Chapter Seven: The Westfall Stories

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All Artwork by Jeremy Cunningham

Chapter Six: Genesis Vlog

My first attempt at doing a video blog. So for this entry, it's video rather than text :P
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Chapter Five: My Prayer

This is what I am currently praying for. If you wish to know who I am or what I love or what is important to me, then keep reading. This is who I really am before my Father.

"Dear Lord. Mighty are your ways and wondrous is Your timing of all things you bring in and out of my life and the lives of those around me.

I thank you for the things you've been doing in my life and that of my friends.

I pray for the friends of mine who have yet to know you, that they would see You inside of me and through that example would realize that you are not the dead Jesus of religion but the risen Son of God who is the Source of love and all good things in this world.

I thank you for the friends you have given me that are following You and encouraging me. What a blessing it has been for me and the progression of my life. I am so grateful to have such a beautiful thing in my life.

All of my friends and family make me feel like the most blessed person on this earth. Whether they are saved or unsaved, such a diverse group of multi-talented people that have given me so much in this life. I am so very thankful for them.

Protect my brothers and sisters, all of them, wherever they may be. Send Your love into their lives and allow me to help them in any way you would have me. Set them apart, make their dreams and destinies larger than they could fathom.

Thank you for my parents, may they go to a new height in their walk with You. May they be the leaders in their homes to the children they still live with. Give me the discernment to know how to give back to them the many things they have given to me. Thank you so much for their love and teachings that I have girded around my waist.

I thank you for Your truth and more specifically Your knowledge and wisdom. Like Solomon may I receive these things more than anything else I could receive in this fleeting life. Give me the tools to save the world and know how to break the deceptions that the enemy has spread throughout this place.

Like that worship song, come like a flood and saturate me - You are all I want. Make Yourself sufficient for me. Make me into who You want me to be and not who I would want myself to become. Use me in ways I never thought possible. Fill me so much that my cup runeth over and into the lives of those around me.

Bless the work of my hands. My last name means Potter and my first name means Beacon of light. So may 'the work of my hands be a beacon of light to the world.'

Help me to bring truth into this world. Real, lasting and ever present truth.

Help me now, to gain patience through the things I used to complain about. Help me to glory in the parts of life that seem tough but train my hands for war. May Your will and the tribulations of the day sharpen and shape me into who You have called me to be.

Make me into a man. Not a man of this world but a true man in Your eyes. May I do this now so that I don't carry the foolishness and sins of my past and past generations into the family that you have picked out for me and the girl that will rival no woman; past, present or future - at least in my eyes.

Lord please take care of that girl, whoever and wherever she may be. Teach her not to let her guard down for anyone but me and of course for You. Fill her so much with you that I would only truly be drawn to her because I see You in her. Train her up in the ways of a godly woman that would be pleasing to you and edifying to me. May she not need me as much as she needs You. Help her to see that it is You that she must also see in me and train her eyes to look for no other quality as much as that - without compromise.

May she truly feel beautiful in Your eyes, for they are the only standard for which she should live. Until I am able to remind her of how perfect you made every facet of her, tell her that truth when she seeks after you in the secret and quiet place. Don't let her conform to how the world views women and how they should be but make her set her sights upon pleasing you above all things so that if I ever forget or lapse in her presence, I would immediately be brought back by her example of You. For that is Christ-like.

Give me the qualities that will bring her closer to You and closer to her dreams. Help me to make her matter and her desires matter more than my own. Not just once, but every day.

May my children of the future have so much more than I ever did. May they learn to be servants at a young age. I pray that I am able to bring so much truth and wisdom from my experiences into their lives so that they may avoid the pitfalls that I had to suffer to gain such principles the hard way.

I want to learn what love is now so that my wife can experience it at a maximized level and so my kids don't have to search for it in the dark places of the world like I did.

Help me study Your word and understand its depth in an entirely new way. Give me what I need for each day and nothing more. Not only that, but keep me content in the simplicity of your Will and intrigued by the complexity of your vast amazing wonders that you reveal to me at your choosing.

