Desensitized Dancing

I was out to celebrate a friends birthday party tonight over at the local pub, and was plunged into a shocking reminder of what now passes for "dancing".

No more is their any creative form or beat amongst the revelling 20-somethings. Dancing at clubs as been reduced to dry humping. Sex with clothes on. Grinding, rubbing, gropping, and kissing were all present at the scene.

I came to the party so I could spend time with the girl I was interested in, but was unable to, as the drunken frat boys were too busy groping and kissing her. The worst part? She was encouraging them.

Desensitized Nation

Ever sit down and watch an old episode of the Lone Ranger, or Happy Days? Seems like it was made for little children doesn't it? When they were originally on the air, they were the height of prime time programming.

Today, we're stuck with filth. Take a look at an episode of Tripping the Rift, Desperate Housewives, or some of the other top shows out there now. They're riddled with sex, drugs, and morals you're grandmother would be horrified by.

Video games are just as bad. We started with the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog and Mario, and now they're selling Grand Theft Auto in the malls. I don't remember Sonic or Mario ever screwing hookers, which is exactly what you can do in GTA.

To uphold the values of this nation, we must return to the original set of morals that were set in place by our christian forefathers who founded this country. We need a revival in family-oriented media. Support family-oriented media!

Outreach Magazine

Two copies of the latest issue of Outreach Magazine came in today!

A writer contracted by the California-based evangelism magazine called me for an interview a couple of months ago about a church event I organize and host.

The Xbox Night!

Every couple of months, we round up 4 digital projectors, 4 Xbox's, for some awesome 16-player Halo 2 games. Generally we get about 30-60 guys and gals to show up for some serious gaming fun. It's a great way for people to meet Christians who share their interests. Especially in this part of Canada, where being a christian is considered uncool.

Celebration! Church is definately the greatest thing around, so don't miss out on it.

Back from the Ranch

I'm back from being up at the Circle Square Ranch for a week. An amazing week interacting with the children there.

Many of the children at camp are brought from broken families, orphanages, and foster families. It was heartbreaking to hear some of their stories.

The camp provided a place for these children to safely have tons of fun with horse riding, BMX biking, skate park, rock climbing, archery, swimming, canoeing, etc. All while telling them about Jesus... We saw many lives changed through this camp... even some that are very dear to our family.

This a fantastic ministry that Crossroads runs, and definately one that should be supported and encouraged.

Long Distance Surprise

Got a surprise phonecall from Velta! She's over in Australia for several months of schooling.

Her friends were all gone for a few days, then her wallet and ID were all stolen. Alone and nearly broke in a foreign country, and lost in translation from cultural differences, her cheapest form of entertainment for the day was... a phone card.

So of course we talked for a couple of hours... about countries, sharks, shells, our faith, bubbles, and the last of relationships. I know you're worried, Velta, but there's not much you can do at the moment. Keep Praying. Matthew 6:25-34.

While she's there, I hope she goes to visit Hillsong!! It's an incredible church, that's growing fast, and making a huge difference in Australia. For example, providing free use of instruments and professional recording studios for amateur artists. An awesome ministry.

It was great to catch up with an old friends. And with technology nowadays, what with email, messaging, blogging, webcams, and satellites... there wasn't even a noticeable timelag on the phone around the world.

New Era for Art

I was in Niagara Falls over the weekend, where I saw an inspiring display of art, design, and multimedia.

At the main entrance to the Niagara Fallsview Casino, is the Teslatron.

This amazing fountain is dedicated to Nikola Tesla,
the inventor of the tesla coil, and the alternating-current.

Every evening, the fountain turns into a multimedia spectacle. The actors' dialogue, sound effects, and environment lighting are integrated into the entire room to support the fountain's display. The inner core and fringing around the fountain is built of large-pixel LCD screens, which change colour and display animated bubbles and wild electric current running along the entire fountain, as well as the skylight supports.

In short, the Teslatron appears to be overloading as desperate scientists attempt to keep it under control. Animated electricity runs wildly throughout the structure and building supports, as the fountain slowly fills. At it's climax, seen on the right, lights are shining wildly, and water splashes and spills from the fountain into the pool below.

The era of art is changing. Statues and fountains are no longer static. They kinetically portray their story in a broad mix of multimedia!

Any other good examples of this change in culture and arts? Let me know.

