Time for a blog about something other than football!

I'm not sure where all my time goes these days, but things have seemed incredibly busy lately. I'm still adjusting to my new 5am schedule at Starbucks and I usually end up sleeping an extra 3 or 4 hours on my day off sleeping in order to have the strength to make it through the week. (prayer point: please pray that God would continue to provide me with adequate energy. I am so thankful that His power is made perfect in my weakness!) We're also taking a class called Perspectives which requires a lot of additional time. While this class is a part of our training for M:MM there is still a lot that needs to be done, or at least started!

Life gets so busy and it's easy for me to get overwhelmed, especially when I am tired and not feeling well. I have been meditating on parts of scripture where Jesus calls us to cast our cares upon him and take up his burden, while laying our own at his feet. In the midst of the crazy lives that we have built for ourselves, God wants us to set ourselves to seek Him, to dedicate time each day and focus on nothing but Him. I pray that today, we would all be able to enter into this.

Tim's thoughts on the much loved Broncos

Only one team can win the Super Bowl. That means that 31 teams do not win it. Only 4 teams play in the conference championship games. That means that 28 teams watch from home. A true fan of an NFL team is only truly happy when his/her team wins the big game. Nothing else is good enough. I need to remind myself that the Broncos had one heck of a great season and that I should not think about the awful game at the end. For most of the season, the much loved Broncos had everything go their way. Opposing defenses dropped interceptions, fumbles rolled into Broncos player’s hands, Broncos defenders were in the right place to make a pick, and running lanes opened at the right time for most of the season. During the AFC Championship game, none of those things happened. Everything went wrong for the Broncos on that day. Our defense left receivers open all over the field, our offense never found a rhythm, and Plummer had his worse game of the year. Sometimes you just cannot put your finger on why things happen in football. Maybe this was payback for the Patriots having their worst playoff loss in 5 years in Denver the week before. Oh well. After all, it is just a game. (Did I really just say that?)

How about those Broncos?

With hardly anyone noticing, the much loved Denver Broncos are playing at home in the AFC Championship game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. With my Elway jersey on and several friends with me, I cheered my much loved Broncos to victory against the defending NFL champions last Saturday night. It was a game where the Patriots made many mistakes and the much loved Broncos made few. Now all the much loved Broncos must do is win the game on Sunday to reach the Super Bowl. I must thank the Steelers for an entertaining game against the Colts last Sunday and also ensuring another home game for the much loved Broncos. I had almost forgotten how much fun it is to have the much loved Broncos win in the postseason. Almost, but not quite.

Go Broncos!

pass the tissue

Ok, in between various projects this morning (I have been very productive today!), I finished Safely Home and I was all tears. Funny thing was I was crying at a really happy part.....what a great book. Seriously. Read it.

Safely Home

I am near of the end of a book that is rocking my world and my worldview. It's Safely Home by Randy Alcorn. While it's a novel, I would consider it a work of historical fiction, very relevant to these times. Alcorn did a lot of research before writing. Without giving anything away, it's about two friends, one American, one Chinese, college roomates from about 20 years ago. They are reunited and have some big decisions to make. It takes a close look at the persecuted church, international relations with China and how the two are related. It is phenomenal. I read a lot, but this is one of the best, most challenging books I have read in a while, except for the Bible! I'm not going to get on my soapbox about how the American church is in a deep slumber regarding the present day persecuted church, I don't have time for that tonight, but I want to strongly encourage you to check this book out. Well worth your time and a very quick read!

my real review

I feel that I must clarify on the review that Tim said I gave this film, Serenity. (His review below.) While it could be considered a form of entertainment, I would never watch it again. First of all, the cast all had weird southern-redneck accents and apparently none of them knew how to put together an acceptable sentence for the English language. It was quite annoying to have to listen to them butcher their words for two hours. Seriously, it was ridiculous. Maybe some would consider the creatioon of cowboy space-guys a success, I found it a little strange. So watch at your own risk! You've been warned!!

