My Heart is Not Set on You

                        One of the things that I love about Scripture is that I can read through it countless times and still read something that hadn't noticed before. Like Psalm 131 for example. Verses one and three have been my prayer for some time now and here I find that David prayed the same way. It's similar to what the Apostle Paul says in one of his letters, and I paraphrase, “I do what I know I shouldn't and don't do what I know I should.” In Gethsemane, Jesus told his disciples, “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” Isn't that the truth? I know it is for me. I will continue to strive to put my faith, gain my joy, and find my assurance in Christ. What about you? 

Ocean Shores - 2015

Hey everybody, check out this video!!! It's just something that I put together from the footage of a trip some friends and I took to Oceans Shores, Washington earlier this summer. Hope you enjoy it!

Lessons from Thor (i wasn't sure what else to call it)

I thought you dead./ Did you mourn?/ We all did. Our father.../ YOUR father! He did tell you my true parentage, did he not?/ We were raised together, we played together, we fought together. Do you remember none of that?/ I remember a shadow, living in the shade of your greatness. I remember you tossing me into an abyss, I who was and should be king!/ So you take the world I love as recompense for your imagined slights? No, the Earth is under MY protection, Loki!/ [laughs] And you're doing a marvelous job with that! The humans slaughter each other in droves, while you ideally threat. I mean to rule them. And why should I not?/ You think yourself above them?/ Well, yes./ Then you miss the truth of ruling, brother. A throne would suit you ill./ I've seen worlds you've never known about! I have grown, Odin's Son, in my exile! I have seen the true power of the Tesseract, and when I wield it.../ Who showed you this power? Who controls the would-be-king?/ I AM a king!/ NOT HERE! You give up the Tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream!... You come home.

I love the heart of Thor. He continually extends reconciliation to Loki. His heart is for his brother to repent. No matter what Loki does. Even in Thor: The Dark World, after he says, "KNOW that WHEN you betray me, I will kill you," he says, "I wish I could trust you." After everything that happened, after Loki killed him, he still forgives. While on Pinterest the other day, I saw something that I thought was quite profound. It said, "Watching Thor, I find it sad that Loki spends so much time wallowing in the fact that he's not Odin's favorite, but he completely misses the fact that he's Thor's favorite." It's most obvious when Loki dies*, Thor's grief is real and heart-rending.

Similarly, I think we, as Christians, spend much of our lives wanting to be popular or the cool friend or the favorite, and we miss the fact that Jesus is there loving us... Even after we killed Him. Sure, I may be stretching the example, but I hope you get the point. Jesus wants us to "give up our poisonous dreams" and come back to Him. To what matters. *side note: Yes, he didn't die and I was so upset that Loki didn't ACTUALLY die. He died so well. There was reconciliation. There was closure. Aaaaand they had to screw it up by letting him live

Bend

There are those moments in life where my pride says “Be stubborn, ‘cuz we all know you’re right” but my conscience says, “Yeah, um. No. No, you’re wrong. And you know it. You need to submit. Suck it up. Do the right thing.” It’s like the angel/demon on the shoulder war. And you want so bad for the demon to be right, but you know deep down that the angel’s spot on. You know you’re gonna have to humble yourself before you’re humbled, but it’s so hard. And you know it’s gonna be worth it. That you’ll look back on this and think, “Why was I such a blockhead?” But in the heat of it all, in the thick of it, your pride, the flesh, it just holds on so tight. Yeah. This is what we call life. Maturing. Growing up. Sometimes life sucks. But we have to get over it. Stop feeling sorry for ourselves and change. The right thing is the right thing. No matter how we feel about it. Deal with it.

Flight of Time

So, time flies fast. Like really, really fast. It seems like yesterday was my last post, but it's been about a month. What's happened in between? Well, I took a trip to Nevada with my father (strictly for work) and while driving back up, we hit black ice and rolled his work rig. Yeah, that's about the closest to death that I've come. But we are fine, no injuries. Like, at all. God has been very good to us. We celebrated a wonderful Christmas as well as ringing in the New Year. The most recent news, however,  is that I will be auditioning for an acting agent on Saturday. This Saturday. Needless to say, I am very excited. Very, very, VERY excited.

