A New Christ[mas]ian Movie

Some times my day starts with a lot of emails. Other times, I'm met with a bunch of things that need to be looked after ASAP. Others I'm greeted with the horrid feeling of realizing I left my lunch neatly packed by my door.

Today I was greeted with this.

My face melted into a cross between awe and wonder. Then to confusion. Was this some sort of awesome joke? Is that really Kirk Cameron exploding through a Christmas tree welding a candy cane and a manger?

Yes. It is.

Could this possibly be a real film and not some sort of twisted dream and/or parody?

It exists.

Is there a trailer for this sure to be wondrous film?

There is.




I honestly don't know what to think about any of this. Which is rare for me. Is the movie a documentary with a story? A drama? Over the top action?

It seems to have a bit of an irreverent tone too, which is also odd. Whether or not this makes it to the watch list has yet to be determined, however, I shall always cherish the memory of first seeing that poster.

What do you think? Watch? Pass?

To Kill A Mocking Bird

I went through Christian education. It's was great, but because of that, most of the books I read in highschool aren't the same ones you did.

Catcher in the Rye? Nope. Nineteen Eighty Four? Nada. Animal Farm. Yes actually, I did... but that was more because my Mom had a copy and I wanted to give it a read.

I've been working through some "classics" recently. To Kill A Mocking Bird was at the top of my list. 

Good thing it was too -- It's awesome.

I'm also glad I didn't read it in high school. It wouldn't have meant as much. 

If you missed out on this gem, it's about childhood. Sure, there's a court case and racial tensions and drama. However, it's not about that. It's about growing up. Kids living in an adult world. 

The thing that sells it for me, is how believable the whole thing is. Kids really would interpreter situations the way the kids in Mocking Bird do.

They would dare each other to touch the scary house, make up stories about why the cranky old lady down the road is cranky and would notice when stuff isn't right.

I loved it.

That being said, there is some mild language. FYI.

Next up - The Giver. What's a book you've really enjoyed?

Preparing For The 15th Anniversary

I'm really excited about Saturday. It's the 15th Anniversary of LIFE 100.3. I don't think it's hit me 100% yet. But, I can feel my sentiments growing.

LIFE has been a huge part of my LIFE for at least 10 years. Maybe longer. I'm not really sure when I started listening, but I have been hooked ever since.

I don't have any launch stories to share, but I have a bit of a fun one from the 10th Anniversary.

The decision to go was kinda last minute (*cough*thenightbefore*cough*). So a friend of mine, my Mom and I piled into our car and made the trek to Barrie. The show had been sold out for months. We were standing almost at the front of the line... without tickets.

As the line began to grow, we started asking people if they had extra tickets to sell. Sure enough, we managed to get everyone in! I don't recommend trying this at sold out shows. We were blessed it worked. If you can, just buy them in advance!

I remember the show really well. The lights, the booming sound at Emmanuel Baptist in Barrie.
Lincoln Brewster was the headliner. He was fantastic. If you've never seen him, he's a worship leader with a Mohawk and a habit of doing a lot of guitar solos in the middle of his worship set.

My favorite part, however was looking over at the LIFE staff and thinking "Man, I wish I was over there".

5 years later, I will be! Even as I type that, I'm reminded how blessed I am to be a part of this ministry.

O.K. Enough mushy gushy.

See you at the show with Peter Furler and Chris Bray!

Ordering Online

I order a lot of stuff on-line. I shop local too, but when it comes to custom art prints and discount music/video gear, the interwebs are the way to go!

With all that being said, I generally place my order and wait... with my breath held. It's sorta like when you were a kid and sent a bunch of cereal boxes back to the company to get a prize. You wait everyday for the mail. Sure, my adult brain knows there's no possible way the package will come that fast.... but I still hold out hope.

Recently I ordered a Steadicam (thing that prevents your camera from shaking while you move it). Once everything was said and done, they gave me something I've never had before. A working tracking number!