Bring in more people into my life that you would have me help and they me. May we build each other up and may I keep the goal of populating Heaven and depopulating Hell as my mission statement that hangs from the walls of my heart.

Increase the effectiveness of my writing and the potential in my stories and characters to literally change who people are. May they, most of all, bring people closer to You.

Blessed be your name, You who are Holy and sit upon the throne of the world, dealing good to those who serve you and keep Your commandments wrapped around their necks. May we learn more of the goodness of your ways so that we may find ways to praise You more than ever before.

Forgive me of the things I have done and those I haven't responded in a Christ-like manner to. Help me to do thirty times more positive things to those I have done one negative thing to. Help me to build them up and make them better rather than tearing them up with the foolishness of my tongue. Make it my slave, as well as my eyes. Help me to see and speak pure things that may be worthy of You.

How excited I am to see You and present myself before You as a living sacrifice. You are my King and the Author of my story. A Poet, Lover and Fighter - perfect in more ways that I could ever say and document if my life was dedicated to the pursuit of such a desire.

May those that walk in darkness see the Light in my life and flock to it. May I have no other purpose with how I filter my thoughts and actions then to see the Kingdom come and for Your perfect will to come about.

Change every part of me that is not of You and replace it with what You have always had in store for me. Thank you for setting me apart and giving me a destiny before the foundations of the world. May I walk in Your ways as You have always seen me do.

Thank you for waiting for me in my selfishness. You have shown me an example of everything that I am supposed to live for and could ever want in this world.

You are my perfect Portion. Forever and ever.

Amen."

Chapter Four: Do I Know You Love?

A friend of mine named Kevin and I have been pouring deeper into passages of the Bible that we used to breeze over. There's a song by The Rocket Summer that says: "...when you open up a book and read a thousand lines but you don't really read, you just move your eyes." It doesn't matter if you've read something your whole life, if you slow down and truly analyze the depth of what it is saying, words will jump out at you and you'll discover a meaning you never knew.

It's as beautiful as the One who inspired its depth.

I was bouncing around and checking out different sections I've read many times over in my life. I came to 1 Corinthians 13 and it's section on love.

"Love is long suffering" jumped out and bit my face.

I realized something, there was a period of my life that I spent about three years without going to church or really talking to God at all besides demanding he give me things. It really made me think about the fact that during that time, even though I didn't want anything to do with my Father who loved and yearned for me, he waited for me.

He was the picture of the long suffering Lover. Some people he's waited an entire lifetime for only to finally receive the deserved affection in their last days and at the end of their life.

Just that revelation made me stop and put something into perspective... do I really understand the depth of what it means to love. Just the first description of love being "long suffering" wasn't truly understood in the depth it deserved.

I know that I love my brothers, sister, parents and friends - but do I get the depth of what I'm saying. God is Love, I know this. "You will know them by their love for each other." It goes on and on. There are so many things I've read about love and I do have a very good grasp of what it means, but how can I pretend to make demands about wanting to love a girl or wanting to love people if I'm not dedicating myself to understanding exactly what that means.

Earlier in 1 Corinthians 13, " ¹ Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. ² And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³ And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing."

When the disciples asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was, he replied "‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Love. Love. Love.

Or as the Beatles sang: All you need is love. I don't believe this is ALL you need, but even the secular world admits that love is one of the greatest things you can ever attain.

Both of the above verses demonstrate the importance of love. If loving God and each other are the greatest commandments, how can I be maximizing my potential as a man or as a Christian without truly understanding the depth of love.

I could go on for hours about the depth of what I have been discovering about love, but I'm not writing a book... though that's a good idea ;)

One other detail though, on the subject of what 1 Corinthians 13 says about love, it says not to be envious or puffed up. I see, as relative to my current predicament, to not be 'puffed up' and think I deserve more nor should I be envious of others for my Father chooses what to give and is perfect in His will and what he distributes to each of us.

