes, the clubs - it IS important! Plus, if I can 'get knowledge from God,' why do I have to give up my attachments to school? Can't I learn knowledge, AND be a part of a school?

"Wisdom is supreme, therefore get wisdom."

HAH, see? Wait...

"...Though it cost all you have. Get understanding." Proverbs 4:7

Solomon, the wisest man to ever live, says this famous quote:

“Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”

What do people gain from all their labors
at which they toil under the sun?
Generations come and generations go...
No one remembers the former generations,
and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow them." Ecclesiastes 1:1-4, 11.

Doesn't seem too important, does it? The vein, trivial things in this life, do they really matter? Having straight A's, does it matter? Have as many friends as possible, being on the Varsity football team, being on A-squad Cheerleading - all that. Meaningless, as the Bible says?

Afraid so.

You might be feeling pretty angry or depressed by now - especially you College freshman or recent High School graduates (a majority of my friends, haha). What, then, can give you fulfillment? What makes life NOT meaningless? What makes life worth something?

Starts with a J, ends with an Esus.

There is no other way under the sun for you to have worth to your life unless you are pursuing God above all else. Above your girlfriend (or in the Christian community, that 'girl you wish to court someday *gag*). Above your grades. Above your own desires. Above your job. Above all else, pursue God. In the end, he's one of the few things worth pursuing, and He's the ONLY thing that shall NEVER forsake you. EVER.

Proof? Read your Bible. Click here. Read this passage. It may just put things into perspective, which most graduating teenagers desperately need.

Do not think I am not proud of my friends for graduating - way to go! I know it was a lot of hard work, but don't let it define you. You're so much more than that diploma.

Reinventing Valentine's Day

Ah, Valentine's Day. A holiday of crushes, boyfriends, girlfriends, dates, flowers, chocolates, cheesy romantic comedies, and general goosh-ery of every variety. We see the store displays with the chubby Cupid with his bow and arrows with the heart tips. We see those nasty little heart-shaped candies with little phrases like 'BE MINE' or "I LUV U' on them. We embrace telling out sweethearts 'I love you, babe' or 'You are beautiful!' or if, you're a fundimentalist Christian, 'I enjoy your presence and would like to pursue you with a friendship outing.' Gag. Not to mention the singles that decide to pout and sit around wishing they had a boyfriend or a girlfriend or were married, etc.

What, really, is the point of all this? One day of the year to focus on... romance? Love? What is Valentine's Day really about? I'm about to give you the Linus answer; you know, where Linus on 'Charlie Brown' stands up on stage and tells the Christmas story? Well, imagine I'm Linus, and it's Valentine's Day.

The Legend of St. Valentine is just that - a legend. There's little historical record about him, and in fact, there were several St Valentines recognized by the early church. I think, though, the idea of his story is what we should look at; the man, yes, but more so his message. If St. Valentine exists only as a parable, so be it - the story is still one of the deepest love. Love you won't find in a Hallmark card or on a balloon or in a sappy romance song.

In a time when Christians were being persecuted for their love for Jesus Christ and the life they led because of that, St. Valentine was a brave man. When they could dip you in burning oil, feed you to lions, or just corner and slay you in the street because of your devotion to Christ, St. Valentine saw that as a problem. Legend has it that Valentine helped many Christians escape the harsh torture and even murdering of his Christian brothers and sister, which perfectly exemplifies John 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends."

For this, the Roman government had Valentine killed. He died for the sake of the Gospel - showing such TRUE love, and not the sappy romantic crap that ends up on cakes, cards, and Facebook that has been associated with his name these days. What a shame, eh?

Love is a theme that is probably the most profound theme in the Bible. Besides salvation itself, which is basically God proving his love for us, love is an obvious main bullet point in scripture and Jesus' teachings. Love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). Love is patient, kind, doesn't envy or boast, is forgiving rejoices in truth, it protects, trusts, hopes, preserves (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). It is the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:36-40). It is God Himself! (1 John 4:18). Doesn't that sound like something you'd devote a holiday to?

What if this year, we forgot all the generally mooshy and sappy traditions and connotations associated with this holiday, and look at it from a Christian perspective? What if we focused on TRUE love, and not the love of some star-crossed teenagers, a dozen roses, or posting the lyrics of out favorite love songs on the internet? What if we treated Valentine's Day like Christmas or Easter? We complain that those holidays are losing their 'true meaning,' but we still celebrate Jesus at least a little bit on those days; why not Valentine's Day?

Think about it: a day devoted to love! Christian love! A type of love that when you see it in others, you don't get depressed; you are filled with joy! A love that when shared can literally change the world! A love that saved you, and a love that is perfectly exemplified in our God.

The Beatles sang 'All you need is Love.' Switchfoot calls the love of God 'A symphony, a melody, a song...' They also say 'Love is the Movement; Love is the revolution.' Jars of Clay says 'Love is the protest!' Muse says 'Love is the Resistance!' Steve Fee says the love of God 'is better than life.' Now, doesn't that sound a lot better than 'BE MINE' or crappy dollar store candy?