Happy New Year, everyone!
Remember in all things, no matter how far we fall,
Jesus never, ever, ever gives up on us.
Be true to Him because, most assuredly, He is always true to us.
In fact, He is truth.

Simeon.

Unbroken

             The inflatable raft, holding three starving airmen, is barely afloat in the Pacific. Sharks circle the boat. Death is very near. One of these men is former Olympic runner, Louis Zamperini. How did he get here?

            Unbroken, written by Lauren Hillenbrand, is the gripping biography of this man, this Louis ‘Louie’ Zamperini. During his childhood, Louie discovered that he could run, that is, as an athlete runs. Soon, he was smashing records all over the country, trying to run a four-minute mile. He got into the 1936 Olympics, which were held in Germany, and, although he finished eighth line in the 5000 meter, caught the attention of none other than Adolph Hitler, who demanded a meeting with “the boy with the fast finish.”

            Immediately after returning home, he began training for the 1940 Olympics, but all was about to change. The Olympics were scheduled to be in Tokyo, Japan, but, due to the outbreak of World War II, they were canceled and moved to Helsinki, Finland. Then, as WWII began to ravage Scandinavia, the Olympics were suspended indefinitely. Louie joined the Army and became a crewmember on a bomber. Several times, Death missed him, thanks to the expert pilot. But, on a fateful day, a plane went down in the Pacific. Louie’s team was called to go scour the ocean with another crew and look for the missing plane, or at least the survivors. Somewhere in the middle of the ‘Big Blue’, an accident happened that would change Louie’s life forever. The rust-bucket plane his crew was ordered to fly on this mission had four engines. One went out. The pilot told the engineer to stop the propeller from turning, which was a normal procedure when an engine went out. The real problem began when the engineer stopped the wrong prop. Now two engines were out and the plane plummeted to the depths. Only three men survived. Now, they were afloat in the Pacific, literally warding off death with paddles. After weeks of floating, with little more than raw bird meat and rain water to survive on, only two men remained. Louie and the pilot. A ship came into view and they became elated with joy that maybe, just maybe, it would be an American vessel. The happiness quickly turned to horror when they saw the flag. It wasn’t the Stars and Stripes, but the Rising Sun of the Japanese Empire.

            Unbroken is a story of survival, courage, and, most importantly, forgiveness. Find out the whole story by reading this amazing book. I would recommend this work to a more mature audience due to some language scattered in the pages.

Forbidden

                Forbidden, by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee, is an intense, futuristic thriller about a man named Rom, his three friends and a dead world. Dekker and Lee do a fantastic job of keeping the reader’s fingers busy… meaning; this book is quite a page turner. Although set over five hundred years in the future, they paint the world as not having changed much. It almost seems more Victorian then modern.

            Rom is a young, handsome funeral singer. He has never known love, hate, or any other emotion because he is emotionless. But then so is everyone else on planet earth. The story goes that, in 2005, scientists found the DNA chemical that creates the emotion of fear. Over the next few years, they similarly found the chemicals that made up every other emotion that a human feels. A nuclear war broke out and thousands were killed, so the scientists realized the only way to save the human race from annihilation was to rid it of emotion. They released an airborne virus into the atmosphere that stripped humanity of all emotion… except for fear.