Be careful to define words by what the world has told you they mean. We are to search the word and our Spirits to find out what things such as 'the greatest gift' truly are about.

Especially if we seek to be loving husbands or wives.

Lastly, in order to be able to love people, we must also be willing to allow ourselves to be loved. I've been noticing this duality of how a love song can be about how you feel about a member of the opposite sex as well as how God loves us. We must love and be loved.

How can we love someone and not receive it from the One who created it?

He needs to be our first and greatest love. We are only going to be able to give the perfect love that we want to show to someone by getting as close as possible to the Source. We can't do it on our own. We can't begin to understand it and maximize our ability to love unless we're reflecting it from Him living within us, teaching us and redefining its meaning on a daily basis.

I want to love like he loves me. And I want to study and master what it truly is to love so that someday I can be the greatest lover that I can be and shine His light through the girl He has chosen for me.

It isn't just for you. Like all things, you can understand it for selfish reasons or you can live like Christ and be a servant.

I want to love for her. I want to love for Him.

Selflessly.

Chapter Three: The Beautiful Unrecognized

This is to both of Yyou:

Yyou're not just what people see Yyou as

Yyou're the layers beneath

The beautiful unrecognized

I've seen it

Though not its full depth

With how deep it goes

Will I ever fully grasp it?

It won't stop me from trying

I know I'm not alone

That's the lie that I battle

I'm only a foolish boy

But I'm trying

I am

I write for Yyou

Yyou're my never depleting Ffuel

For that I'm thankful

I really am

Wherever this road leads

Even to my end

Cause Yyou're worth that

There's no better way to say it

I'd give and I'm giving

Myself for more Yyou

I'm just a back seat driver

That can't reach the wheel

To be honest

I'm just glad You're steering

And that you're sitting next to me

No matter how far it seems

So why would I worry?

I guess I'll just pray

I'm blessed to be anything

So thanks again.

P.S.

This is truth:

Yyou're perfect together

And no one compares

At least from my perspective

Which is all that I'll ever see

Chapter Two: Loving the Antagonist

I have been stuck for a while on the early chapters of the book I'm writing. There is a very good reason, however, being that I've written this part of the story about five different ways already. The book is called The Westfall Stories, a book version of the TV show I wrote for about five years that I pitched to ABC this past August. They wanted me to move down there and work toward getting me placed into their system, but it wasn't in God's timing for me to move down there.

I decided that I wanted to write the story as a book (for now), a task that has become increasingly overwhelming. As stated above, the early chapters are covering the pilot (first episode) story that I've done so many times already.

But I've realized this is a blessing in disguise.

The key differences between writing a script and a book is a) past tense for books instead of present tense for scripts and b) MUCH MORE DETAILS.

A script isn't about how much you can stuff in but rather how much you can condense into an hour and half. With a book, you don't have those limitations, you have to put everything under the microscope. One of the things I've decided to go deeper into for the book version, is the antagonist of Westfall.

His name is Dustin Kennedy. And I really care about him.

You see, this girl Colleen knows my stories inside and out, which is quite a task. There is over 500 pages of Westfall scripts she has read as well as the other movies linked to the stories. Plus hours of conversation about the parts of the story I've yet to be able to write.

But she hated Dustin. I understood why, I designed him to be hard to like in the state he is in. But when you design a character, you see their childhood. If you are writing with the sense of realism that I write with, a character is never just a bad guy, he is conditioned to respond to the world that way. To some extent.

I saw Dustin as a boy who was neglected by his father that was obsessed with saving the world. I designed him to learn to survive on his own and keep everything he felt locked deeply away inside of himself.

He is based off my brother, who shares the same name. He is one of the most intellectual people I've ever met, but some of the darkness in the world brought him places that broke him in ways. Life is all about where we take that brokenness.

For Dustin, my character, he just put it away. He found his validation in the world. By the time he was in high school, he made himself worthwhile by dating the most sought after girl in school and reigning on top of his schools popularity hierarchy.

