Valentine's Day '07

For this Valentine's Day/night we decided to go to the "happiest place on earth" with our good friends the Lasch's. There is nothing like spending an evening at Disneyland to celebrate any event!

We spent the majority of the evening at 'Rancho De Zocalo' having a fantastic Mexican dinner, then went on a couple of rides. Of course the evening started off with Michelle chasing down "Captain Jack Sparrow" aka, Matt from Revolution. He is really good - got the vocals down as well as the physical similarity!

The evening was really quite fun - as are all the times we spend with the Lasch family - they are really funny folks! Oh, did I mention that they have a lifegroup - yep, it is Thursday nights at their house in Long Beach! If you aren't in a lifegroup yet - you should check theirs out!

Here are a couple of pic's from the night.

The tram ride over

Pics of the kids and moms on Big Thunder Mountain

Well now I have done it...

Trust me... As I contemplated blogging about this movie - I am greatly concerned with the fact that I will no doubt offend a very good friend of mine! But I cannot, NOT say a few things about this movie.

I have never seen this movie until this point - and I really could have continued to live my life without EVER seeing it. This particular type of movie is the reason why I don't want to watch 'R' rated movies - the violence, vulgarity, nudity, language, sub-plot liberties taken from the historical fact (read 'hollywoodness') detract from what could have been a very good movie.

Don't get me wrong - I know that epic battles are hard to depict without some bloodshed being shown - but there was nothing - NOTHING left to the imagination in this movie. If you ever wondered what it looks like to have someone run-through with a broadsword, limbs severed with axes, head crushed with mallets or faces smashed in with a mace (ball and chain) you can enjoy seeing them in this movie. Not to mention the violence of attempted rape, the promotion of adultry (which detract from the good deeds of the real Sir William Wallace) the hints at homosexuality - - - gosh, I could go on, but why.

I think that this nearly 3 hour movie could have been shortened by an hour by removing alot of the extra-story telling that wasn't necessary. Sir William Wallace was indeed a warrior, a violent warrior - but he was also a very educated man who was very skilled in language, customs and war. But the movie seemed to focus more on the war and less on the other attributes of Sir Wallace.

This is a rare sentence you will ever see in my blog - but nevertheless it must be said. If you want to know about Sir William Wallace, read a book - Don't see this movie.

I am beginning to see a trend in all Mel Gibson directed movies.... hmmm.....

I do have a favorite line from the movie, "In order for an Irishman to find his equal, he is forced to speak to God". I love that line - being Irish myself!

Enough said?

Facing the Giants

My wife and I have decided to change our movie viewing habits - mostly that means we have decided to only view movies that are more glorifying to God. I initially thought, great, no more good movies.. only PG13 and under... nothing good is available with a rating that low... boy was I surprised!

This is a great movie!

SEE IT - BUY IT.

I watched this movie on the recomendation of a friend - who knows I am NOT a sports person - but knows that my heart is deeply moved, when I see God's spirit move upon the life of an individual. I also am moved to tears when people choose to follow Jesus for the first time. Let's just say that this movie moved me more than once!

This movie is so inspiring to me for numerous reasons. Check out the clip, then read the rest of this post.




This movie was made by a Georgia church with a $100,000 budget and an ALL VOLUNTEER cast. The reason this movie was made... as they say in the additional DVD stuff... because the church BELIEVES they can make a difference for Christ from their church in Georgia.



The writer/director went to his pastor and said that he wanted to make christian movies and the pastor supported his desire. Gave him funding and promoted the making of the movie to the congregation.



The movie is inspiring as it shows what God can do in a person's life if they surrender Lord-ship to Him. (I often wonder why people won't do this right away - before hardship strikes... but I digress) and live life 'for the glory of God'. The movie is also inspiring to see what a single church can do if they submit to God and place God first in all they do...



My new favorite saying is, "What's impossible with God... Nothing coach".