            On a certain overcast day, Rom is making his way home from a funeral when he finds an old man, or rather, an old man finds him. He gives Rom a package and tells him to take it and find a man called the Book. Before Rom can ask any questions, the man is killed by some police officers. Horrified, he runs for his life, not thinking that all will be well if he just gave the package up. When he arrives home, his mother asks why he has blood on him so he tells her what happened. She becomes equally scared and tells him to take it in, but he counters that, because he ran, they will still kill him. The argument is cut short when the police show up at the house. He runs, but not before he sees them but his mother’s throat. Running out of options for safety, he goes to his friend, Avra’s, house. He asks her to help him and she agrees. They run and in a church where Avra asks him what is in the package. Realizing that he doesn’t yet know, they open it and find a vial of blood wrapped in leather, which is covered in writing. The writing tells them that in drinking the blood, they will find life. Rom takes the vial, seeing that there is nothing left to lose, and drinks a portion of it. The energy that courses through him is so powerful that he passes out. While he is unconscious, Avra also drinks a portion of the blood and she collapses under the force of life. When they wake, they realize that they really never were alive and that the whole world is dead. Two more of their friends drink some of the blood and the foursome begin to uncover the past… in order to save the present and restore life to a dead race.

            With many twists and turns along the way, this book is virtually impossible to put down. Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee have written this in such a wonderful way that it is gripping yet not just entertaining. Smoothly woven into this novel is biblical imagery and beautiful description. The most interesting part is describing what emotion is like from the perspective of one who has just found it. I would recommend this book to a more mature audience because of the graphic nature of the murders and a detailed (rather bloody) fight sequence.

The Screwtape Letters

Have you ever wanted to know what the demons think? Have you ever wondered how they go about tempting you every day? Well, many years ago, C.S. Lewis penned a book that might give you a little glimpse into the other side.

            The Screwtape Letters is a fictitious assortment of letters written by Undersecretary Screwtape, a retired tempter, to his nephew, Wormwood, a beginning tempter. These letters are filled with tidbits of advice that are supposed to help Wormwood “secure” the soul of his “patient.” Although the reader never hears what Wormwood says or does, the attitude of Screwtape’s letters convey what is evidently happening. He is a blundering, clumsy idiot of a demon and Screwtape has much fun in telling him so. Whether or not the soul is captured I will leave up to you to find out…

         Although it is, as said before, a fictitious writing, C.S. Lewis brings up many good points throughout these letters. The wisdom written here should be heeded and spread so that less and less of Christians will fall into the devil’s clever, imperceptible traps.

The Bone House

The Bone House is the intriguing sequel to The Skin Map, both written by Steven R. Lawhead, in the Bright Empires series. Following the myth that telluric energy is a time travel or time jumping force, Steven has penned another mind twisting book. Filled with unexpected plot twists and adventure, this sequel has  come to par level with its precursor.

Kit has been saved by Wilhelmina, Uncle Henry and Cosimo are dead. What next? Mina (Wilhelmina’s nick name) has taken Kit and Guiles to her home in the 1600s era Prague. But soon after they get there, Lord Burleigh comes out of nowhere with Lady Fayth. Knowing that Burleigh has made frequent visits to Prague and that they are never long, Mina attempts to hide Guiles and Kit in a nearby ley (time jump portal) until he leaves and then she will retrieve them after Burleigh leaves. Plans change when Guiles is shot by Burleigh while distracting him so that Kit can get away and Kit barely escapes… into the Stone Age. Although the plan was to wait for Mina at the crossing point, Kit decides to take a bit of a stroll and ends up being taken to a caveman-like village where the natives welcome him as one of their own. Mina comes arrives in the period moments later and, after searching for Kit everywhere within a radius of the ley, gives up and returns to car for Guiles. After many months, Kit is still among the Stone Agers and waiting for his chance to escape back to Mina, when, by accident, he falls through a ley and into a lush jungle where he finds Arthur Flindres-Petrie… the Man Who Is Map. The man whose skin Kit has held is his very hands.

This book was very interesting. Following many different plot lines might seem hard to do, but really, it isn’t. The way Stephen Lawhead writes is different from other authors. Because time boundaries are obsolete in this series, some one who is dead, could very well be alive. Confusing? You should read the books for yourself, it is explained there much better than I could ever do it.

