S2 E2 "Completely, Completely Alive!"

     Devastated!! O Netflix, thou art cruel! To take away - with little more than a few weeks' notice - all seasons of Doctor Who from America's adoring fans is an act on par with the coldness and soulessness of a Cyberman! My days will now be vapid and my blog inspiration-less without the easy (and "free") accessibility of decades of Doctor Who! What's to be done?! This isn't an option:

impossible!

     The only consolation, reader, is that I was able to watch and ponder one last episode before I was cut off  (forever?!) like Rose in "Doomsday" (sorry. spoilers...!) from our beloved Doctor.

     Well, it certainly didn't take long for Rose (nor I) to grow fond of the Doctor's regenerated look - the "new new Doctor." So here we are - the New New Doctor on New Earth in New^15 York. However, it's the old that are of significance - The Face of Boe and Cassandra; fancy meeting them here?!
     (Take note - the Doctor likes a shop ("not a big one, just a shop"); the Face of Boe "will impart his great secret" just before his death; and the person who last tells Cassandra she's beautiful, is actually herself in a different body! Fascinating! This show though! So Timey Wimey - it pays to pay attention!)

New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York

    Continuing plot lines and reunions aside, can we talk about those "not real people"? Those humans - those poor, forgotten, rejected, suffering people - what an unimaginable life they led! Their lot was incredibly tragic. And when finally free from their pods, they were still bound by their disease - separated from people by their own repulsiveness and infection. What they needed was a cure; they needed life; they needed a Doctor. *Dunt du duh! As always, that's exactly who arrived on the scene just in time to save the day with a little creativity and his sonic screwdriver! With some quick thinking, a concoction of every cure known to man, and a very efficient showering system, he was able to cure the whole lot! Brilliant! The result? "A brand new form of life - New Humans!"

"They were born sick...They were meant to be sick."

    Earlier, when Cassandra shared what she'd seen and felt while she was briefly inside the diseased patient - "they're so alone. They keep reaching out just to hold us. All their lives and they've never been touched." - I thought of all of the times recorded in the Gospels when Jesus touched people just like them. He continually reached out to the rejects, the unclean, the shunned, the diseased and broken. When everyone else walked away, he walked towards them. When everyone else said get lost, He said "come near." It wasn't the well that He had come for: "they have no need of a physician." He came for the sick.  But it was more than a smile, a handout or even a temporary cure that He offered; He was offering life eternal! Yes, He healed their bodies, but He "came that they may have life and have it more abundantly."

"Come on!"

     When the Doctor cleverly assembled his curing disinfectant shower, he gave those poor creatures life - a second chance! Those who had once been shunned, imprisoned, and doomed to death received the gift of life. Just so, Jesus offers a 'disinfecting shower' - His own blood. Your sins, your impurities, your vile disgusting  heart, your incurable disease of sin can all be washed as white as snow. Yes, it sounds too good to be true - but it's not! "God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him."  Paul reminds the Corinthians that they too were once wicked people, "and such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ."  Simply step into the 'shower' of God's grace, His free gift, and be washed in the blood of the Lamb! and become "Completely, completely alive!" Not just an "echo of life" - Completely, completely alive! Be healed, be cleansed, find hope and joy and life in Jesus - then "PASS IT ON! PASS IT ON!" Don't keep it to yourself! Share the healing!

"Pass it on! Pass it on!"

(I can't talk about this without thinking of this song: "Are You Washed in the Blood of the Lamb")

S2 E1 "It Is Gonna Be Fantastic!"

     Welcome David Tennant! Weeell, actually he made his first appearance in the last episode, but that's minor! Here's to the "rude and not ginger" doctor, the one who does impressive things in his "jim-jams" doctor, the grown-back hand doctor, the pin-stripe suited doctor,... my doctor - the proper doctor!
Anyways. A Savior on Christmas!? What a novel thought! Well, not really! And in case you're thinking I'm about to compare the regenerated doctor to the Savior of the World... you're wrong...mostly wrong anyways...no, actually wrong. Of course the analogy could all too easily be made (I mean "standing as the World's Champion" could preach!); however, I'm somewhat distracted by the destined arrival of the 10th Doctor! :)

"You stand as the World's Champion!"
"...You just summed me up!"