I dare you to look at Valentine's Day differently today! Look at it still as a day of love, but as a day of TRUE love. The Christian Love. The kind of Love God has for us. I promise, your holiday, as well as your life, will be much better when we take that into practice.

So Happy Valentines Day! Love this day!!

----

Also, thought this would be cool. I made a playlist called 'Love Is...' and it has a bunch of great songs, all having some variation of the phrase 'Love is.' Enjoy!

Talking to God

It seems to me, the more I grow as a Christian, as a man, as a friend, as just a person in general, the answers we struggle the hardest to get and the solutions we fight for most are the most obvious. When we get them, we suffer a moment of 'Naw-duh, Sherlock,' and that can make us/me feel stupid and embarrassed, but I think it's something we all have in common.

This blog post has the potential to get very personal with a lot of people, but for the sake of anonymity, I suppose it would be polite for me to be as vague as possible while still having some sort of meaning without sounding like I'm a whiny teenager. Ooh, boy. Specifics aren't important anyway, hah.

I'll begin with a question: Have you ever been in a situation where you had no where to turn to for help? I know what you're thinking. 'I ALWAYS HAVE JESUS, HALLELUJAH - AMEN!'

While that's true, be honest - how often do you turn to God for help? That's what I thought. An embarrassingly small amount of the time, isn't it? I can say the same. Whenever something's got me down, or worse... I can honestly say that sometimes God is the last place I will turn for help.

It seems odd to say that, though. Usually, outside of Christianity, we see people only going to God when we need help, but I bet for a lot of us, as Christians, it's easy to maintain a regular prayer life filled with ins-and-outs, daily 'quiet-times' (sweet child of mine, I hate that term), and what have you, but I find myself never really going to God with my problems or... I guess my heart.

I wrote a little bit about this a few weeks back - about opening up to God. I think that is a major part of it. I haven't been nor have I really ever opened up to God, and I find that when I do, He is able to show me things I'd never expected or things I'd never thought of otherwise.

In the past few months, I've been struggling pretty badly with... life, hah. Things got pretty low at one point - they still continue to drop down there now and again. It got to the point where I was physically hurting myself because, you know, apparently that's supposed to help. It didn't. My doctor put my on antidepressants which have helped a tremendous amount, but still... it doesn't fix anything.

So, I figure I could turn to people. My pastors. My family. My closest friends. I've opened up very little to anyone, and when I do, I find myself stuttering, censoring myself, and never really even releasing a coherent thought. Even talking to the people I love most (they can tell you this and are probably reading this now, hah), I'm very secretive, cryptic, and quiet about what goes on in my own heart.

And pretty soon, I found myself in a situation where there was nobody I could talk to. At all. Don't get me wrong - without a doubt in my mind, God places people in our lives to hold us up, pray for us, talk to us, and help us... but what about when we find ourselves going there first? Instead of having people there as pillars of support, I found myself treating them as a foundation of it.

So, in this situation, I found myself getting deeper and deeper into confusion, pain, sadness, and numbness. What was I supposed to do? Recently, it got to the point where I was, literally, angry at God. You know, like the cheesy Christian movies where the protagonist is like 'God, why did you allow this to happen! It's your fault! BLAH!' But I was basically like that.

'God... why are you even allowing this to happen to me? Why... in all of your ability as God and Ruler of the freakin' Universe, would you allow these little things to line up so perfectly that not only are my feelings hurt and my heart in shambles, but I have no one to talk to about it? Why on earth would you allow me to be so alone here?''

That's when I had my 'Naw-duh' moment.

And it's pretty much a recurring theme in the Bible, especially the Psalms.

"Seek the Lord and His strength; seek his face continuously." (Psalm 105:4)

"Those who know your name trust in You; for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you." (Psalm 9:10)

"Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken." (Psalm 55:22)

"In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened; he saved me from all my troubles" (Psalm 34:6)

I think that's what He was trying to tell me. I think God allowed me to fall so deep into this literal depression so that I could see, sooner or later, that the only - the only - way out would be to rely on Him.

The Enemy, of course, was hell-bent (pun intended) on making sure that I felt everything that ever happened to me was the result of my surroundings and not the way I was choosing to deal with them. Think about it - if I break my arm accidentally doing something, who do I go to for help? The people I love? They can comfort me and give me advice, sure, but does that heal me? Do I just go through it alone? No, because my arm would remain broken, wouldn't it? I need the doctor, don't I?

It's a simple, Elementary school analogy, yeah, but it's what I've been doing. Does going to God first with my heart, my troubles, my concerns, my everything fix the situations I'm in? No, not necessarily. There's still going to be pain because the attacks of our most relentless Enemy do not stop because we notice him performing them.