The Skin Map

Countless people have wondered if time travel is possible. Others believe that telluric energy¹ (a.k.a. an earth current) is a time-travel force and we only have to learn how to harness it in order to travel back or forward in time. The Skin Map, written by Steven Lawhead, is a fictitious novel about the “what-ifs’ involving telluric energy and time travel. It is the first book in the Bright Empires series.

            Kit Livingstone is a twenty-seven year old loser, he works a job in London, only to survive; and he willingly admits that he needs a new girlfriend. He keeps the one he has just for the sake of being in a relationship. On a random, Sunday afternoon, he is on his way to her house because he had promised her that they would go shopping together. Through a series of unfortunate events, he is forced to walk the several blocks to her house. On his way, he passes down an alley that he has never been down before. A freak storm comes and then, just as quickly as it came, it was gone. As he nears the end of the tunnel, he hears someone call his name. He turns to find his great-grandfather, Cosimo Livingstone, following him. Thinking that it is just some crazy man, he walks on and comes out the other side of the alley, but finds himself in a seaside village, not London. He demands to know what happened and the Cosimo informs him that he has walked through a portal into the past, although not history. It is another dimension of history (meaning, if he changes something there, it will not necessarily change the future in real time).  Cosimo goes on to ask Kit to help him with something, but Kit wants nothing of it. He walks back into the alley which is back into London. A few minutes later, he comes to his girlfriend Wilhelmina’s house and is thoroughly confused when she is upset with him for being so late. Not quite sure what she means by “so late”, he looks at his phone and sees that it was 4:30pm, a full eight hours from when he left his house. He tries his best to explain what happened, but she doesn’t believe him. Finally, he decides to take her to the portal. When they get to it, he walks through first with her following directly behind him, but when he gets through, she is nowhere to be found. Cosimo finds him and tells Kit that he knew that he would return soon, but asks him what caused him to come back. Kit sighs and explains what happened. Cosimo is not at all thrilled with this, saying that this could be very bad for all the dimensions of reality, because she might upset the balance of things. It turns out that the portal that Kit and Mina came through has several ‘drop spots.’ Cosimo and Kit then set out to find her… before it’s too late.

            When an author sets out to write a series, he must make the first book intriguing enough that the readers will want to read the next book. Steven Lawhead has done this well, weaving many different story lines together into one amazing plot.

¹Telluric energy is an electric current that moves underground or through the sea. Telluric currents result from both natural causes and human activity, and the discrete currents interact in a complex pattern. The currents are extremely low frequency and travel over large areas at or near the surface of Earth.

Safe

Pause the book reports for a post. Here's another short story that I wrote... I entered it into a competition. What do you think?

Safe 

            The house shakes around me; I have no time to think. Grabbing a shirt, I dash outside. I’ve heard it said that it’s better to be outdoors during an airstrike, I find this logic undeniable. The whine of missiles and the screams of their victims blast my eardrums, but I cannot cover them. I know that, in order to be safe, I must run to the outskirts of town and meet my— remembering that my parents might still be in the house, I turn around, but as I do, it explodes in a ball of fire and smoke. I continue on my escape course, hoping that they are safe.

            I don’t know when the bombing started and honestly, I don’t care. The only thing that matters is how soon it will end. It has been years since this war began and our town has realized that bomb shelters are absolutely worthless. Instead, we must escape to the fields, where there are no structures to target. I detest modern war technology. The accuracy that it gives people and the havoc it causes on the receiving end.

            I run hard, and fast, passing rubble from past destruction. Before the war, there were some days that I wished would never end. Now, I wish that almost every day would be over; hoping that tomorrow will bring peace. It never does. My father tells me that the reason we cannot have complete peace is because we live in a fallen world. He says that we will one day have perfect peace… in heaven. I don’t know what to believe… about God, at least. Sometimes I wonder if he exists and, if he does, how could he let so much devastation take place? I am a Jew. My people are supposedly God’s chosen people. I don’t believe it; why would he let his people die? Why does carnage reign supreme in the Promised Land? Like I said, I don’t know what to believe about God. Maybe when I’m older and the war is over, I’ll give him a chance.  Now, I only wonder… when will this hell end?

