Fiction Is Rosier

               Smallville.  My absolute favorite TV show.  A ten season, Sci-fi smash hit chronicling the early years of Clark Kent.  Before he was Superman. 
               The majority of the first 4 seasons took place in the halls of Smallville High.   And when I say halls, I mean halls.  It seems that the Smallville High student body spent a large part of their collective day between classes.  Our favorite characters were blessed with many school dances, sports events and the occasional field trip.  But even though we hear talk of tests, tutoring and study sessions, we only see our stars in class if a hugely plot-essential incident is about to happen or if the teacher will soon be revealed as the villain.  So, at a glance, it seems that our beloved characters live lives of juicy social interactions and exciting action sequences while wearing backpacks. 
               It makes perfect sense that our favorite fictions cut out the boring stuff.  I wouldn't have watched the show if it began with Clark listening to a twenty minute history lecture, followed by a trip to his locker, then standing in the lunch line and concluded with him bent over an important math test.  That's not entertainment.  That's life.
               Sometimes I think my life is less than it should be.  That I'm not interesting enough, that I'm not ambitious enough or that there's some wonderful, exciting thing out there that I should be doing.  But the reality is always rosier on the other side of the screen.  So when you find that life doesn't measure up to fiction, don't adjust your TV set, adjust your mindset.  Enjoy fiction as fiction and enjoy life as life.
               And if you have Jesus as your Savior, you have the best reality a person can have.  A reality of hope and purpose.
               "Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  Hebrews 13:5

House Hunters International: An Island In The Sun

            House Hunters International features home buyers searching for the right property in another country.  It lets me get a peak at gorgeous tropical locations with their private beaches and Brazilian wood balconies overlooking lush mountains and frolicking monkeys.  The tropics make me sigh with the relaxation that you most feel when you are there.  Paradise. 

             I love to watch shows that highlight beautiful locations.  LOST and Hawaii Five-0 give amazing Hawaiian scenery every chance they get.  Ahhh, Hawaii.  I love to look at it and I love the idea of it.  It's gorgeous!  Sunny and green, covered with lush plants and flowers, surrounded by lovely white sand beaches and the sparkling aqua of the ocean.

             I love the idea of the vacation spot.  I read Islands Magazine and decorate my walls with pictures of beautiful places.  I daydream about retiring to a life of leisure and freedom.  But the truth is, while tropical locations are gorgeous and wonderful and filled with things to enjoy; problems still exist there.  Time still exists there.  Money and crime and noise still exist there.  The weather isn't always calendar worthy and the people are not always friendly.  I still want to go, of course, but a vacation spot is not actually Paradise.   

             Heaven is, though.  Heaven is a real place.  More beautiful than all the wonders of this earth.  More relaxing than I can understand.  More...right than I've ever experienced.  And I'm retiring there someday.  Are you?

             The Bible describes Heaven as a golden city filled with God's presence and everything good (Revelation 21).  An existence of only happiness, safety and belonging- FOREVER! 

             “Look, God’s home is now among His people!  He will live with them, and they will be His people.  God Himself will be with them.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”  Revelation 21:3b-4

             But Heaven is only for those God has forgiven for the wrongs they have done.  And to be forgiven you have to ask.  Jesus died in our place, taking our punishment from God as our substitute and then rose from the dead to prove we can be forgiven and go to Heaven someday.

"God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him.  This is real love—not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins."

                                                       1 John 4:9-10

          The Bible says we don't deserve this.  We don't deserve Heaven.  But God loves us and wants us to be with Him.  All we have to do is ask.

         

           "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."  Romans 10:9

             Tell Jesus you need Him!  He can hear you wherever you are.  Ask Him to forgive your sins.

             When Jesus was on the cross, the criminal dying next to Him put his faith in Jesus.  Jesus assured him, "today you will be with Me in Paradise." (Luke 23:43)  When God decides it's time, I'll be with Him in Paradise too.  I'm "retiring" there.  Until then, I'll daydream about it. 