I think the most important thing for us... and me, really... to remember is that God is Father, and I am his son. He wants me to come to Him, because he loves me, and is willing to help me. He's willing to just listen if that's all I need. How many times has that happened to you - you're talking something out to someone, and they say nothing at all but continue to let you talk because they know you'll eventually come to the conclusion yourself? I think God does that a lot with us.

The bottom line I want to say is the God listens, and God helps. Sometimes, He allows absolute crap to pour into our lives from every direction so we see that there is no one else that can really help us but Him.

Questions for you now: How much do you trust God? I mean 'trust' in the sense can you really tell him everything, like a best friend... like a Father the Bible says He is? Can you be open to God? He did everything in His Power (and the God of Eternity has a lot of power) to be with you; can't you spare more than a campy ritualistic 'quiet time' with Him? It's something to think about.

As I pray today, I ask that you join me in really just going to God and opening your heart. Forget 'praying,' sit down and talk with God like you have a relationship with Him. That's what Christianity is, and we often tell people that, but act like we don't believe it. 'It's not a religion; it's a relationship!' we'll glibly spew along with every other Christian cliche, but we still pray like God is a stained-glass window image in the cathedral of our mind. I think he deserves and wants more than that. I think I want more that that.

So, try it today. Talk to God. Tell Him about your day. About what makes you happy. About what makes you sad. About how much you love your friends. About how much you liked that movie you saw. About that nasty food you ate at the mall the other day. Be reverent, but fod God's sake, be personal. God is a person. A person who loves you.

Pray for me, too, reader, as I learn this with you.

-Matt

Story Teller, Part Two: 'Character Development'

"He's a real Nowhere Man, sitting is his Nowhere Land, making all his Nowhere Plans for Nobody..."

Peter Parker is the nerdy High School kid that just wants to 'get the girl.' Frodo Baggins is a Hobbit from the Shire where 'nobody ever had adventures or did anything unexpected.' Luke Skywalker is the lonely farm boy on the desert planet of Tatooine where he feels he's 'never gonna get out of [there...].' Harry Potter is a miserable orphan living with his awful Aunt and Uncle who 'were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.' Sora is a teenage boy from a small island in the middle of nowhere. Link is a Kokiri child living in a tree house. Abraham Lincoln is born, poor, in a log cabin, and homeschools himself by candlelight for years. Jesus of Nazareth is born the son of a common carpenter in a barn.

All these stories, whether they're fictional or not, all start similarly, do they not? You have your main character living a pretty... boring life. Sometimes, it's a hard one, at that. King David is a scrawny shepherd. Aragorn is basically Middle Earth's equivalent of a hobo. Jack Shepherd is a normal doctor with daddy issues. The list goes on, and on, and I think, a lot of times, we can relate. I know I can.

Some one asked me not too long ago to 'tell them the Matt Walker story.'
"I'm afraid it's pretty unexciting and uneventful up to this point," I replied.
"Well, it's not finished yet," he said.

In part one, I talked about my drive to be a story teller. About how, since birth basically, I've been creating stories and tales and worlds and characters because... it just felt right. Whether I express that through my writing, or filmmaking, or even just imagining and dreaming - I feel, at my core, I was born - I was created - to be a story teller. But, at the end of the last post, I expressed how things have slowed down considerably in recent days.

Which makes me think about where I could possibly be in my timeline right now. Sometimes... actually, a lot of the time, lately... I feel like Bilbo having morning tea with Gandalf. Glancing out the window on the lovely home he's blessed with, but feeling... discontented. 'Like... butter scraped over too much bread,' he says. Sometimes, I feel like Peter Parker, dreaming of the day he can get the girl, move past his years as a teenager, and get on to what he was meant to do. Sometimes, I feel like Luke Skywalker or Sora from 'Kingdom Hearts' and I just want to... go.

Go away, physically? Not really. More like... hurry up. Go ahead. Get to Act II. Press the 'Next' button on the remote; skip to the next chapter; cut to the chase. You get my drift.

I know this is foolish, I know it is. I know I'm supposed to 'Wait for the lord, be strong and take heart,' (Psalm 27:14) and I know that 'God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them,' (Romans 8:28) but when? When does Obi-Wan give me my lightsaber? When does Gandalf tell me I need to leave for Rivendell? When does the radioactive spider bite me, or when does Hagrid knock down my door one day and say 'Guess what, Matt? You're not only capable, but were born with the natural ability, to do extraordinary, supernatural, unexplainable things?'

It feels like it's taking forever.

Worse than that, I feel like I'm going the wrong direction. Even though I know it takes time and patience to get there - it's a long path, indeed - I feel like I'm going down the wrong path altogether. Like in 'The Fellowship of the Ring' when the Company is nearly brought down by the mighty blizzard on top of Mt. Caradhras, as they're going the wrong way in the first place. I'm not acting like Jonah, though, where God told him to go one way, and he's going in the other - no, not at all. I feel like I'm out at sea without a map. Lost in the forest without a guide. Wandering a mountain range without so much as a path.

