Dobson officially Denounces Harry Potter

Dobson Officially Denounces Harry Potter

I just read an article where Dr. James Dobson is telling everyone how evil Harry Potter is. This is exactly what Christians do not need. Someone telling you what you can and can't do. Let the Holy Spirit direct you, not Mr. Dobson. It reminded me of a post Pastor Ben did a couple of years ago that I took the liberty of looking up and I actually found it. Ben, I hope you don't mind that I am using it because I thought it was very well written.

So here is another viewpoint on Harry Potter. Enjoy!

Ben's Version
of Finding God
in Harry Potter

Dementors - Creatures who suck the happiness out of your life and keep people prisoner. Ultimately servants of the Dark Lord. (AKA - Demons)

The Dark Lord - Head evil guy who controls Dementors and death eaters - and ultimately wants to rule but he can not because he has one fault - he can not access the greatest power of all which is love. Loves to work behind the scenes so that he is not seen. (AKA - Satan)

House Elves - Servants in our houses who aren't seen but are nonetheless always serving us humans. They want no other than to do their job, and do it faithfully (AKA - Angels)

Death Eaters - Humans in service and bondage to the Dark Lord - who move around in secrecy. They hate anyone who is not a pure-blood and serve only to bind people to thier ideology, and eliminate through death any who do not believe as they do.(AKA - Fundamentalists, Terrorists, religious zealouts as in Jesus's time.)

The Veil - A place beyond life, not so far from here, where we will one day be. (AKA - the place between life and death)

Magic - Spiritual Gifts and Miracles (AKA - Words of knowledge, prophesy, telportation- as in St Paul in the New Testament, healing, teaching, discernment, for entertainment - as in Jesus turned water into wine.)

wizards - People especially gifted with insight into the spiritual realm - and the battle in the heavenly realm.

Hogwart School -A discipleship program especially intended to train people in the Kingdom of God - the rule and reign of his kingdom in this present darkness.

The Mark - Harry POtter is marked from birth with a lighting bolt that came from the Dark Lord (AKA - Sin)

The Wand - A tool used in conjunction with the hand, the emotions (heart) and spoken words that is used as a weapon or defensive tool. (AKA - The Word of God, the sword of the spirit)

Remembral - A tool used to help people remember things (AKA - a PDA - a personal digital assistant)

Broomstick - A tool used for transportation (AKA - a bike or car)

Witches - Any person who uses spiritual truths to inact change. Good witches (AKA - Born again)use spiritual truth to act only in love to give spiritual knowledge or blessings. Bad witches (AKA people with knowledge of the Holy Spirit but still reject him) use spiritual manipulation for their own gain.

Muggles - Any one who does not believe in the spiritual realm (AKA - Secular humanists)

Giants - Large people who most of the world considers ignorant or uninformed - savage, unworthy of our time, trust or relationships (AKA - third world tribes)

Goblins - People in the business of money who give their life to that cause (AKA - money lovers)

Dumbledore - Head (God) of the school (AKA - Church), who preaches disipline, love, mercy, truth and who has no fear, only compassion for those who are hurting.

Harry Potter (Or Neville - for we have yet to know) - Young Man who must give up his life in order to overcome the Dark Lord. He is called the half blood prince (AKA - Jesus)

Sirius Black - Close friend of Harry Potter who dies - causing Harry great anguish (Lazarus)

Spiritual Truth 1 - Mercy Triumphs over judgement
Dumbledore has many instances in which he can kill his enemies - but instead he always chooses to resist the evil of killing someone. When Harry shows mercy where others want to kill, Dumbledore praises his restraint - suggestion that mercy now may one day cause that person to be indebted to you.

Spiritual Truth 2 - Even as young men and women we should begin training each other up in all spiritual knowledge and insight. When darkness has begun to grow and the good teachers have been eliminated, it is incumbant upon Harry to begin teaching his fellow students Defense Against the Dark Arts. He knows that spiritual battle will come and that they need to be taught how to stand firm.

Spiritual Truth 3 - Good & Evil are real
Many modern texts will try to persuade us that there is no such thing as good and evil only people will different truths. In these books, it is clear that evil is evil and that good is good, nothing less than a sharp divide. However, many times we see evil masquerading as good, characters who resemble good but are really imposters as in the "Fake Moody," or the rat, "Scabbers," or the servant "Kreacher."

