Introduction
Posted by JCServant on Sunday, December 10

Salutations!

Welcome to the first of what I hope will be many journal entries.

I was listening to one of those online sermon thingies on the internet. You can find a whole bunch of them at Oneplace.com . And, one of them was talking about the importance of keeping a daily type journal.

Quite frankly, I do not have time for daily journal. Between work, wife, college, and Cyberlight Comics, my life is pretty packed. However, the more I thought about it, the more it bugged me. Then I saw another online comic where the creative team writes blogs with each cartoon they do. That’s when the light turned on. I mean, I do an update to Wildlight almost every month. So, what could be hard about doing a little blog thing once in a while ? Not only can I say a few things that are on my mind, but I can also share some of the ideas that inspire what you see in Wildlight.

So, here we are.

I’ve also taken the liberty to speak with many of the other Cyberlight members. So, who knows? Maybe they’ll start doing logs too!

Before I talk about the inspiration to this comic, let me do a quick intro for those who have not met me, or read much about me before. I go by the handle JCServant, as you see. I rarely give out my real name on the internet. The only reason for that is I do online comics is because I believe in God’s love and message. I’m not into thrusting myself into some spotlight. I do the bulk of the artwork and writing on Wildlight. Sometimes I get some help from friends in the form of neat background drawings, or story ideas. Chris VanderKaay, for example, regularly interjects fresh ideas into my stories. The last two panels on this page, for example, were his idea. Nice touch.

Wildlight is an ongoing project with a great story about a young lady who struggles with her faith in God. Throughout the years, we will see her fight, struggle, accept, and eventually grow in God. I’ve always liked the Spider Man comics because you could relate so well with Peter Parker over the years. If you followed the series, you got to see the guy grow up. He graduated high school, then college, gained and lost friendships, had romances, married and settled down, all while struggling with common life problems, such as paying rent. I want Wildlight to be like that, but much more. Our heroine can and will struggle with some of those issues, but she also struggles with spiritual issues. It always amazed me that Spider Man could face so many life and death situations, yet never really look hard at God or faith (Let’s give a big cheer for political correctness!)

So here we are! In Wildlight Origins we saw how Tammy got her suit, and her initial struggle with God. I mean, she was literally yelling at the Almighty! Ouch. In A Place In This World, we met Synergy. There, Tammy fought for her life against The Marksman and Sirocco. She also seems to move closer to God. In our third chapter, Dark Tide Rising, weird, and somewhat ominous, things keep happening to Tammy. She gets into a fight with a student where she publicly confesses her faith, while her best friend overhears, unbeknown to Tammy. That brings us to this story, Two Evils. As you can see, Tammy’s brother shows up, and Tammy’s relationship with her father (Which seemed to be improving) and her faith are really put to the test.

The story gets more exciting as we go on. The story of Wildlight has a beginning, a middle and an end. And the whole thing is a great thrill ride. I really love how this story was put together and I'm really exicited about it. As a long time Marvel fan, I guess what excites me is that I really feel that this story is better than most of the stuff they have. And I used to like Marvel stuff too!

See my next entry of info about what inspired Two Evils.

Until next time, take care.
By His Grace,
JCServant

This story means a lot to me because I think we have all been in a similar situation. No, I’m not referring to the scene where her brother held up a gun to her father (I certainly hope you have not been through that kind of experience!). I mean we have all been in a place where we made a really bad choice, or decision, felt really bad, angry and resentful for it, and attempt to run from God.

In my travels, I get to know a lot of people, many of them Christian. It always breaks my heart when I meet Christians who are not active in a ministry, or some sort of work for God, because they do not feel worthy enough. This is almost always tied into some big sin they were in, or currently in. I’m sure nothing makes Satan happier than a Christian who has been effectively neutralized because they do not feel ‘worthy’ of doing God’s work.

An interesting thing about God’s Grace. He died for us while we were sinners, and knowing all of the sins we would commit. He stilled called his disciples, and us, even though at the time they were sinners. Peter, who was also called the Rock by Jesus, denied Jesus towards the end. Paul even had to admonish Peter a few times for his lack of Faith. Yet, Jesus did not tell him to take a ‘time out’ from the ministry because he committed a sin.

I do not believe that we should stop or suspend work God has called us to do because we have sin, or have sin on our hearts. Certainly we need to repent of that sin, confess it and move on. However, when we lay down in defeat, we only open ourselves up to MORE sin. By not doing what were called to do, we now have more time on our hands to commit MORE sins. And since we are feeling guilty, resentful and / or angry, we are liable to commit more selfish acts that can hurt others. Tammy’s rampage in this comic is a little on the extreme side, but it is something that I have seen over and over. People who would rather live with the anger and guilt, rather than go back to God, become pretty nasty people. They may not beat the pulp out of people, but they can certainly make those around them miserable. And since it is a sin they hold secretly in their heart, the others around them rarely know what is causing their attitude.

The best weapon in this, I have found in my own life, is to keep doing what God has called me to do. Invariably, I find myself having to confess and reconcile before Him in order to really focus on His work.

Imagine if we called off to work everytime we sinned, or go upset! We’d never get any work done, and we’d be fired. Why do we treat God any less? He has provided us a great way to be cleanses of guilt and sin. It’s called confession and repentance. It’s available 24/7. We have no reason to not do just that and get back to the job that He has called us to do.

Well, enough of my monologue! Let me know what you think here. This is a link to our bulletin board where I’ve reposted this topic so you can give me your thoughts on this and anything else.

Until next time, take care.
By His Grace,
JCServant