            I reel from the impact of a rocket that has found its mark nearby. It feels like I am on a treadmill and that, no matter how hard I try, I cannot get out of the town. Almost like the scenery is on spools and they just keep turning, while I waste my energy on the belt in hopes of escape. After several minutes of hard running, I give up and hide under a ‘cave’ of rubble. I don’t care if it will protect me or not, I just hug my knees to my chest and wait. I want to scream at the enemy, but I know that they won’t hear me. I want to curse them for taking away my life, my friends… my grandparents. These thoughts bring tears to my eyes, but I wipe my eyes dry. You’re fourteen, I tell myself, be strong.  How can I be strong in the midst of such hatred? The pain is so great; my ears are ringing from the explosions coming from everywhere. I feel as though I am in one of the horror stories that the Americans like… the ones where death is coming for you and you cannot stop it, no matter how hard you try.

            As the smoke in front of me clears, I see the end of town. I think that I can make it. As the missiles continue to pummel the ground, I break from my cover and sprint towards the field. Something explodes to my right, catapulting me through the air… and slipping me into unconsciousness.

            When I wake, I find that I am stuck under a pile of rubble. There are voices speaking in low tones, feet crunching the gravel… They are searching. I don’t know why I didn’t realize it before, but there are no explosions. The airstrike must be over, and now the survivors are looking for anyone to bury. Someone who wasn’t as fortunate as them. I try to call out, but my voice is no more than a whisper. I clear my throat from the dust and grime that I must have breathed in and try again. “Help!” Relief washes over me, I can speak. There is a shuffle of footsteps and I realize that I was having trouble breathing as wreckage is lifted and my lungs fill with air. After an eternity of waiting, I am free. By now, my parents have been alerted of my safety and a crowd has gathered around. Questions bombard me like the rockets from last night. I try hard to answer them, but cannot keep up. I am so happy to find that my parents are safe. Food is brought out and we have a meal, whether breakfast, lunch or dinner, I am not sure. As is tradition before we eat, my father leads us in prayer.

            “Yahweh,” He pauses and begins to cry. I guess that these tears are probably from mixed emotions, happiness, that his family is safe, but also sadness, that the town has been shattered… yet again. He regains his composure and continues, “Thank you for keeping us safe. Amen.”

            Safe, I laugh to myself. I look around at the destruction and see what war has done. I look at the survivors and see the peace that they’ve somehow found. I still don’t quite believe that God is alive, but if he is, I thank him for giving me such good companions, and yes, for keeping us safe. But safe for how long?

Paradise Lost

In 1668, John Milton published Paradise Lost, an epic about the beginning of time and the fall of Satan, the demons, and Adam and Eve. In the course of 12 ‘books’ Milton weaves a plot from the fabric of Scripture, while taking a bit of author’s liberty to name angels and demons and filling in the dialogue to lengthen the story. Although  Milton did not want to ‘create’ a Calvinistic God by how he wrote, he inadvertently did.

When the story begins, Satan has already fallen to hell. He and his demons discuss what to do, how to get revenge on God. They finally decide that one of them should go to earth, God’s newest creation and see if he can pervert the crown of the Lord’s work, man. Satan is elected as Hell’s spy and he leaves to accomplish his task. He arrives and whispers a dream into Eve’s ear as she sleeps, he is caught by a troop of angels patrolling Eden and is brought to Gabriel. Satan is then kicked out of Eden, only to return later. A seraph named Raphael arrives from Heaven and, upon Adam’s request, recounts the fall of Satan, the war in Heaven, and the Creation. In order to detain Raphael further, Adam tells him all that he remembers of his own creation and the creation of Eve and their marriage. Finally, after Raphael leaves, Satan strikes again with temptation and our first parents succumb to the temptation. The Son of God (Jesus) comes to Eden, searching for his creations. He is saddened by their betrayal and, because of their unwillingness to take responsibility for their actions, curses them, as well as Satan. The Father tells the Son that a rift has been made that separates man from God and the Son offers his life to pay for theirs. The Father accepts this offer, but even though the sin has been forgiven in light of the Cross, he requires the humans to leave Eden. As they obey and retreat to the world outside, Michael appears and gives them a glimpse into the future, of Jesus’ coming and the Atonement that he will bring.