Spiritual Truth 4 - We sow what we reap.
Harry's Dad teases and bullies his classmate Snape. Snape ends up being Harry's teacher and gives him lots of trouble. The sins of the earthly father are visited upon the son. (Interestingly enough Harry does not do those same things). Also, Sirius is cruel to his house servant and the house servant ends up bretaying him, ultimately leading to his death. Good wizards should have paid attention and cared for the giants - because since they did not, ultimately the enemy got to them to use them for his evil purposes.

praying mantis - Friend - John 15:15 - Call me Amadeo

Casa De Elizabeth blog

Hannah has a very cool website about the orphanage that she set up. Check it out here. I have also added it to my links. Enjoy!

I'm still reading Rick McKinley's book This Beautiful Mess. The next book I want to read is Divine Nobodies written by Jim Palmer. I am really digging his blog the thoughts and life of just another nobody.

I like his blog because he dislikes "religion" but loves God. Kind of like myself. Religion tends to get divisive and argumentative. If we walk with God and try to be like Him, this world would be a much better place.

Here are a couple of current posts Jim posted on his site.

what do you see?

headed nowhere

From the book This Beautiful Mess by Rick McKinley.

The larger challenge we face today is that so many evangelicals aren't really participating in creation at all. They're putting in there time as aliens in the natural world while they wait for the real show to begin: the Lord's return, judgment, eternity.

Baby Got Book

I received an email from my brother Carl this morning. He sent me this funny video. Check it out.

Baby got Book

Home sweet home

So it's 5:45 pm Saturday evening. I went and picked up Peyton (our dog mentioned in the previous post). She has a pretty good incision on her belly that is stitched shut. She was REALLY glad to see me and seems like she is glad she is at home. Our other dog (the smaller one Haley) knows something is wrong with Peyton. It amazes me that they seem to know what's going on. Haley wanted to play right away when I brought Peyton home but right away she knew something wasn't normal. I don't know a thing about dogs and their thinking, but I observed it and they know what's going on. Anyhow, Peyton has that big old lampshade thing on her head to keep her from licking the incision. After 14 days we can take her in to get the stitches out. In the mean time, I am sure she will be pampered to death the next few weeks.

Last night we had about 5 youth over to stay the night because Patty wanted everyone here since they were leaving at 6 am and she didn't want anybody over sleeping. So Jared, Madison, two of their friends, Meredith and of course my daughter Shannon all crashed here last night. Patty was up at 5 am and they were gone by 6:15 am. I am sorry I didn't get to go to the orphanage this weekend but I guess I'll watch the Gatti/Gomez fight on TV tonight while taking care of the dogs.

The tale of the $2500 rock

I got home from work last night about 1130 pm. The dogs greeted me like they usually do and everything seemed normal. Until about 3 am when our larger dog was in obvious distress. The picture above is an x-ray they took and the round white object is a rock a little bit bigger than a golfball. The vet told us it was a good thing we got her in when we did because she was not going to pass it. So right now she is being hydrated and prepped for surgery to remove the mentioned rock...all to the grand old tune of close to $2500. We love our four-legged friends in this household though. I should be able to bring her home Sunday morning, so it looks like I will not be making the trip to Mexico over the weekend. At least we know what was wrong with her now and that she will be okay afterwards. And I'm still in a good mood. :-)

Meet Bryant

I met Bryant a couple of years ago when I was helping out with the Dropin Center at our mother church VCCG. The thing I noticed about him was his servanthood. I have been blessed to watch him grow and have seen him bless others. He definitely leads by example. He sent me an email informing me that he has a blog now. Check him out at Unashamed of God.

Jesus Justice: So Easy a Five-Year-Old Can Do It

My kind of church

I found this article this morning while I was on the Thunderstruck web site. These folks are truly bringing God's Kingdom to the neighborhood.

Punch-Drunk Church
Evangelicals find home in a Billyburg bar

Powell tried to talk Bush out of war

AS I LAY DYING guitarist talks about 'christian metal' tag

I love bands like this that are Christ followers, yet they tour and perform with some pretty dark bands. I could name several just like them. Flyleaf, P.O.D., Blindside...and I could go on. What better place to be an example than touring with Korn, Ozzy, etc.

