First Time For Everything

so i had a "first time" about two days ago. my cat lady neighbor has asked me to paint her house. i have finished the front, the back, and now is time for the sides. i have a 20 ft ladder thats really long and skinny. It gets me a little over halfway to the top of this ladies house, and thats extending it ALL the way (which FYI, is not a good idea). i borrowed a 35 ft ladder from the esteemed University i work at. It got me to the top. so i begin climbing, with my sweet little pulley system i rigged for my paint can and brush. i get to the top. the wind is blowing, the ladder is bouncing and swaying (swaying because its on a a hill so the ground isnt level, so i had a series of bricks holding one leg up) and for the FIRST TIME, i think to myself, "i cant do this." There are lots of things i know i cant do, i have said "i cant do this" a thousand times. But the reason i said "i cant do this" this time, was because i started thinking about my wife, my son Grayden, my son Foster...and i thought, "i am really going to die and i cant be this irresponsible." So i got down, and i didnt finish. it was weird. Also, i have a friend and mentor who is the definition of responsibility and safety (for privacy sake, we will call him Chuck) and his head started floating around my head saying, "justin, you need to be responsible, this is not a good idea, you need three points of contact." anyways, it was pretty crazy.


double friday, i found this quote on a friends blog. i thought it was amazing:

"A child's instinct is almost perfect in the matter of fighting; a child always stands for the good militarism as against the bad. The child's hero is always the man or boy who defends himself suddenly and splendidly against aggression. The child's hero is never the man or boy who attempts by his mere personal force to extend his mere personal influence. In all boys' books, in all boys' conversation, the hero is one person and the bully the other. That combination of the hero and bully in one, which people now call the Strong Man or the Superman, would be simply unintelligible to any schoolboy....
But really to talk of this small human creature, who never picks up an umbrella without trying to use it as a sword, who will hardly read a book in which there is no fighting, who out of the Bible itself generally remembers the "bluggy" [bloody] parts, who never walks down the garden without imagining himself to be stuck all over with swords and daggers--to take this human creature and talk about the wickedness of teaching him to be military, seems rather a wild piece of humour. He has already not only the tradition of fighting, but a far manlier and more genial tradition of fighting than our own. No; I am not in favour of the child being taught militarism. I am in favour of the child teaching it. "

Spanking

first. this isnt about masturbation if you have accidentally googled "spanking" and found this site. but please, read on.

a woman in Massachusetts has just written a bill that is waiting to be passed that states that it should be illegal to spank your child, even within your home.

this is very interesting, while i dont think the bill has a snowball's chance, it raises a good questions about where our culture is headed.

as for spanking, i can see both sides. i think spanking is a parents right, and its a right just like owning a gun, that needs to be thought out and dealt with responsibly. its a fine balance of raising kids, using it to discipline at the right moments or not using it at all. its a parents hard decision.

but what does this say about us? as a people? as a nation? that something like this is being seriously entertained really bothers me for some reason. i dont have the right words, because thats not really my strong suit, but i feel like this is a big sign of our cultures weakness. as if we have suddenly exposed our vulnerable parts to the enemy.

maybe i have completely skewed perspectives. i mean, if they legalized marijuana, i really wouldnt care and i wouldnt see it as bad commentary on our culture. Gay marriage doesnt bother me, abortion laws dont bother me. but for some reason, this really does. i could just be warped.

Movie Update

Saw a few new movies over the Thanksgiving break.

First, on the disappointment list:

Children of Men

I really expected this movie to be amazing. i dont know why, i just thought it would be good, and i love Clive Owen. It had lots of potential to be amazing, good plot line, fun apocalyptic future happenings....but instead of being left with excitement and wonderment, i was left bored and hoping that any minute, it would get good better...it didnt.

Now for the good:

Reign Over Me:

Beautiful. and i dont use the word lightly. rarely will i ever refer to a movie as "Beautiful" because frankly, most movies arent. But this movie is.....very beautiful.