     So, here's a bit of trivia that I've learned from the ever reliable source of Pinterest (and have since confirmed elsewhere): when David Tennant was a youth, his greatest dream was to be the Doctor when he grew up! Allow me to play Captain Obvious here and say, "his dream came true!" (additional fact: he has since married the daughter of Peter Davison the 5th Doctor! Bonus!). Talk about the best Christmas ever for David - "The Christmas Invasion" was, like, his life-long request to Santa finally sitting under the twinkling Christmas tree! Could you imagine if you'd told him decades ago when he was just a wee lad in Scotland that he would indeed make millions of people happy when he would one day assume the role of the longest living television character in history? How would that have changed his life? Probably not much. As I understand it, he was a rather singularly minded boy. He pursued theatre and drama with the understanding that it would help him achieve his personal goal of donning the persona of a Timelord eventually. Talk about driven!

Young David Tennant

David Tennant with Georgia Moffett (future wife!)

     Honestly, I don't really know where I'm going with this. Sometimes I just like to take a step back to look back, so I can see the bigger picture. They say retrospect is 20/20 afterall!  Recently I spent some time with a friend who's played a large role in my life. We were comparing notes on all of the ways God has directed our steps over the last 15 years. The people we met, the jobs we've landed, the places we've gone, the experiences we've had... all of which line up perfectly and have made us a who we are and brought us to where we are today. Like a knitted chain, one thing led to another - weaving our lives in and out of each other's. If one thing had been left out, one decision been different, one opportunity missed, our lives could have been completely different! But God had a plan all along...

     So, I guess that's where I'm going: "look at those humans. Consider their potential!" Whether you are a person of incredible foresight and passion or you are one who simply walks through doors as they are opened to you, God has a plan. God doesn't just consider, He knows your potential because He Created you! God has foreordained that you are here for a reason and for a season - "for such a time as this." As this new year begins, consider that "the steps of a man are established by the LORD when he delights in His way."  So delight in the LORD. Trust Him to guide your steps. If you think Tennant's story is sweet, imagine what God can do with one who is committed to His perfect Word and His best plan. So hang on to Jesus. Get ready for the ride of a lifetime! I can promise you, "it is gonna be fantastic!"

"It is gonna be fantastic!"

Oh and dive into Psalm 37 for starters! :)

S1 E12&13 "Maybe It's a Message"

     Really? This is the last post for season one already? Time has flown by. I can't lie and say I'm not glad - because I am glad. For with season two comes David Tennant! :) But before we get there, let's take a little look back, shall we?
    If you remember, my purpose for this blog was to look for God in the seemingly insignificant and to find His truths in even the corniest of places. I don't know that I've succeeded in conveying that message. I don't know if you, reader, would agree that this blog is of some value to the world. But this journey has been successful on a personal level at least. I look around now and see my God's name and hand inscribed on everything! From the twinkling of the stars millions of light-years away to the twinkle of my grandmother's eye sitting across the table, His love is plain for me to see. And the more I search - really search - the more I find Him! He's everywhere.

"The Heavens declare the glory of God..."

     The first time I watched season one of the "new" Doctor Who, I only occasionally spotted the words "Bad Wolf." And when I did, I assumed it was a coincidence, deja vu, or just weird British graffiti! I never dreamed it was on purpose and had a purpose! I didn't realize the scope and forethought of this show! (Another thing that keeps me watching;). But there it was "written all over the universe." "Across time and space." Now every time I re-watch the season, I find a new reference to Bad Wolf! It's everywhere. And I wonder how I could have missed it before?!

Bad Wolf

    Just like "Bad Wolf" was scrawled across time and space, across the universe, so God's sovereignty is scrawled across the galaxies from generation to generation! "The Heavens declare the Glory of God and the sky above proclaims His handiwork."(Psalm 19:1) It is no coincidence; this isn't deja vu. And it has a purpose: to draw us to our Creator! And just like I missed all the Bad Wolf signs, so we miss God when we're not actually looking for Him. But everything around us is crying out in an attempt to tell His story and bring Him glory - if we only pay attention."You will ... find me when you seek me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13) The universe is like a giant billboard saying "God is Great! God is Good!"

