Sunday, September 22, 2013

From Stone to Flesh

Hello again! I'll skip right past the part where I've been away from here for months and go straight into today's story. Get excited because it's a story of zombies...and the Gospel. Hold up, you say. What could zombies possibly have to do with the Gospel? I'm coming to that, but first some background.

A few months ago, I checked out Warm Bodies from the library. Warm Bodies is pretty much Romeo and Juliet with zombies. Before I continue, check out the trailer if you haven't seen the movie:


Here we meet R, who has sadly succumbed to an un-deadly zombie virus and now enjoys eating brains. R spends his days shuffling around aimlessly yet wondering if there's more to un-life until one fateful day he meets Julie, our girl-next-door zombie slayer. While you'd expect R to immediately bash Julie's pretty little head in and get to snacking, seeing the life, light, and beauty radiating from her sparks something deep inside him. He's not even alive, but he's falling in love, and that begins a transformation in his heart that makes him more and more human and may even change his entire world (I won't give away the ending because you should watch it!).

So here I am watching this movie, minding my own business, when I am blindsided by the biblical truth in this concept. I'm watching R's transformation from un-death to life, and this verse from Ezekiel pops into my head:

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put in you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. -Ezekiel 36:26

I'm completely oversimplifying this, but it's love that causes R's dead heart to begin beating again, and it's the love of Christ that brought me from death to new life. The more R learns to love, the more alive he becomes just as the more I allow Jesus to transform my heart to be more like His, the more my heart looks like His. And just as R's transformation starts an epidemic zombie love fest, so the transformation Jesus has had in my life should be evident and should make others want to give Him their hearts too.

The real conviction I got from this movie was that while I gave my heart to Christ long ago, there are days when I feel like I slip back into zombie mode and forget that spreading His love is my purpose. How cool is it that this reminder came from a zombie romance movie?! But that's my God. He knows how to get through to this little nerd girl. Oh, Lord, continue to daily take my heart of stone and make it a heart of flesh that I might show the world Your love. You must become greater, Jesus, and I must become less (John 3:30).

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

The Affective Love of God

It's been crazy long since I've posted here since I've been so busy blogging book reviews over at aguyagirlandateenbookblog.com, but I read this passage in Brennan Manning's The Furious Longing of God this morning and had to share:

"The wild, unrestricted love of God is not simply an inspiring idea. When it imposes itself on mind and heart with the stark reality of ontological truth, it determines why and at what time you get up in the morning, how you pass your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, and who you hang out with; it affects what breaks your heart, what amazes you, and what makes your heart happy."

Am I letting the unfailing love of God affect my every moment? Lord, let your love seep into my every moment.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

My Thankful Thirty

Once again it's been a while since I've updated here. I've been busy blogging book reviews over at http://aguyagirlandateenbookblog.blogspot.com, and it's going really well, but I wanted to take a moment to blog about some Thanksgiving goodness. I missed the boat on the one-thing-you're-thankful-for-each-day Facebook meme, so today I'm playing catch up. Thirty days hath November, so here are my thankful thirty...in no particular order. :)

1. My Savior.

2. My family.

3. My friends, who now span all across this country and even across oceans!

4. my college education and all the experiences it brought me in the classroom and especially out! (We sure did some random and AWESOME things!)

5. LSU sports...and all the near heart attacks and sheer glee they have caused me. Geaux Tigers

6. all the places I've been lucky enough to travel to and all the things I've learned along the way

7. coffee...particularly java chip fraps and Cafe Verona blend

8. my dog

9. the good ol' U.S. of A. and the freedoms we enjoy, especially free speech, freedom of religion, and the right to vote

10. my job and the confidence that I am doing exactly what I was born to do and loving every second of it

11. books!

12. a reliable car

13. the fact that I've never gone hungry (praying for those today who are unsure where their next meal is coming from)

14. my Compassion kiddo in Honduras and the joy her letters bring me

15. my church...oh, how I do love Salem Chapel, Salem Kids, and my Life Group...my heart has found a home

16. art - music, literature, theatre, and dance

17. modern conveniences...I'm a huge history nerd, but I really love running water and the Internet ;)

18. desserts

19. sunsets

20. mountains

21. the Word of God

22. curling up in my warm bed and having a roof over my head

23. worship music

24. sleep

25. Pinterest (shallow, I know, but for real it is so useful!)

26. baseball

27. my hometown

28. my new hometown

29. Jenn Sloane Carter and our incredible friendship

30. Disney World ;)

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Top 5 Reasons Rupert Grint Should Be the 12th Doctor

Confession time. For years people have told me that I should watch Doctor Who, and I'm not sure why, but I've never tried it...until a few weeks ago, and let me just tell you, it is my new obsession. I feel like I've lost so much time! Hah! I liked it so much, I restarted my Netflix account to watch them. I'm starting with the new series, but maybe eventually I'll go back and watch the old ones too.

