The one about Fairy Tail: No Turning Back

In the early 1800's there was a revival in Whales. One of the men whose life was touched by the gospel of Christ decided to go out and spread the gospel to India. He went to a particular region of India that was openly hostile toward Christians. After a while he managed to lead a family of four to the Lord. Praise God! This family, a father, mother, and two children publically proclaimed their faith and were baptized.

He moved on from that region to spread the Word elsewhere. This family was so on fire for Jesus that they began to lead other people from their tribe to Christ. It did not take long before the tribal chief heard of their work and he took them into custody. Because this tribe was of North India, known for their head-hunting tradition, putting a family to death was not unheard of for the people of this village. And so, the family was taken to be executed. On the day of their execution the father was brought before the people with his family and he was told to renounce his faith or watch as his two children were executed before his eyes.

His response was:

“I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, no turning back.”

And with that, this man’s sons were shot and killed in front of his eyes.

The tribal chief asked this man again to renounce Jesus as his savior.

His response was:

“Though none go with me, I still will follow.”

His wife was also shot and killed.

Once more he was told to renounce.

His final response was:

“The world behind me, the cross is before me.”

When the missionary from Whales heard of the family’s fate he returned to the village where he found that many of the tribal members and many of the people who were responsible for the death of this family were now following Christ.

“No turning back, no turning back.”

This story made me realize that there really is no turning back from our faith. When we accept Christ we are by no means entering into a happy life.

Christ Himself said that we are to expect to take up our cross for Him. When Jesus said that He was making a reference to what it truly meant when one was taking up a cross.

When Jesus took up a cross He was carrying the very tool that would kill Him.

In the same way when we take up our cross for Christ we are taking up a sign that we are heading to our deaths. We are taking on a world that wants to see us all suffer and die. We are not going through this life just to sit on our front porch and drink sweet tea.

We are going through this life to change this world and take on everything that stands in our way.

But we will never stand alone. We have a family of believers by our sides who are willing to help us through every trial and every enemy we may ever face.

We have… dare I say it?

A Guild of fellow wizards who will stand by our side to fight every enemy and take on jobs together.

We have a Nakama.

Nakama is a Japanese word that means a non-blood family member. It is more than a friend in terms of love, but not a romantic love.

That is what Believers have with one another.

We are Nakama.

We stand together and we fight to protect one another… right?

Am I so insane to compare something like Fairy Tail to our lives today?

Bear with me and think about it…

We are a group of people who have chosen to join a great and legendary group of people who have changed the world for the better.

Fairy Tail is a group of people who have created great men and women (wizards) who have gone on to change the world for the better.

We accept people (or we should anyway) despite their pasts and welcome them with open arms to our Nakama and we help them to feel at home and we go out and take on life together.

Fairy Tail accepts people into their Nakama despite their pasts and welcomes them with open arms and help them to feel at home and go out on missions together.

We are Nakama.

We all work under our Master who is greater than all of us and yet He still loves us like a Father would and He HAS died for us so that we may have the strength to stand up to anything and everything that we ever come up against.

Master Makarov is not perfect. He even found himself near death trying to protect his “children.” Isn’t it awesome that we have a Master who will never leave us or forsake us and will always come through in the end?

I find this to be an awesome analogy.

Grey once said that he had never lost twice to the same person once he entered Fairy Tail. In the same way, when we enter the Christian faith, we are bound to lose every once in a while. But why in the world do we have to fail twice? We train up our bodies and our spirits to withstand the trials of this life and we crush the enemy on the head.

Yes, people die in our guild. It is to be expected. The people who die a martyr’s death are the wizards who went out and died on a mission protecting those who cannot protect themselves.

If we are like this awesome guild who goes out and helps people in their times of need… why do I feel like we are failing so much?

I mean, think about it… Fairy Tail is a guild people turn to when they need help because the world knows that they will get the job done and get it done well.

Heck!

They level the entire city while they’re at it! They rock the world when they walk across it. They leave their mark wherever they go. They change the world every day.

