“DON’T JUDGE ME – I’M A FAN” – Jan. 3

“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things.  Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory!”  Psalm 72:18-19

I have struggled for motivation to climb upon my bicycle while it is clamped into the trainer.   However, I have to do something because the digits on my scale are continuing to increase inversely to the outdoors temperatures.  I’ve sought may aids to curb the monotony of a cycling trainer; music, cycling training videos, Tour de France videos, sermons, audiobooks, and even stand-up comics.  None has been able to keep me contentedly pedaling beyond 30 minutes.

However, I finally found my tonic for trainer tedium – Dark Matter.

My tonic is not the invisible matter constituting the majority of the universe.  Mine comes from the Syfy channel.  I got hooked on this story of a spaceship crew who awakens from stasis with no memory of who they are, what they have done, or why they are on board a mercenary spaceship.

I love a good story and if it is set in space, then it’s even better.

I saved watching Dark Matter as the carrot before my motionless bike.  I easily pedaled through each episode as subsequent adventures revealed mysteries of forgotten pasts.  I was actually starting to look forward to my time on that accursed contraption when it all came to an end.

The final episode of Season 1 successfully left me spinning on the edge of my saddle, wanting to know what will happen next.  I went to click on Season 2, to spin through another episode, but made a stark discovery.

There is no Season 2.

I was done.  I climbed off my bike and felt that familiar disdain for my next date with the trainer.  I searched the internet to discover whether there was another season with a growing concern.  I learned more about Dark Matter than I had intended.  I learned about the actors and the production.  I read reviews, both positive and negative.  I was delighted to find that there will be another season but annoyed to know that it is only in production.

I even discovered the WordPress blog of Joseph Mallozzi – Josephmallozzi’s Weblog.  He is the co-writer and creator of Dark Matter.  He has a lot of behind the scene photos of the current filming of Dark Matter on his blog.  I flipped through each post in my developing sense of fandom.

I learned that Dark Matter was originally a comic book that Joseph Mallozzi co-wrote.  So, I did what any newly minted fan would do.  I got on Amazon to see if I could buy one.  I’m a little embarrassed to admit that the compilation book of all four comics should arrive in two days.  I haven’t bought myself a comic book in three decades.

Don’t judge me, I’m a fan.

I find it interesting that I wasn’t really a fan of Dark Matter while Netflix held a trove of unwatched episodes.

It wasn’t until the streaming dried up that I even thought about the writer.
It wasn’t until the entertainment stopped that I began searching.
It wasn’t until I was forced to wait that I became a fan.

My reaction to Dark Matter reminded me of this quote from A.W. Pink.

I can testify to these dry seasons of the soul.

Most Christians will experience these periods of drought
if they follow Christ any length of time.

It is part of sanctification.

Have you ever wondered why we experience these periods where the river of God’s presence feels like it has dried up?

Some may say that these seasons are periods of preparation or testing or due to sin.  I agree in part.

However, I wonder if dry periods are simply a process to make us into fans.

When I enter a dry period, I tend to think more about God.  I confess that my thoughts often sound like complaints, “why is God doing this to me”, but my eyes definitely get focused back on Him.

When I feel spiritually lethargic, I tend to search more earnestly in His word.  I start digging into the mysteries of God and realize that I am usually not even asking the right questions.

When I am waiting on God, I inevitably begin to ask myself, who I am waiting for, which brings me back to the Gospel, the wonderful treasure of the good news of Jesus Christ and I become more of a fan.

A dry period  will inevitably
bring me to the glory of God.

It will make me a fan.

When I am a fully glorifying fan:

I am prepared to follow Christ in whatever He has called me to do.

I am ready to persevere through the suffering and trials that are before me.

I am willing to turn my back on the temptations of this world for the surpassing worth of my loving Savior.

The lukewarm Christian is a lukewarm fan.

Christians should be more enthusiastic than any of the fans in a sports stadium.

Our demeanor should clothe us as followers of Christ more than any avid comic con attendees.

Our homes should proudly display our fandom of the One.

We were created to be fans; we were created to worship.
A true fan should be easy to spot.

God wants us to be easy to spot.
God wants us to be true fans.
He is willing to take us through those dry periods to teach us that our fandom rests only in Him.

PRAYER: Lord, I pray that you will make me into a fan.  Help me to want to join my voice with that of the Psalmist and declare your wondrous deeds in unabashed fandom.  Help me to accept the dry seasons.  Help to see that you are taking me to greater happiness.  Father, do your work in me even when I am not fully cooperating.  I pray this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen

WRITTEN IN THE SKY – Dec. 24

“saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”  Matthew 2:2

I love art.
I am a fan, not an expert.

