A charmed choice

I'm going through my re-watch of the show Charmed. This witchy tele-novella can be a fun watch as it sifts through the many difficult choices that the chosen ones go through. Deep into the last seasons of the show I was watching an episode titled: Charmageddon. What I found interesting about this episode is it's answer to the questions, "Why do bad things happen?" "Why does God allow that person to do wrong/bad/evil if he has the power to stop them?" "Why do bad things happen to good people and vice versa?".

Once the sisters reach utopia they no longer feel conflict of any kind. This includes sadness, pain, anger and annoyance. Conflict can not be tolerated and those who create it are dealt with swiftly by a group of characters collectively called the Avatars. A loved one passes and they are just mildly concerned. They continue only with how they should happy because the other one has moved on to a better place. It is a world without free will. In the end they recognize that the way the world is set up, "The Grand Design" has to include all hardships or it's not living at all. It's a gilded cage. No longer can you decide your beliefs or destiny; it is chosen for you: the way of non-conflict. They realize that the battle between good and evil, the ability to choose; helps us understand who we are and what we truly believe. It helps us to grow in maturity and closer to God. It helps us to understand other people. To be a comforter to those who share our misfortunes and disappointments. When we are caged and stopped from this, we no longer have a concept of reality, we are robots only allowed to feel and act one way.

The shows answer, to allow conflict, pain, anger, sadness back into the world; is intrinsic to the nature of the world we live in. It's a world of guidelines and rules; a world created for a greater purpose other than having a great time and just doing what you want. In the bible God shows that we are warned and told of this reality often. Genesis 19 is a good example of this understanding. Two cities; Sodom and Gomorrah. Both dedicated to the idea of eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die; are destroyed after warnings for refusing to turn from that destructive ideal and follow God instead. In this same bit of world history, Lot and his family make a different choice: they choose to follow God and are warned to go out from the cities; thus saving their lives from this particular disaster. When I watched this episode it showed yet again how powerful choice is. That the choice to follow Jesus and believe in Him is something we all have so that it's real to us, so that it matters. Instead of being made to do it, we are allowed to choose which eternity we want, one with him or one without. Joshua 24:15 is famous for the last line, "but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.", but it is the beginning of that verse which holds also a key to understanding this design: but if you think it's hard don't do it. Do you think following God is harder than the eternal choice to live without Him? What doors will you open when it comes time to make the choices in life you must make? How will you live this life that God has given you?

The will to want what's real

*We had to take a hiatus while writing this one. As a result, it's a bit dated. Hope you enjoy anyway!!*

Happy New Year from Nerd Studies! All of us here hope that you had a great Holiday season. One of the new traditions of the year for us is watching the growing, How to Train Your Dragon series. We just enjoy it so much. Last years movie was the second one and among many other messages in that movie the message of Your Will is the largest.

There are so many examples from the way Stoic reacted to seeing his wife, to Hiccup learning that the will of some is unreasonable, to the babies who don't listen to anyone; the will of the characters themselves shows who they are and what they believe in.

In so many ways this is exactly what The Bible says about our will.

In Joshua 24:15 it talks about your will to follow God. The last part of that verse is the most quoted, "But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." It is the will of Joshua to serve God just like it's Stoic's will to be the best leader. It's Hiccups will that gets them into the messy battle that leads to the death at the end. It's the will of the dragons that eventually decides the Alpha.

In the end it's our choices that reflect our will. What are you showing people?

It's Everywhere

I currently attended a local comic book convention called X-Con. It was great and I can't wait to go back again. What I really loved about this year was they had Sam Jones, the 1980's Flash Gordon!

I didn't get my picture with him, but I was able to attend his panel. The thing that surprised me the most was his consistent reference to prayer and letting God be part of your decision making process. He told us several stories where he and his wife prayed over a job and their prayers were answered. He talked about being humble and it being important to have Gods' hand on things when you make decisions.

All of this talk about God being involved with decisions reminded me of Matthew 6:33, "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." Sam Jones ended up with a career in security that allows him to travel to conventions and do his acting gigs while maintaining full time status. That's not an easy thing to come by and is a reminder to me that God watches over those people who follow his commandments.

The choices we make, the changes we take

While looking at the list of books I have been reading I have found myself drawn more and more to coming of age stories. The understanding that the way things were at first are no longer that way. That things change because of the choices we make. That the choices we make now will effect even our life after this one.