But (and here comes the kicker)... is that such a bad thing?

Think about a story that begins with the hero in Nowheresville, doing nothing, with no adventure, no lover, no nothing. Where do we learn the most of that person? Where do authors and filmmakers take the time to develop their characters? In the first scenes and in the first chapters. Where do television producers take time to tell back stories, to develop personalities, to make you care about the people they've created? In the first season. In the first Act.

So what is the Author of eternity doing and planning during my first chapter, or rather, my first book?

A lot of the time, our favorite characters are thrust into circumstance that later lead to the rest of their story. Luke's home is attacked, the storm visits the Destiny Islands, word of Voldemort rising again startles the Wizarding World, etc. But they all start from somewhere, do they not? 'From humble beginnings...' we hear often.

My prayer these days is that God is developing me like a hero in an epic story. That He is using this time of seemingly inactivity to shape me into the person - the man - I was created to be, prepared to do the things He has prepared me to do, and the stories He has inspired me to tell. My prayer is that when the day does come that the Ring falls into my hands, that I know what to do with it. When I take off with Han Solo and Obi-Wan Kenobi, that I understand the ways of the Force. That when I stumble through the wardrobe in to Narnia, I'm wearing a coat to keep me warm and safe. That when the time comes, I'm ready to take up my cross and follow Him.

That is my prayer. It's exciting to think about the future, and the good things God has planned for us. Let us not, however, forget the crucial step of character development. Without character development... well, we're just in a crappy movie like 'Avatar,' aren't we?

So it is, eventually, that Peter Parker becomes Spider-man, and saves the city and wins the heart of Mary Jane. Frodo Baggins saves Middle Earth. Luke Skywalker redeems his own father, and puts an end to tyranny in the Galaxy. Harry Potter defeats the Dark Lord. Sora understands the light that exists in the human heart. Link defeats Gannondorf, Abraham Lincoln becomes the President that sets the slaves free, and Jesus Christ raises from the dead, and ascends into Heaven.

I wonder what Matt Walker will do?

Kingdom Hearts and Jesus

"They'll come at you out of nowhere. The Heartless have great fear of [you]... That's why they'll keep coming after you no matter what." -Leon, Kingdom Hearts

A young boy, barely a teenager, sits on the beach he's known his whole life, and stares out at the ocean as the sun slowly sets. Near his closest friends, he says to them this. "It's just... I've always wondered why we're here on this island. Why did I end up here? And suppose there [is more]... [we are] just a little piece of something much greater. So we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?" Sora, the boy, is questioning his destiny. Why am I here? What is my purpose? Isn't there more?

One night, he begins to learn it.

Awakened, he comes face to face with darkness itself. It looks uncomfortably like himself. He tries to fight it, but fails miserably on his own, and sees just how sinister darkness can be, but he also, by divine providence, is given a weapon. A blade, but not only that. A blade used for fighting evil, and unlocking the Hearts of people. The darkness separates Sora from his friends - especially the girl it seems he loves, named Kairi.

What follows in an extremely thrilling, epic, creative and hilarious adventure video game that takes both elements from the popular video game series 'Final Fantasy' and mixes it with the nostalgia and legacy of decades of popular characters and worlds from Disney films. I know I do posts like this quite often - finding spiritual significance in pop culture - but I really thought some things in Kingdom Hearts was profound enough to share with you all.

The game came out in 2002, and I got it about 2005, and just now completed it. The story is marvelous, and it's extremely fun to play, but it seems, especially near the end, there's a lot deeper meaning and spiritual themes coming into play.

First, we have the Enemy. Spoilers follow.

The Enemy, Ansem, sees every person, every being, every man, woman, child, as being inherently evil. He believes, thrives, and plants darkness in people's hearts... so much so, that they begin to loose their heart completely. Oooh, boy - see where I'm going?

They become The Heartless - a creature that shows no emotions, that is void of all love and life; all because of the darkness once deep has been exposed. Ansem thrives on darkness - his power depends completely on the Heartless, for without hearts, they are manipulable and controllable. Those who still have their hearts, he seeks to implant darkness and seize their heart.

Sora, though, has been given a mission. He's been given the Keyblade - a sword said to unlock people's hearts, and destroy darkness itself. With it, he embarks on a mission to seal the worlds from darkness with the power that is in his sword.

Near the end, Sora confronts the Enemy who has taken the form of his friend, Riku. At his feet lies the girl Sora has been searching desperately for since they were separated by darkness, Kairi. Riku explains that his power cannot be made full unless this girl, this princess, this bride... has completely lost heart.

"The Keyhole cannot be completed, so long as the last Princess of Heart still sleeps," the Enemy says. As Sora triumphs over the evil, he realizes she still sleeps. In a dramatic and heart-churning scene, Sora willingly and without reservation gives his life to save her.