Evan Almighty:

I wanted so bad to hate this movie. i knew it was just destined to suck. I wanted it to suck because of the christain subculture's tendency to latch on to bad art. And to be honest, if the "christians" (and i use the term superficially and with lots and lots of stereotype, remembering that i am a die-hard part of said group, its just embarrassing at some times) love it, then i usually dont.

So, i watch it, and....its actually really good. The character of God, played by Morgan Freeman, was fantastic. I, like everyone, see God in my own way. And its rarely the God who loves you so much that he is fascinated with your individual life. But God is like that too, and Morgan Freeman's portrayal was absolutely refreshing and encouraging. its good to remember how much God loves us. Thanks Evan Almighty, for being good, despite your marketing to churches by giving them a sweet package on "how to use this film in your sermon, because you are too dense to make the application yourself."

The Weekend

putting on offer on a house tomorrow, in Oakley.
been addicted to playing risk online,
also, found this iworship thing if you have a mac you can download the beta for free (thanks matt)
also, you mus see Little Children, it has been added to the favorite movie list, its amazing.
AND last, we had a family day at Alms Park in Cincinnati. It was a great day. Nothing beats cincinnati parks. Here are all the pics:



This is my favorite picture of the 4 of us ever.









Grayden and i got in a bit of a Sword Fight, of course, Grayden won. But i look super cool.




and last but not least, i ate a sider. whatever it takes. whatever it takes to be the coolest to my sons.

another great dad & grayden creation

PolyTrio-Lo

So last week i sought out to do something i havent done in a long time. I had a friend who really taught me the discipline of Fasting and it was something i used to practice regularly. I know, its weird. I always think that from the outside looking in, Christians look like weirdo's....not eating food, drinking blood, singing songs to the air....

Anyway, i decided to Fast last week, in light of some MAJOR life decisions we are making.

This is the first time i have done it with two kids. Its rather hard. I fasted for about 2 days straight...and in this time....i may have prayed less and focused less....its just quite hard with kids.

Not because they are a burden, at all. But my mind and body are constantly focused elsewhere. This makes the discipline quite different.

I would not at all say that the fast was a waste. I dont do it as a means to an end, as much as to practice the discipline and let God work through it, its just that spiritual disciplines take a new look when you go from so-lo to...Polytrio-lo or something.

Bigger Things

two things that have tripped me out lately.

first

Last night we watched a movie called Transamerica. This is a very interesting movie about a guy who is in the final stage of fully becoming woman, both physically and mentally. It is a very interesting movie about the broken life and struggle of this person. Not to mention the stellar job of Felicity Huffman playing a man who is trying to be a woman.

second.

I watched Phenomenon for the first time the other night. This is a TV show where magicians preform tricks ("Illusions Michael, Tricks are something whores do for money." Job from Arrested Development) and Chris Angel and Some other Illusionist judge them like American idol. The things these people are doing, are completely incredible. For the most part, you can tell that there is some sort of trick to it, but if you have ever seen Chris Angel or David Blaine, you know that there is something more to it. As well as some of these participants, there is next level junk going on. Also, while we were on vacation , we were excited to have cable, and of course i was stuck watching Lifetime. I suppose the new cool thing for lonely housewives is watching physicic shows. Upon watching a few of these shows, its evident that these people have something again, totally next level.

my conclusion about all of this, isnt a whats right and whats wrong. whats from satan and whats not. whats moral and whats psychotic. all this leaves me feeling so amazed at our world. There are things bigger than we are, things bigger than we could imagine happening in our world. I believe that these people really do have powers, i love that our world is mystical and that we can not begin to understand it. It just deepens my love for God and for this world. I love Christianity because it allows me to make sense of and get this bigger piece of this life. People are broken and searching for something bigger...what is interesting is that these something bigger's exist.

I love how C.S. Lewis makes Father Christmas, The White Witch, and Tash real entities. They are powerful beings that exist in the world they are real. But they are not Aslan. I think our world may be closer to that than we realize.

update on life.

man, lots have been going on. this is where i sit, and reflect on all the important things that have been flooding through my brain lately. here ya go:

TV
Heroes- this show is amazing, and will not be effected by the writers strike for quite awhile. that's good.

30 Rock- one of the funniest shows ever

Arrested Developement- i know, its over, but we watch it like its not

The Office- of course still great.