Even so, the world looks to them when they need help.

What does OUR world do when they need help?

They go crying to the government.

They send our troops to go out and help.

Church? Are you there? Hello? Is the Church out there?

Is it?

I have yet to see people on the news in other countries crying out “Send the strongest people you can to help us!” and then the news anchor says “Calling all churches! We need your strongest teams to go and help this country!”

They go crying to the UN and mock us.

If we had a Natsu in our ranks we would all get our butts handed to us and then have them dragged to the rest of the world.

We need a fire in our bellies!!

Our Guild is being mocked!

We have been trapped in the nether-void for too long!

Our Nakama is being lazy!

I am ashamed of how we all think that this is supposed to be easy.

I have grown up in the easy life and have always lived my life as such.

I want to change that now. I want to take up my cross, get that fire in my belly, and be a part of the Fairy Tail God has called me to be in!

NO TURNING BACK, NO TURNING BACK!

Let’s go out there and make our Master proud!

Let’s go out there and give Billy Gram (who I associate with Gildarts) a run for his money!

Let’s continue to make legends in the name of Jesus!

Let’s make Fairy Tail a reality! Who wouldn’t want to go out on missions (trips) and turn the world upside-down with every step we take!

Let’s level a city in the name of Jesus!!!!!!

And let us make this our battle cry!!!

NO TURNING BACK, NO TURNING BACK!!!!

Fruits of the Spirit: Peace

PEACE

John 20:21 Jesus appeared before His disciples after He was crucified. At this point in the men's hearts, they were very very VERY afraid.

I mean they were scared for their lives kind of afraid.

Scared like Jelall just came back from the dead AGAIN and is about to team up with Zeref kinda scared.

Like Sherlock jumps off a rooftop to his death kinda scared.

Like Harry Potter's scar is hurting again type of scared.

Their very lives are being threatened and there is little to nothing they will be able to do about it.

They are hiding in a freaking locked up room waiting for someone to bang on the door and demand they come out only to kick the door down and throw a flash bomb at their faces.

You could cut the tension like warm knife through butter that just got out of the microwave and is still in that solid state and yet if you look at it sideways it will dissolve into a liquid state like Juvia when she looks at Grey.

I mean, this is serious stuff...

And as if the atmosphere couldn't get any more tense

Jesus walks through the wall.

Like a ghost from any horror film.

I think it would have been a feeling like this:

I can't help but imagine what would have been going through the minds of some of the disciples.

I mean really.

You are sitting there after having watched one of your closest friends killed brutally in front of you only to realize

"Haha, I'm next... screw thissssssssss!!!"

So now you are hiding in a room with all of your remaining friends

And then suddenly the guy you thought might as well have been dead just...

shows up...

Read the atmosphere, Jesus. Don't walk through walls when everyone thinks you're dead.

That makes people scared.

Really, REALLY scared.

But listen to what He says after He scared the living who-ha out of His friends (personally, I think He just wanted to see who would wet themselves first)

"Peace be unto you."

Can you imagine?

Your best friend just came in out of nowhere after you saw them die

and all they say is

"Peace be unto you."

Many things come to mind at this...

Zuko

Harry Potter

Jelall

But the reactions to these three are very VERY different from the disciples' reaction.

Jesus showed them the proof that He had indeed been the one killed in front of them.

But He was NOT a ghost.

He was alive and well. and He was sending His friends and followers out into the world to ensure the rescue of everyone in it.

The disciple's fears were gone in an instant.

They were happy, "overjoyed" says verse 20.

But what is this "Peace" that Jesus gave the disciples?

The word "Peace" is synonymous with a time where there is no war.

The time of the early church is described as "Peaceful"

Romans 2:10 says that peace will come to those who do good.

1 Corinthians says peace is the opposite of confusion

Peace is the absence of fear and discord.

Peace is a sign that the believer knows that no matter what may happen in this life, there is no chaos, no fear, no discord, no insanity, no torture, no pain, and no cliff hanger that can take away our hope of tomorrow.

