Dissolution of Roles

Men! Be men! There is an evil deception blurring our reality in this current age. There is a melting of morals and a knife piercing the heart of truth. Men are men, and women are women. That is God’s truth. There is nothing and no one that can change that fact. 

God made men and women uniquely different and gave them to each other for a specific purpose. God’s plan will not work with two men, or two women. Just the thought of it makes me sick. Though God’s plan will not work with anything other than 1 man and 1 woman, Satan’s perversion will work perfectly.

The Hell-like place that this earth has become is all because of Satan’s deception and our free will. Think about it, Satan wants to feel at home just as much as the next guy, and his home is everlasting torment. The world today is but a taste of what Hell will be like, evil, pure evil reigning supreme in eternal death.

Being that God has given us a free will, a mind to make choices on our own, we are responsible for our actions. There is no argument that says you were born with different inclinations. No, you are responsible for the choices you make. Homosexuality is not a lifestyle; sin is the lifestyle; homosexuality is the sin. 

A mainline denomination is now doing marriage services for homosexuals, and allowing their pastors to be homosexual. 

When we take a step away from God’s plan for the church, by allowing women into the pulpit or the sheep to rule over the shepherd, we are taking a step towards destruction. The problem in each of these situations is that men have ceased to be men. Women have done their duty and took over when we fell back, and that is permissible in God’s eyes. But, the men falling back is not permissible. We have stopped being the men in our relationships, in our spiritual duty, and in our own homes. We have allowed Satan to distort the definition of “family”. When the family is no longer a dad, mom, and kids, we have lost something, something vitally important.

The devil has a hold on the world today, a choke hold, and he won’t let go easily. He has worked hard to get us where we are, in this wretched deception, and we are blinded by the lies that inclusivity means, “for everyone”, and tolerance means, “for everything”. Those who use the words mean them as inclusivity for their sin and not for your truth. They mean tolerance for their ideas, and not for the ideas they do not wish to hear.

May God forgive us. May we throw off these chains of deception, lies, and disguises. May we rise to become men and women again. 

–the anonymous novelist

Expressions, Expressions

My sister Gabrielle, my brother Josh and I recently visited the Christian Worldview Film Festival in San Antonio, TX. It is awkward to go to a festival so completely out of your field of expertise where you know practically nobody. The lack of knowing people is soon remedied, however, for the connections your siblings have made, or even the connections of the connections your siblings have made, are quickly introduced to you completely out of the blue. 

Now aside from being a bit out of my element, surrounded by film makers, I grew to observe the art of film as something more than just an expression of feelings. Film is a form of art that is used to promote an opinion or worldview. Again, I use the word worldview as litterally as I can; it simply means how you view the world. In this case, it is how the film maker views the world, and that determines how he makes his film.

Being that film now has two purposes, we need another way to analyze film. The first way we would analyze it, would be the way we do every other demographic of art: as a simple outlet to express emotion. If all of our ideas then matrix from this concept of art, we will be able to comprehend the emotions portrayed in any particular art form.

The second way we now have to analyze film, is as a tool to communicate a point or moral. In order to analyze the message of the film maker, you need to first examine his worldview. This can be done by observing the content of the film; what a person does or does not allow into their film speaks volumes about their character and ultimately, their worldview. You can also get a feel of to whom the message is intended, who is targeted and in what ways. Also, watch how the characters treat each other and what the roles of each mean. Do the parents of a kid have authority or is the kid “his own man”? Are religious characters portrayed as fools? Things like this can quickly establish where the creator of the film stands, and what message he is trying to tell you can be easily identified.

One final observation I would like to make. I heard it said that the WWJD principal applies to film making as well as film viewing. The truth of that statement is profound. But, the application of it stretches far beyond just film, it touches all of art. We are to ask ourselves, “What would Jesus do?”, before we devote our time to any type of art in which we may engage. Be it creating some manner of art, or partaking in the enjoyment of it, we should ask ourselves, what would Jesus do?

Characteristic summary:

Humans express themselves in their art, and not just their emotions, but also their worldview. We need to always look for the deeper meaning, the hidden message, so that we are never taken unawares by the cunning of the enemy.

–the anonymous novelist

Stories From Scripture

Hello again. In this post I’m taking a passage from the Scripture and writing it in my own unique style. This will give you an idea of how the events recorded in Scripture may have actually played out. Let’s start by reading the account as recorded in the Scripture.