I just read a lengthy interview of the guitarist from AS I LAY DYING...and the interviewer asked him the "christian band' question. Check it out:

Blasting-Zone.com: All things considered, do you feel AS I LAY DYING is a Christian metal band? It seems the group gets lumped into the genre without necessarily displaying a lot of the atypical characteristics…

Nick: "Yeah, we do. It's hard because a lot of the bands that are vocal about being Christian bands tend to cater to a very Christian audience…by pretty much playing every Christian festival under the sun and only playing with other Christian bands. All of us in the band are Christian dudes and we're vocal about it and I think our lifestyles and our lyrics reflect that. But at the same time, we also tend to opt to play in the normal music scene because that's what we love doing. I think it's just easier to give yourself that label and succeed in a Christian market than it is to do what every other band does and play in the real world. At the end of the day, we're just a band, but if you really get into it… we're vocal about what we believe in, I guess. Everyone has their own beliefs, but you don't necessarily label someone that type of band just because they believe that. I would say we're just a straight-up metal band that just happens to believe in all these things. I don't care about being lumped into a category. It seems like the harder you try to disprove something, the more you just kinda get thrown into it. We just focus on writing and recorded albums that we're stoked about and then just touring off of them. We leave the menial stuff to whoever feels like handling it."

Sindergarten

Since September, Josh estimates, about 300 kids have infantilized themselves at his parties, coming from as far and wide as Riverdale's "Hilltop" academies to the Berkeley Carroll School in Park Slope—and he's struggling to keep up with demand.

The above text is an excerpt of one of the most bizarre articles I have read in quite some time. Why these kids would want to do this is beyond me. But apparently, there is an interest in it in New York.

Read the rest at the link below:

Sindergarten
The twisted, drug-fueled phenomenon that's sweeping Manhattan prep schools

Got mosh?

I went to the Project 86 show last night at the Arizona Community Church. Our group included myself, Shannon, Susan, Meredith, Jared, Madison, Bryant and his younger brother, J and his two kids. Having never been to this church before, I was trying to envision in my mind them hosting Project 86. I was impressed when I got there. The activities center was a great place to have this show and I thought it was just awesome that Arizona Community Church hosted this thing. I mingled in between sets by the different bands and met some really cool people.

The first band was a local band called Downcast Fable from Peoria in the NW Valley. They were good, I just did not care for the style of music they played. The next band blew me away, literally. They hit the stage with an allout assault on the eardrums and didn't let up until they were done. They were called Inhale/Exhale and were from Ohio. Hardcore is all I'm gonna say. Right up my alley and I enjoyed their set a lot. The pit was crazy. I was not even brave enough to step into this one. But leave it to Bryant man! He jumped right into the middle of it. I was impressed to say the least. And...he didn't get hurt. His little brother really enjoyed the show and it was his first ever concert. We even stayed around after the show so he could get Project 86 to sign his poster.

The next band was Showbread. They were from Georgia. Great talent, the sound quality was good and their set was good. I liked them better than I thought I would after seeing a video of them on youtube. Again, great band, just not in the area of my musical taste.

Project 86 hit the stage to close things out. They have a new CD out now called Rival Factions. I had not heard anything off of it so didn't know what to expect. They played a lot of their new stuff, which was good, but the old school Project 86 stuff was what I was there to hear and they did not disappoint. I stepped into the pit during their set a couple of times as it was not as crazy as the earlier bands pit. I was drenched by the time the show was over and a great night was had by all.

I was excited to hear that Hannah won't be going to CDE until early Saturday morning now on the 14th instead of leaving the night before. Which means....that I get to go on this trip too. Had they left Friday I would have been unable to go. As of right now, it looks like the same 5 of us that went down last weekend will be making the trip again. How cool is that?

Be well, be blessed, be MoVeD!

Divine Nobodies

I heard about this new book today written by a guy named Jim Palmer. He sounds to me a lot like Donald Miller. Anyhow, he has a blog too. Check it out.

the thoughts and life of just another nobody/

MadTV Political Spoof

Apple I-rack

I found this totally hilarious!