No, we are not guaranteed a tomorrow, because God may call us home at any moment.

But we ARE guaranteed a HOME to go to when that time to go comes.

And that is enough to give anyone peace.

Whether they are waiting for the season premiere

Or waiting for the test results to come back

Or waiting on death row

Or facing terror right in the face

God gives us peace that passes all understanding...

Even if it does not make sense as to why we are at peace when faced with such horrors in this world.

The peace God gives us is too great for our understanding.

And that is Okay.

I am SHERlocked

Good Lord!

It's like I fell into this strange dream.

I was texting a friend of mine as I watched the second episode of the second season.

It was ridiculous!

I mean, really.

Hounds!

GAH!

Anyway... I have started watching Sherlock and am now HOOKED!!!

It is so smart and clever and now I feel as if watching this show has made me smarter.

Each freaking episode is a movie.

An amazing movie

Which brings me to the point of understanding why it takes forever for each season to come out.

But oh my goodness shame on them for making us wait forever for the next season.

I remember when the season finale from season 2 happened.

People were going NUTS

I have no doubt that I will soon be joining them.

Ha...

haha...

ehem...

But that's alright. It will give me enough time to really become a "normal" fangirl of the show...

again I shall laugh at myself...

Ha...

haha...

ehem...

I have no regrets.

This show is the bees' knees!

*runs away into the night screaming*

A Fangirl's Bible Study: The Fruits of the Spirit: Joy

The classic Acronym

Jesus first

Others second

You last

J.O.Y.

But in all seriousness... what in the world is this madness that we call "Joy"

When someone says Joy the first thing that comes to mind apart from the acronym from before would be pure happiness. But does that mean we go around singing about how great our lives are and how easy it is for use to have what we want?

Heck no!

Joy is… hard to explain. It is nearly impossible to explain clearly for me.

I am a happy person. Ask anyone I know and they will comment on my happiness. But is that because I am purely happy with my life?

Again I throw grenades shouting:

Heck no!

There is absolutely nothing in my life that should make me happy. I have a great life, yes, but I do not have the circumstances to make me JOYFUL to be alive. Rather, I have quite a bit to make me fearful.

And yet, I would have to say that I really do have joy.

I shall do my best to explain what joy is using the old acronym from before.

It was something I learned a very long time ago in church.

Jesus First

I will say this right now, I have never read C.S. Lewis’ book Finding Joy. But what I can say is that C.S. Lewis went through a lot of pain and was a very strong atheist. In fact, his life was almost opposite of his counterpart Freud, who was raised in a God-fearing home.

Again, beside the point.

But what I want to get across is that when C.S. Lewis became a believer he made sure he put his priorities in the right place.

Some of his books are very deep and astounding. Screwtape Letters has to be one of my favorite adult books done by him closely followed by his Narnia series.

Seriously, someone needs to beat me over the head the next time I get off track.

Anyway

Lewis’ literature reflects the first step in finding joy!

Jesus went first. And, as a matter of fact, many people chose to put God first in their lives even though their lives could be labeled as less than happy.

Corrie Ten Boom comes to mind. She went through hell, can I say hell? Yes, I will say hell. She went through freaking HELL! And you know what? She was able to find joy because she looked past her circumstances and she focused on the fact that she was put there to serve Christ and do the work God had in store for her.

“But you don’t understand,” you say with an exasperated look, “I am not in a concentration camp or facing the death of everyone I hold dear!”

“Oh?” I say pulling out a violin and plucking it absentmindedly, “and what is your case? Please make it interesting or I will be inclined to deny it.”

“I am sad.” You clench your skirts tightly trying to make your circumstance seem as terrifyingly horrid as they seem to you in your own mind.

“We are in a very sad state, yes,” I say as I place the violin on the ground and pull out the newspaper. “Bombings, war, sickness, death, crying, there seems to be no end to the terror this world has put itself in. What do you expect me to do about it? Hop in my TARDIS and fly off to the Garden of Eden and punch Eve square in the jaw for being such a fool in the face of a little temptation? Sorry, but that is a fixed occurrence in history and cannot be altered.”