Song Recommendation:  An Island In The Sun by Weezer

(This song is on the first Smallville soundtrack and gave me the idea for this article)

 "Jesus told him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.' " John 14:6

Mr. Monk Never Forgets

     Monk is a quirky, lovable show about obsessive-compulsive detective, Adrian Monk.  The show ended after eight seasons but lives on through a series of very fun novels.  Mr. Monk was a successful homicide detective until his wife's murder caused him to suffer a psychological breakdown.  Now he assists the San Fransisco Police Department on the most difficult cases as a private consultant.  He uses his need for order and his obsession with perfection to see the details that the average investigator would miss.  Monk catches the bad guys that no one else would ever catch.  

But he couldn't do it without Natalie.  Natalie is Mr. Monk's plucky assistant.  Her job is to keep him calm and focused, hand him disinfectant wipes and run interference with the people he ultimately frustrates.  They get into and out of a lot of scrapes together and have saved each other's lives more than once.

         

         One of the things that makes Monk so unique and so good at solving crimes is his memory.  It's perfect.  Once during a session with his therapist, he recounts a traumatic memory and his therapist realizes that Mr. Monk is actually remembering his own birth!

          Even though there are probably no real people who have a perfect memory like this, God does.  Psalm 147:5 says, "Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite."  God knows everything.  Acts 15:18 says, "Known to God from eternity are all His works."  He knew every moment of human history before time ever began.  He knows everything that has ever happened or will ever happen to everyone. 

         God knows us, He really KNOWS us.  He knows everything we've ever done, including all the bad things.  He says in the Bible that we deserve His punishment. (Romans 6:23) 

         Now listen to something amazing - "But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners."  -Romans 5:8 

          He sent Jesus to take the punishment that we deserve.  When we accept that we deserve God's punishment, when we accept Jesus as our Savior, we are forgiven.  All of our mistakes and bad deeds and bad thoughts are washed away.  Forever.  And He continues to forgive us when we slip up because now we have Jesus as our Advocate.  (1 John 2:1) 

        God, the only One with the flawless memory, chooses to forget.  For our sake.  Just because He loves us. 

        Here is what God's forgiveness is like:  Hebrews 8:12  "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”



Outtakes

     Outtakes.  Bloopers.  The gag reel.  It's the first thing I look for when I click the special features button on the DVD menu.  Who doesn't love outtakes?  They're hilarious.  You get to watch the cast and crew get the giggles, scramble their lines and play tricks on each other. 
     Outtakes are moments that interrupt filming.  They weren't in the script so they don't end up in the film.  Someone drops something, says the wrong thing, loses their train of thought, trips on the carpet…
    Speaking of tripping on the carpet, have you done that lately?  Have you dropped your keys?  Gotten tongue-tied?  How did you react?  Did you get angry and say, "Really?!"
     I have days when it seems like everything is going wrong.  As the day wears on, I let myself lose all patience and the tiniest mishaps seem enormously discouraging or unfair.  This is no way to live. 
     God's Word tells us in Philippians 2:14 "Do all things without complaining and disputing,"
     So stop whining!  Your life isn't based on a script.  It will never be perfect. 
     The movies edit out their bloopers, making the characters seem gorgeous, articulate and highly coordinated but you can't make your bloopers dissappear.  They're just a natural part of life.  Don't let them get you down.  Dropping your keys isn't the end of the world!  It's a blooper...and it's going to make the final cut- whether you like it or not.

Song Recommendation:  "This Is The Stuff" by Francesca Battistelli

Finding Nemo: Just Keep Swimming

        I love the movie Finding Nemo.   It's a fun, engaging story full of endearing characters and it's computer animation makes it beautiful to look at.       
        Marlin (who is actually a clown fish) is a very protective father but his son Nemo craves adventure.  When Nemo takes a silly, disobedient risk, he gets lost and ends up in an aquarium.  So, naturally, Marlin sets off on a long and involved journey to find his son.
             Along the way, Marlin meets many of the sea's colorful characters, including a very helpful, very forgetful and very blue fish named Dory.  From the first second she hears that Marlin's son, Nemo, is missing, Dory is determined to help.