Addiction and the church

Alcoholism and addiction affect the church too. Nobody is immune. I see numerous similarities in this guys story. It is eerily similar to mine. So I thought I would post it. Check it out.

Pastor’s son shares story of recovery from alcoholism
Lawn Griffiths, Tribune

The son of the Rev. Guy Davidson, founding pastor of two of Tempe’s largest community churches, has come forward to share his story of alcoholism and illegal drug use amid the pressure of being a “PK,” or “preacher’s kid.”

“My life revolved around a bottle of vodka. I slept with a loaded gun under my pillow,” writes Carey Davidson, who now credits his parents and his faith for his eventual recovery.

Carey Davidson, now a substance abuse interventionist in Prescott, tells his own story, “My Name Is Carey. My Dad Is a Pastor and I Am an Alcoholic,” in the July issue of Church Executive, a business magazine for large churches published in Phoenix. His father, who founded Grace Community Church in 1966 and Arizona Community Church in 1997, has written an accompanying article.

In it, Guy Davidson, now retired, says he and his wife, Martha, were unaware of Carey’s binge drinking in high school, and it wasn’t until their son was found in a stupor on a Denver street in 2002 that they learned the extent of his alcoholism. Their initial attempt to enlist a professional for an intervention failed.

“My parents, going back seven or eight years ago, hired an interventionist who really didn’t know what he was doing,” Carey said in a phone interview. “I talked my way out of it. In the process of that. I dug my hole deeper because it wasn’t nipped in the bud.”

“I didn’t know that I would crush and embarrass those who loved me, ruin a lucrative television advertising career, lose most things that mattered, accrue three DUIs, be hospitalized numerous times and have an armed standoff with the police and end up in jail, looking at more than 20 felony charges to hit my 'bottom,’ ” he wrote. “It was from 'my bottom’ that I would have to look up and find my loving God I had pushed away for so many years.”

He went to jail for three months in August 2002 for possession of a controlled substance.

“When I was in the thick of it, I asked my dad not to tell anyone,” he said. “No. 1, I did not want to embarrass him, and No. 2, it is tough to air your dirty laundry. We all want to put on a facade.”

While his parents did not drink, Carey said the choices he made in high school led him to alcohol. He said he was curious when he slept over at friends’ houses. “I would watch my friends’ parents coddle, mix and ritualistically partake of that magic liquid that was never in my home,” he wrote in his story. “I would watch the friends’ parents change in the next few hours.” It made them relax, laugh more easily and “hold the secret to this transformation in a glass in their hand.” He wondered why “church people” would “deny themselves the simple pleasures provided by alcohol.”

Carey, 42, said he drank alone, although he was beset with shame and guilt that “ate at me like a cancer on steroids. I knew that God loved me, yet, I didn’t feel worthy of any love, let alone love from the creator. When I would drink, I didn’t have to think.”

He was able to earn a degree from Northern Arizona University, go into advertising and move to Chicago for a fresh start, but lost his job. He moved to Denver, but quickly lost his job at a TV station there.

Guy Davidson said he was never embarrassed by his son’s actions, but “the choices he was making would shatter his life dreams and mine.” The pastor searched the past about what they might have done differently and developed a desire to particularly help pastors’ families avoid a similar fate.

Treatment and rehabilitation came after Carey’s jail term. The elder Davidson attended group recovery meetings with his son. That his son eventually faced his addiction created for Guy Davidson “jabs of pain and pride — pain that his life was diseased by alcoholism and pride that he has renewed relationship with God, and he is now living sober one day at a time.”

Nine months ago, Carey Davidson founded InterventionASAP and has helped more than 20 people. He calls it “finding great reward in the firing line of life.” He is working on a master’s degree in addiction counseling.

“I applaud my dad for being able to say, 'Hey, this is my son,’ ” Carey said. His father allowed him to make mistakes as an adult, but was there in crises. “He is a good man. He is a living example of a guy who walks his talk.”

Carey took his story to the magazine “in the belief that it was time to share his story with others in hopes of helping other pastors’ families cope with the addiction that affects even their families,” said Ron Keener, Church Executive’s editor.