Terrorists Bomb London

Thursday brought us yet another reason why we must crush terrorism at its roots. It is apparent that terrorists will not rest with 9-11.

The latest: bombing various metro rail and bus systems in London, England.

The culture that the terrorists come from teaches fear and hate from their earliest childhood. Believing that they can push us back and terrorize us through their methods will be their undoing. From what we've seen in the US after 9-11, and now in England after yesterdays bombings, it is easy to see that we will not be intimidated!

Evil will triumph when good men do nothing. Come together! Our nations need to unite to defeat the evil in terrorist countries. Stand up for what is right and biblical. Letting terrorists and evil men get away with these acts only promotes more.



On a side note, when looking at the location of the blasts, and the times inbetween them, it is possible that they were placed by one man, or group of men, travelling along a single route.

Stop Helping Africa

Here's an interesting article on why you should stop sending aid to Africa:

SPIEGEL: Stop? The industrialized nations of the West want to eliminate hunger and poverty.

Shikwati: Such intentions have been damaging our continent for the past 40 years. If the industrial nations really want to help the Africans, they should finally terminate this awful aid. The countries that have collected the most development aid are also the ones that are in the worst shape. Despite the billions that have poured in to Africa, the continent remains poor.

read the rest of the interview with Kenyan economist, James Shikwati

Prequel, Sequel, Remake

2005 is the year of the Prequels, Sequels, and Remakes!

Seems like film producers have started to run out of deals. Or perhaps it's just a phase they're going through.
Here's just a few off the top of my head:

• Anmityville Horror
• Assault on Precinct 13
• Batman Begins
• Be Cool
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• Deuce Bigalo
• Dukes of Hazard
• Flight of the Phoenix
• Green Hornet
• Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire
• Herby: Fully Loaded
• Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
• Honeymooners
• King Kong
• Oliver Twist
• Phantom of the Opera
• Pink Panther
• Ring 2
• Son of the Mask
• Star Wars: Episode 3
• War of the Worlds
• XXX: State of Union

(if you can think of any more, let me know)

Going down in Church history

Sunday was definately a record to go down in the annals of church history...

It began with the end of the evening, as I was ready to leave for home. Someone, (who we think is in the church that rents the building at the same time as us), had parked their sideways directly behind mine. Blocking my car entirely from leaving the parking spot.

Sure I could have had the car towed easily, but first I wanted to be the good church neighbour, and see if they would move it for me. But after talking to their church elders, they decided that they couldn't interupt the sermon to make an announcement. Instead, one of their elders came out, carrying a coathanger!

After a few minutes of wiggling the coathanger around and Ashley going to get me a tea, I solved the problem after a short lesson in applied physics.

After verifying the owner of the vehicle, the church's elders returned with the key, and moved the car for me. Finally!

(thanks to Merlin and Anco for waiting around with me, and a special thanks to Ashley for the tea)

Swimming, BBQ, and all the Xbox you can handle

Yesterday I hosted the big Celebration! Pool, BBQ, and Xbox Night. There was about 50 people there. Here's some of the highlights:

• Pool Games: Jump off the diving board, and someone shouts "feet" or "head", and the diver tries to hit the water first with the named part.
• Excellent Henna: Body art done by Ashley.
• Tasty Meat: Anco brought huge numbers of buffalo burgers, and deer burgers.
  
• Good Company: Lots of great friends came. Some surprises too, such as: Tom, who's back visiting from Montreal. Shannon, who's visiting from Windsor. Sarah and Jenny, who I was in Scouts with, and haven't seen in years!
• Insane Xbox: 4 digital projectors and 4 Xbox's networked together add up to one awesome gaming experience.
  

Definately need to do this more often.

Canada Day

Happy 138th birthday Canada!

First we met up with Robyn, Sarah, and Alaura (and later Anco). Went downtown and ran into the Celebration! gang who were handing out postcards and free freezies on Elgin. Dinner in the market, and over to catch the big evening show on parliament hill. The only noteworthy acts were Kalan Porter, and Sam Roberts.

It's amazing how small Ottawa is. All day long, I kept running into old highschool friends. Samir, Karen, Porter, and Courtney at the bank, and then I literally bumped into Suzy on the hill. But at the same time, Tom and I kept just barely missing each other all evening. Some crazy timewarp going on!