As a fan, I can appreciate the beautiful; marvel at mastery; admire creativity; absorb emotion.  However, the artist’s meaning is often lost in mere fandom.  An artist’s message often flies over my engineering oriented head as I just appreciate the exhibition.

I am greatly assisted by the art experts who explain the symbolism crafted into a piece.  I love the pure joy in reading a work of literature for entertainment.  I also love the delightful astonishment from the revelation of a carefully crafted message imbedded in a work of which I was oblivious.

I often appreciate art in its various forms and know that I am missing a deeper meaning.

This is how I feel about the night sky.
I am a fan, not an expert.

I marvel at the beauty of the stars on a cloudless night.
The images from the Hubble space telescope are as beautiful to me as any painting.
It is easy to get lost in the fandom of a star-lit sky.

I know that many who stare at the same sky, will not see any meaning.  They see chaotic beauty.  They see an expanding universe of fascinating happenstance.  They may wonder what is out there, but they don’t see art because art necessitates an artist.

I see an Artist.
However, the meaning in the artist’s art flies over my head on most nights.

This is why I appreciate the film The Star of Bethlehem.  This film provided me with that feeling of delightful astonishment in the revelation of the Artist’s meaning in the night skies during the marvelous events that we are celebrating this Christmas.

In that night sky:
Jupiter, Planet of Kings, was coming into a close conjunction with the star, Regulus;
Sharu is what the Babylonians called Regulus, which means ‘king.’;
Rex is what the Romans called Regulus, which means ‘king.’;
At the beginning of the new Jewish year, the Planet of Kings met the Star of Kings.
~Bethlehem Star Coronation

In that night sky:
Jupiter, the Planet of Kings, was rising in the east;
Over a period of months, Jupiter reversed course in what is called retrograde;
However, Jupiter was to reverse course on three occasions, closing in on Regulus each time.
Jupiter, the Planet of Kings, created a halo around Regulus, the Star of Kings.
~Bethlehem Star Coronation

In that night sky:
As Jupiter was beginning the coronation of Regulus;
The constellation Virgo, The Virgin, was rising in the east behind Leo (Lion);
The Lion of Judah is the symbol of the tribe of Judah;
When Jupiter and Regulus were first meeting, Virgo rose clothed in the Sun;
A new moon was symbolically birthed at the feet of The Virgin.
~ Bethlehem Star: The Birth of a King

In that night sky:
Jupiter traveled on through the night sky from Regulus;
Nine months later, Jupiter aligned with Venus, the Mother Planet;
They aligned so perfectly that neither planet was distinguishable;
Their alignment made the brightest star within the life time of those living;
If one looked from Jerusalem toward Bethlehem in December of 2 BC,
the Planet of Kings hung over prophesied city of the Messiah’s birth.
~ Bethlehem Star: Westward Leading

The Bible tells us about wise men coming from the east in search of the newly born King of the Jews whose star they had seen.  What an understatement.  I doubt if Matthew or any of the disciples understood all that had been written in the sky when the visit of the wise men was  chronicled.

Most missed the meaning in those night skies.  The few who looked up, probably saw a display with the appreciation of a fan at most.  It was only a small group of experts, wise men, who saw the meaning of the Artist.

The Artist created in the origination of His work the meaning of this ordained event.

The Artist was not surprised by anything in His creation.  History has not been His correcting of creative mistakes.  His masterpiece, proclaiming the coming of His Son in human flesh, was cosmic mastery of planets and stars, creating the most spectacular of birth announcements on the canvas of a night sky.

It was and is an extraordinary masterpiece.

Remember, as you gaze into the night sky of Christmas
that the meaning of this season was truly written in the stars.

God painted the night sky with:

A Star of Wonder
A Star of Light
A Star of Royal Beauty Bright

That Star is still guiding us to the Perfect Light!

COME AND SEE WHAT GOD HAS DONE
THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD GIVEN FOR US!

 

PRAYER: Lord, you are GREAT and GREATLY to be praised.   I praise you Lord for you are my God, my Redeemer, my Savior.  You are my Lord who adopted me by giving the Light of the World for my sins.  Thank you for creating at the foundation of earth this story of amazing love.  Thank you for displaying your glory for all to see – give me eyes to see your glory and a voice to proclaim it.  I pray this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen