Freebie Friday #1: "Get Crackin'!"

This weekend I’ll be at a fellow youth pastor's ordination around Cincy but I wanted to send out a freebie for something I'm starting on my blog called freebie friday. If you have a freebie to pass on feel free to leave a comment and I will use it in the future. Today's Freebie is from getcrackin Pistachio giveaways @ 5 on Friday's Follow http://bit.ly/fumJG and @getcrackin.

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A Christmas Carreyol

One of our favorite things to do as a family is go to the movies. We have a great theatre (Cinemark) outside of town which is really clean and the chairs lean back which is nice. It's also about 4 bucks cheaper per ticket than the one closer to our house. We usually try to go to the matinee to save a few bucks and tonight we went and saw Disney's "A Christmas Carol".

Like most I like Jim Carrey and this movie left nothing to be desired in all areas. The story for the most part stayed with Dickens but I'm sure you could point out any differences if you're looking for them. The effects were so real! I remember being wowed by "The Polar Express" (which is hard to believe that was 5 years ago!) but it doesn't take an expert to see that there have been some major upgrades in real-to-life after effects in the last few years. Because it was so real, the scary parts (like this Jacob Marley shot above) became too much to bear for any toddlers in tow. Any concerned parent covered young eyes and ears for the better part of the movie and two families walked out. There is a shot during this scene shown above where Marley's jaw breaks and looks like something out of a SAW movie. They nailed "creepy" in regards to the ghosts personalities making them appear to be "tripping" and mentally unstable giving off the idea that they were long-term tormented souls.

This is not a slam on Disney. I was mostly satisfied with the film but would strongly urge you not to take any children younger than 9-10 to see it. Give it a look without the kids and see for yourself. Overall the story was very good and heartfelt especially towards the end. Bob Cratchit and family could have been more endearing. The film focused more on Scrooge (Jim Carrey) and could have paid better mind to the other characters but it's not a deal breaker. My only beef with Disney is the advertising to a young audience where this film is clearly geared for adults.

CAPTION PLEASE

No offense to this guy but this is why I don't let Cam touch the Gameboys on display at Walmart..

Looking for a good fit..

I write melodies. Not that I don't like writing lyrics.. melodies come easy and words and concepts would come easier if I had time to storyboard. If you like poetry or write songs but are on the strong side of lyrics we might have a future. Let me tell you what I want from music.. at the risk of sounding shallow I don't have a strong desire to write worship music. I am very interested however in writing for artists in either the Christian or Country vein. Email me if you are interested in coming together for an impromptu co-write. I'm easy like a Sunday morning and will try to make it work. We don't even have to meet up. You can send me your lyrics or concepts and I can try to have a go at it. All conceptual matters will be kept confidential unless someone offers me a wad of cash for your intellectual property.. kidding :p

timholman@verizon.net

Miley Cyrus is "All Grown Up"

Miley was at the center of attention today with a handful of friends of mine on facebook after I asked a question if parents would allow their children to watch this video.

Should we be at all shocked to see this transformation? We have seen this happen to the majority of child stars with parents who havn't a clue. Don't get me wrong - I like Billy Ray and have him quoted on my facebook profile. I even have a sealed "All Gave Some, Some Gave All" vinyl in my office! But when I heard that Miley has been living apart from her parents since she was 14.5 out west I knew that her "free spirit" was not the only driving force behind her migration.

Disclaimer: If my life were on display for millions to see I'm sure that my parenting skills would be called into question as well but this seems to be a toxic rhythm in the Cyrus Family.

The Cyrus family has God-given gifts suited for a public life and I'm sure that it was not long after Miley was born that her parents knew that they would someday be sharing her with the world. It's exciting to see a child that has these gifts early on but giving a child exposure to fame at an early age creates a skewed and unquenchable desire for constant public affirmation. I have a problem putting young Christians on the stage to lead worship simply becasue of this principle.

This next exerpt comes from a friends blog dated late last year after the "photo shoot":

The picture doesn’t show any nudity, but it shows the shirtless Miley covering her front with a blanket and showing her bare back to the camera. Even though this picture isn’t pornographic, it disturbed Disney and Miley enough that they both issued statements. And most people agree that Miley had been duped so Vanity Fair can just sell magazines.

Obviously this makes me sad. Miley is one of the few superstars that I've felt pretty good about my kids watching and listening to. She seems to have a faith (I've blogged on that before), although I've never heard her talk too specifically about it (Remember people, just because she said "I want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" at the recent awards, that doesn't mean anything. Don't ask me to list the people who have said those exact words receiving awards). But, as I've mentioned in a previous blog about Miley, her parents are once again proving to demonstrate questionable judgment.

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We should'nt put any stock into hearing someone drop the J-bomb on a crowd of celebs. Most of them have not known genuine saving faith and their faith is a result of social determinism. If their faith in Jesus is real than it is very shallow and void of lasting fruit. I am not calling Miley's faith into question. It is what it is. If Miley does subscribe to faith in Jesus than she does have a tremendous responsibility to represent Him faithfully. Typically that will never happen. Abe Lincoln said that "Every man at 40 is responsible for his own face." Miley has a while to go until she's 40 and a tremendous ammount of influence to boot but at this point in her life most of her decisions are based on multiple 40 year old's definition of true success. Jesus was very strict in this department.

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Luke 17:2 (NASB)

It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble.

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The Bible says further that the world can be pretty convincing in their lies, so much so that their lies sound like the truth at the moment. It talks about escaping this kind of thinking and letting Christ influence us instead of the world.

Ephesians 4:14-15 (English Standard Version)

14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

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I'm not giving up on Miley but I will be very cautious in what I allow my children to see. It's not just the skin.. it's what god we allow our children to see other very popular people serving.

My Dad is Sending Text Messages..

Me texting Dad today: "It's a go for Saturday" (Michigan Indiana game @BigHouse)

Dad "Looking forward to it. Love ya".

Me "Dad, that was the first text you've ever sent me. I'm proud right now."

Dad "...This is the second"

Happy 40th birthday, Internet

Ok so I'm a couple of days late but read the whole article Here: September 2, 1969: Forty years ago today, in Leonard Kleinrock's UCLA lab, a group of computer scientists managed to pass bits of data from one computer to another over some some gray cable. In doing so, they created the first node of what we now call (long dramatic pause)... the Internet.