Normally these things only tell you when the package ships and when it arrives at Canada Post. Turns out UPS will tell you what the actual status of the delivery is. I've been following my glorious box of joy from South Carolina. Checking 5-8 times a day on my phone... I feel like a kid.

Do you ever get that excited over the mail?

1000 Islands Tour

Over the weekend I had the chance to check out the 1000 Islands (which I learned is marketing speak for the 1,864 Islands. Close enough).

Aside from being flat out beautiful (some of the nicest vistas I've seen outside of Muskoka). It's also got some really cool touristy stuff to do.

We went on the 1000 Islands Tower. It's 40 storeys high. Did I mention I had a fear of heights growing up? Thankfully, I think God has helped me deal with most of that... it's still there a little though...

From the top, you can see everything! It really is hard to describe just how beautiful it actually is. You really should check it out.

 

This is the view from the top (above). The picture of the ground is my favourite though. If you look really close, the speck next to the grey SUV/ Van is a person too scared to come up! I don't think the picture quite does the "butterflies in the stomach" feeling justice. But, that's the closest we can get.

After we spent some time in the realm of birds, we returned to the ground and then hit the water on a 1 hour cruise. 

I loved the scenery, but I might have liked the houses more. Some really creative architecture. I guess if you are living on a private island, you have the cash for a fancy house and well landscaped lawn. One of the houses had a bridge to a very tiny island. The house is in Canada and the island is in the U.S.A. There's a conversation piece!

All in all, I can't recommend a trip to the 1000 Islands enough!

Being A Good Friend

I love going to church. I love the worship, the sermon, the fellowship before and after. LOVE IT! That being said there are some days where it just doesn't click. You can ask me 30 seconds after the sermon ends what it was about... I couldn't tell you to save my life! It's not that I don't pay attention, I guess it just doesn't hit me.

This Sunday wasn't one of those sermons!

I was visiting a local church. The pastor was speaking on 1 Samuel. Talking about the friendship between Jonathan and David. 

It's changed the way I see them.

I always saw them as being good friends, but I never considered what that looked like.

In 1 Samuel 23:17 we seen a distressed David. Saul is trying to kill him. Jonathan (Saul's son) is there, trying to bring him some comfort.

What does he do? He reminds David of God's promise. David will be king. He could've given a generic "it'll all work out." He didn't though. Instead he talked to David where he was at.

That was the first thing that hit me.

The second was how Jonathan really is the hero of the story. He's there for David while his father is trying to kill him. Not only that, he's stepping aside so that David can be king. Jonathan is basically giving up his birth right. He's following God's plan even though it is going to cost him everything.

I wonder if I would do that. Would I be willing to lay my reputation, financial security or even life on the line for a friend if God asked me to? I'd like to think so. But thinking and doing are two very different things!

That's what I'm thinking about today. I'll likely be thinking about it for a while. It's inspired me to rethink how I treat friendships. How we as the body of Christ should look. Hopefully it does the same for you!

But....

It could just be me or it could be a trend. I'm not sure, but "but" seems to be the scapegoat of the English language.

Think about it.

You're enjoying a nice lunch with a friend. They look at you and say something along the lines of "I don't want to offend you but...". The words that follow after the ... are brutal. This friend doesn't mince words. They just say what they want (which is quite offensive) and then go back to their lunch. You want to say something back, but you can't technically. They "didn't want to offend you." You've lost the argument before it even started.

People do it with racist comments too. I'm not racist but... ya...

Maybe I'm just on the net too much. I keep seeing it and hearing it though.

I get that we do need to be frank and up front with each other sometimes, but shouldn't we still try to be tactful? If we really don't want to offend someone and still need to rebuke them, shouldn't we just say what the problem is?

I can't think of the scripture where Jesus says - Hey guys, don't want to offend you, but you are a bunch of white washed tombs.

Maybe I'm over thinking this.

And before you ask, no, I wasn't recently having lunch with a friend. I just needed an example!