Bradlee Dean

It has been said, “Where there is darkness, crimes will be committed.  The guilty one is not merely he who commits the crime, but he who caused (or allowed) the darkness.”  

We need to understand that the only light the youth have is the truth that has been given to them. And in America we can see clearly what happens when they are robbed of that light and truth. 

In this comic book, My War, I will show you how light exposes the darkness, truth exposes the lie, education exposes indoctrination, and how love exposes hate. 

Choice Versus Sickness

Have you ever noticed that in America the youth have been taught to equate immorality (lawlessness) with sickness, rather than breaking of the Law with making bad choices? Lawlessness (sin) is moral, not physical.  In other words, I can choose to obey and do the good, or I can choose to disobey and do the bad. I cannot choose to overlook the right choice, make the wrong choice, excuse myself from the consequence of that choice and say that I am sick for making it. You have the power to choose from the heart to do either the good or the bad, the right or the wrong, to obey or to disobey. 

Choice - The act of choosing; the voluntary act of selecting or separating from two or more things that which is preferred; or the determination of the mind in preferring one thing to another (Webster’s 1828).

For example: If I am hungry, I make the choice to eat. If I am thirsty, I make the choice to walk to the cupboard, get a glass, fill it up with the drink of my choice, and then swallow it down. This is choice. I can equate it with the choices youth today make such as rebelliousness, sex, drinking, drugs, lying, stealing, dishonoring their parents, and even killing. 

These are not sicknesses, they are simply violations of the Law by the making of bad choices. 

Sickness - State of being diseased (Webster’s 1828). 

Disease is involuntary. It is not by choice that one gets a disease. 

Let’s differentiate between the two: Choice vs. Sickness.

About 15 years ago, I was watching a program on TV where a man who was grossly overweight had a supposed eating disorder. They said that he was sick, and “that he just could not help himself.” He was so big that he could no longer get out of bed, poor guy. As time went on during the show, I noticed that the camera crew started to play the emotions of the guest audience. They would show a camera angle of the man lying helplessly on the bed, and then immediately swing back to the guest audience who began crying for this man, who, as they said, “just could not help himself.” Again, they said that he was sick.

The guest audience was playing right into the hands of the camera crew’s work. The emotions were high while the guest audience was being played like a ping pong game for all to see and feel.

However, the camera crew made a mistake. They pulled the camera back to the man lying on the bed, and right there in front of the whole world was the problem for all to see. The man that “just could not help himself” had a plate of food right under his face. I noticed that it was his hand grabbing the food and putting it into his own mouth. I did not see anyone around him shoving the food into his face, nor did I see anyone put a gun to his head to make him eat. No, this man was making a choice and a bad one at that. He was making a choice to kill himself by indulging in his pleasures and voluntarily overfeeding his body. And to the ignorance of the guest audience, they were falling for the fact that he was sick hook, line and sinker. Was this man not responsible for his own choices? Yes, he was! Yet, not according to the guest audience who said that he was sick and “could not help himself.” To date, this man is deceased. And the consequence in this case: he killed himself by overeating. 

If this man was sick, then where, I ask, was the love to warn this man? According to the guest audience, to overlook warning this man was their version of love? No, it was a lack thereof! That which was there to warn this man was out of sight, out of mind, and especially out of heart. The standard to give this man the distinction, knowledge and forewarning of choosing that which is the good from the bad, or the right from the wrong, was nowhere to be found. What is that standard? It is the Law that said, “Thou shalt not kill!” In other words, “Stop eating so much, man. You are killing yourself!”  It is called lasciviousness (irregular indulgences - Webster’s 1828).

My War was very similar to this man’s. I kept eating what the world had to offer, and while people were feeling sorry for me, I continued indulging myself in iniquity (sin) and could no longer get up out of the bed that I myself had made. I was partying, drinking, doing drugs, having sex before marriage, and serving myself in every way. I knew that things were not right in my life, and I was convicted at every turn, but I could not put my finger on what was wrong. I felt condemned at every step that I took, and at times, I would even try to ignore my own conscience because it was so overwhelming.  I was simply enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season, not knowing its end. 

My War

My War is the story of my life. My War is not a story of playing the blame game. This is not a story to show you how bad I was, but to show you how good God is in Jesus Christ. He is merciful. It is my testimony of a slow awakening, a realization of my own need to respond to the Holy Spirit’s conviction of my sin and to the reception of God‘s sure mercies. This all took place once I was given the knowledge and shown the price of redemption.

My War is not about losing the war, but winning the war through the blood, grace and knowledge of Christ Jesus, the true “Man of War.” It’s about how the Lord brought me through to overcome the obstacles that were in front of me (my sins) and to be made more than a conqueror through Him that loved me by His grace. 

My War is your victory! To my generation of youth, I serve you with my heart. My loss is your gain. Here are my wounds, which can prevent yours. I’ll meet you at the cross. 

With truth in love,

Bradlee Dean