Daredevil and Manifest Listen

Greetings Warriors and Scholars!

Listening to God is a subject that is difficult for modern minds to handle. It has come up in the new season of "Daredevil" (specifically Ep. 2 of season 3) and has come up a lot in the show "Manifest".

In a flashback to a conversation with Father Lantom when he was a kid he gets warned that his anger will destroy him if he doesn't handel it well. After suggesting that this might be God's plan, they have this conversation:

Father Lantom: "Maybe you don't understand original sin after all. God gave us free will, Mathew.                                 Adam and Eve were not puppets; neither are we. We make our own choices. It's one                             reason we pray. For help making good ones. You should try it sometime."

Mathew:           "I do pray. I pray all the time, I've been praying for years. God doesn't talk to me."

Father Lantom: "So that's what this is about? You feel God is neglecting you? Matthew, the burning                               bush business doesn't happen very often, even in the Bible. Usually more subtle                                   than that. You want to hear God, Mathew, you have to listen more carefully. He                                     speaks in whispers."

In "Manifest" we are seeing a different conversation. Many members are hearing something they call "The Calling" and sometimes seeing things. These promptings are very insistent and they just come back again if ignored. They don't have any trouble hearing it, but they don't know where it is coming from. In the most recent episode a question is brought up as to whether or not this Calling can be trusted. These promptings have led to several developments including the rescue of two young girls who were kidnapped. Yet there is still a question, can we trust this voice? What is the real agenda behind it?

In the Old Testament listening to God was something that seemed to be reserved for prophets. Only those that God called to a special purpose could meet with Him. Now for Moses this was such a deep relationship that it had a certain "face to spirit" aspect. He regularly met with God and regularly heard from Him. While at Mount Sinai he spent some 40 days alone with God and that resulted both in the 10 commandments and the first few books of the Bible. Exodus 33 records that he had a "Tent of Meeting" outside the camp where he was meet with God and seek wisdom from Him. Other prophets that sought God a lot include Joseph, Isaiah, Elijah, Elisha, and many more.

But a prophet named Joel prophesied that one day many would have the Holy Spirit. That many would prophesy and have dreams from God. Then, Jesus came. As "Emmanuel" (God Among Us) He taught publicly and mentored 12 men. Then, He was crucified and rose again. 10 days after He ascended to the Throne, the Holy Spirit brought on an event we call Pentecost. In this event the disciples were all filled with the Holy Spirit and then began their ministry of spreading the Word of Jesus. Now, we all have access to it.

Listening to God is not meant to be rare for us. Originally Adam and Even had plenty of access to God. Then sin came and corrupted them. God is fully available to us, but are we listening? Are we seeking Him? Do we pray to get things for ourselves or to hear from Him? Here are a few thoughts:

1. Ask. The book of James tells us to ask for wisdom. Jesus told us to knock and the door would be opened. Have you asked God for wisdom? Have you asked Him to speak to you?

2. Sit. Yes, I do think that God might bring thoughts to your mind as you sit and wait. But you need to put your attention to Him. That means a place that is quiet.

3. Compare what you hear with scripture. God will never ask you to do something against His own teachings.

4. Sometimes you need to set the thought "on a shelf" and wait to see if God brings it back in another way.

5. Look. Sometimes I hear form him in music; other times something meaningful will be in a book I'm reading or a show I'm watching. Other times I've been out in nature and God has met me when I was not expecting it.

If you want a full sermon, you should check this link. Pastor Peter Yoshonis spoke about this just this past Sunday at All Shores Wesleyan Church. Well worth a listen.  

Mystery of God

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and the life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not understood it."

                                                                      John 1:1-5

I love the mystery aspect of who God is. When it comes down to it, we don't know nearly as much about Him as we think we do. I also love the full embodiment of creation as his work. EVERYTHING was created by Him, even if it is tainted and perverted by selfishness and pride, He still created it. Then we find the Redemptive aspect of Christ. He is the "light of all mankind".

In our human stories we try to achieve this. Think about the Force. The Force holds a certain mystery to it. It does not seem to be fully known by any Jedi or Sith. It penetrates all living things. There might even be a redemptive side to it. Think about Luke pulling Vader back from the Dark Side.