Part of what drew me to Christianity was the emphases on having a choice. On everything that you do being your choice. That echoed as true with everything I had experienced in life up until then. That God wanted people freely choosing to be His and live His way, that His Love was based on His choice to create and be with us. This was a defining moment for me. In Joshua 24:15 The Bible says, "But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

It's such a simple concept, but one overlooked by many people. The Bible says, "Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe." {Proverbs 2:11} This is taught to everyone by their parents and God teaches it to everyone who will listen. Such a simple concept, taught everywhere, but often overlooked when we live everyday life. It's time to choose who we will serve!

The Temptation of the Hobbit

I was able to see The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. It is an amazing and beautiful movie. It's always nice to see your childhood on the big screen done relatively well. While I was watching the movie, I was struck by one scene in particular. The scene where Bilbo viciously stabs the white spider that comes from up from it's hide away and is heading to pick up the ring. The part that struck me most is towards the end of the scene where he yells, "mine!". It's a very intense scene. But it made me think of how sin holds us the same way.

In the movie, Bilbo turns to the ring for reassurance and refers to it as his courage when talking to Gandalf. We do very similar things when it comes to the sins in our lives. We take our security from money and end up loving it, we call drunkenness "liquid courage" and people often times turn to inappropriate sex to feel loved and happy. When we are challenged on this, we say "Mine!" and defend ourselves in many different ways. In the end though, whoever tries to take our sin and help us to do better we are ready to stab. I know, because I've been there myself.

God provides a way out of every temptation that is here. 1 Corinthians 10:13, "The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure." With Jesus, we can drop our rings of power and walk away. We can let the webs of time take everything we thought we needed; because in the end all we need is Christ.

Distance makes the heart grow fonder

After a short hiatus, I'm back! While healing through injuries and several other life things. I couldn't get the last book of Christopher Paolinis' out of my head. He describes the distance between dragon and dragon rider as an unbearable ache. After leaving his dragon behind; the dragon rider missed her presence in his head. Missed having her understanding love and her disciplining care. Everything about her, he missed. I couldn't help but think of the Old Testament. About how the people and their decisions brought them closer or further away from God. The emotions all tied up in these decisions and how it is the same today for our walk with Christ.

When we make decisions for God, we are close to Him. We walk with Him and have the ties that bond us to Him. When we don't; when we decide to go out on our own, we end up with the same feelings as the dragon rider and his dragon. When we forsake prayer, Godly actions and Godly thoughts we begin to miss the still small voice of Christ. Miss his discipling care. The piece that makes us whole. He is the friend that dances with us and that tells us when we mess up. He is an integral part of ourselves. Bonded from the moment we are reborn to him and a life long friend that can always be counted to defend and love us.

As Psalms 119 says: "Your laws are my treasure; they are my heart’s delight." {111}, "You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word."{114}, "Your testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors." {24}, "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path." {105}. His testimonies and laws and words are all God getting to know us; presenting himself to us to love and be loved in return.

A Dragon of a Prayer

I've been, how should I say it?... Devouring Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle. It is what you would think about dragon books. Dragon and rider are connected, they have to learn how to work as a team, they have to save the world.

Through all of that though, what really got to me was this part of the book:

They enveloped each other within the folds of their thoughts, holding each other with an intimacy no physical embrace could replicate, allowing their identities to merge once again. Their greatest comfort was a simple one: they were no longer alone. To know that you were with one who cared for you, and understood every fiber of your being, and would not abandon you is the most precious relationship a person can have...

In that moment, while I was reading, it immediately brought to mind prayer. Prayer is the way we talk to God, we are told to, "pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17), that when we pray we are to give thanks; to come to Him with everything that we are. Our worries, our plans, our loves and our troubles. When I pray, I am enfolded in His love, held by Him in an intimacy that no physical embrace can even dare to match. I am folded within the Loving arms of God, and in prayer, I am no longer alone. I am merged with Him and have that most precious of relationships. I am understood, cared for and totally belong. Never neglect prayer for the small things of this world. We are created for this type of relationship; one only found with Jesus Christ. Believe He is, all that He says He is, and you will have the ultimate relationship better than a Dragon and her Rider.