I AM your father......sorry about the smell

DarthJay29 brings up an interesting point...

After seeing Episode III, something occured to me about Darth Vader...we know that due to the constraints of his armor, he can only take it off in his special chamber, and we know that his special chamber pretty much has a chair and communications screen and nothing else -- which leads me to a startling conclusion: Darth Vader stunk!

Think about it - he's a severly burned person (with elements of his Episode III clothing still fused to his body) and he's encased in this armor that he can't take off, he has no place to take a shower, and he wore the same outfit for 20ish years! I think he struck fear into the heart of the galaxy because (among obvious other things) nobody could stand the smell.

Star Wars: Blogs Things You Might Not Have Thought About I AM your father......sorry about the smell.

Ministry Mastercard

Rod Parsley really wants to help you get out of debt. (Yes, this is for real.)

With the Breakthrough Card program you redirect normal bank fees to impact the ministry. Every time you use your card a contribution 50% of normal banking fees go to Breakthrough.

Breakthrough -Breakthrough Mastercard�

Local Anti-Islam Church Sign

Here we go again. I think I'd be careful about posting verses from the Quran in order to make blanket statements about an entire religion.

In Matthew 10:34, Jesus said, "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword."

Whole article ==> First Coast News | Local News

Purposeful Interference

Tim Challies has posted an ominous piece of Internet journalism regarding the seeming over night super success of The Purpose Driven Life. I know I say this a lot, but it's a MUST READ article. Here's a quote (link below):

Strangely, and perhaps ironcially, few people would list marketing as a primary concern with The Purpose Driven Life. Only a brief survey of various reviews and critiques proves this to be true. Having studied almost all of the available information about The Purpose Driven Life and the principles of PyroMarketing, it is clear that the book does owe much of its success to this type of marketing. The Purpose Driven Life was not merely a grassroots, word-of-mouth, ministry success. It was a well-planned and carefully-orchestrated marketing triumph.

Link to whole article here.

Superman Returns

I read this yesterday about the new Superman movie that is coming out next summer. It sounds very promising. I love the fact that they are not totally reinventing the character but are actually building off the story of 1978's Superman and 1980's Superman II. And they are using John Williams' theme!!

This is a report from a guy who attended Comic-Con this past weekend in San Diego. Director Bryan Singer (who also directed the X-Men movies) flew from the set in Australia to give the presentation to over 6,000 fans.

Singer noted that the upcoming film very much uses Richard Donnor's original 1978 Superman: The Movie as its launching point, placing both it and Superman 2 into a kind of vague but reverent history. It thankfully assumes that the awful Superman III and Superman IV never happened. The look and spirit of the film is also very influenced by the Max Fleischer animated shorts from the 1950s. And yes... the John Williams theme WILL be featured. The film deals with issues of fathers and sons, the need for hope and what happens when people come to depend on a 'messiah' too much. It's also very much a romantic story, dealing with Clark Kent and Lois Lane's relationship. It seems that Superman's been away for the last 15 years on a pilgrimage to his long dead home planet Krypton. While he's been away, the people of Earth (and Lois) seem to have given up hope and moved on. When he finally returns, looking younger than when people last saw him, Superman must deal with the changes in his adopted society and try to find his place in it again. Naturally, Lex Luthor has plans of his own. There will be some humor, but plenty of action and a dark edge to the film, particularly with regard to the character of Luthor. Marlon Brando WILL reprise his role as Jor-El, but the part will be very small and will be voice only (culled from audio originally recorded, but not used, for Superman II). And according to Warner Bros. chief Alan Horn (see this link at Fox news), the film will be dedicated in memory of Christopher Reeve.

Now for that trailer. Singer described it as "a quick reel we put together for you", but clearly he was just having fun with the crowd. It opens with shots of the Kent farm - amazingly, Singer has managed to capture the EXACT texture and feel of Donner's film. Over this, we hear Superman's mother asking, "Why Earth, Jor-El? They're primitives, thousands of years behind us." The response comes from a voice that is unmistakably Brando's: "He will need that advantage to survive..." Next we see what seems to be the return of Superman to the Kent farm, via crashed spaceship... Clark's return to the Daily Planet... reacquainting with Lois, and meeting people we assume are her son and husband - a husband who seems to be jealous of Lois' previous feelings for Clark... some kind of disaster in the offing... and a bald-headed Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor holding up one of those gleaming-green Kryptionian memory crystals with an ominous look on his face. All of this as Williams' unmistakable music plays softly. By the way, the casting - at least based on this trailer - is spot-on perfect. Everyone seems to fill out their roles perfectly, including Routh and Kate Bosworth as Lois. And let me tell you, Spacey is going to tear up the house as Lex. Mark my words. The trailer ends with a shot of Superman in space, hovering over the Earth, seeming to be contemplating his next move. Suddenly, he makes a decision and rockets down out of view with a look of determination. The camera cuts to watch his departure... he's already just a speck glowing with plasma as he re-enters the atmosphere. Suddenly, we hear a sonic boom... and Williams' signature theme plays as we see the words: "On June 30, 2006... Look to the Skies!" and then the stylized "S" logo hits to end the clip.

"Spurgeon and Osteen: The Tale of Inaugural Sermons"

The iMonk draws a very interesting and telling comparison...

Spurgeon talked about the Gospel and the Savior. Osteen talked about turning out champions in life.

No Gospel. No need for a mediator. Success by way of God's favor by way of Lakewood. If you can't see what's going on here, you're just not listening.

Read whole article here.

Rick Warren Article in Ladies' Home Journal

Pardon me for getting a bit jumpy, and please set me in my place if I need it, but I just couldn't let this one slide. And NO, I don't read LHJ, I happen to see this article linked from another site...

Check out this Rick Warren article:3 Ways to Lift Your Spirits

1) "Spiritual fatigue is the result of trying to live without God." WOW. How damning is that statement as a gospel message? The gospel of self-denial and repentance has just become the gospel of recharging your batteries. Almost sounds like a computer technician - "reboot and everything will be fine!" And I don't know where "He energizes those who get tired" was pulled from, but I'm guessing the context won't support a "spiritual fatigue" gospel.

2) Bonus points for correctly quoting "Take my yoke upon you," but airball on drawing the conclusion to "yoke up" with God or let him "share your load." Jesus is preaching an exchange of yokes, not a removal or sharing of one. Yes it's true he shares the yoke with us. But what kind of a can of worms would seeker-sensitive theology open up to truly find out what "yoke" a believer is called to? (i.e., see Romans 6:18 in the NASB and in the Message and note one version's failure to mention our continued slavery.)

3) " But God knows that the two greatest sources of stress in our lives are aggression and arrogance." Come on, seriously. Pride? Incorrect priorities? Selfishness? These didn't make the top of the list? Not in this flavor of gospel I suppose.

Alright, I'm done ranting. I guess the purpose of all that up there is an anger and sadness of the content of the message being pushed out to the weary and downcast. The problem truly flows from the heart and the pages of Scripture beautifully prescribe a solution that brings the peace of God, a peace that passes all understanding.

We're back...

I'll blog more in the coming days about our mission trip to the Czech Republic.

Here we are in Prague (on Saturday, July 9th).

The wrong way to handle hitting a deer

Simply unbelievable...

The injured deer was suffering, so the Arlington County police officer shot it in the head. When that didn't kill it, the deer was run over by a cruiser. Finally, a bag was placed over its head and it suffocated.

Now, an Arlington police officer is under internal investigation for his handling of the incident last month.

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