“I am not asking you to change that! I just want the pain to go away!” You raise your voice as you place your teacup angrily on the table.

“That is mahogany,” I say as I put a cozy beneath the china, “and life is PAIN. Anyone who tells you differently is trying to sell you something.”

You wave your hand at me in dismissal as you turn to look toward the door. Perhaps an escape plan?

There is no denying it. Our world is unfair to everyone. We all have some inner demons that just want to kill us from the inside out.

But if you claim the name of Christ, then you must know that there is definitely a chance to escape this world.

But since we have no chance of escaping anytime soon, how do we face it everyday?

Serve God.

No time in your day to do so?

Busy trying to put bread on the table?

Too tired after a long day at work to try to wrap your head around some Ecclesiastical book of the bible describing some aspect of your life that you would rather not change for it remains a comfortable spot in which you can sit and gaze upon your fallen little world?

Can’t pull yourself out of bed a few minutes earlier than usual in order to prepare your only mind and heart for a long day at the office or in the classroom?

Perhaps you have too many electives and your friends are complaining about you not having enough free time to do anything but school and work?

Stop.

Shut up.

Back up.

Sit down.

Grab that book.

No, not that one.

That’s right, the one with only two words on it.

Open it up.

To where?

You don’t like to read?

Lazy.

Stupid.

Selfish.

CHILD.

Shame on you!

You DO realize what all had to be done in order to get this book to you, right?

J.K. Rowling didn’t even skim the surface of how long and hard it took.

Moffat? Yeah, he doesn’t even come close to the type of character development this little book has.

That’s right.

You have the GREATEST BOOK of all time in your hands and you won’t even think twice about reading it because it is too hard.

Wait…

That’s beside the point.

Sorry.

Read it. Just read it. Spend time in the Word every day and then come up with some way that this can make you better. Find something in every passage.

Read a Psalm a day.

Read through the Gospel of John.

Vic Mignogna does a smashing job at a read through that can be found on youtube. I highly recommend it.

The fact of the matter is that when you remind yourself to do things for God, like read the Bible or help out in church, you find that you are more refreshed and ready for anything this world can throw at you.

Trust me.

No, don’t trust me, I can do nothing.

Trust God.

He made this silly little world.

All YOU have to do is put

Jesus First

Others Second

I will make this as brief as I can.

Serve.

Have a servant’s heart.

When you see someone in need, help them.

Put someone else’s needs in front of your own.

Olaf told us himself that that is the meaning of love.

And when you show your love to someone that has to bring at least a little bit of joy, right?

Right.

You Last

Take care of yourself. Don’t go overboard.

I used to think that in order to be happy you just make sure everyone else is happy and then you have it made.

It doesn’t work like that.

It never has worked like that.

It is wonderful to be able to make others happy.

But to go overboard is to expend yourself.

I did that very thing a while ago.

I agreed to do many things with many people only because it made them happy.

And you know what?

It sucked.

I was not happy at all.

As a matter of fact, I was pretty depressed.

I was expending all of my energy on these few people and never even realized that I was not truly happy.

Okay, I knew I was unhappy.

I cried a lot. And then I felt like a burden to the people around me for having such meltdowns.

There is nothing wrong with a little “Me time.”

Cry a little. Or a lot.

Watch your favorite TV show alone in a dark room.

Or in a well-lit room if you want.

Finish that project you were working on.

Just remember not to put alone time above God or others.

It’s a fine line. But with a little practice and actual desire for assistance, it is doable.

Don’t go it alone.

It really is dangerous to go alone.

Ask for help. Don’t be afraid to tell your friends you want help finding joy.

Just remember to put:

Jesus First

Others second

You last

I hope you didn’t mind my rabbit trails…

I’m not exactly a theological philosopher of sorts.

I’m just me.

J