He makes sense to me. I could see his downfall and everything that led to his distrust in people and his clash against my protagonists. It's all unfortunate circumstances that he chooses to respond negatively to.

My challenge isn't to get people to not like him, it's the opposite. I want people to see who he really is. I want people to love him and for their hearts to break as they watch him make the choices he does.

His fall should be beautiful but tragic. Or I'm not succeeding as a writer.

The movies that have always perplexed me were the ones where you didn't know who to root for. It's a wonderfully conflicting thing.

Obviously, if my protagonists are displaying selflessness and love and all of those great qualities, it is going to be easier to root for them. But what if you can see the reasoning behind why the antagonist isn't full of love and why he's chosen selfishness? Would you still hate them and want them to fail?

I think we should reflect on this in real life. We see so many people around us and many are quick to say, that person is a bad kid. That dude isn't a good guy or good girl. She's trouble.

And sometimes trouble does follow them, but how often do we try and understand the story behind why they are the way that they are.

The Bible says, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

That means that these people are not our enemies. The forces behind why they have been deceived and why they have been broken are to blame.

But how often do we truly view people like that? Do we see a man alone and hateful and realize that we could be like that as well?

I do realize that we make choices, good and bad, that determine a lot of these things. And many bitter people have chosen selfishness and are reaping the benefits.

But on the other hand, are we abandoning people into the 'bad guy' category like everyone else has in their life? Maybe all it takes is someone willing to tell them I UNDERSTAND.

Christ loves us and we experience the joy and peace and other fruits that come with living with Him. But others don't understand this, they've been conditioned / chosen to reject that it can help them.

That's one of the main causes for depression, is feeling like no one understands you and that you are alone in the way that you feel. Isolation from others soon follows.

In Dustin's case, it was a mental isolation. He closed himself off to thinking anyone could understand the way he thought and the way that he was.

We must open our minds up to see that the enemy seeks to "steal, kill and destroy" and that so many have fallen victim to that. They've been lied to and beaten down.

Jesus calls us to "...love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;"

We are called to love the antagonists. It is our job to be like Christ. "When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

It is important to surround yourself with other like-minded Christ seeking individuals to encourage and build you up. But it is also important that we bring salvation to those who need it. We're not supposed to live in Christian cliques separate from the world, we are called to bring the good news to those who need it the most - not those who have already heard it. Part of that is going to require understanding those who come against you. Not just telling them that they're wrong, but to understand the forces and circumstances that have made them that way so that the deceptions can be broken.

Remember, Paul killed Christians before he was turned around and fought beside them. No one is too bad or too far gone for Love to bring them back. It's easy for us to love the people that are nice to us, but are we praying for those that hate us and doing good to those who curse us?

Love your enemies. Maybe... just maybe... we might be able to save the antagonist.

I'm going to wrap this up with a quote from The Westfall Stories that sums up what the story is truly about:

"The stories told here were created for one purpose:

to inspire a necessary change.

To be that voice that reminds you the world is worth fighting for.

For some - worth dying for.

We may never escape this drama or the pains of life...

But if we can find a way to explain it,

tell the story of the kids that made it through...

if we can light the candle and carry the torch,

those stranded helplessly in the dark will follow after the light.

By creating that hope -

maybe we can change everything.

Maybe the bad kids can make the world a better place.

To me, that's a purpose worth living for...

a purpose worth dying for."

In the words of Tiny Tim, "God Bless us, everyone!"

Chapter One: A Story of Kings

I decided that I wanted a place to ventilate besides the 140 characters that twitter allows. Myspace is dead now and facebook notes aren't cool. So here I am.

Tonight I returned to my junior highers that I lead at my uncles church: 3Rivers Christian Fellowship. I'd been away for some time.

God took me on a vacation. Or well... I left on a vacation that God decided to join me on and then flew me home. Yeah... that's more accurate.

So, I could tell the kids were excited that they could have group again and didn't have to go to 'big church' with the adults. They reallllly wanted to play football with me.

