In the past week or so…

* I voted today, and it was definitely not for a socialist senator associated with Islam and a terrorist.

* I watched The Incredible Hulk last Friday (we rented it), and decided not to write a review (you can check out the one on pluggedinonline.com if you want), because my opinion can be summed up like this: “Eh, skip it.”

* My mom and younger sister and I painted the room I share with my younger sister last week. The shade of green is called “Summer Ivy”. I tried to find a place in the closet or somewhere else in the house for all non-Elvish-looking items when I put the room back together.

* I went to Joann to use my 50% off coupon (actually, I had three, but they only allow one per customer). I was going to buy dark green cotton for a Renaissance skirt, but there wasn’t enough in the shade I wanted. I used one coupon for a cloak clasp. I asked Mom to use the other for an eyelet kit (with my money), but notions were on sale. The cashier said she couldn’t take the coupon off the original price (and definitely not the sale price). She said I should be happy/thankful something like that because notions hardly ever go on sale. Why would I be happy when it makes the item more expensive than if I used my now-expired coupon on the original price (for the record, I wasn’t giving her a hard time or anything like that, I just asked if she could use the coupon with the original price)?

* I lamented living too far away from most of my friends to see them more than once a week the church meeting.

* I tried to talk more and succeeded.

Now I need to do school.

Have an amazing rest of your life.

- WM

18th Birthday

Someone actually commented on my blog. Thank you, person.

I am an “adult” now. I can buy cigarettes, rifles, and shotguns. Of course, I have no use for any of that, so it doesn’t change much. I had fun at my birthday party. The brave among us (me and one other person) had whipped cream beards sprayed on. They didn’t stay very long. We had a contest to see who could spray the most whipped cream onto a spoon before it fell off. Laura M. had a pretty good technique – as soon as it looks like it’s going to fall off, spray a ridiculous amount on before it hits the paper towels on the floor. She won.

We talked, were crazy in general, listened to Grits and “The Hamster Dance” ( http://www.webhamster.com ), and watched movies (Iron Man, and Spiderman).

Mom surprised me with a store-bought cake. She wanted me to have a professionally-decorated one for my 18th birthday. It was fun, even though homemade ones taste better (it did taste good, though). Here’s a picture:

Have an amazing rest of your life.

- WM

Politics and Cake

I’ll save the best for last and start with politics. Here is a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EADUQWKoVek If you’re a member of Facebook, this video explains my current “status” (as of this very moment. It may change later).

And a saying: There’s Osama Bin Laden, and there’s Obama Been Lyin’.

And a recipe for chocolate cake that takes five minutes (or less, if you’re a speedy mixer-upper…it takes three minutes to cook): http://myfooblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/5-minute-chocolate-mug-cake.html

I tried it, and it’s actually pretty tasty. I thought there had to be some hitch to it (I mean, chocolate cake in five minutes?!) , but it turned out fine the first time. I might try cooking it less next time, because it was a bit dry. It’d be good with ice cream or whipped cream. Oh, and I used whole wheat flour, so you can do the same be healthier. =D John Tesh says white flour goes straight to the gut and hangs over…

A Verse

I put this up for myself as much as anyone else. I’ve recently been in a painful situation and must remind myself of this.

“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.  Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” – Luke 6:36-37

Have an amazing rest of your life.

- WM

Movie Review: Ever After

Yes, this is a sort of oldish movie (if you’re a young person). But we bought it yesterday and watched it last night (I’d seen it before) and I decided to review it.

Negative elements:

There are a few cuss words.

Danielle loses her temper.

And of course, her evil (but pitiable) step-mother and step-sister do not make good role models, but people with sense will know that.

Positive elements:

Well…it’s an overall good movie.

Other comments:

Some of the camera angles aren’t to my taste – I think they could’ve been improved. There are some cheesey lines, too. Regardless, it’s my favorite telling of the Cinderella story (it actually could have happened, however unlikely. No magic.). The music is nice, and whether or not they’re historically accurate, I like the costumes, aside from some low necklines.

Movie Review: Iron Man

Negative elements:

There’s kind of a lot of cussing.

There’s a short, totally unecessary scene where Tony Stark (Iron Man) and a female reporter behave innapropriately.

