I Found God in 'Breaking Dawn...'

I am a Christian.
I also LOVE fantastical tales.
One of my favorite series of books is Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series.

And yes, it is a book about Humans, and Vampires, and Werewolves.

But the point of this blog is opening your eyes to God's way of weaving Himself into everyday, ordinary life, and I have found God in many fantastical stories - Twilight included.

I really believe author John Granger's thesis on fiction: That all humans naturally resonate with stories that reflect the greatest story ever told-- the story of God who became man... [and that] parents wanting to share the Christian message of love's victory over death, of our relationship to God the Father through Christ, even of Christ's two natures and singular essence [can find it in many fictional tales... naturally woven throughout the stories].
~Looking For God in Harry Potter, p. xix

In this particular case - I notice a distinct similarity between a scene in Meyer's 4th book, Breaking Dawn, and one who accepts Jesus into her heart:


*NOTE: if you are a Twilight Fan and and haven't yet read Breaking Dawn, this contains spoilers of a BIG nature. Please stop my post, go read the book, and then return! :)




When Jacob (a werewolf) finally "imprints" (find his soul mate), the change in his mind, body, and soul is described in this manner:

My shaking jerked to a stop; heat flooded through me, stronger than before, but it was a new kind of heat - not a burning.

It was a glowing.

Everything inside me came undone as I stared at the tiny porcelain face of the half-vampire, half-human. All the lines that held me to my life were sliced apart in swift cuts, like clipping the strings to a bunch of balloons. Everything that made me who I was - my love for the dead girl upstairs, my love for my father, my loyalty to my new pack, the love for my other brothers, my hatred for my enemies, my home, my name, my self - disconnected from me in that second - snip, snip, snip - and floated up into space.

I was not left drifting. A new string held me where I was.

Not one string, but a million. Not strings, but steel cables. A million steel cables all tying me to one thing - to the very center of the universe.

I could see it now - how the universe swirled around this one point. I'd never seen the symmetry of the universe before, but now it was plain.

The gravity of the earth no longer tied me to the place where I stood.

It was... [the girl] ... that held me here now.
~Breaking Dawn, p. 359-360

What if you changed a few words?
What if the catalyst for that change was not a mere person (or vampire or whatever) - but Jesus Christ? It would read something like this:

[I felt] a new kind of heat - not a burning.

It was a glowing.

Everything inside me came undone when I accepted Christ into my heart. All the lines that held me to my life were sliced apart in swift cuts, like clipping the strings to a bunch of balloons. Everything that made me who I was - my love for my family and friends, my hatred for my enemies, my home, my name, my stuff, my self - disconnected from me in that second - snip, snip, snip - and floated up into space.

I was not left drifting. A new string held me where I was.

Not one string, but a million. Not strings, but steel cables. A million steel cables all tying me to one thing - to the very center of the universe.... To God.

I could see it now - how the universe swirled around this one point. I'd never seen the symmetry of the universe before, but now it was plain.

The gravity of the earth no longer tied me to the place where I stood.

It was... God ... that held me here now.

Proverbs 3:5 (The Message)
Trust God from the bottom of your heart;

don't try to figure out everything on your own.

Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;

he's the one who will keep you on track.

Don't assume that you know it all.

Run to God! Run from evil!

Your body will glow with health,

your very bones will vibrate with life!

Honor God with everything you own;

give him the first and the best.

Your barns will burst,

your wine vats will brim over.

But don't, dear friend, resent God's discipline;

don't sulk under his loving correction.

It's the child he loves that God corrects;

a father's delight is behind all this.

Two things I get from this:

1. That God can speak to us in my ways - through many different venues. I find him in Harry Potter, Twilight, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, etc. - places where others would deem unlikely, but places where God knows He can find me.

2. When you open your heart to God's love, the ties that bind you to Earthly "things" are severed. And, the new "steel cable" now tethers you to Him and the truths of His Word.

The safest way to navigate the tough and tricky journey of life, is to secure yourself to One who created this Life in the first place. The glowing you will feel is worth it.

♥ Mags

Credits:

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

Looking for God in Harry Potter by John Granger

Verses from http://www.biblegateway.com/

I Found God In A Thread...

Our church is doing a WHY? study - 6 "big" questions about God, Jesus, and Faith.

On Sunday, Pastor Tom discussed the big "WHY?" question of "Why Should I Trust The Bible?" and the thread of consistency found within the Bible:
- a volume containing 66 books,
- written via 40 different authors,
- living in different location,
- in several different languages,
- across a couple thousand years,


We live in an era where even the most amazing technology and skilled technicians can't even accurately translate a book into a movie (i.e. The Firm, Flowers in the Attic, Twilight, Harry Potter 3, etc.!) when the book they are referencing is right in front of them! Yet the Bible has maintained its authenticity and consistency over the years and across numerous translations!