Bad Wolf 

     Can I just challenge you - as I did a year ago - to seek God, to really look for Him! Like the Doctor, you're "not here by mistake." In one sense "someone's manipulating your entire life"; "manipulating", however, is a bad choice of words when describing the incessant way in which God tries to draw you to Him. From the beginning of time, He's been committed to seeing you cleansed from your sins and reunited with Him for eternity! Seriously! Let Him show you a better...no, the BEST "way of living your life!" He's left you a message  everywhere: "For what can be know about God is plain, .... For His invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. (Romans 1:19-20) And the message is this: "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."(John 10:10)

S1E11 "She Can Start Again!"

     I'm back! No really - I'm back! I've been gone - traveling (unfortunately not through time and space) for the last several months, but I'm back and ready to get through this season one! And especially through these darn Slitheen! Talk about corny! And now, every time I see a fat person on Capitol Hill, my first thought is one of great suspicion! I'll never trust an over-weight politician again! Just another way the Doctor has changed my life forever! ;)

"I can change!"

     Okay, so I'll make this short and sweet because Blon's pitty-party story was bad enough for an hour: we don't need to wade through that again. Her continued insistence that she could change, that she was different, and that her good deeds were of consequence and could outweigh her bad was getting a little old and hardly convincing! Really? Everything she'd ever done in her life - including using her teleport device to save herself and not her family - bespoke of her selfishness! She really was a piece of work! But I guess a lot of us have that problem: overlooking our flaws and declaring ourselves innocent! Well, news flash: we're all sinners! And, no, we can't change ourselves! We can't make a compact, or sign a contract, or swear an oath, or change locations and magically become a good person! It doesn't work like that.

"She's an egg! She can start again!"

     A second chance wasn't what she needed (or what we need); she needed a new beginning! And the TARDIS in her wisdom, gave Blon just that by turning her into an egg. "She's an egg! She can start again. Give her to a new family...she might turn out differently." That was basically the Gospel in Gallifreyan, by the way! :) Jesus said something like that to Nicodemus in John 3: "unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Say whaaat!? (that was Nic's response - paraphrased!). Yah. So in summary (I said I was keeping this short), you can't make yourself good - only God has the power to do that and declare you that. BUT he says he'll make you a knew creation, a new creature, give you a new family (His), and TaDA! A new beginning with a one way ticket to Heaven! It's that simple, folks. And what does it take from you?! No looking into the heart of the TARDIS required - simply look upon "the Son of Man [Jesus]...whoever believes in Him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3 still).
And that is quite a happy God thought in the TARDIS today!

S1E9&10 "Everybody Lives!"

     I believe I could watch these two episodes ("The Empty Child" & "The Doctor Dances") over and over! I never realized before how many fandom quotes come from these two: and no wonder -they're quite pithy and funny! Rose's T-shirt alone would be sufficient for a few laughs, but throw in her obsession with Spock-like alien tech, Captain Jack Harkness, and a sonic screwdriver, and you're in for some classic lines, like, "who looks at a screw driver and thinks, 'ooh, this could be a little more sonic'?" And, "don't you ever get tired of 'Doctor'? 'Doctor' who?!" And let's not forget the most over-used line ever: "are you my mummy?"

"It's a screwdriver!" 

     Memes aside, I keep coming back to the scene with Nancy & Rose when Rose reveals that she and the boys are actually time travelers from the future. "What future?" Nancy asks as bombs explode over-head in the WWII German air-raid. 
 "Nancy this isn't the end. I know how it looks, but it's not the end of the world or anything." Of course Nancy was skeptical, "How can you say that? Look at it!"  
"The Germans don't win. You win!" Rose replies - full of hope. 

"What Future?"

      People often have a misconception about the word"hope." They use it interchangeably with "wish." A wish is a fancy, an imagining, simply a fleeting dream. A "hope" on the other hand is based on something substantial, something tangible, some person or fact. Rose was hopeful because she based her statement on fact! She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that London would survive -that the Germans would lose -because she'd seen the future. She spoke with confidence because her hope was founded on truth. 

"It's not the end of the world or anything."

     That's the sort of hope that Christians should have - because we know the future. The Truth of God's Word has already spoken of God's victory:"death is swallowed up in victory. O death where is your sting [...] thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Christians are on the winning side: "for everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith." 