But the Force isn't as powerful as God, who spoke the universe into existence. The Force has not died to save you from your sins; nor has it resurrected to show victory over death.

Do you sometimes feel that you don't understand God? Don't be ashamed of it. We all have a hard time with something. It may be that you don't understand why He hasn't simply created a job for you out of nothing. You might not like some of His commands. You might wonder why he hasn't brought you a spouse.

The moment we decide that everything we believe about God has to be comfortable is the moment we are not treating Him as God. We might want Him to be more like a genie which does whatever we want. Perhaps you treat Him like a computer program; here are the limits and all you do must fit in this space.

Just like Aslan, God is not tame. He will make laws we are not comfortable with (such as laws about sexuality). He won't make everything easy for us. God is our creator. Does He like to serve us? In some ways, yes. But ultimately He is the one in control, not us.

What I would Change

Sometimes we watch a movie and we love it and would change nothing.  Other times we watch a movie and we like nothing.  Often we find a few things we like and wish we could just change a few things. 

I have a few things I would change: I would have Qui-Gon and Maul survive Episode 1 at least to be in Episode 2.  In Episode 2 we would meet Dooku, but he would be a double agent operating in the ranks of the Jedi. I would have the death of Qui-Gon in episode 2 along with the death of Anakins Mom.  As Anakin would struggle with this the Jedi would be learning of Dooku's treachery.  We would still see Yoda fight Dooku.  We would still see Obi-Wan take down Maul.  That is what I would do. 

In the case of movies, we like or dislike directors and writers.  But we don't really care about their authority. In fact, sometimes we feel someone should not have the authority to do something, such as the choice of bad writing or a choice to make a character from a source material something completely different. Often, the directors and writers really don't care if we like or dislike something,  not in the sense of meeting our needs.

Now the Bible is one story I would not change.  It is a little bit confusing.  I don't understand why God allowed stoning in the Old Testament or why he allows suffering, but I recognize His authority. More than that, I can say He has walked with me through a lot of pain and heartache. 

Job lost an extreme amount. He lost family members to death. He lost his health.  He lost his wealth to raiders and disasters.  Yet he still refused to curse God and still trusted Him.  When He did question God, God said this:

"Where were you when I laid the Earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand.  Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?"  Job 38:4, 5 God also talks about controlling the stars and the constellations and large beasts.  He is the creator of all and it is not our place to argue with Him.


Would I do things the way God has done them in my life or in the lives of my family? No. I would not. I would not have allowed 2 fires to hit our family homes or certain other things...but God has also used some of these difficulties for good. Because of our recent fire we are getting a new house (which means a Nerd Cave for me!). Sometimes God uses bad for good.  Trust Him.

If you don't understand something, ask God about it.  He is stern, but He is also loving. He has the right to make choices about us and all creation as our creator, but He wants to help you with your questions.

Endless Wonder

Last night I watched the final episode of Warehouse 13.  Don't worry, no spoilers here today.  I want us to think about the idea from the series of "endless wonder".  The Warehouse stored artifacts from throughout history that have been imbued with differing powers because of various events or from emotions of individuals that really changed history.

Some artifacts were good, others were not so good.  They always had trade off (such as a rope that would heal a person but bring darkness to their soul).  But it was always fascinating to see what they find and the Warehouse never stopped having new items for them. 

This is the interesting thing.  That something new was always around the corner and you could never stop finding something cool or amazing.  The show could have gone on for a couple more seasons without getting old.

Such is life with Christ.  We know from Revelation that there are angels and creatures in Heaven that are always shouting "Holy! Holy! Holy! Is the Lord God Almighty!"  It has been theorized that every time they shout it, they are seeing something new and different in God.  He is eternal and infinite!  There is no end to Him!  The idea of sitting around for eternity and telling God how awesome His might seem boring to some, but yet there is always something new to find.  A new grace to some one or a new miracle or color or creation.  Eternity will be filled with endless wonder and I am looking forward to it.  I hope you trust in Christ and join us for this ENDLESS WONDER!