The Beautiful, The Base, and The Beloved.

Lately God has been revealing to me how much like a fairy tale the whole story of earth is. From Genesis to revelations, is a beautiful enrapturing story in which there are protagonists, antagonists, twists, turns, surprises, cliches, frustrations, heart-throbs, life-changing decisions, and the most well put-together plot ever. All in all the very story of time itself (especially that of which recorded in the bible) is quite an on-the-edge-of-your-seat thriller/romance/comedy/horror/fantasy/sci-fi/action flick! And the best part? It has a happy ending. :)
Yes, the story of the bible and God's involvement in our lives is all of these things. But, like I said earlier, God has really been revealing to me the romantic side of it. It's quite beautiful. A modern day fairy tale.
You see, it goes a little like this: (Note: this is quite an abbreviation! God has shown me a lot more than this and, well, lets just say there's a lot of story to all of time...it would take all of time to tell it...I only have a few paragraphs.)

Imagine first our hero: The perfect guy. His name is...well, he has many names, but for the sake of our story we will go with Josh. :) (In the Bible, Jesus' actually name was Yeshua translated Joshua. So for the sake of you not thinking this is too cliche cause it's all about Jesus we'll call him Josh. Gives a new perspective no?)
Josh has an enemy who hates him, named Stan. But we'll get to Stan later
Josh is as good as it gets. Handsome, loving, loyal, romantic, has an awesome style, good hair, and all around is the best guy ever. He has no faults. And He's in love. The girls name is Christine ( ok I know, a bit cliche.) Anyway, She's beautiful. Lovely. The image of perfection. She's simple and free and desperately in love with Joshua. They are beyond happy together. They have no care in the world. They're engaged. :)
Then something happens. Josh is going along one day and decides to drop by her house and see how she is. But when he walks in, he finds her cheating with someone else. Stan. (Did I mention Stan is really hott?)
Josh is crushed, Christine's ashamed, and their engagement is broken off. It feels like the world is ending.
They go their separate ways. But Josh never really gives up on her. He's continually trying to draw her back. Giving her offerings of love. But she is bitter. She's convinced he's too perfect and she doesn't want him anymore. She looks for love elsewhere. She drinks. She parties. She sins. She runs the opposite direction. Following the crowd of the one she first cheated with. The one she supposedly "loves" now. Yet, through all of this torment, Josh still loves her. He fights for her. She fights him. She kicks, screams, taunts and insults him. Yet still he love her. He does get angry at times, and at times she almost seems ready to repent, but never whole-heartedly. Finally, she's so far into her sin, it entraps her. She's been kidnapped, held for ransom in the darkest part of the slums, by Stan. He is trying to get back at Josh, whom he hates.
Josh immediately goes to rescue her. He navigates the dark alley-ways, wades through the trash filled streets, fights his way through muggers and dogs trying just to get to her. Finally, he finds her, but just as he picks up her drugged body to take her home, she wakes up and starts to struggle. She doesn't understand that Stan has kidnapped her. She doesn't know why in the world she's in these slums, but whatever it is, she doesn't want Josh's help! Shes tired of him. She just wants Josh to get away and let her make her own choices. She's bitter, fed up and angry. And as she sees Stan running out after them she, in a fit of blazing anger, helps Stan to brutally murder Josh. When it is done, Stan sneers in triumph and then suddenly runs off, leaving Christine in the street. He doesn't need her for ransom anymore. He got what he wanted. Christine tries to call him back, but she can't run after him. She is alone, lost, and confused. The life she thought she wanted just left her alone to die in the street. Hitting rock-bottom, her head clears and she's finally remorseful. She's stares in the pale face of her once beloved and cries. She wails. She cries herself to sleep. No hope of being rescued.
In the morning she awakes. Not dead yet. When she looks around she realizes Josh's body is gone. She cries and yells at the cold stone walls around her. What has Stan done to him now?
Wiping her eyes with her dirty hands she starts to get up. A familiar soft voice softly speaks behind her; "Don't be afraid, I still love you." She whirls around and sees the impossible. Josh, standing, unhurt, shining with open arms. Ecstatic she runs, dirty, smudged, and forsaken to her lover. They are together at last! But this story doesn't end with them riding off into the sunset.
The engagement is back on now, but that doesn't mean she is perfect. The difference now, is that she's really trying. Stan still gets to her sometimes. She still stumbles. But the amazing love and grace which was shown to her by Josh always draws her back.
It's a long engagement. Josh has to leave for awhile and earn enough to provide for her. He is building them a simply beautiful house to surprise her with. At times though, Stan still tries to fight him. Always over Christine. But Josh never fails to win and drive him away.
And though long in the coming, there is a happy ending. Besides, there has to be. It's a love story. :)

I'm not claiming this story is completely biblically accurate. It's just the romantic version God has revealed somewhat to me. It can be set in any time period you want. And it can probably do with some minor changes. But that's the story. The story of the love of the beloved, compared to that of the deceptive charm of a one night stand. The love of God which lasts forever, and the fleeting happiness of this world. Which do you want?

