Minimum Carnage

Carnage: The most ruthless, bloodthirsty, killing machine that the Marvel Universe can provide. He is the son of the Venom symbiote. But, unlike Venom (who became attached to slightly normal people such as Eddie, Pete, and Flash), Carnage had attached itself to a deranged serial killer named Cletus Kasady (who's character had been based off of the Joker himself).

In the ongoing series, Minimum Carnage, this monster has been selected by a team from the Microverse (the Microns) in order to go back with them to kill everything. Kasady complies, yearning for the chance to destroy a universe without a bunch of random superheroes getting in his way.

He is led through a portal called the Prometheus Pit which shrinks him down to the size of the Microverse. Unexpectedly, Venom and Scarlet Spider (heroes) remain hot on his trail. They realized that destroying one universe wouldn't be enough for Carnage and that one day he would return to finish off the normal world.

When they get to the other universe, the three characters are split up.

Carnage remains with the Microns. As they show him around, he realizes that their plan is to clone him. They want to make a Carnage army to take over their plane. He decides to double cross them, killing all of them but one while retorting, "You think--What?--You can grow yourself an army of Carnage-soldiers... Trust me. One of me is plenty."

Simultaneously, Agent Venom has had an interesting experience of his own. After he landed in the Microverse, a bunch of tiny faeries attacked him. They called him "Corrupter" as their voices became powerful sonic waves that caused his symbiote to scream in agony. The good guys of the universe (the Enigma Force) quickly showed up to help him. They saved him from the creatures' sonic blasts. And, they're headed to introduce him to their leader, the Redeemer.

And, guess where Scarlet Spider ended up. He's with the Redeemer. There introduction is a little bit awkward. After the Spider seems to land on his head he grunts and stammers, "Hate. Everything." Obviously, he's in a little bit of pain. Someone next to him responds, "Hate is self-destructive.... I feel the rage in you. The anger. They keep you from fulfilling your potential." Scarlet doesn't take the guy seriously. Really, would anyone? He asks this "Yoda" who he is. The response is, "I am many things. But above all else, I am a man." When the hero asks what the man is doing there, all he gets is, "Preparing." "Preparing for what?" "To die." And then, a monster attacks.

Wow, what a story.

It's amazing to think that a whole universe could exist in a microscopic level. But, isn't that where we are? We are tiny in comparison to the universe. We are atoms on the scale of time. And, we are even less when compared to the greatness of God. The Lord"knows our frame (how we were formed); he remembers that we are dust. As for a man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more." Psalm 103:14-16. We are nothing but dust and grass, living and dying, in order to take up just a speck of time.

Still, this does not hinder God's love for us. The rest of the Psalm shares this. It is saying that although we may seem insignificant, "The steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting." 103:17. Even though we are almost nothing on the grand scheme of things, that does not stop Him from loving and cherishing us.

Now, how did we repay God's steadfast love for us? We fell (Gen. 3). Sin entered into the world. It became a cancer, devouring our universe. It is worse than deadly because it is the reason for death itself. Perhaps, the worst part of this is that we are the ones who invited it in. We are the ones who welcomed sin into our lives. We allowed it to make us weak. We allowed it to torture us and to tempt us. We allowed it to kill us. And, we continue to do so. This is the same sort of mistake that the Microns made when they brought Carnage into their home. They wanted power. They wanted knowledge. They wanted to be gods. And, their wages (of their sin) was death. But, our death is much worse. We do not risk the death of our comic book character form, an idea that can die and come back to life with any sort of loophole that the writers can think of. We risk more than our physical death, we risk the repeated death of our soul in Hell.

The reason why the faeries had attacked Venom as he arrived into their world was because he carried with him the same sort of symbiote as Carnage. The alien symbiote is a "corrupter." On the microscopic level, the alien parasite has fed off of many worlds. It slowly eats away on microscopic planets until they are all destroyed. It is a part of the Macroverse (the normal world) that continues to have effects on even things as small as the Microverse.