There’s some suggestive dialogue.

Women dress immodestly, and to quote PluggedinOnline’s review, “Stark and straight-arrow military man Jim Rhodes ride one of Stark’s private jets that’s staffed with midriff-baring flight attendants and a stripper pole.”

Tony has no apparent qualms about killing people (bad people, but still…).

*

Positive elements:

Tony/Iron Man is immoral in the beginning of the movie, but an incident changes his heart (in more ways than one…har har) and he changes his ways for the better.

He pours time and money into creating the Iron Man suit to help the people that the weapons he’s created have been harming.

*

Other comments:

The structure seemed different to me, more like a long beginning, a short middle, and a long end with a short climax.

The acting of the antagonist was good until he got into his own iron suit, and then something about it seemed off.

Overall, I enjoyed it. Now if they’ll only keep Iron Man on the right path and the next movie decent…It has the same release date as The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (sometime in 2010…I’m not sure what the exact date is).

For more details, visit http://www.pluggedinonline.com/movies/movies/a0004046.cfm

Yodeling

Has nothing to do with this entry. But this is a good article:

http://www.christianculture.biz/music/Love_God_More.html

It doesn’t have anything to do with yodeling, either.

Magic

I don’t remember if I’ve blogged on the subject or not. In any case, I am now. ;p

I’ll start with scripture and end with my point.

“‘Do not practice divination or sorcery.” – Leviticus 19:26

“When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there.  Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft,  or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.” – Deuteronomy 18:9-11

“Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.” – Acts 19:18-20

“The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.” – Revelation 9:20-21

“But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” – Revelation 21:8

“Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.” – Revelation 22:15

The Bible clearly condemns magic. It’s listed as a sin among sexual immorality, murder, idolotry…you read the verses. And yet, so many books (and movies, TV shows, etc.), including ones by Christian authors, contain “good guys” who have magic powers. You wouldn’t portray sexual immorality as a good thing, so why would you portray magic as favorable, cool, or desirable?

Out of the Ordinary Post

To blog about something more worthwhile -

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Not a way, a truth, or a life. The only one. No one comes to the Father except by Him. (John 14:6) For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, Jesus, so that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

From that time Jesus began to preach, crying out, Repent ( change your mind for the better, heartily amend your ways, with abhorrence of your past sins), for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matthew 4:17)

Jesus, the son of God who is God, is coming back. We need to prepare our hearts for His return. All we have to do is repent of our sins, ask Jesus to live in our hearts, and surrender our lives to Him. Ask Him for the Holy Spirit to fill you. God’s love for us is incredible. He loves us more than anyone on earth ever could. He wants you to come to Him. He wanted you to return His love, and save you from eternal death.

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4:10)

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:  “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: ” Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 34-40)

To love God will all that we are means we must surrender everything – our plans, our desires, our schedules, our entertainment. We must surrender it to His will and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes it can be difficult and painful, but the reward is beyond our imaginations. Eternal life, and the fulfillment of God’s plans for us, which are much, much, much better than anything we could imagine for ourselves. We must give up everything on earth and suffer for a little while to save our spirits from eternal death and suffering. Giving it all up is the only way to find true joy and peace that will carry us through every circumstance.

“Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.” (Luke 17:33)

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” (Matthew 13:44)

Luke 6:17-46

 17He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, 18who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by evil spirits were cured, 19and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.

 20Looking at his disciples, he said:
   ”Blessed are you who are poor,
      for yours is the kingdom of God.
 21Blessed are you who hunger now,
      for you will be satisfied.
   Blessed are you who weep now,
      for you will laugh.
 22Blessed are you when men hate you,
      when they exclude you and insult you
      and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

 23“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.
 24“But woe to you who are rich,
      for you have already received your comfort.
 25Woe to you who are well fed now,
      for you will go hungry.
   Woe to you who laugh now,
      for you will mourn and weep.
 26Woe to you when all men speak well of you,
      for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.

 27“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. 30Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you.

 32“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ love those who love them. 33And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ do that. 34And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ lend to ’sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. 35But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

 37“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

 39He also told them this parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.

 41“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 42How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

 43“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

 46“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? 47I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. 48He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

Oh, and I recommend the book “Pagan Christianity” by Frank Viola and Georgia Barna.