Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Help!

Ok, so some would say I am a bit of an avid reader.  I have to read at night before I go to bed so as you can imagine I go through some books.  I just bought 2 crappy books from wal mart because I ran out of books to read.  I need some suggestions... Here is a list of what I've read so far this year to give you kind of an idea of what I like to read.  And yes, when you look at what I read you could be fooled into thinking I'm a dork.  I am not, at least I don't think so.
Watchmen
Harry Potter and Sorcerors Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Double Cross
The Princess Bride
Friday Night Lights  (As of Feb 22)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (As of March 22)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (As of May)
Dune 
The Partner by John Grisham
The Last Gunslinger by Stephen King
The Legend of Bagger Vance (As of July 20)

Ok blog fans hit me with something, I'm counting on you!

Monday, July 20, 2009

Voldemort and such

Just saw the 6th Harry Potter movie.  It was enjoyable, obviously with a few changes and things left out to keep the movie under 4 hours.  While some of the changes were kind of annoying the story didn't lose much besides maybe Harry looking a little weaker than he does in the books.  Anyways I was talking with Mike the other day, he is reading the books for the first time and is on #3, and we decided on an idea for J.K.'s 8th book.  I'm sure were not the first people to come up with this idea but let me tell you, it's a good one.  If you're not into Harry Potter you may want to stop reading now.  Anyways, for the 8th book she needs to write about the first wizarding war, the rise of Voldemort.  It could include his rise to power, creating the horcruxes, chaos in the ministry, the original order of the phoenix, ending in the betrayal and death of Harry's parents.  It would be a very interesting story while also providing useful information about a time that is only briefly covered in her original novels.  I know I know, I am a huge dork.  I'm ok with that though.  So if any of the countless people who read this blog happen to know J.K. let her know we are waiting for the day this novel hits the stores.  And if she feels like throwing any of the royalties my way I'd be ok with that too.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Joining the Fight

For all you faithful readers out there I apologize for my absence.  I know it must have been a struggle waiting on my next post.  Well wait no more my friends cause here it is. 

I returned from camp a couple weeks ago after another amazing week.  Camp never fails to be possibly my favorite week of the year.  I have days that are better but not whole weeks.  The theme this year was spiritual warfare.  It’s a subject which I believe does not receive enough attention in our church classes and sermons.  This is because when you actually stop to think about what spiritual warfare entails, it’s pretty scary.  If you believe in Satan, which I do, then it stands to reason that he has demons working for him as well as angels working against him.  You know that old trick you see on TV with the angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other whispering into your ear?  Perhaps that’s not to far off from reality, although real demons are whole lot scarier.  We’ve all heard stories of demon possession in other countries and I can even say I believe I’ve witnessed it.  Witnessing a demon take control of someone’s mind is a humbling experience.  The incredible power of it makes you realize how weak we are in comparison.  When I stop to think about it the only thing that keeps me from quaking is to know that if demons are this powerful, how much more power do God’s angels wield?  It’s a battle that is fought everyday and it is comforting to know we have power on our side as well.  I had an interesting conversation the other night at a pub in Webster with some of my basketball buddies.  One guy said he didn’t believe in “Satan” but he believed in evil.  He said that no one makes him do sinful things, he does them on his own.  While I agree with part of this, we are definitely capable of sinning on our own, I believe Satan does his part to plant sinful desires and cravings in our minds, to whisper in our ears so to speak.  To quote one of my favorite movies The Usual Suspects “ the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he didn’t exist.”  Satan wants nothing more than for people to not believe in him, to discredit his power.  It makes it that much easier to do his work.  If we don’t believe in him why would we call upon the Lord for help?  I believe in spiritual warfare and think that it must be taken seriously.  But we have not been left alone in this fight.  There is true power in prayer, in calling on the Lord to guard and protect you.  And knowing I am in the middle of a fight, why would I not ask God, who is infinitely more powerful, to back me up?