Short Like Me ;)

So, the other day, I remembered there was such a thing as a short post...so I thought I'd try it out. The End

The Father, the Son, and the Bible?

I'm gonna tackle a tough subject today. It's one that a lot of people don't like to talk about. It's one that happens to be extremely controversial. Some people are even scared of it. I'm gonna talk about the Holy Spirit.
First, let me start off with a disclaimer. I disclaim that I know everything. I disclaim I am always right. I disclaim that I am fully learned on this subject. I only claim to have a personal relationship with God and to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The rest you may decide for yourself if it is true. Better yet, look it up...in the Bible...it's a good book.
So I've been thinking on this subject since my youth pastor brought it up and was teaching on it. I didn't completely agree with him...but then again, I don't really completely agree with most people..on a lot of things...you get the picture.
I've heard said by some that when it comes to things of the Holy Spirit that aren't mention in scripture, the "gray areas", that you should just completely back away and "air on the side of caution." This phrase frustrates me to no end. It's not that I don't want to be cautious. I mean, we are talking about eternal damnation and peoples souls here right? But to me, Christianity has always been about taking a leap of faith, taking risks, doing crazy things for God that might look stupid in the eyes of man. I mean, the disciples were all sitting around at nine in the morning filled with the Holy Spirit and doing such crazy things that people thought they were drunk! Even early in the morning! The thing is, that's the example put before us in the Bible. It's God saying, "This is my Holy Spirit that I sent to you, do not be afraid of functioning in Him...even when people think you're drunk."
Of course I know the comeback, that the Bible also specifically talks about having orderly worship in 1 cor 14. I'm not gonna argue with the Bible. I believe in it 100%. But you have to be careful of getting so orderly that we quench the Holy Spirit.
And that's just it. The fact is, sometimes it seems people like to unknowingly reorder the trinity. They like to say it is really God, Jesus, and the Bible.
Now of course the Bible is living and active, God breathed and every word is true. Of course it is the perfect instruction set for our lives. And of course the Holy Spirit will not say anything that conflicts with it. But we can not simple avoid any area the Holy Spirit tries to bring to us just because it's not clearly outlined in the Bible. You have to be willing to take those risks for God. God is not going to let an unbeliever get completely turned off to God just because you were sincerely trying to listen to Him and follow what he says. You're not always going to be right of course, and sometimes you may even miserably fail at what you try to do. But God's still there, still helping you. He's not going to sit up there and look at you with a big frown on His face saying "Ulp, another one just failed, write him off, he's no good to us anymore...the big failure."
No, sometimes, you just have to go on faith...and isn't that what Christianity is all about? One more note on this subject: to hear God clearly, and to be sure you know when the Holy Spirit is actually prompting you to do something it helps to practice. The more you talk to him in whatever way he reaches you (for me it's a small voice in my head, for others it's pictures, for some it's just reading the word, or getting a sign or something), the more you will know when he is actually telling you to do something. His sheep hear and know His voice. John 10:14,27
Another thing I wanted to get to is the fact of there being so much controversy on the subject (esp. of tongues) that some will just avoid it all together. My thought to that is, did you ever stop to think that the reason there is so much controversy surrounding tongues and other workings of the Holy Spirit because the devil is doing anything to stop the use of it? Because it is just so POWERFUL that he's scared out of his mind of ti? I mean, the Holy Spirit is the one that gives us our power over things in this world in the first place! Luke 1:35, Acts1:8, Acts 10:38, Rom 15:13
People can make excuses all day long about why the workings of the Holy Spirit are things to be wary of and to keep in a safe little box so as to not scare anybody away. But, if a person can't handle this "scary" aspect of God, how are they going to function in heaven? My bet is, heaven is going to be full to the brim with tongues, holy laughter, falling down, weeping for joy, people screaming halleluiahs, absolutely crazy dancing, and even more things we can't even imagine. :D
But let take a step back here. Another argument is that you can't just be super charismatic in church or else it could possibly be a turn off to a non-believer. To answer this question how about we get inside the mind of one? My brother. He's most definitely saved now and he's completely on fire. But one thing he said that held him off from the church was the very fact that it just seemed dead. Even when people would raise their hands and go to the alter it wasn't enough. The thing that turned his head were churches that were actually functioning in the holy spirit going crazy for God. It made him want what they had. He wanted to be that alive. And personally, when I take a step back into that view, I think that's what I would want too.
Anyway, I've made this far too long and have probably ranted too much. Again though, I'd like to say this is definitely isn't the final word on this subject. It's not even my final word. I'm still growing and learning everyday. I may have a completely different view in five years! So yeah, go home...oh wait you probably are home....well anyway, pick up your Bible and study this for yourself. Acts is a good place when talking about being filled with the Holy Spirit and 1 Cor 12-13 talks a lot about spiritual gifts. So there....The End.