            Dory has a problem with her short term memory.  She forgets things almost instantly but she keeps moving forward on their mission to find Nemo.  Every time Marlin and Dory face a setback on their trip, Dory stays upbeat.  She forgets what just happened and keeps going.  She tells Marlin, "You know what you gotta' do when life gets you down?  Just keep swimming." 

     The Bible tells us that we Christians need to be a lot like Dory! 

     God used a man named Paul to write the letter to the Philippians.  First Paul reminds them- and us- that we can't be friends with God and get to Heaven someday by being good. We can't accomplish enough things, or be nice enough, charitable enough or good-looking enough to get to Heaven. Only faith in Jesus and the fact that He died to take our punishment for sin and rose from the dead to prove His power, can save us from Hell and give us Heaven.  But it is our job after we have become friends with God through Jesus, to try to be like Him. Not because being good enough could get us to Heaven- we could never be good enough for that- but because knowing Jesus and living the way He wants us to is amazing!
     Philippians 3:13-14 says "No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven." 
     In other words: Just Keep Swimming!  When you accept Jesus as your Savior, you admit that you are not good enough and God washes all of your guilt away.  He chooses to forget it and so can you.  Now, you need to focus on just being like Him, telling others about Him and just all around enjoying the new life He's given you.  You need to be excited about someday joining Him in Heaven where you will finally be perfect.
     God wants us to let go of shame and pride.  We Christians often get bogged down by focusing on these things.  If you dwell on all the good things you do and how "awesome" you are, cut it out!  Jesus already took care of being truly awesome and you could not ever possibly compare to Him.  And if you dwell on your mistakes and how "terrible" you are, knock it off!  Jesus already took care of forgiving all of your sins and He's makes up for the new ones every day.  We need to "forget the past and look forward to what lies ahead"- Jesus!  We should just enjoy being with Him and look forward to living with Him in Heaven someday.
     We need to be like Dory the forgetful fish and JUST KEEP SWIMMING!!!

Relief

     The part I treasure most in any high intensity action scene is the big moment of relief.  My eyes sparkle with excitement while the heroes gasp and laugh and cry as they look at the cliff's edge, exploded building, smoking crater, unconscious murderer or other huge source of peril that they have just survived.  They're okay, it's over, they're safe now.  "Let's go home."
     What could feel better than the moment you realize you're alive?
     I've never run out of a burning building or been reeled in from a crashing wave but I can imagine the overwhelming sense of well being and relief that must come when the worst doesn't happen.  The rush when, after thinking all was lost, the thing you hoped for the most appears before your eyes - rescue!
     I got the idea for an article about relief one morning when I was a sad, cranky mess.  I irrationally hated and questioned everything!  I knew that I shouldn't feel this way but it felt like there was nothing I could do to make myself feel better.  I struggle with this problem sometimes.  Contentment.  How do you get it?
     I tried to think about the things I should be grateful for.  And then I thought about how I've been... rescued.   I've been rescued from the worst and most terrifying thing anyone can face: separation from God.  I've been freed from Hell I'm bound for Heaven.  I'm friends with God.  Right now, this very instant!
     "For He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins." Colossians 1:13-14 (NLT)
     "This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."  1 John 4:10 (NIV)
     And then I thought about that moment of pure happiness when someone is rescued.  The laughter, tears and hugs.  I've seen it many times portrayed by actors or in real-life incidents caught on film.  When I accepted Jesus as my Savior, I was rescued from far worse than anything this world could ever dish out.  So my joy should be far more enthusiastic!
     God has called me out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9)!  So I'm going to keep that picture of salvation fresh in my mind.  I'm going to replace my cloudy moods with the laughter of pure relief!
     When I accepted Christ's rescue, I was reborn into God's family and I started my new life with Him.  What could feel better than the moment you realize you're alive?