2 Samuel 23:13-17

And three of the thirty cheif went down, and came to David in the harvest time into the cave of Adullam: and the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim. And David was then in an hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Beth-lehem. And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Beth-lehem, which is by the gate! And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Beth-lehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out into the Lord. And he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? Therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men.

That is how the Scripture tells it, but if I had written the records, they might have looked something like this:

David, King of Israel sat in his stronghold at Adullam, while the summer harvest was being reaped in Jerusalem. A golden crown rested heavy on his brow, like the despondent expression on his face. They were pinned down, he and his forces by a troop of Philstine warriors. The Philistines had come and made a camp in the valley Rephaim while David had been waiting in Adullam for a word from The Lord. And there he sat still, waiting, just waiting. 

“The summer wears on Abishai,” the King said to his captain who had come down to Adullam some few days before with certain of David’s captains. “The summer wears on and I grow weary of being trapped in this stone prison.” David was a comely man, beloved of all of his people and often called “The man after God’s own heart”. But even such a man as he can fall prey to weariness and fatigue. 

Abishai looked compasionately at his King. He knew that David was speaking with his frustration and not with his wisdom. But who among them did not have cause to complain? The Philistine army had encamped between the King’s cavern stronghold and Beth-lehem, denying the Israelite army water and provisions the city provided. The stores at Adullam had waned and the lack of provisions had taken its toll on all of the men. 

“My lord, just give the order and we will charge these Philistine dogs and drive them from our lands by the edge of our swords.” Abishai spoke with a passion, fury glistened in his eyes, agitation evident in the flexing of his arms. He had sworn an oath to God. He was willing to die for his King if David would but say the word.

In spite of being weary and parched from the many days with only small rations of water, David managed a smile at Abishai’s eagerness. His captain was restless, yet David waited for the word of The Lord before going into battle with the Philistines. It was then that a servant entered the room from a door on the right hand of David. A young lad sent to bring the King his sword.

“Lad, fetch me some water, if there be any left.” The King called after him as he went to leave the room. The lad turned and bowed in acknowledgement and went. He soon returned with the news that the water had run out. David, feeling the weight of this news upon his men, with great lamentation cried out to heaven, longing for the water of the well by the gate of Beth-lehem.

Then Abishai left the presence of the King and gathered to him the two mightiest of David’s captains, Benaiah and Eleazar.

“The King cries out unto the Lord for the water from the well by the gate of Beth-lehem.” Abishai told them. Benaiah looked as if he would turn away and leave, but then his eyes caught a strange light.

“He does?” Eleazar asked. Eleazar was a brutish large man and was sometimes  slow to understand things, but in battle, he was invaluable. On one occasion he fought off multitudes of Philistines until his hand clave to his sword and other men had to pry it off. He was not the least of the three mightiest. 

“Don’t you realize?” Abishai almost shouted, “this is our chance! For days now the King has awaited the word of The Lord and so we have been held back from the Philistines. But here he has practically given us leave to fetch him some water.” Abishai and Benaiah were both growing more excited by the second. They were men of war, and not afraid of any number of foes.

“There must be several thousands of Philistines,” Eleazar argued.

Benaiah looked quizzically at the large man, “When have you ever shied away from a fight, Eleazar.”

That seemed to convince him. With a shrug Eleazar sprang after the other two who were already headed for the enemy line, and with them charged through the host of the Philistines. 

The three mighty men broke through the Philistine camp with loud shouts, cleaving men from their path as they sprang through the camp, hurtling small fires and dodging tents and men until they reached the well by the gate of Beth-lehem. Abishai drew water from the well, while Benaiah and Eleazar fought Philistine warriors off his back as the throngs of soldiers pressed the three towards the wall of the city. 

Once Abishai had filled a vessel with water from the well, the three turned the faces towards Adullam and broke the line of Philistine soldiers, charging once more through the encampment. Eleazar’s long hair flew behind him as if on the wings of a sparrow as he sprinted with the speed of a roe through the camp, clearing the way of soldiers for Benaiah and Abishai to follow with the precious water for their King. Benaiah played the rearguard, ever the vigil watchmen, he struck out at a Philstine to the right of his captain and quickly brought the man down with several powerful blows. He then turned, noticing the threat just in time to swing his weapon up to catch the edge of a blade on its way to cleave Abishai’s head in two. Meanwhile, the captain of the three held the vessel of water securely with a massive left arm and swung his sword with his right at whomever was unfortunate enough to get in his way. 

At last, they reached the doors to the stronghold and found Eleazar waiting with the large doors open to receive them. Once there, they had no more cause to worry about the Philistine warriors, who being thoroughly beaten, shrank back scowling to their own lines. 