David Tennant is by far my favorite Doctor. Ten is just impossible to top, but I did have a thought today. If you're out there listening, Doctor Who producers, you should hire Rupert Grint as the 12th Doctor when Matt Smith gets ready to give up his fez, bow tie, and sonic screwdriver, and here are 5 reasons why.

5. He knows how to wear a suit and wear it well.


Quite dashing whether it be classic,
(from contactmusic.com)


purple (!), 
(from fanpop.com)

or retro ;)
(from harrypotter.wikia.com)

4. He knows how to accessorize. 

Exhibit A: sexy scarf
(from collider.com)

3. He has connections who could be gold mines as potential companions. There's Emma Watson (the brainy, fashionable companion), Evanna Lynch (the cute, quirky companion), or even Jessie Cave (the pretty, bubbly, and a little bit crazy companion). That would be Hermione, Luna, and Lavender to Harry Potter novices. ;)

2. He's already got a catchphrase! "Bloody hell!"


1. He's rude AND ginger! Finally! The Tenth Doctor would be so excited. 


Thursday, June 21, 2012

Tangents Are Fun...Just Not in Math

I know it's been awhile since I've posted, and I promise promise promise to get back to Harry Potter, but I have exciting news to share! (No, I'm not dating anyone. Haha.) My friend Chris Belser and I have started a new teen/tween book review blog called "A Guy, a Girl, and a Teen Book Blog.



Check it out at http://aguyagirlandateenbookblog.blogspot.com/ and stay tuned for more finding God in Harry Potter.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

What's in a Name?


So...remember the time I promised to write this whole finding-God-in-Harry-Potter series then completely forgot to actually write it? Well...forgive me, but I am finally getting around to it! I'm now about halfway through John Granger's How Harry Cast His Spell, and I have to say my mind is blown. I'm pretty familiar with Christian imagery and with the Potter series, but gracious, there is a lot even I missed. To be honest, it will take me a long while to share all the nuggets of truth I want to, so be patient with me. Before I delve into the books themselves in a walk-through fashion, let's take a few posts to look at the significance of names in Harry Potter...and who better to start with than the Chosen One himself?

***Aside: Let me start by reiterating that in looking at the Harry Potter series through the lens of Christian imagery, I am in no way saying that it's the only way to interpret the series nor am I attempting to interpret what the incredible Ms. Rowling had in mind for how we are supposed to interpret the stories. This is probably getting a bit too English major-ish, but the best authors are ones whose works simultaneously build up grand plots and themes and weave in many, many layers of symbolism while still leaving room for the reader to find his or her own way through the forest of their own imaginations and reasoning. I think that J.K. Rowling would agree that the last thing she would want is for her readers to want to figure out what she meant when she wrote the Potter novels but rather what the stories mean to us and how they speak to and better us as human beings (and I would argue as Christians). I personally take the stand that any true work of art (be it literature, music, or art in the literal sense) ignites a spark within us that reminds us of how we are created beings (works of art if you will) designed to bring glory to our Creator, and therefore, one can find glimpses of the divine in any true work of art if you look hard enough. I tend to read most novels, watch most movies, and listen to most music with a constant lookout for these pen strokes of the Creator (thus the name of this blog), so of course I read (and re-read) the Potter series through the lens of my relationship with Christ, and I agree with Mr. Granger (no relation to Hermione ;) ) that it's pretty hard to deny the plethora of Christian symbolism in these novels, and while I think it's pretty obvious that J.K. Rowling planned this on purpose, it really holds no meaning whether she intended them to be interpreted as "Christian" or not. Keep all of this in mind when reading any of these posts. But I digress...***

Now...back to Mr. Potter. Why is our hero given the name Harry Potter? What meaning can we draw from his name? Before we get to that, we have to zoom out just a little. Mr. Granger takes the stand (and I completely agree) that the character of Harry Potter can be seen as an example of a Christian "Every Man" akin to Christian in John Bunyan's classic Pilgrim's Progress. For those of you who have not had the privilege *cough* kidding *cough* of reading this work, let me fill you in on the concept of the "Every Man." Basically, he's every man. He stands as an archetype of any human being on the road to discovering salvation, redemption, and purpose through their relationship with God. The reader should be able to relate to the character and see himself or herself in the character through the victories, temptations, and the defeats and ultimately through the final victory over evil.

