Chapter one of The Guardian Universe. In the youtube video you can listen to the chapter narrated, and you can read along below.
Post your comments below. I look forward to seeing what you think, and answering any questions in future posts.
Gy
Chapter 1
WELCOME TO A WORLD YOU THINK YOU KNOW.
Have you ever wondered about the unseen? The hidden, the invisible, and the concealed have always held my fascination. In fact, it’s something of a passion for me, seeing that which is just out of sight. I don’t want to just believe in the supernatural, I want to understand how it works.
I do not care for the spooky or the superstitious, but rather the reality behind the scenes that makes our visible world work. The realm just beyond our own in which lie the answers to love, to hate, to faith, belief and hope. The cogs that drive the inexplicable, the power sources from which the impossible becomes possible. Perhaps, to you, what I’m describing is the supernatural, but I think it to be more natural than super. I think it’s organic like a forest, alive like the trees, and as natural as the wind that moves through the branches.
I believe it’s real, complex and intricate. And understanding it is not just possible, but essential.
If you are a Christian as am I, then being constantly mindful of the unseen is not an optional extra. It may surprise you to discover it is a command.
Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.
Colossians 3:1-2 NLT
If you have divine life within you, then your mind must pivot to the divine. If your hope is in an unseen reality, then the nature of this reality really must become your business. I am convinced it is mandatory. To fulfil your destiny requires it.
So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
2 Corinthians 4:18 NLT
It really is a good thing you’ve picked up this book! I’m setting out to explain, in simple terms, how the unseen and the seen work together. I'm going to describe a reality that exists all around you, a reality I call the Guardian Universe.
The Guardian Universe is our world, one where the natural and supernatural exist intermingled, side by side. Far from a trivial fascination for the superstitious, understanding the story that is unfolding on both sides of the mortal and immortal hemisphere provides profound answers to some of life’s most difficult questions.
Why do bad things happen to good people?
Why does God let evil exist?
If he is all-powerful why does he allow the devil to roam the earth?
And so on.
God never intended us to get by in life with simplistic platitudes like 'God only knows' and ‘we’ll find out in heaven.’ God wants you to know. He wants you not just to seek answers, but he wants to open the door for you to find them.
This book is, as you will discover, not just a journey into the supernatural, but the expansive and extraordinary story of God. It is the story of his Son. It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, perhaps in terms you've never considered. My fascination is not with angels, nor the Guardians who lend their name to this book. Not at all. My attraction is to you and to me, sons and daughters once lost but now with a pathway by which to be found.
Having said all of that, for a good many of you, I think this will all be a bit too much. So you might like to treat this then, as a work of fiction, and you’d be very welcome to do so. It’s somewhat less confronting to consider things from an oblique perspective, and to some degree, that’s why I begin the book speaking of angels and demons. In today's society, where only what can be seen is real, they have become mere myth. They are, for all intents and purposes, an excellent starting point by which you can find your way into my 'fictional world.’
By the end, however, despite initial misgivings, you may well find that this story is indeed your story. That you are a son or daughter, but of lost and forgotten royal origin. I hope that's the case. If not, I guarantee I will not bore you on the journey – this is not a pathway you’ve walked before.
As you read this book you'll find that I’ve included tons of scripture. Bible verses in vast quantities. In some cases, specific verses reappear again and again. I would encourage you - read them. Meditate on them. Consume them as if your life depends on them.
They are not just idle words for you - they are your life. By them you will live long in the land …
Deuteronomy 32:47 NIV
If my own words have any value, it will only be to help you ingest the word of God in perfect and pure form: from God's own Spirit directly into your heart. I will have succeeded only in those cases where you can hear God, perhaps for the first time, for yourself. To this end – do not skip a single word of scripture. Dwell on them, consume them, drink them in.
The reality is that in the pages of this book I describe to you a universe that I cannot see, except in my mind’s eye. The only truths in this book are the verses of scripture within its pages. The rest, everything I have written, should be understood as no more than a metaphor, perhaps a parable or a hand-drawn map sketched on paper. Their only value is in their ability to help you see the words of God in effect right now, in the world around you.