Watch the cutscene yourself

.

But, as the story goes, death could not hold him under. He returns, fully alive, and though the doors are sealed, and the world has almost been saved... he still has an Enemy to destroy...

Sora travels to the End of the World where he meets the King of Darkness himself. Ansem. He is beginning to set things in motion that will completely destroy the hearts of everyone, and darkness will sweep across eternity and all will be his. As he's about to fill himself with the power of Darkness, Sora proclaims the Truth to combat Ansem's lie.

"I know now... without a doubt... that Kingdom Hearts... is Light."

Or, allow me to paraphrase for my own purposes: "I know now, that without a doubt, the key to the heart... the key to the kingdom... is Light."

"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." John 8:12

Ansem is defeated. In a beautiful cutscene, we see Sora promise Kairi, his girl, his Bride, that nothing can ever truly separate them. As the music plays, and the light of the Hearts are returned to the people, new life sweeps across the land, and everything is made new again. The Kingdom, literally, is restored, and the Bride is safe, thanks to the one who is Light. The Enemy vanquished, friends reunited, and the Hearts are set free. Wow.

Now, okay, to be fair, I have not played the sequel, though I will be soon. Chances are significant that any sort of plot device that is in the sequel could very well shatter the spiritual significance I've found in the first game, but just for a moment, feel the story the game is telling. I got pretty specific, but the overall message of Kingdom Hearts seems to be "The Heart is being attacked by darkness... the only thing to save and restore it is with the Light.'

Just as Sora has an enemy trying to steal the hearts of people and use the power of darkness to gain power, so do we. Our very real Enemy, Satan himself, has the same motivations. He wants to cripple and destroy your heart. Why? The same reason Ansem wanted Sora stopped - he wanted to stop him. If our hearts are set free with the Light, the Enemy fears us, because he knows what we're capable when we realize that 'Kingdom Hearts is, indeed, Light.'

Armed with Keyblades, swords, of our own (Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. - Hebrews 4:12) - the truth, we are to combat the Enemy as well. We must remember the sacrifice Jesus made to set us free, and we must remember how death could not defeat him. We must remember how, in the end, the Light of the World will ultimately triumph over evil once and for all, and the Kingdom will be restored, and everything made new again. It's a powerful truth, and it's ten times more epic than any video game you could ever play.

Remember the story you're in, remember the battle you're fighting. Remember to fight the lie with the Truth of the Light. Don't surrender your Heart to the darkness. You play a far too important role to allow that to happen.

Now if only we had our own Gummi Ships. That would be sweet.

Thanks for Reading,

-Matt

Harry Potter and Jesus - Connecting the Dots

Warning: this blog post contains spoilers for Harry Potter, Lost, Narnia, The Princess Bride, Star Wars, Saw, and Lord of the Rings. You've been warned!

This past month at my church, we've been doing a series called Dot 2 Dot - "Connecting the Dots to see the Big Picture." The whole idea behind it all is how God can use seemingly insignificant, tiny things and people as a part of his big picture, working them all together for the story He's trying to tell.

I have loved this series because of that very idea - the tiny, seemingly unimportant things actually being very significant when all is revealed in the end. Don't you love that, too? I think most people, Christian or not, love that aspect of stories, books, movies, television, etc.

How did 'Lost' remain on air for six seasons? After plot twist after plot twist; after turn after turn; after revelation after revelation, we find out little details we learned early on were significant after all. We see the identity of the skeletons in the cave revealed, we find out what the island is, and we find out that Jack Shepherd and the Oceanic Six have a crucial role to play.

How did JK Rowling get professors of literature to read a Scholastic Childern's novel series? After seven whole books in the Harry Potter series, we see that, thousands of pages prior, we learned the secret (knew all along) to the defeat Voldemort, who up until now sent fear to those who dare speak his name. We see that a friend-turned-foe-but-not-really was actually fighting for righteousness all along. We see the secrets of the Hocruxes revealed, and we see that not only Harry, but all his friends and allies had crucial roles to play.

We see it in Narnia, we the Pevensie children stumble into a brand new world - four seemingly unimportant orphans who were to become kings and queens of the realm. We see it in Lord of the Rings' Middle Earth, where Aragorn, a seemingly unimportant and mysterious ranger of the forests and plains surrounding the Shire, is actually revealed to be the heir to the throne of Gondor. Heck, we even see it in the popular horror franchise, 'Saw! (mature content warning on that link)' Despite being overly gruesome, horrifically grotesque, and atrociously vulgar, we see a complex tapestry of brilliant story and plot twists take shape in a world where people hide in fear from evil. It is revealed who his accomplices were. It's revealed who he was working with, and who has carried on his work after his death. It's revealed that a detective who had been working to find the killer since the beginning actually has a crucial role to play. (Just take my word for it... you probably shouldn't see it. ;) )

We see it all around; we see see little dots being connecting in ways we'd never see coming. Why do we love it so much when a tiny forgotten detail turns up to be something important?