Because this book was written in the 17^th Century, it is extremely hard to read. I would recommend it to lovers of the classics and those who can concentrate and decipher Old English.  And anyone looking for a challenge... just sayin'.

Sink Monster... run for your lives!

Today was just one of those days. You know, the days when you wake up and realize that, because you've been so busy, a monster in the kitchen sink has grown to a massive size. Yeah. You know what I mean.  

See? 

A monster. 

But, between Tilly, Jabin, and I, we were not going to let this menacing mix of metal, ceramic, and plastic get in the way of a clean kitchen sink/counter. And here is the finished product... 

A job well done, I say. 

Ooh, ooh, a piece of exciting news? I finished AP Business Math with a 96%! 

I am so close to graduating. Then, after schools through, I head off to the Sierra Nevadas for a summer of hard work and fun with my friends at their lodge.

In parting, here's a great song that I heard recently...

Happiness!

'Til next time,

Simeon...

Oh, did I mention spring is here, Yay!

All clear? Yes.

So… through a course of fortunate events, the person who I wrote of last time read my post. So I want to thank the person that read this and told the person, you helped my relationship with him… honestly, no sarcasm. The person, showing a better part of his character, came to me on Friday and asked me why I had been attacking him (not just on my blog, but also in snide comments that I have made to him). As he spoke, I realized that what he said was true. I had been attacking him with my words, whether meaning to or not, and for this I was wrong. After he was done, I apologized, and then, to my surprise (a pleasant surprise), he also apologized to me. I realized that I had been misjudging him all along, we hugged, we did the show… we’re friends now. Later, someone else apologized for an argument that I had had with them. I then apologized for engaging, and so, now I am at odds with no one at theatre. Seeing as we have one show left today, that is a good thing. Yes, the show is coming to a close, I am not very happy about this fact, acting is so much fun, as are the people in this show. Now that I have no controversies with people, nor do they have them with me, I feel much better, knowing that I am leaving the theatre tonight with nothing to make right. Forgiveness is a wonderful thing.

Simeon.

2 Cor. 5:17-21

End of Year... end of show :(

Well, I am coming to the end of the production "A Christmas Carol" and am sorry to see it go. This has definitely been a wonderful show... I've made some good friends. But, sadly, with my personality, I have made enemies... or at least one. And I wonder if I did wrong to cause this or if it was because I did something right. In the years that I've been a Christian, I've come to believe that my faith is a part of me, it's what makes me who I am. This person, who also claims to be a Christian, is not happy when I bring any sort of moral code into the equation, telling me, "You don't bring religion or politics here, Simeon. You don't make friends that way." Well, _____, I don't agree. And honestly, I felt like giving that person something to chew on... like some of their own teeth. Refraining severely tested me. At the moment, I am still struggling to love that person like Christ would want me to... loving an enemy is very difficult. So pray for me... please. That I would continue to show the love of Christ to this foe and attempt to make him an ally. I must pass this test, whether now or later, and I would much rather that it be now. 
                Moving on, I am extremely excited for the 22nd of December... why? Because I am going to see some good friends in California for Christmas and New Years!!!! Piles of snow, shovels, gloves, hats, and boots, Asher and Ezra, I'll be set for vacation. Graduation is coming quickly, less than half a year away and I am incredibly pumped to be done with school....


God Bless, 
Thanx for reading,
and Merry Christmas!!
Simeon
2 Cor. 5:17-21

Change?