DVD review: Serenity

The movie, Serenity, is a unique science fiction film in many ways. First, it was a cancelled TV show that never even made it to the second half of its first season, yet somehow became a feature film with the same cast from the TV show. Second, there are no aliens, an old west feel, and traces of Chinese culture. The cast works well together, the pace of the film is well done, and the special effects were pretty nifty. The Reavers, who are one of the groups of bad guys the Serenity crew must face, were extra scary because the director wisely decided to never quite show them. (If you watch an M. Night Shyamalan film, you know that what is not shown is far scarier than what is shown.) The film’s climax did remind me a little bit of the Doom video game, but that is not a bad thing. There is even a Christian character that the crew stops by to visit for advice and respite and he is done pretty well. While not being theologically correct, Shepherd Book is a deep character who strives to do the right thing, and for Hollywood, that is a step in the right direction. I only saw one episode of the show on TV, and you do not need to have seen it for the movie to make sense. Overall, if you like sci-fi, action type movies, there are worse ways to spend two hours. As Heidi said afterward, “that was an entertaining bit of fluff.”

Sweet scenes: The space battle - “I am a leaf on the wind.”
The Doom inspired fight scene at the end.
The chase scene on the hovercraft.

Turd in the punchbowl: the movie has a disordered view of sexuality that is so prevalent in Hollywood these days

Great line: “Shepherd Book always told me, if you can’t do something smart, then do something right.” - Jayne

A brief rant by Tim

I realize that criticizing the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) is a little like fishing for carp with a shotgun, but I have to rant for a moment. They have a show in its 2nd season called “Exalt Him”, which is their Christian version of American Idol. (Probably without snarky judges.) The winner of the contest gets a contract as a Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) artist. As Christians, why do we settle for the Christian version of something instead of creating something new and exciting? Does the world need a new CCM star or another Left Behind movie or cheesy Christian romance novel? Christians end up looking like a bunch of idiots. I hope no non-Christians ever watch TBN. It is just so embarrassing. Am I being too harsh?

Why can’t the Church be on the cutting edge of creativity? I get my hopes up when musicians like Project 86 and Sixpence None the Richer hit the scene and put out something truly creative. Why can’t this be the norm and not the exception? I am holding out hope for a film coming out next month called “The Second Chance”, which is directed by Steve Taylor and stars Michael W. Smith. If Steve Taylor has proven anything since his first album in 1983, it is that he is not willing to settle for mediocrity. My hopes are high.

I would love to hear your thoughts on my rant.

Fantasy Football 2005 review

This was my (Tim’s) best season of fantasy football. I played in four leagues this year, none of them for money. Just pride, baby!

In the YouthWorks! league, I finished the regular season in 3rd place. In the first round of the playoffs, I beat Jeremy Monteith by less than one point to advance to the championship. Then Jim Rogers destroyed me by almost 100 points. I ended up in 2nd place.

In the experimental league with my college buddies and some former co-workers, I finished the regular season in 1st place. In the first round of the playoffs I got knocked off by the 4th place guy, who won the whole thing. I ended up in 3rd place.

My longest running league is a 2 player keeper league with the same guys from the experimental league. I usually finish dead last in this one, so I was excited to finish the regular season in 2nd place. I lost 2 straight in the playoffs and finished in 4th place. This was the league I cared the most about, so I was a little disappointed. At least I am not the #1 pick any more.

My last league was with Matty D and a bunch of people I don’t know. I destroyed the league in the regular season and rolled into the playoffs feeling pretty good in first place. Then I got beat by a girl and finished 3rd. Pride comes before a fall.

I also want to take an opportunity to point out that the much loved Denver Broncos have a first round bye, a home game, and a tie for the 2nd best record in the NFL. All you Broncos haters (yes, Zach Thompson, I am looking at you) can live in bitter jealousy.