To illustrate this thread of consistency, Tom's wife, Kay, stood up and recited this song by heart called "HE IS" - written by Arron Jeoffrey:

In Genesis, He's the breath of life
In Exodus, the Passover Lamb
In Leviticus He's our high priest
Numbers, the fire by night
Deuteronomy, He's Moses' voice
In Joshua, He is Salvation's choice

Judges, law giver
In Ruth, the kinsmen-redeemer
First and Second Samuel,
Our trusted prophet
In Kings and Chronicles, He's sovereign
Ezra, true and faithful scribe
Nehemiah, He's the rebuilder of
Broken walls and lives

In Esther, He's Mordecai's courage
In Job, the timeless redeemer
In Psalms, He is our morning song
In Proverbs, wisdom's cry
Ecclesiastes, the time and season
In the Song of Solomon,
He is the lover's dream

He is, He is

In Isaiah, He's prince of peace Jeremiah, the weeping prophet
In Lamentations, the cry for Israel
Ezekiel, He's the call from sin
In Daniel, the stranger in the fire
In Hosea, He is forever faithful

In Joel, He's the spirit's power
In Amos, the Arms that carry us
In Obadiah, He's the Lord our Savior
In Jonah, He's the great missionary
In Micah, the promise of peace
In Nahum, He is our strength and our shield

In Habakkuk and Zephaniah
He's pleading for revival
In Haggai, He restores a lost heritage
In Zachariah, our fountain
In Malachi, He is the sun of righteousness
Rising with healing in His wings.

He is, He is

In Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
He is God, Man, Messiah
In the book of Acts, He is fire from Heaven
In Romans, He's the grace of God
In Corinthians, the power of love
In Galatians, He is freedom from
The curse of sin
Ephesians, our glorious treasure
Philippians, the servant's heart
In Colossians, He's the Godhead Trinity
Thessalonians, our coming King
In Timothy, Titus, Philemon
He's our mediator and our faithful pastor

In Hebrews, the everlasting covenant
In James, the one who heals the sick
In First and Second Peter,
He is our shepherd
In John and in Jude, He's the lover
Coming for His bride
In the Revelation, He is King of Kings, and Lord of lords

He is, He is

The Prince of peace
The Son of Man
The Lamb of God
The Great I Am

He's the Alpha and Omega
Our God and our Savior
He is Jesus Christ the Lord
And when time is no more

He is
He is

Throughout the Bible runs a thread of consistency. One that holds it together - solidifies it - binds it. As a kid, I believed that the Bible was just a collections of stories... of fables to teach all of us a lesson or two. It hasn't been until the last few years, that my mindset has changed to include the faith that the Bible is not just a collection of poignant tales, but a manual, written by God. The words may have been penned by man, but the verses themselves are God-breathed. When you are searching for an instruction-manual to this crazy thing called life, you can find tips, tricks, wisdom, rules, guidelines, and more in this single book.

Recently, our family visited the Creation Museum in Kentucky. I plan to write about it in detail in a future post, but one video clip about fossils and the history of dinosaurs struck me; it said:

"Rocks and fossils don't come with tags on them, telling us how old they are. Scientists reach different views about the past, not because of what they see, but because of their different starting points: autonomous human reasoning or God's Word... Our conclusions about the world are affected by the decision to trust either the words of the eternal, perfect God or the words of temporal, fallible men. [Either way] there is an element of FAITH at work in every interpretation of scientific evidence."

Purposefully changing your mind to the faith that the Bible = Truth changes the way you see the entire world. It IS, in fact, life-changing. :)

If you'd like to hear the messages from our church, they are download-able from the Christ's Church at Mason website. The sermons are on a week-delay, so likely the sermon on "Why trust the Bible" will be available after Feb. 22 (2009). But the other messages in this series are posted now.

HERE is the link!

Pastor Tom is an amazing speaker and so is David Ray, (who also does one of the sermons) - I think you'll enjoy what you hear!

:) Mags

Karaoke Tuesday: Lose My Soul by Toby Mac

So I was reading my Daily Bible (still on track!) and I came across this verse:

And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?
Is anything worth more than your soul? ~Matthew 16:26 (NLT)

And I had to smile, because one of my favorite songs on the radio right now is Toby Mac's "Lose My Soul" (With Feat, Kirk Franklin and Mandisa)- and it's just an example of another artist who found inspiration for his music right in the Bible. :)

"Lose My Soul" LYRICS HERE(Toby Mac with Feat. Kirk Franklin, Mandisa)

If you feel empty at the end of the day, ask yourself what you're searching for... God might have had it all along.......

If you want to hear this song, you can go HERE on LastFM.

I Found God In Regret...

IgniterMedia (authors of "The Don't Song" and "Proof") are quickly becoming some of my favorite inspirational people. They're released a new video "REGRET" which lists regrets that people have had over the last year (people they polled). You can watch below:

"We often mark our pasts by the regrets we have. Whether its trials we encounter, the disappointments we endure, or the unhealthy habits we foster, we each have lingering regrets in our lives. We allow ourselves to be burdened by our pain, scars and shame forgetting that Christ came to set us free. ~IgniterMedia

I couldn't have said it better myself. :)

Whatever your regrets over the past year, you do not have to hold onto these burdens any longer. Today is a new day - and you can start fresh in making decisions that honor Christ, that show you are a good Steward of God's blessings, that put your priorities in order.

How will you honor God today???