Because we long to be that dot.

We all have probably hear Romans 8:28 before. "We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." Or, as 'The Message' says it, "...we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good." Every detail... every seemingly significant detail... every small, little thing... can and will be working into God's story for good, for those who love him. Wow, huh?

Let's look at someone who was seemingly insignificant, but who turned out to save the world from Sin, set captives free, justify the world, and bring about the end of the reign of evil on Earth. Jesus Christ.

In the dead of night, on a chilly night, a virgin girl, not even married yet, but engaged, gave birth to a child. Despite that being a physical impossibility, it happened, quietly, in a barn of all places. A single angel from heaven informed this girl, Mary, who this miracle child would be, and what she should name him. She followed the angel's instruction, and named the little newborn 'Jesus.'

Jesus was raised as a carpenter. A rugged job for the son (or step-son, as it were) of the rugged man who was Mary's husband, Joseph. Carpenters weren't exactly taught the fullness of Jewish law like other, more 'important' children of religious leaders or what-have-you, but Jesus was meek and humble before starting his ministry.

But, eventually, start it he did. And it was a shock to the world.

Some of the things he said, some of the things he taught, the people he criticized, the people he healed, the people he saved from the grave itself spread like wildfire across the area, and later on, literally, across the Earth. Governments feared him. Religious leaders abhorred him. People loved him, but there were some who wanted him dead.

And in the end, they killed him. Or so they had thought.

Which leads us to the plot twist: the Resurrection. The savior is dead, and in his grave. His people grieve as evil sweeps across the land. In JK Rowling's final book in the Harry Potter series, we see Voldemort, the Dark Lord, invoke the dreaded Unforgivable Killing curse, the Avada Kedavra, and kill Harry Potter, as he stands before him, preparing to die without a fight. Then, he, Voldemort, is seen gloating over the body of Harry Potter, who was supposed to be 'The Chosen One;' the one who would save the Wizarding World from the evil one. We see Voldemort displaying the limp body of Harry to his friends and allies, who all recoil in horror as they see his body, before them, dead. He was not dead, though; no, not at all.

When all hope seemed lost, when the end seemed near, when all was about to end, Harry sheds his Invisibility Cloak (a veil or sorts), and is standing, fully alive and standing before the Dark Lord. His allies cheer - 'HE'S ALIVE!' they scream.

Wand in hand, standing in the radiant, shimmering sun rising over Hogwarts castle, it's down to Harry and Voldemort - the climax has arrived.

Maybe it's just the little boy in me, but I love 'Final Showdowns.' Sure, epic wars and big battle scenes are awesome, but there's something about two individuals, locked in combat, that seems to awaken to little warrior in me; the little boy that used to own the plastic lightsaber, the foam sword, and the Nerf gun.

We see Luke engage in lightsaber combat with Vader. We see Frodo and Gollum struggle on the teetering ledge over the fires of Mt. Doom. We see Jack Shepherd and The Man in Black, disguised as John Locke, duke it out on a mountaintop on The Island as a storm wreaks havoc around them. We see King Peter face King Miraz and Aslan, the White Witch. We see Inigo Montoya duel Count Rugen, the man who killed his father. And, as I was talking about a moment ago, we see Harry face Voldemort.

Harry and Voldemort face each other. Voldemort, though still boasting his foolish pride, is actually quaking in fear because he realizes this could very well be the end. With one flick of his wand, he casts, once again, the Avada Kedavra, the Killing Curse, at Harry.

Harry, though, cannot be conquered.

With a flick of his own wand, he casts the Disarming Charm at his enemy, which does more than makes him loose drop with wand. It disarms him for good. The evil one is dead. Hogwarts celebrates their freedom and victory.

Harry Potter. The orphan who started in book one as the little 11 year old boy who lived in a closet under a staircase with his horrible Aunt and Uncle. A person probably can't feel more insignificant than that, can they? Harry was seemingly unimportant, but that's been a recurring word here in this blog post, hasn't it? 'Seemingly.'

He discovers that that little scar on his forehead - that little mark, that little dot - plays a crucial role to the story he's found himself in. He discovers that a prophecy has been made on his behalf, and that he has an absolutely crucial role to play in the destruction of the Evil One and the saving of the world from Death (Eaters...).

I think a lot of us feel like Harry Potter sometimes. Nothing we do could possibly matter. Serving in this small capacity couldn't possibly mean anything in the 'big picture.' Allowing God to use me in this tiny way can't be worth anything.

Oh, but it can!

Never believe you are insignificant. As Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us, God has plans for you. BIG plans. GREAT plans. For Hope, and a 'good future,' the NCV tells us. " I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for." The Message says.

