♦ drawing Parallels ♦
~within context~

the drawing for June 2012

I had to do this one early for various reasons. Namely, I anticipate I'm going to be fairly busy working at Arrowhead Bible Camp the first few weeks so I don't want to complicate things between ministries.

Anyway. This month's Parallels I'm drawing are between Foo Fighter's song These Days, the Newsboys song Lost the Plot, and applicable scripture.

These Days

"One of these days the ground will drop out from beneath your feet..."

I have to say, there aren't that many other inspirational rock groups out there that I enjoy listening to than Foo Fighters, because of the message that can be heard through many of their songs and how I can relate to it. These Days is written by Foo Fighters "front-man," Dave Grohl. The message that can be heard here displays a realization of a potential coming apocalypse, and inescapable death overall. What I find myself able to relate to in such a message through the perspective it is given in is the sort of dialogue that is represented between the verse and chorus. The lyrics go through the typical mindset of accepting death as the end of everything, and subsequently life no longer has meaning after the fact. "But it's alright" comes the kicker, before comes the "[Oh Yeah?] Easy for you to say..." for someone who doesn't know the extent of attachment one should have to life. It is a good mindset to appreciate life as a gift to make it mean something regardless of what death only appears to take away. This perspective is supported in the song where Dave is vocal about recognizing that something is truly wrong with the mindset that says "One of these days you will forget to hope and learn to fear" through changing the "But it's alright" part of the chorus to "Don't say it's alright"

When I was young and in middle school, I struggled with basic End Times theology to the point where I quietly renounced my faith. Over time I came to realize though how lost I would be, struggling like the writer of this song without a firm foundation to place my hope in. Understanding how apt I am to change, sometimes at the drop of a hat, I began to recognize the need to say that something is not alright with standing by and letting life end up considered as meaningless. To be able to express the need for actual meaning beyond simple acceptance shows a mindset that... I have to say is more prepared to receive truth than many others are. I can certainly understand why Dave would state that this song, out of all the other songs he's written, is his favorite. I just hope someone is able to show God in a better light than what has been expressed to the guy so far... It wouldn't end all his struggles right away, but would very much answer questions he might have regarding where he should place the foundation for his hope in.

Lost the Plot

"Heard a rumor that the end is near,

but I just got comfortable here..."

Here, co-writers Steve Taylor and Peter Furler write a song about the end times, to the extent of how it is perceived by believers who struggle with the concept of waiting for Him to show up. The message touches upon the importance in not misplacing the ending of days, as "no one knows the day or hour" it's to occur. It's certainly a struggle to keep faith along with the realization that things will seem completely hopeless by the end. "One of these days..." it's just going to happen no matter what is going on, and it's better not to deceive ourselves in believing too strongly that things will get better in our lifetime to where we let strong emotions cloud our senses. Being Christian is accepting that you're not a part of the world, even though we can, God willing, find comfort in our lives. Hope through faith in God's promise to us is a key foundation to believers, and it only goes to show how little faith one has in His promise when one either follows after rumors, and alternatively when one lives their life in sin out of falling asleep to His calling for us to be sober and righteous people in an indulgently drunk, and wicked world. I certainly can appreciate the message given as "Let's be blunt" so as to get the point in a matter of utmost importance when "we're a little unfaithful" in terms of listening to God.

And what did God have to say about the End Times? Too much to completely cover in one blog post, I'd say. But let's consider the passage in the book of Mathew, chapter 24. Jesus had just foretold prophecy stating the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, "there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down."

The disciples are understandably concerned as to when this event will take place, so when Jesus sat at the Mount of Olives, they asked Him privately "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?" They recognize the prophecy they heard as monumental, and in struggle for truth they long to understand the words of Christ in entirety.

 Jesus answers with this message,

"See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For every nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of birth pains."

As Christians, we should believe and know that everything is alright even in the worst tribulation because God says so. Even so, we know that we should live out life to the fullest, and look to God for answers rather than self proclaimed prophets. All in due time. Furthermore, "don't say it's alright" when everything doesn't feel right in life, especially when such feelings arise from doubt, disbelief in general, or... when you see others show selective understanding of God and scripture. Even though "one of these days the ground will drop out beneath [our] feet" at some point, we should concentrate on receiving God's mercy through His promise and Word... and display it, proclaiming that love to the world any chance we get.