What does this have to do with Harry Potter? you ask. Why do you think millions of people have fallen in love with this series? There are actually many answers to that, but I think the biggest reason is that the characters (Harry in particular) are so relatable. Potter fans around the world are adamant about their favorite characters and can quickly tell you why they love those characters, and usually if they're honest, it's largely to do with how much they see themselves in those characters. It's common knowledge that Hermione is my favorite because she's basically my literary twin with her brainy and bookish ways and aversion to getting in trouble. See what I mean? ;)



But again...back to Harry. Even the staunchest Draco/Slytherin fan will usually admit that there's something about Harry that even they can relate to and respect. Harry is the "Every Man." His journey through the seven-book series is a reflection of every person's journey through life. The choices he makes are similar to choices we all must face. Maybe you've never had to find a way to banish a Boggart, but I guarantee you've had to find a way to face your fears, and maybe you've never had to fight a fire-breathing dragon, but I know you've had to fight temptations that seemed just as deadly. The secular interpretation will tell you that you can see Harry as the "Every Man" who uses good to triumph over evil (which is completely accurate), but after seeing all the layers and layers of Christian symbolism throughout the entire series, I see Harry as the Christian "Every Man," and I think you can see that in his very name. (The following is a summation of what Granger illuminates in Chapter 10 of How Harry Cast His Spell.)

Let's start with the first name. Harry. What meaning can we take from Harry? While Harry does have unruly black hair that he can't seem to tame, there's more meaning there than just "Hair-y" Potter. Granger suggests pronouncing Harry the French way (as Fleur does!) without the "h" sound, so you get "Arry" with a long "a" sound. You could interpret this as "airy," but since our main character is no airhead, I think the better interpretation is "heir-y" as in heir of a kingdom. Now, we're getting somewhere. What is Harry the heir of? There's reason to suspect that he's actually the heir of Gryffindor since he did pull the sword of Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat and because it makes sense for the heir of Gryffindor to ultimately defeat the heir of Slytherin, Lord Voldemort. To truly see what Harry's inheritance is, though, we must move on to his last name.

Potter. At first glance, it's a common last name, which probably had its origin, as many European surnames do, in the occupation of the person bearing the name. However, none of our Potters are actually potters, so there must be something else there. If you look at the imagery of the potter in biblical terms, you see over and over references to God the father as the Potter who shapes us and molds us into shining examples of His love. One of my favorite passages is in 2 Corinthians 4: 7 and refers to us as Christians as "treasures in jars of clay," again signifying God as the Potter. If you take into consideration that the Latin word for "father" is "pater," you get some crazy awesome dual symbolism in Harry's name. Follow me here. Harry Potter = "Heir-y Potter/Pater" = heir/son of the Potter/Father. Am I blowing your mind yet? So now we have Harry as truly the Christian "Every Man" even in name. He's the son of the Potter, the heir of the Father, a treasure in a jar of clay that we are meant to relate to and emulate for his (mostly) consistent choice of doing what is right in the eyes of the Father over what's easy. Our hero has the humblest of beginnings in the cupboard under the stairs yet rises to be the savior of the wizarding world all because at every turn, Harry chooses to give up what's advantageous for him in favor of what's right and good and noble according to the legacy left to him by his father and mother and Dumbledore...even at the cost of his own life (but more on that later...probably much later haha). He truly is the "son of the Father," and his example can lead us to be better sons and daughters of our Father and to truly embrace our inheritance as sons and daughters of the King! (I couldn't resist to add this in here. I found it on somebody's tumblr. Lion King + Harry Potter = awesome:)



Stay tuned for more fun with names of other characters we've grown to love...and hate!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Kari Jobe - "Steady My Heart"

Just watch...and worship. Thank you, Kari, for using the immense talent God gave you to give it back to Him.



Wish it could be easy
Why is life so messy
Why is pain a part of us
There are days I feel like
Nothing ever goes right
Sometimes it just hurts so much

But You're here
You're real
I know I can trust You

Even when it hurts
Even when it's hard
Even when it all just falls apart
I will run to You
Cause I know that You are
Lover of my soul
Healer of my scars
You steady my heart
You steady my heart

I'm not gonna worry
I know that You got me
Right inside the palm of your hand
Each and every moment
What's good and what gets broken
Happens just the way that You plan

And I will run to You
You're my refuge in Your arms
And I will sing to You
Cause of everything You are

You steady my heart
You steady my heart