This is what sin does. It is a powerful entity. It is above anything that we could ever even attempt to control. Although, we try to use it for good (just like Flash tries uses the Venom symbiote as an agent), we cannot. It's too strong, too wicked, too corrupt (recently, even Flash lost control of the symbiote when it attacked Scarlet Spider). As Carnage says, the Devil didn't need an army of demons (although he has one), just sin ("one of me") is enough to destroy the universe.

So, how do we stop it. Look at what the faeries use. Their power lies in the strength of their speech while our power lies in the strength of our (speech's) meaning. The only force we have that is strong enough to stand against the corrupter, sin, is the Word of God, the proclamation of the Gospel, the sword of the Spirit.

But, that is still not enough. As hard as we try, our power is only strong enough to weaken our opponent. We can only force him to scream and scatter (like the bell that makes Venom depart in his original story-lines). We cannot defeat him. We cannot destroy him. We're just members of the Microverse. We're tiny little creatures attempting to fight something that's big enough to devour planets. This is why we need something someone bigger. This is why we need a Redeemer.

There is something extremely familiar about this Redeemer character in the book. He seems to be filled with knowledge, "Hate is self-destructive." And, he might know us better than we know ourselves, " I feel the rage in you. The anger. They keep you from fulfilling your potential." With his advice, we could surely become stronger than who we already are. But, this man also seems a bit odd. He is definitely a man ("I am many things. But above all else, I am a man."). But, typically men are not found "Preparing to die."

In the New Testament, Jesus uses many parables and shares commands to help us become stronger. He knows us better than we know ourselves. And, he is definitely a man. He is a man preparing to die. He had always known his purpose on Earth. "My hour has not yet come" (John 2:4). And, he gladly (Hebrews 12:2) fulfilled it. "It is finished/completed" (John 19:30).  But, even more, he is God (John 10:30).

We find out later that the Microverse Redeemer has been called by many names. But, he sees them as inconsequential. "Some call me the Redeemer... the Prophet. Others, the Savior. Others, a conqueror. But even these names are meaningless. All that matters is my purpose." "I'm a healer." The Redeemer says this right before he heals Spider's wounds from a battle. But, he's not only on a mission to heal individuals. The place that Scarlet had found this man was on the same planet as the leader of those who wish to destroy this universe. The Redeemer does not plan to kill or destroy his enemy. He wishes to heal him. And, to heal the universe soon after.

One difference here is that God's names aren't meaningless. At the name of Jesus every knee should bow and tongue confess that he is Lord of all. Yahweh not only was improper to say, but also improper to right because God's name is so holy. It bears with it the breath of life itself. Although, what we call the Lord may seem inconsequential, it builds on our understanding of him. He is the Lord of (Earthly and Heavenly) Hosts. He is the Good Shepherd (who had finally come to tend for his sheep, and will come again to collect them [Ez. 34]). He is the Christ (the anointed King). He is the Son of God. God's names bear meaning. They are all we have to describe how powerful and majestic He is. Although, they fail to meet the complete picture. They're all that we have to do it justice.

How awesome is it that he also knows us and will call us by our names?

Let's take a step back to Psalm 103:2-10 again. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good... The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.... He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities."

C.S. Lewis once called God the great physician. Although it might hurt, he's good at cutting away the disease, the illness of sin, and healing those who love him. He wants to heal us, don't be surprised if he takes any means necessary.

Jesus explains (in the book written be a physician [Luke 5:31]) that "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick." And, he personally followed through to rid the world of the disease (sin, death, the Devil) Himself.

In the way that He heals, he forgives our iniquity, even though we have brought it down on ourselves. He heals all of our diseases, if not on Earth then in Heaven. He redeems our life from the pit, he takes our souls that deserve to be condemned to Hell and delivers them to where we were made to live. His love, mercy, and goodness overwhelm us. He does not leave us where we are.

He's the hero of our tale.