The magazine package includes a third article by the Rev. John Vawter of Scottsdale, former pastor of Bethany Community Church in Tempe, who, with his wife, Susan, leads You’re Not Alone Inc., an online and radio ministry to clergy dealing with drug and alcohol abuse in their families. Parents of a daughter who was once on drugs, they told their story in a book, “Hit by a Ton of Bricks: You’re Not Alone When Your Child’s on Drugs.”

The articles can be read at online.

link to the article I used here

Project 86 concert

Heading to the Project 86 show this Thursday night at Arizona Community Church. I announced it at the Amadeo Youth Meeting last night so I hope those who want to go will catch this show. You do not want to miss seeing these guys in person. They rock very hard so if you don't like your music loud, you better bring ear plugs. Check out this cool video by them on YouTube.

Project 86 "My Will Be A Dead Man"

Spreading the Love

Ice Cream on Dave-Mucho Gracias Senor Dave

Casa De Elizabeth Orpahange trip June 29-July 1 2007

CDE and those beautiful kids

We headed out Friday evening a bit after 6 pm. We arrived at CDE about 10:30 or so. It was late so we checked into our little motel in Imuris which really wasn't all that bad. It had two full size beds and a bathroom. Patty and I slept on one bed, Maddy and Hannah slept on the other, and Jared slept on the floor in his sleeping bag. At least the room had a small air conditioner in it. The monsoon season has already kicked in down there and it was a bit humid and very warm so the ac was nice to have. I think everyone slept well. Friday night was spent getting all of the gifts ready for the graduation ceremony on Saturday.

After we all got up Saturday morning we headed to the orphanage and we were greeted by all of the kids. Hannah knows each and everyone of them by name (yes all 106 of them). I knew some names from my last trip. Patty knows a lot of them now, as do Jared and Madison. We headed to the kids football (soccer as we know it) game which for some reason or another was cancelled.

We ate lunch at Leo's in Imuris (the first meal of about 4 we ate at this cool little place). The rest of the day was spent hanging out with the kids and then they all had to get ready for the graduation.

We headed to the graduation which was held in a huge hall in town. This is a huge deal and is very formal. It lasted about 3 hours and included a flag ceremony with the color guard and all. They had dancers there that performed several numbers and speeches were made and awards handed out. Of course it was all in spanish so I didn't understand a word that was said but it didn't really matter. I was still glad to be a part of it. We went to Leo's afterwards to eat and celebrate then headed back to the orphanage to say good night to the kids and headed back to our little motel and we all went right to sleep.

Upon awakening Sunday morning we all got cleaned up and headed out to the orphanage. We got on the bus with the kids and headed to their baseball game. We arrived while another game was in progress and watched that game while we waited. The play was pretty good. I was impressed with the pitcher of one team. He threw the ball hard and fast and seemed bigger than the other kids. He also hit a home run over the right-center field fence. After watching this game, the opponents for the CDE team never showed up so we won by forfeit. No game was played and we headed back to the orphanage for the end of the church service. After church we ate again (yes at Leo's) and then spent the rest of the day with the kids. Just hanging out with them and spending time with them. I spent a lot of time with kids that I didn't hang out with the last time I was there. Each and every kid is special and they all are so clingy and want your attention.

Jesus Guadalupe, the boy Patty and I sponsor was very receptive to me again. He is just a very nice kid. It is amazing to me how, even though I don't speak the language, I can still communicate with him. Patty's little book that has translations and phrases in it helps out a lot in a bind. Or you can just get Hannah or one of the few kids that speak english and they can translate for you.

We left about 330 pm and stopped in Tucson so Jared could visit with Natalia, a friend he met while we were at camp at UCYC a few weeks ago. She wants to go to Mexico with us the next trip.

I will post lots of pictures when we download them from Patty's camera. The battery died yesterday and we have to go get some more before we can download them. There are some pics in there for my friend Dave from Atlanta. On the way back from the baseball game that was cancelled we stopped for ice cream in town for Dave's special treat for the kids. We were on the orphanage bus and let them out 10 at a time so we wouldn't overwhelm the poor guy working the ice cream joint. So the kiddies all enjoyed a treat on you Dave and I've got the pictures to prove it. You'll see them in the next couple of days.

I can't wait for the next trip down there. I was hot, sweaty and dirty the whole time. But that can wash off. It's worth it to spend time with those kids who are so special.

Be well, be blessed, be MoVeD!