     Rose had every reason to place her trust in Britain - that "soggy Island" - because she knew it came out on top! So we can trust our Saviour. "For I know that my Redeemer lives and at the last He will stand upon the earth," says Job. Yes, things may look bleak at times - nothing God didn't see coming, mind you. It may appear like the future doesn't exist, but we can rest in the faithfulness of God - the Beginning and the End - and His promise to return and reign. "Let not your hearts be troubled... I will come again." "In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I [Jesus] have overcome the world." 

"Everybody lives, Rose! Just this once, everybody lives!"

      So are you on the winning side? Then why worry? Rejoice in "our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ." We may lose a battle here or there, but we've already won the war! So wear that shirt with pride (metaphorically speaking, of course), and live a life filled with hope! A happy ending is coming - a day when "just this once, everybody lives!"

"Are you sure about that T-shirt?"
"Too early to say. I'm taking it out for a spin."

S1E8 "A Proper Dad"

     Let me refresh your memory: Rose wished to see her father die - hit and run November 7, 1987. The Doctor takes her. She impulsively dashes out and saves her father's life - altering history! "There's a man alive today that wasn't alive before." There's a tear in time. The Reapers appear. Meanwhile Rose and her father bond. Eventually, he realizes that all the world will die from the Reapers if he doesn't step in the way of the crazy, looping car. Rose objects. The Doctor and Pete know it's the only way. So he does - step in the way of the crazy, looping car, that is. He dies. He's a hero - the hero Rose always imagined he was. Closure.

Pete & Rose Tyler

     Very sweet. Makes you want to give your dad a hug. Makes you want to buy a bigger, better, more sparkly card for Father's Day. But what if you don't have a dad? What if you've never known a self sacrificing love from dear, dear man? What if you really can't relate at all? I know many people aren't as lucky as Rose or as blessed as I in that department of fathers! BUT, well, that doesn't have to be true. Can I just encourage you to read I John 3?! "See what love the Father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God...By this we know love, that He laid down his life for us."  You want a Father who will never let you down, listen to you when your upset, encourage you when your stressed, comfort you when life's tough, hold your hand through the dark days, give you good and perfect gifts, chasten and discipline you when you need direction?! Look no further! Our Father in Heaven has already offered! He's already paid the ultimate cost and proven His love - He laid down his life - so we could be called His children. "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13) More than friends, He wants to call us child and heir! Who wouldn't want a Father like that?!

S1E7 "This Is Your Boss"

     I once attempted to inform a little girl that she was a slave. She emphatically told me that indeed she was not! In her mind, the word "slave" conjured an image of days past - of bondage, inequality, the loss of individuality and humanity! What kind of Sunday School teacher was I to insinuate something so horrible!? However, I was not referencing an antebellum form of mastery! I was referring to a bondage that is irrelevant of nationality, age, well-being, affluence, place or time. This bondage is to sin.

"Is a slave a slave...?"

     The Editor in the episode "The Long Game" raises the hypothetical question, "is a slave a slave if he doesn't know he's enslaved?" The Doctor unblinkingly replies with, "Yes!" Well then, reader, allow me to inform you that you are a slave! Whether you know it or not. That little girl was wrong. She was (is) a slave! We are born under the bondage of sin. And just like all of those people at Station 5, this horrible thing "is your boss, this has always been your boss - since the day you were born." Romans 6 puts it this way: "you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin which leads to death or of obedience [to God] which leads to righteousness." 

"This has always been your boss!"

     So we have two choices: slaves to sin - which we are born to - or slaves to God. One way leads to death the other to life abundant and life eternal! It's an obvious choice! Than why have so many chosen death? "There is a way that seem right...but its end is the way of death."Proverbs 16:25  For the same reason that Cathica believed that Floor 500's walls were made of gold and that a promotion was a good thing - ignorance. The Doctor hit it square on the nose when he said that a whole generation of "the human race had been bred that didn't bother to ask questions" - "the right kind of questions!" The Editor called humanity cattle; the Bible calls us sheep. Both are stupid and easily led astray!  Hosea says "my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge [of God]." I could say the same thing!

     Is it time you started asking the right kind of questions? To whom (or what) are you bound? What is your end?  What is Truth? Where is Life? (I'll give you a clue - the Bible has all the answers!) This generation has more information -total- at their literal fingertips than has previously existed for the last 5,000 years! Yet the ignorance persists! Break free!
"Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin, ...If the Son sets you free than you are free indeed!" John 8:34