That's kinda our thing.

But before the fun, I had kinda gathered up some trinkets of wisdom that I wanted to share with them.

I don't know if anyones seen the TV show that ran for a season last year on NBC called Kings, but it was a modern day retelling of the story of David. It was a truly beautiful show. Besides the fact that the source material is one of the greatest stories of all time; the acting, directing, dialogue and most of all cinematography was phenomenal.

Anywho, I get to telling them about how King Silas (Saul) would always tell the people of his kingdom about how God crowned him as Kings. I will go ahead and quote it below:

"That's when they came. I felt a shadow above me. I looked up and saw a great swarm of butterflies and they circled around me like leaves in a storm, floating, soft, landing upon my head like a crown. A living crown. God's signal to begin. I pray, as I take my seat in this great new capital to be worthy of His anointment and your trust."

Sounds wonderful. The thing is, however, that Silas has told this story many times. Whereas it was once true, if you know the story of Saul you would know that he lost his anointing.

As the prophet Samuel tells him in the TV show, "You are not my king. Not anymore. Not after what you've done. I bring a message: since you have cast aside the word of the Lord you have been cast aside as king."

You see, even though he had been crowned king when the people had demanded of God an earthly ruler, he had veered off of his path and done things on his own. So he told the story of the butterflies, of how he was crowned and chosen. He tried to gain as much favor from the people while his time of king was running out.

When David defeated Goliath, or well, the Goliath tank in the TV show, Silas granted him an audience and threw him a party. Everyone loved David, treasured him.

At the end of the pilot, David was in Silas' courtyard, looking up at the sky. You see, he felt a shadow upon him and looked up to see a swarm of butterflies. Silas watched, from inside, as they landed upon David's head in the shape of a crown.

He knew in that moment, he had lost his authority. At least in God's eyes.

I then opened up my Bible to 1 Samuel 23 and shared it with my Jr. Highers.

Back to the actual story now, Saul had plotted to kill David once he knew that he was going to be replaced. His son, Jonathon, warned his best friend and told him he must flee. David fled into the wilderness and many flocked to his side, ready to die for him.

They loved him. They trusted him. They were called his mighty men.

While on the run from Saul, they decided to go and defend the city of Keilah. Even though they were significantly outnumbered, the Lord told David that they would save the city. Which they did of course.

Saul was relentlessly pursuing David and when he learned about Keilah he said, "God has delivered him into my hand." Yeah... right...

The Lord was with David, the one in which Saul's lost authority had been given to. Though Saul still had his kingdom, he knew that if he didn't kill David soon, it would be stripped away from him.

So he took an army and went to kill David and his 600 men. They chased them to the mountains, where Saul and his army encircled David and moved in to kill him once and for all.

But the Lord intervened.

Saul got word that the Philistines had invaded his land. He had no choice but to stop pursuing David and return home to defend his people. The Lord delivered David and protected him.

The point, I told my kids, was that even though Saul had been anointed and even though we may have 'accepted Christ into our lives,' we must put our trust in Him and walk in His ways, not relying on our own selfish plans and desires.

At Calvary Temple, a few weeks back, Pastor Jeremy spoke about power and authority and how if a cop pulled you over without a badge, you would laugh at him.

We are given a badge, that's our authority. But if we abandon the place God desires us to be in and try to live on our own, it gets taken away and in Saul's case - given to someone else.

It doesn't matter if you title yourself a Christian or God has given you something at one point in time or another, he is the Author of our story and can strip it away from us just as easily as He gives it. We must abide in Him and live in His ways.

It's a daily choice that we make. One day the butterflies may crown your head and the next, they'll leave you if you're not willing to walk in humility. Sure Silas built the city and did the Lord's will once, but we must learn to trust Him as David did.

Life gets hard. Sometimes you're surrounded by enemies who have encircled you and it seems that there is no hope or escape. Remember the story of David and that the Lord will deliver you if you put your trust in Him.

We may change. But He IS consistency.