God KNOWS what he's doing! It's up to Him to connect the dots, and he will. It's up to you to remain faithful, to keep your heart, mind, eyes, and ears open to God, so that he can connect your dot to the right dot it needs to be connected to. Trust him - He knows what He's doing.

Thanks for reading!

Mischief Managed,

-Matt

Mario Kart and Jesus

For an 18-year-old gamer, Mushroom Gorge is a tough track on Mario Kart Wii.

For a 5-year-old girl, Mushroom Gorge can seem nearly impossible.

My niece Gracie was hanging out over here, at my house today. She's five years old, and she's starting Kindergarten in two days. It's crazy to think, even as just her uncle, that she's already starting real school and growing up. Anyway, today, she was over here, and I introduced her to Mario Kart for the Wii.

At first, she seemed really shaky. If you know anything about Mario Kart, you'll know that the fact she took seven minutes to finish Luigi's Circuit doesn't exactly make her a professional. She didn't really grasp the idea of moving the control stick to steer, or to keep holding down the gas button to keep her car going. After one race, she wanted to quit.

"No," I said, "You can do it - it just takes experience." She tried again, and was a little bit better. She switched to another racetrack, and was even better the third time. She was very happy that she was getting so good at this game that was new to her.

And then, she got to Mushroom Gorge.

Mushroom Gorge is basically a giant hurdle. Half the time, you've got flat, straight roads that are easy to navigate, but the other half of the time, you've got giant gaps to leap, ridiculous cliffs to jump over, uncountable mushrooms to bounce off of and hope that you land safely on the other side. It's tough, even for an experienced Mario Karter, but to my niece, it was almost impossible.

I could see the frustration building in her face and the disappointment surfacing in her heart as she tried desperately to transverse the cliffs of this racetrack. She turned to me and said 'Matt, can you do it for me?'

I thought about it. I could definitely do it for her. I mean, I'm a pretty good player - the best in my house. If there's anyone that could beat it for her, it would be me. But I also thought, too, of how happy I know she'd be if she could beat it herself. Still, she needed help, and I wanted to offer it to her.

"All you have to do," I began, "Is to drive very straight off the ramp. Then, you'll bounce off the mushroom and land on the other side." She tried it once, and failed. "One more time," I said, "But this time, don't worry about it - just do what I said, and you'll be fine." She was placed back on the racetrack, and began to drive forward, as she tried once more.

She flew off the ramp, bounced right off the mushroom, and landed safely on the other side.

"You did it!" I exclaimed as she, literally, dropped the control, beaming, and said back to me "I did it!" She was so very happy that she was able to cross something simple and silly like the first gap on a Mario Kart track. But, you know, she had experience now. As I sit here and write this, she is sitting behind me, playing Mushroom Gorge over and over again. It's her favorite racetrack. She can speed through the entire course in under three minutes now. She rarely falls off the track anymore. She's able to fly over the cliffs, and always land safely.

Christianity can be a lot like Mario Kart.

When Gracie first started playing, it took a lot of getting used to. I mean, who's ever heard of a green dinosaur on a motorcycle racing a princess and a plumber anyway? The concept was brand new to her. The game controller was brand new to her, but in no time, she was up and going. That's how, most of the time, we feel about of walks with God as Christians. Pretty good, they might say. Not great, but pretty good.

Then, she was faced with Mushroom Gorge. Disheartened and discouraged, she didn't know what to do. She asked me, like I said earlier, "Can you do it for me, Matt?" It seems like when we're faced with the tough stuff in life, we go straight to do and ask the same question... for some of us, it's the only time we go to God. When we need him to do something.

But, like Gracie and Mushroom Gorge, sometimes, I believe that God let's us face struggle to teach us something - to essentially train us.

Let's look at David for a minute. This little kid, basically, who goes to bring his brothers some lunch one day, and he sees them all cowering at the very mention of their enemy, Goliath's, name. David approaches King Saul, and says, "Well, I'll fight him." King Saul probably laughs as he says "Don't be ridiculous! There's no way you can possibly win... you're just a boy." Let's pick it up there.

But David persisted. “I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats,” he said. “When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!”

Saul finally consented. “All right, go ahead,” he said. “And may the Lord be with you!” - 1 Samuel 17:34-37

Now, when David was a young shepherd boy, do you think he enjoyed fighting off lions and bears? Do you think it was easy for him? Of course not. It's a freaking bear. It's a freaking lion. If you've ever seen the Discovery Channel, you know that... bears and lions are vicious and violent. David, obviously a young man who loved the Lord, could have said 'God, PLEASE, do this for me!' But as we read, David would go off and wrestle the bears and lions himself, by clubbing it to death like the warrior he was. God was always with him, preserving him, but it was a struggle to protect his sheep and to do his job right.

You see, when we face hardships, struggles, or challenges in life, and we ask Him to take care of it for us, sometimes it seems like He's inactive. We might feel discouraged, but think for a moment about what he could be saying. "Listen to what I have to say, and do what I say do." Just like Gracie in Mushroom Gorge where I instructed her how to jump the mushroom, just like how, unbeknownst to him, David was being trained up to fight Goliath someday. "The Lord rescued me..." David said, but it was because he was taking action and doing what he knew God had already instructed him to do.