Abishai then bounded up the stairs and into the King’s chamber with his precious cargo. Approaching the King with his head bowed he kneeled and laid the vessel at his feet.

But David would not drink of the water and instead poured it out unto the lord.

“Be it far from me, O Lord, to do this: is this not the blood of these men that put their lives in jeopardy?” Thus, David would not drink it. And these things were done by the three mightiest of David’s men.

And there you have it, what the story of David’s mighty men might have actually been like. This is just a small sample of my writing, but if you enjoy it, leave a comment for me below and I may turn one of your favorite bible passages into an epic sequence in the next, “Stories From Scripture”.

Perspective Anyone?

Odd name for a blog post, right? Well, this is an odd blog post, so it fits. In fact, most of my posts may be outside of the “norm” for blogs, and that may just be the result of my perspective.

Perspective isn’t a bad thing. It is not a disadvantage or a fault. Perspective is the vantage point from which you view life. Some people have ringside seats and can see only what is in front of them. Others may be in the bleachers, able to survey what is a far distance off, but not very clearly. And yet, God has the greatest seat of all, he has a better view than even the guy in the Goodyear blimp. 

Most people share the same perspective, which is not a good thing. Here’s why: every thing we take in, be it movies, music, books, or news, everything is pushing its own agenda and promoting its own worldview, or perspective. Some of these sources have honest and good intentions, but many do not. It is Satan’s 1st priority, to alter the way we look at things. Because if he can flip our perspective 180° he will have turned our world upside down. If he can successfully flip the majority perspective on its head, there is no more right and wrong, there are no absolutes, no truth.

Christians, by nature and because of the Holy Spirit, have a different perspective. Christians see the world as God sees it. Not falling for the dissolution that Satan is using to try and change their outlook on life.

People who travel a lot, also have a different viewpoint, their’s being altered by what they’ve seen, where they’ve been, and what they’ve experienced. I am a Christian, and I travel a lot, so I have a rather strange perspective.

Whereas you may see a guy eating a hamburger, I see a man eating cow. Wait for it. Wait for it… When you go to get your breakfast, you may take out a spoon, but I say that you are taking out a cereal killer. Were you to look at the 45ft long metal rectangle on wheels that I live in, you would probably see a bus, but I would see a home. It’s all in the perspective. 

My perspective, I like to think of as a hybrid between conservative, Christian homeschooler and manic-depressive, episcopalian circuit rider. I see things a little differently than most. It comes with living on a bus, and I’m sure has something to do with having 7 siblings sharing my room.

But the fact that there is an attack on perspective is indisputable. Everywhere you look there is something telling you that the lines have blurred and that right and wrong have become relative terms. The world is changing, but is it for the better? I suppose the only way to find out, is to look at life from a different perspective.

–the anonymous novelist

This Is Me

Hello, welcome to this brand new blog. I hope you enjoy it. 

 First things first, I am a writer. I was told that every writer needs a blog, so this is my blog. No one said anything about needing followers for your blog, but I’m guessing that’s the reason why every writer needs one. Since I have already welcomed you to the blog, I’m just going to dive right into my first post if that’s all right with you.

Let’s start with writing:

Writing is a form of art used to express our feelings, emotions, or ideas.

That statement is the foundation of a good understanding of writing. With that in mind, allow me to introduce to you the theory that: No one can ever be a successful artist until they have a passion for their work. 

 Artists rise and fall, by the power of the emotions they feel for their work. Such love, intruige, splendor, and mastery were not “all-in-a-days-work” for artists like Michelangelo and DaVinci. Their passion for their work–which was a representation of themselves and the embodiment of their emotions– was what made them truly great.

Art is not about how much you know, it’s about how much you feel, and writing is a means of expressing that. So, I write. Others may color, paint, sketch, sing, compose music, take pictures, make films, write lyrics, play an instrument, or make DIY crafts, but I write because it is the most natural way for me to express my feelings and emotions. 

Now you know why I am a writer, but you may wonder what exactly I write. Truth be told, I will write most anything that sparks interest for me. I don’t like confining myself to any one genre, but I do have my prefences, as do all writers. My favorite genre, hands down, has got to be Fantasy. Now, I’m not a Veronica Roth, or a J.K. Rowling; I like things just real enough to be believable, but just bizzare enough to be fantasy.

In fact, to give you the best idea of how I write, I’m going to have to give you a sample of my writing. But, that will have to wait for another day, and another post. For now, thanks for reading.

 

–the anonymous novelist