It's been a few weeks since I blogged last and it's given me a long time to think about what I am doing, especially why I'm doing it. I am not ultra-religious, in fact I hope that I'm not religious at all. Though it may seem like it, I am not consumed with making everything a spiritual object lesson (good thing or bad thing, I don't know) But as I read the Bible more and more (which to my shame hasn't been a lot lately) I realize what a horrible person I really am. in Proverbs (I believe the verse is 17:5, don't quote me) God says that the haughty are an abomination to Him. Ouch! I am abomination to my Savior. That one really hurts. It never ceases to amaze me how the very one who hates what I am is the very same person who loves who I am and I can only change if I ask this person for help. Pray for me please. Not only do I need to change, I want to want to change (if you follow me). I want to reach Paradise, the REAL Paradise and have Him say "Well done." If I am to be humbled, then I'd much rather that it be here as opposed to there. Please pray that God puts His joy back inside this rotten mind, the humility into (for it was never there) this wretched soul, and the love into this blackened heart. Please also pray that I come to show respect for my elders in actions, tone of voice, and countenance. I don't want anyone to be able to look down on me because of a sinful habit.

Thanks for reading,
Simeon
2 Cor. 5:17-21 (God let this be me!)

Musicals among other things...

So right now, I am house-sitting with my brother. It's pretty fun, lots of time to think. God's been really good lately, I got a part in a musical called Bye-Bye Birdie, based off of the movie of the same name. So far I've been in two rehearsals and I am enjoying getting back into the chow business. Well, folks, besides the fact that I am starting my senior year soon, there's nothing new. See you next time.

Simeon

Spoiler Alert!

Wow, I have not been on here for a long time. A lot has happened since then. I went and saw THOR 3D and was very impressed with its redemptive message.  I have to admit, I was skeptical when I went to see it (him being a Norse god and all). I expected it to be full of superstition, magic, and a pagan worldview.  I titled this post “Spoiler Alert” because I am going to discuss the movie and how it relates to us as Christians and want to warn those who have yet to see this amazing movie. Although it may look like it will be fuzzy, the trailer is clear.

The movie is about a boy becoming a man, finding out what it means to be a good king, and showing that suffering, seen in the right light, will produce good fruit. For those who have seen the movie, it is interesting to see the different shadows of Christianity sprinkled throughout the film. While Thor is on earth and Odin is in a coma, Frigga tells Loki that Odin “never does anything without a purpose.” (Was that Branagh’s shot at sovereignty?) Thor approaches the Destroyer and offers his life instead of the humans and the Destroyer smacks him with his spiked arm. As Thor lies dying, he asks Jane if they are safe, then he dies and it is in the moment of apparent loss, that Thor wins his greatest victory. Does that remind you at all of Someone else who died but won? Even after returning to Asgard, Thor again sacrifices what he wants to save others by destroying the Bifrost to save Jötunheim (pronounced “yodenheim”) the home of the Frost Giants, even though it means he won’t be able to see Jane Foster again. All this to say, I really enjoyed the movie and I hope you did or will enjoy it as well.

Thanks for reading,

Simeon.

2 Cor. 5:17-21

Another good review is: http://www.pluggedin.com/movies/intheaters/thor.aspx 

Long time, no blog.

Yeah, I know that the post title is dumb, but it was the best that I could come up with for right now. It's been a few weeks since my last post. Sorry about that, I was sick (superbad headache, weakness, DOUBLE ear infection! God proved  His goodness through it all, though, as He always does). Something unbelievably weird happened on  Friday. It snowed! Quite shocking because it actually stuck. My grandparents (who live in Tacoma) had FOUR inches. So, yeah, the weather is being weird. God really doesn't care about being normal. Although I like snow, I miss summer. So that is about all that I have to say right now besides the fact that life is good. Wait, we watched Robin Hood (Ridley Scott's) It was very entertaining, Scott threw a cool twist on it, not necessarily historically accurate, but good nonetheless.

Thanx for reading, y'all.
Simeon.