Star Wars Day - May the Fourth be with you!

I don't know when I became such a fan of this series, but the message is clear.  There is good in this world, and there is evil in this world.  Good can become corrupted and become evil.  Evil can repent and become good.

Does that sound familiar?

It should.  The bible is full of examples of men and women who demonstrated difficulty navigating life, who made mistakes, who fell away from God, who repented, and who walks with God today.  

Be aware though, although it is never too late to repent, if you are consumed by the dark side, it will be very difficult to turn back.  This is a famous passage from the Empire Strikes Back.

Yoda: Yes, a Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan's apprentice. 

 Luke: Vader... Is the dark side stronger? 

Yoda: No, no, no. Quicker, easier, more seductive. 

Luke: But how am I to know the good side from the bad? 

Yoda: You will know... when you are calm, at peace, passive. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, NEVER for attack. 

Luke: But tell my why I can't... 

Yoda: No, no! There is no "why". 

For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters.  But don't use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature.  Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.  For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.
~Galations 5:13-15 (NLT)

Rebellion or Responsibility?

Luke prepares to fight the evil Emperor 

I know... two posts about Star Wars in a row!  Bear with me.  I'm a huge fan.

This morning in my Bible study, I was struck by some actions taken by disciples after the ascension of Jesus.  In the book of Acts, we read about Peter refusing to obey the commands of religious leaders, and then being thrown in jail.  We are taught as Christians to obey the laws of our land.  When is it ever okay to refuse?  Was Peter wrong to disobey?  Consider the law they disobeyed: they continued to teach in the name of Jesus, even after being warned.

This made me remember about Daniel's friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  They refused to obey the king's order to worship the gold statue.  They were ordered to go into a fiery furnace as punishment for this disobedience.  But, God protected them.  Why? After all, they broke the law.

The movie series Star Wars portrays many people disobeying the laws set by the evil galactic empire.  When we learn how evil the emperor is, we then acknowledge that the laws set by him were not laws to obey.  We then take the side of the rebels.  When the laws of the government in control contradict the actions of believers to share the gospel and worship the one true God, we have a responsibility to obey our God.  This means we may be disobeying the law(s) of our government.  The Bible warns us that in the end times, we will be martyred for refusing to obey laws that require us to renounce our Lord and savior.

It is important to know our leaders and know the laws they put into action.  We are held responsible for upholding those laws.  Be careful to know who we are voting to put into power.  There may come a time that those in power will seek to limit our ability to proclaim the gospel.  Will we be ready?

"So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord.  And don't be ashamed of me, either, even though I'm in prison for Him.  With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the sake of the Good News." ~2Timothy 1:8 NLT

Wisdom and Understanding

"Yes, a Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan's apprentice." ~Yoda

Yoda is a central character in the Star Wars series.  We are first introduced to him in 1980 as a backwards creature in a swamp world that Luke stumbles upon.  Little did Luke know he was talking to the great Jedi Master that trained so many Jedi in his years.  He had disregarded him until he finally recognized him for who he is.  

Have you ever met someone and quickly formed an opinion of them (maybe based on age or appearance)?  When you took the time to get to know them personally, did your opinion change? I had the good fortune to meet and get to know several individuals like this.  I love finding out the hidden wisdom in each of these individuals' experiences.  There is so much we can learn from those who walk before us.  Why is it that I didn't pay attention to their lessons they shared when I was young?  Why is it now, in my middle years that I recognize and value their thoughts and feelings?

I have been going through the gospels and reading about the different people Jesus interacted with.  I am struck by the words of Simeon and Anna when they encountered the child Jesus in the Temple.  Both were aging, but still had the hope you see in children.  Both were so excited to meet the Messiah, whom they had waited all their lives.  What wisdom they had, if only the religious leaders had taken the time to listen!

Let's take a few minutes to sit down with the generation(s) before us.  We might be surprised at the lessons we can learn from their experiences.

"Wisdom belongs to the aged, and understanding to the old." (Job 12:12 NLT)

Too Late for Redemption?

Evolution of a Character

One of my most favorite movie series is Star Wars.  I admit, I find the character of Anakin Skywalker, AKA Darth Vader to be the most compelling.  He takes an interesting journey through life, first with adventure and delight, then with pain and resolution, moving into hate and revenge, and finally completely lost into darkness.  If the story had ended here, we would have seen a lost soul.  But, in the very end, Anakin felt love again, and committed one last act of redemption.  By this act, he saves his son, his soul, and brings balance to the force, as was predicted when he was just a young boy.

Have you ever believed your sins and darkness took you too far from God to be saved?  Don't believe it! God hates sin, but he loves you too much to let you die to your sin.  He wants to peel away the darkness that consumes you, and help you find the light of his love.  It's not too late.  It's never too late to find God's redemption.  

"Christ arrives right on time to make this happen.  He didn't, and doesn't, wait for us to get ready.  He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready.  And even if we hadn't been so weak, we wouldn't have known what to do anyway.  We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice.  But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him." ~Romans 5:6-8 MSG