The Reaper- Amazing!!!!

Wii-
I heard Mario dies at the end of Mario Galaxy, which makes sense since i also heard its the last Mario.

Movies-
awhile ago, i had a movie bash, this is where i watch a bunch of movies that i have not seen, and i watch them in less than one weeks time period, they go as follows:
- Ghost Rider: i felt i should see this, since I'm a sucker for comic book movies. i thought it would really suck. it only mildly sucked. i dug it. it wasn't as bad as Hulk or as repulsive as Fantastic Four, Rise of the Silver Suck.

- Rocky Balboa: I thought this was a great end to the Rocky saga. however, there is a deleted scene that changes the ending, that would have sucked.

- Snakes on a Plane: it wasn't bad. it wasn't bad.

- The Guardian: I really thought this would be better than it was. It was very predictable and not as tear jerking as i anticipated. but it gets EC shout outs for me.

- The Born Supremacy: I hadn't ever seen this. it was good.

- Casino Royale: This was good, but it certainly lacked elements to actually classify it as a Bond movie. it lacked lots of Bond appeal. i know it was supposed to...but still...it was again, just okay.

- Wild Hogs: In 15 years i will watch this movie again and love it.

- Click: wow, this movie wins. its the best of all of them. maybe it was some bad Stroginaf, or a late night holding my new son. but this movie had me in tears. not laughing, but sobbing, weeping tears of heartache. this movie got to me. i am totally not kidding. while it wasn't the greatest, it certainly won the prize for best of the list.


Here are just a few more i have seen lately:
Fantastic Four, Rise of the Silver Surfer- just in case you missed it, this is the worst installment of the new found "super hero" genre of movies.

I just watched Capote, and Ant Bully.....you should check both of those out too.

Chess:
i have been on a campaign to get my just turned 3 yr old son to be a chess player. so far, he is amazing me.

Tattoos:
i have designed my next two tattoos. they will be amazing. more updates on these later.

Bible:
Just finished Nehemiah and it is a great book. its amazing how something as trivial as a wall can bring people back to experience God. it reminded me that the joys and things of this life are not as remedial as we make them out to be.

Kids:
father of two, its great.

Marriage:
my wife is the bomb and she is super hot. i lover her.

Book of Order:
never ever ever be a denominational church....its absolute pandomonia

Church Planting:
this weekend we are meeting with a possible place to meet in Oakley. its a gamble, but it could be great.

Youtube:
i have a video that is nearing 18,000 views. quite cool. although i will not release the name of this video, because its quite nerdy too.

Pauline Authorship of the Pastoral Epistles:
yeah, im an expert.

Indiana Jones:
quite the tool.

Star Wars:
losing their movie appeal? whats going on!

well, i think that is about it on the life updates for now.

fear in their eyes...

Someone, the other day, reminded me of this Shakespearean speech:

"Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red. This story shall the good man teach his son; And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by, From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be remembered- We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile, This day shall gentle his condition; And gentlemen in England now-a-bed Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here, And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."

To others, Aragorn;s speech may be more suitable:

Sons of Gondor! Of Rohan! My brothers. I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of Men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the Age of Men comes crashing down, but it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!

To the more shallow movie buff, you can use this:

Aye, fight and you may die. Run and you'll live -- at least a while. And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!!!

The feeling exerted in these moments, to these troops, is the same feeling i had this morning when i read this:

"Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes."

This is what Nehemiah spoke to his scared men, as they were building a wall. The enemy was advancing, and Nehemiah saw the fear in his men, and he charged them to stand up and fight and to defend that wall.

A hammer in one hand, a sword in the other.
A trowel in one hand, a bow in the other.
Mortar in one hand, spears in the other.

building with one hand, fighting with the other.

This is where i see my place in the kingdom.

so i will build, and i will fight.

Just in case you didnt beleive me

so, apparently some think my son is "posing" his amazing chess face.
heres the proof.




oh, and if you are really watching, he moves his queen to take my queen. a completely viable move that he was totally not prompted on. child genius perhaps? i think so. oprah, here we come.