And so concludes the drawing of Parallels, within context, intended for the month of June. I will certainly try to continue this on through the summer while I'm doing His work at Arrowhead Bible camp. In the mean time, "Don't [just] say it's alright," apply His meaning in your life, and let the close of the age come when God so chooses.

That, and God bless you in the summer, as well as

~keep it real.

(originally posted on Facebook the 4th of May, 2012)

♦ drawing Parallels ♦
~...within context~

On this rainy Friday morning, I'm starting this themed monthly message. Let me explain just what this is about. Basically, "drawing Parallels" here is a side project of sorts of my graphic novel titled simply "Parallels" and there are many reasons why it's titled this. One reason is that within the story, I draw out countless side by side comparisons of many different walks of life, both Godly and... decidedly otherwise. "drawing Parallels" takes this a step further by doing a direct side by side comparison between "pop" culture, christian culture, and scripture. I've actually wanted to start doing this for a bit of while now, just I couldn't decide when I was finally going to get to it, nor where I was going to post it up. Decisions led to decisions, and here we are. So without further ado then, I'll get right to it.

This month's topic covers the sun. It was out in full the last few days and made everything beautiful. There are many who have said things about the sun, and what it symbolizes in everyone's life. A fellow of the name George Harrison wrote a fairly uplifting song about this subject, titled "Here Comes the Sun"

This song vaguely describes the warm fuzzies that come around in Spring time when the snow thaws and things spring to life, so to say. Typically, anyone can get the "everything is okay" feeling from warm fuzzies. Anyone can also put all their hope in seeing the sun rise again the next day. It's a touching song, truly. But can one truly find fulfillment and contentment in the sun rising, alone?

The former Christian rock group, PFR (which stands for Pray For Rain, by the way) wrote a song putting attention on the sun as well. This one is titled "See the Sun Again"
 

This song, from my understanding, is directed to someone who has fallen astray from God and faith somehow, and in a very vague but meaningful way is telling the person in question to strain to see God's presence still in their life. This is metaphorically speaking but it makes sense as the writer describes how even when a storm goes over, or when night falls, there is still a "sun" to be seen in the sky.

The bible has a few things to say about the sun. Jesus himself said something rather profound about it (naturally). This can be read in the gospel according to Mathew, chapter five. The Sermon on the Mount was where the Lord gave many profound viewpoints, and the one that goes along with today's topic is in verses forty-three to forty-five;
43) You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44) But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45) so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

Here it can be seen how hard it is to find fulfillment in simply trusting in the sun rising every morning, as Jesus points out that even those who are against you can find comfort and strength from that same morning star. George Harrison practiced Hinduism, and was for all intents and purposes a fairly spiritual guy. He was really in to the multiculturalist agenda though, which could be gathered from statements he made like "All religions are branches of one big tree. It doesn't matter what you call Him just as long as you call."
From hearing statements like these by themselves, it's hard to say someone like George firmly believes in anything. To his credit, the song could easily be seen as a metaphor for God's presence returning to our lives much like See the Sun Again describes. Throwing a "Christian spin" on the secular or otherwise can pretty fun. To wrap this all up, let's consider how dear we all hold the sun and what it provides for us. Then go deeper in realizing that it provides for our enemies as well, by God's design. It's good to uplift one another with remarking about how steadfast the morning star is, as well as using the sun as metaphor for the presence of God. Ultimately though, we should put focus on God for what he has provided us (being the creator of the sun and all) and for his steadfastness that surpasses all the cosmos, including our beloved morning star.

And that's it for this month. I think I'll try to do these the first Friday of every following month, so expect to see the next drawing Parallels message possibly in the morning of June 8th. Parallels, the graphic novel by yours truly can be found and read by those interested for free on my deviant art page. A link to get there can be found on my profile here on Facebook in the contact info section. You can ask me for the link if you want.
(or you can go straight to it from here-> http://fav.me/d4wg7dz )
Can't wait to do this again next month. In the mean time, folks

God bless and
~keep it real.