'Well then,' you may be asking, 'That's great, but how do I know what God wants me to do?' That's an easy answer. God's given you an entire book of 'What to Do.' The Bible.

When the hard times come, and we ask God to Divinely intervene, I think sometimes we forget about how much He already has. He's given us everything He's ever wanted to reveal to the human race... all in one convenient, complete, and usually leather-bound volume. The answers are there - it just takes time, studying, and faith to find them in there.

So next time when you're faced with a 'Gorge' in your life, when you pray, consider changing your prayer from 'God, fix this for me,' to 'God, give me wisdom - show me what to do.'

But, seriously, Gracie is still here playing Mushroom Gorge. The song is getting a bit annoying, but I wouldn't tell her to stop for anything.

Thanks for reading!
-Matt

This Road that We Travel

All heavy laden acquainted with sorrow
May Christ in our marrow, carry us home
From alabaster come blessings of laughter
A fragrance of passion and joy from the truth

Grant the unbroken tears ever flowing
From hearts of contrition only for You
May sin never hold true that love never broke through
For God's mercy holds us and we are His own

This road that we travel, may it be the straight and narrow
God give us peace and grace from You, all the day
Shelter with fire, our voices we raise still higher
God give us peace and grace from You, all the day through

Tonight, I don't really have much to say, other than I've been re-captivated by this gem of a song. Jars of Clay is one of my favorite bands, if not my absolute favorite. 'This Road' was the first song of their's I ever heard. I remember my first time listening to it. I was only a kid - maybe 12 - and I found it on a CD we got from some old Dollar Tree that sold unpopular CDs for only a buck. It came on an album called 'The Dove Awards: 2001. I listened to it, and... I remember being moved, even as a child of 12. Really, I hadn't exactly given my life to Christ yet at that point, but the depth and meaning of the lyrics resonated in my for years to come.

I return to this song years later, as a Christian, and it touches my heart like no other. The main idea is that the life we're living - this road that we travel - ends someday... but there is hope in that. Our happy ending begins by the Creator of the Universe welcoming us into his Kingdom with open arms. This song is about the trials that lead up to that awesome day, but until then, the road is rough, and the fight is long. We can only pray that, in the meantime, God will make the road straight and narrow. That he will give us peace. That he will protect us; shelter us. That he will follow us, shepherd us, love us all our days through.

He will. Oh, how he will.

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me, all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord... Forever." - Psalm 23:6

Enjoy the music.

-Matt

Masterpiece

"We are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." -Ephesians 2:10

Read that word again. 'Masterpiece.' Do you know what a 'masterpiece is?' Princeton defines the word as this: 'The most outstanding work of a creative artist or craftsman." Webster defines it as a 'supreme achievement.'

Whoa. Think about that for a second. Did you ever realize that you, YOU, are 'the most outstanding work' of God? The creative artist - the master craftsman - has named you as His 'most outstanding work?' As His 'Supreme Achievement?' Can you believe that? Out of everything our Creator God made - the beautiful sunsets, the captivating clouds of the deep blue sky; out of every creature that walks the Earth, every fish in the ocean, every bird in the air; Out of every star in space, out of every planet in the heavens, out of EVERY glorious, massive thing hanging in the universe.... YOU are his masterpiece?

Face it! You are God's favorite. Seriously! I really just want that to sink in. Out of everything God made... YOU are his FAVORITE. He put more work into you than anything else. He put more creative energy into you than anything else, and most importantly, he put more love into you than anything else. We wonder, sometimes, 'Why does God love us?' The answer should be obvious! He absolutely adores you! He is proud of you! He looks at his children, and, I believe, beams with the same love and pride that a proud parent has on their face when they look upon their own children.

And when I say 'You,' I do not mean a collective 'human race' type deal - that verse at the beginning of this blog post proves otherwise. When we give our lives to him, he re-creates us in Jesus Christ. We become, or begin to become, everything God intended for his 'masterpieces' to be - these awesome, wonderful, created sons and daughters of a Holy Father who loves us, and has BIG plans for us! And these things He wants us to do - these plans He has for every one of us as Christians - are not just random jobs or tasks. No, he looked into our hearts from eternity (before the world even existed) and said 'Oh, I have BIG PLANS for that one!'

All this may seem like very bottom line, early Christian, 'Yeah, we already know that' type stuff, but I think that we all, even myself, need reminded of the simple truths sometimes. Today, that simple truth is 'God made you Special, and loves you very much.' Thanks, Veggie Tales. :P

Anyway, I just felt 'lead' to write this, if you want to say that. I read that verse in my time with God today, and I found it so awesome, I had to write about it. I hope you got something out of it!