"We also pray that you will be strengthened with all His glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to His people, who live in the light."     Colossians 1:11-12 (NLT)

Once Upon A Time: Remember Who You Are

          ABC’s Once Upon A Time is one of my favorite new shows, along with Fox’s Terra Nova.  Once Upon A Time is a gorgeous fairytale drama with sweeping cinematography, engaging storylines and acting so real it gives me goose bumps.  It’s highly original plot sets this show apart from previous fairytale endeavors and other sci-fi/fantasy hits. 

          In this reimagining, the Evil Queen from the classic story of Snow White has placed a curse on the entire realm of fairytale characters.  In an attempt at revenge on Snow White and her Charming husband, the enchantress has banished them, along with others from their world, to a life with “no happy endings” in our world.  They find themselves in uneventful Storybrooke, Maine.  They live ordinary lives and have no memory of who they used to be.  Snow White is a schoolteacher.  Rumplestiltskin is a pawn broker.  And the Evil Queen has positioned herself as mayor of Storybrooke. 

There’s only one person who can come to Storybrooke and break the curse.  Emma Swan.  The daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming.  At the time of the curse, she was an infant.  Now she’s a gritty, disillusioned bounty hunter, unencumbered by things like personal attachments or optimism.  But when the son she gave up for adoption shows up at her door, her life changes. 
Henry knows all about the curse, thanks to a special book of fairytales.  He believes that Emma is Storybrooke’s savior, the only one who can make everyone remember who they are and put things back the way they were.

What a wonderful, rich story.  It reminds me of a wonderful, rich truth.  The truth of the Bible.  The truth about us.  Just like the fairytale characters in Storybrooke, all of humankind is under a curse.  We live in a world we weren’t meant for.  We have forgotten where we come from and who we are meant to be. 

This is what the Bible is about.  In the beginning, everything was perfect just how God created it.  The first people, Adam and Eve, were a perfect couple, living in a perfect garden, in a perfect world, friends with God.  There was no suffering or death.  Only happiness, harmony and love.  It sounds like a fairytale.  But this is the truth.

And then something happened.  Adam and Eve turned away from God; disobeyed Him.  This is when earth fell under the curse.  As the owner of everything, God cursed the world because of Adam and Eve.  They were no longer going to live forever and now life would be difficult.  Now that they knew how to disobey God, they would sometimes be angry, bitter and selfish.  They would argue and hurt each other. 

God’s punishment for sin is death and after death- separation from Him.  Romans 6:23 “The wages of sin is death…”

          Today, we are still under the curse.  We all sin. (Romans 3:23)  And we have forgotten what the world used to be, what we are supposed to be.  But God is not like the Evil Queen, He didn’t place us under this curse out of spite or for revenge.  It is more like a reset plan.  A way to get the world back to that perfection.   
          The Bible says in Romans 8:20-21 that “Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.”
          He sent us a Savior.  His Son, Jesus Christ.  Born as a human, Christ lived the sinless life that no human ever could.  Then He let Himself be killed, at the same time taking the punishment for all of humanity’s sin on Himself.  Then He rose from the dead, victorious over sin.  He is the cure for the curse that we brought on ourselves.  "For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."  John 3:16

All we have to do is accept this; truly believe we are under the curse of our own sin and ask God for the cure- the Savior.  Then we can live the life we were meant to live.  Life based on His unconditional love and His promise of Heaven.

Listen to Colossians 3:2-4: “Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.  For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.  And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all His glory.”

Did you hear that?  When you’ve accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, your real life is with Him.  Don’t let this world get you down.  It’s easy to worry and hurry and let discontent run rampant.  I have this problem big time!  But like the verse says, don’t focus on the things of this world, focus on your real life.  Don’t live in the curse!  Live the life you were meant to live, look forward to your real home in heaven.  Remember who you are! 

   Song Recommendation:  Remind Me Who I Am – Jason Gray (written from the perspective of someone who has accepted Jesus as their Savior)