We live in the Microverse, the universe plagued with sin and corruption. Sin is bigger than us. We need someone else who is a big as sin, perhaps bigger. Christ had come from some place bigger, like the Macroverse. And, his plan is to take us back with him. We are to live there because that had always been the place we had been meant for in the first place. It is a place without taint.

The only way for him to accomplish this was through his own bitter suffering and death. It was his sacrifice on the cross that had finally saved us all. And, his victory over death that is able to give us life.

Through his scars, we are healed.

Life

The Declaration of Independence

Hebrews 10:14

The Lion

I mentioned a while ago that I had a couple of odd dreams.
I had a completely different one the other night.

Friday night, I received a cut on my face. It doesn't look the best and it might have effected my imagination.

The Dream:

I had just opened my eyes, blinking for the first time in what felt like forever. Had I been asleep? Unconscious? I didn't know. I found myself lying in a hospital bed. My face hurt. And, I could barely move one of my legs. What had happened? My family surrounded me. They supported me. And, then I remembered... I had been attacked by a lion. We were at the zoo and the gate wasn't tall enough to hold her back. The lion's name had been Ruth and she sure was ruthless. I had forgotten most of the details of the attack. But, at least I had known why I was there, in the hospital.

Interpretation:

It's hard to say what this dream meant. But, I took it as a warning. I had been falling away from my studies. I had given in to too many distractions. Had I been forgetting my vocation? Had I fallen away from the lesson learned in the book of Ruth? Had I become uncommitted?  Perhaps. I knew that my family would support me not matter what. But, I also know that I must not give into the Devil. He prowls the world like a hungry lion. It would be too easy to let him devour me. I don't want to end up in a hospital, hurt and licking my wounds, because I had failed in doing what God has called me to do.

Unseen (Slice)

"A story is told of a young man who learned of Jesus entirely by list­en­ing to a housekeeperwho sang hymns as she went about her day. The child had never been to church, seen a Bible, or heard anyone mention God or Christianity directly. But in the music that filled the hallways, he found an unknown desire in his heart confronted. As a child he came to know several hymns by memory, but the song that most encouraged him was beautifully appropriate to his own situation: “I love to tell the sto­ry/ of unseen things above/ of Jesus and his glory/ of Jesus and his love.” What was unseen in his life became the certainty that came to move him most.

The writer of Hebrews provides a definition of faith in similar terms. The chapter begins, “Now faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see.” If I am being honest, this definition of faith has always somewhat escaped me—all the more so after my dad clung to this verse through the cancer that would never see its miracle. John Wesley once observed of the same words, “There appears to be a depth in them which I am in no wise able to fathom.” In the examples of faith in the verses to follow, we find exactly this—an unfathomable depth of belief. We find faith moving across the pages of a real and fumbling history, the gift of God sparkling in the eyes of a motley crew miraculously called “faithful.” We discover in this faith the Spirit of the unseen, the certainty by which countless lives were guided. “By faith, Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the Promised Land like a stranger in a foreign country… For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”(1)

Near the end of Abraham’s story in Genesis—long after God promised his descendants would outnumber the stars and his people would dwell in the promised land—Abraham buries his wife; his only son is yet unmarried, and he owns only a small plot of land in a world in which he is still living as a foreigner. Yet what was unseen moved him; he was looking forward with a certainty for which he would live and die.

In C.S. Lewis’ The Silver Chair, Eustace, Jill, Prince Rilian, and Puddleglum are trapped beneath Narnia in the land called Underworld. The Queen of Underworld, who is really a witch, has thrown a green powder into the fire that produces a sweet and drowsy smell. In this enchanting haze, she manages to convince the group that Narnia does not exist—like the sun, moon, and Aslan, the great lion, Narnia is all a dream. The children try their hardest to describe the things they are certain do exist on land. Yet with each argument the Witch makes it all seem more and more foolish.

It is at this moment of despair that Puddleglum makes a brave move. With his bare foot he stomps on the fire, sobering the sweet and heavy air with the unenchanting smell of marshwiggle. Boldly he turns to the Witch (2):

In a world where faith in Jesus may seem foolish or outdated or irrelevant, the definition of faith in Scripture stands by the better country—even if at times it eludes us. Like Abraham who looked for the city of foundations and the housekeeper who sang of unseen things, we are strangers to our own lives, setting out in the dark to look for the country we were meant to know, guided by the Spirit who wants us to see. It is by this unseen certainty that Abraham lived and died, knowing that the small family he could gather together in his final days would yet one day outnumber the stars in the sky. The one who promised Abraham and the one who moved him along is the builder of Overland, the city with foundations, the city of the living God."

--Jill Carattini

(1) Hebrews 11:8-10.
(2) C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia (New York: Harper Collins, 1982), 633.

Why the Rules Make Sense (Slice)

"Christianity is nothing more than a set of rules! Have you ever heard this before? The question or objection, depending on how it is phrased, comes from both Christians and skeptics. So what does Christianity have to say to this?

It is helpful first to acknowledge that the Bible is indeed full of commands and instructions. But the role that the rules play is often misunderstood. Rules, even going back to the Ten Commandments, were not meant simply to tell us what to do and what not to do. They were intended to be a means by which humanity could come close to God and relate to God. If we think of how rules are applied in other areas of life, it is quite easy to understand how this works. Discipline, guidelines or putting deadlines in place are not an end in themselves; they are the means by which we achieve what we want to accomplish.

While I was doing undergraduate studies in Toronto I worked for the Toronto Blue Jays ground crew. While working there I noticed that the elite players would always be the ones to arrive at the ballpark early and leave late. They would come in early for strength and conditioning purposes, then perhaps look over strategies or game plans. Then they would join the rest of the team once the normal daily routines began. This was hard work and made for long days. Here is the point: the discipline of getting to the stadium early, doing an extra work out, working over game plans were not the goal. These were the means by which this player would attain the ultimate goal: victory.

The rules set out in Scripture were never meant to inhibit pleasure or desire, but to do the exact opposite. Desire gave birth to commands, but somehow we have understood it the other way around, as if the commands were meant to create desire.

There is actually a moment documented in the Old Testament in which the people of Israel say that they would like to follow God’s commandments. However, Joshua, their leader at the time, turns them down. Effectively, he says, ‘You don’t have what it takes. You will turn away from God. So, please, don’t commit to it.’ They push back and insist that they truly want to follow God. Joshua reluctantly gives in and grants them their desire to form a covenant binding them to follow God’s rules.

The rules and statutes implemented into the life of Israel stemmed from a desire to serve the Lord. Rules were not put in place to prevent desire from finding its fulfillment. Rather, the rules were put in place to fulfill desire and avoid destruction.

A question that we need to ask ourselves is, ‘Where do rules find their starting point?’ In the Christian sense, does obedience come from a sense of duty or from a desire for God? If the drive to live for God comes from a sense of duty, our faith will become one long arduous journey. But duty is not where the gospel asks us to begin. We begin with a love and desire for God.

Imagine that I have just been away from home on a long business trip. When I return home I decide to stop off at the florist’s near my home because I want to get flowers for my wife. I purchase the flowers, then walk up to the door with flowers behind my back and knock on the door. My wife opens the door and I reveal the flowers to her. She says, ‘Nathan, you shouldn’t have done this! Why did you get me these flowers?’ I reply, ‘Because it is my duty!’

What do you think her response will be after she hears this? What if I respond to her question by saying that I got her those flowers because I love her—that there is nothing more I love than the sweet fellowship I have with her.(1)

This gets at the heart of Christian discipleship. Christianity does not start with rules, but the rules do make sense. They are put in place to fulfill our desire for God; not to coerce us into loving God."

--Nathan Betts is a member of the speaking team at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Toronto, Canada.

(1) Story as told by Michael Ramsden, director for the European office of RZIM.

Sad, but true.